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Commonwealth Shakespeare has trumped itself this year with Hamlet, a risk-taking winner that hands down beats out any of their previous offerings, in this viewer’s opinion.
I was there with about a dozen friends and a big pot luck picnic dinner. It pays off to arrive very early, as our uber-front blanket space proved (once again). Close enough to have heard the dialogue perfectly without mics. If you're going to go to Shakespeare, go to Shakespeare.
This being Hamlet, and my friendlist being composed largely of theatre squids, I don't think we have to worry about plot spoilers. Likewise, I don't think it's a spoil to say that of the 7 different productions I've seen (including film versions), this was my favorite thus far. I hand it to CSC – they’ve set an overdue new bar for themselves at last.
The biggest ace in their pocket was an outstanding Jeffery Donovan leading the cast in the title role. His innovation with modern inflection brought the text into three dimensions in ways I've never seen before. The text came colorfully to life, it's bitter humor illuminated at points that are so often glossed over in formalized singsong delivery. It was not pitiable or irrational madness. It was a human being driven to the very edge, but never completely over, by circumstances we were able to empathize with easily through his perspective. His "To be or not to be" interpretation was so fresh that it would be an instant classic had this been film. The other key monologue, "What a piece of work is man," wasn’t framed effectively, but that was my only nitpick in his performance. I’ve watched some Hamlets whom I couldn’t wait to see die. This one made me wish for an alternate ending.
The other performance that stood out to me was John Kuntz (didja see him in The Santaland Diaries?) in the dual roles of Guildenstern and Osric. His Guildenstern departed from the flavorless tool of other productions and gave us a downright endearing nerd in his place. Think of Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors crossed with Benvolio. Kuntz' Osric made an actual character out of a handful of stock lines, proving again that there is no such thing as small roles. You know the rest.
If you need to use the restroom, um, do it during the Ghost Father scenes. It's the only clinker in the show. Might be just me, but I think ghosts are scarier when they aren't wearing bedsheets or flailing epileptically. You might recall the blood-chillingly scary Dead Banquo from Macbeth a few years back. That's how it should be done. The triple-cast actor has better turns as the Player King and a Gravedigger.
The stark Iron Curtainesque treatment was unobtrusive and supported the text well without competing for attention. (CSC must have been influenced by T@F -- they have a pole centerstage. :-)) The contemporary blocking worked so well as an expressive vehicle that now I don't think I'd be happy watching it another way. Both actors in the fight scene had catlike grace, again with 5-star choreography and background blocking. I would have chopped about 60-90 seconds off the fight because it delayed Gertrude’s death longer than was believable after a quaff of strong poison, but I'm at the nits again.
It makes me happy, after several years of CSC performances soggied by poor casting choices or contrived treatments, to see them hit the bullseye at last. I'd love to go again if anyone would like to. It's worth another visit, and its good to be able to say that.
I was there with about a dozen friends and a big pot luck picnic dinner. It pays off to arrive very early, as our uber-front blanket space proved (once again). Close enough to have heard the dialogue perfectly without mics. If you're going to go to Shakespeare, go to Shakespeare.
This being Hamlet, and my friendlist being composed largely of theatre squids, I don't think we have to worry about plot spoilers. Likewise, I don't think it's a spoil to say that of the 7 different productions I've seen (including film versions), this was my favorite thus far. I hand it to CSC – they’ve set an overdue new bar for themselves at last.
The biggest ace in their pocket was an outstanding Jeffery Donovan leading the cast in the title role. His innovation with modern inflection brought the text into three dimensions in ways I've never seen before. The text came colorfully to life, it's bitter humor illuminated at points that are so often glossed over in formalized singsong delivery. It was not pitiable or irrational madness. It was a human being driven to the very edge, but never completely over, by circumstances we were able to empathize with easily through his perspective. His "To be or not to be" interpretation was so fresh that it would be an instant classic had this been film. The other key monologue, "What a piece of work is man," wasn’t framed effectively, but that was my only nitpick in his performance. I’ve watched some Hamlets whom I couldn’t wait to see die. This one made me wish for an alternate ending.
The other performance that stood out to me was John Kuntz (didja see him in The Santaland Diaries?) in the dual roles of Guildenstern and Osric. His Guildenstern departed from the flavorless tool of other productions and gave us a downright endearing nerd in his place. Think of Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors crossed with Benvolio. Kuntz' Osric made an actual character out of a handful of stock lines, proving again that there is no such thing as small roles. You know the rest.
If you need to use the restroom, um, do it during the Ghost Father scenes. It's the only clinker in the show. Might be just me, but I think ghosts are scarier when they aren't wearing bedsheets or flailing epileptically. You might recall the blood-chillingly scary Dead Banquo from Macbeth a few years back. That's how it should be done. The triple-cast actor has better turns as the Player King and a Gravedigger.
The stark Iron Curtainesque treatment was unobtrusive and supported the text well without competing for attention. (CSC must have been influenced by T@F -- they have a pole centerstage. :-)) The contemporary blocking worked so well as an expressive vehicle that now I don't think I'd be happy watching it another way. Both actors in the fight scene had catlike grace, again with 5-star choreography and background blocking. I would have chopped about 60-90 seconds off the fight because it delayed Gertrude’s death longer than was believable after a quaff of strong poison, but I'm at the nits again.
It makes me happy, after several years of CSC performances soggied by poor casting choices or contrived treatments, to see them hit the bullseye at last. I'd love to go again if anyone would like to. It's worth another visit, and its good to be able to say that.