Hamlet On The Move

The April 2010 production of Hamlet by the New York Classical Theatre had the most inventive staging of any that I have seen.  The play was performed in New York City's World Financial Center.  It was not tied down to one stage, though.  The action of the play moved throughout the complex--atria, staircases, hallways.  As the cast moved, so, too, did the audience move to follow them.  It was a very interactive performance, as the action took place among the audience at times.  The "play within a play" occurred in a lobby that served as a theatre in the round.  I watched as Hamlet and Ophelia took up a seat next to me, giving me a very clear vantage point of "country matters."

The novelty of moving became a drawback to the production, though.  The play became (and felt) excessively long, due to the constant upheaval.  As soon as the audience got comfortable (as much as possible while sitting on a hard floor), off we would go to another location.  And this was no small audience, either.  The production was free--a blessing and a curse.  It appeared that some families used it as a night out, complete with very young children in tow.  Moving a large audience into areas not designed for them left some scenes cramped and others with poor sight lines to the action, unless you ran from one location to the next.  It was a nice idea on paper, but it did not work out too well in practice.

The script was edited in order to account for the time lost in transitions.  Oddly, the play began with a narration describing the early action of Act I, as if it were a previous episode of a TV serial that we had missed ("Previously on Hamlet...").  The action of the evening itself began with the "To be" soliloquy, and then the play moved back into Act II action.  It was as if the director wished to hook the audience early by using the most famous speech; instead, it felt misplaced.

Another edition had to do with the ghost of Hamlet's father.  Due perhaps to the traveling nature of the production, the ghost did not appear.  Rather, young Hamlet voiced his father's words as if he were possessed, accompanied at times by strange bodily movements.  It was Exorcist Regan McNeil-esque--wondrously strange.

The sword fight finale was well choreographed and well performed.  Regrettably, though, it had been a long evening and this viewer was ready to depart Elsinore for more comfortable surroundings, so I was not able to give it my full attention.

Overall, I compliment the New York Classical Theatre on a novel and well-executed production.  I wish that my reflection on it were more timely as I might have had better recall of the particulars of the play.  Even so, I am glad to have seen it, as it is probably one production the likes of which I shall not look upon again.