Welcome Le Moyne Students!

Greetings Fellow Dolphins!

To those of you who have found this blog and are enrolled in Hamlet: Views and Variations, I bid you welcome.  As a sometime student and now Le Moyne College alumnus (Class of 1997), I hope that you enjoy the class.  It did not come along until after my time on the Heights, so I was never fortunate enough to be able to take it.  I hope that the posts on this blog may help to deepen your appreciation of Hamlet...or at least help you to graduate.

Best wishes on your study of Hamlet this semester!

The Stratford Archives

While visiting Stratford, I was able to visit the festival archives.  It was a great chance to hear about the history of the festival and the efforts both to preserve that history and to make it available to the public.  There was a display of items from productions past.  As it turned out, there were several relating to Hamlet, and photography was permitted.

Production stills and costume design sketches from past productions.

Design sketch for Gertrude's costume

Costumes from past productions, highlighting different directorial visions

Artifacts from past productions

One item of particular note was not included in the archive display.  Stratford keeps within the archives "Composite Scripts" for Shakespeare's canon.  The scripts, prepared from stage manager's notes, detail how each director has rendered the text in his particular production.  They allow subsequent directors to see what was done by a previous director, and they provide a fantastic historical document of the Stratford stage.  I was able to view the script for Hamlet, and it was a true highlight.  Each director's emendations are noted in the Shakespearean text with a different color ink.  It was easy to see which changes are consistent and which are unique.  (Cue the pool table!)  For a self-professed Hamlet nut, the trip to the archives provided a perfect denouement to the Stratford visit!

Star Talks Stratford

In addition to the Stratford Festival's excellent stage productions, there are numerous free events for theatre goers.  As luck would have it, one of these occurred immediately following the July 29 performance of Hamlet.  Toronto Star theatre critic Richard Ouzounian joined in conversation with Antoni Cimolino and Jonathan Goad.  Cimolino is Stratford Festival's Artistic Director and the Director of Hamlet.  Goad plays Hamlet in Cimolino's production.  To have such an opportunity dropped into my lap made it an absolute must!  Notepad at the ready, I was able to record the discussion that ensued.

The first topic was the selection of an actor to play Hamlet.  Cimolino's discussion with Goad began nearly ten years ago and continued through planning of the current production.  The technical needs for the role are enormous.  Plus, the actor must be able to play a soldier, a courtier and a scholar while dealing with issues of justice and vengeance.  When the offer to play Hamlet came, Goad felt he was probably too old for the role that he called "an intimate experience."  He asked his wife, and she told him that he certainly was not too old.  We discovered that Goad's wife is Adrienne Gould, the actress who played Ophelia opposite her husband.  Thanks to her, he took the part.

The conversation moved to the matter of the setting of the play.  Cimolino described Hamlet as a play about killing children, about sacrificing the young to avenge the crimes of their parents.  The ghost of Hamlet's father is the voice of the old generation calling to the younger generation.  The tragedy of the play is the loss of youth trying to find justice in a corrupt world.  With this philosophy in mind, World War I seemed a perfect setting for the production.  It was a time when the world said goodbye to the old ways and hello to a modern era.  The stage set was designed with this in mind.  The rectangular prisms were based on the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe in Berlin.  (Different World War perhaps, but no matter.)  I had never seen the memorial, but a photograph of it makes this parallel very obvious and striking.

When asked about the look of his character, Goad said that he trusted his director in that respect.  The look in the play is one for all time.  Goad furthered this discussion of flexibility.  No two shows are exactly the same, one of the beauties of live theatre.  He described it as classical jazz, giving the play room to breathe.

A discussion of casting and the roles in Hamlet followed.  The entire Stratford company gets extremely high marks.  Cimolino gave a reason for the high quality of the company.  The Canadian TV and film industries are not as highly renowned as in the U.S., so the actors are blessed to be able to do the classics and not get rich.  (Jonathan Goad:  "So blessed!")  Regarding Polonius, Cimolino chose to portray him as a religious, Richelieu-esque figure.  Religion figures in Hamlet, and the chapel is mentioned although many productions do not show it.  This production displayed it prominently.  Gertrude was portrayed as a professional woman, not a "clothes horse."

The conversation shifted to the topic of Hamlet's relationships.  Goad took this question.  He finds all of the scenes difficult and challenging.  Hamlet's relationships are a series of disappointments.  Hamlet is not a lover; he yearns for connections.  The scenes with Ophelia--the nunnery scene, her funeral--are especially difficult.  (That he and Ophelia are married in real life adds to this!)  Ophelia is completely abandoned in the play--by Laertes, by Hamlet and ultimately by Polonius, although not by his choice.  She's left alone and dies alone.

The nunnery scene in this production was marked by Hamlet exiting and reentering repeatedly.  Cimolino described this as the repeated failure of Hamlet's words.  He tries to talk to Ophelia and keeps getting it wrong.  Goad added that the idea of the scene was not male violence perpetrated on women.  Hamlet tries to say good bye and just can't bring himself to leave.  Family contact was a constant theme in the production.  This was evident both in Hamlet's family and in Polonius' family.  As Cimolino put it, they try to hold on tight, but by the end of the play it "all still goes to ratshit."

The next topic was Hamlet's soliloquies.  Goad described them as dialogue, not monologue.  Hamlet is isolated in the play, so he talks to the audience.  Sometimes this plays a little more evidently than others. ("I have heard/That guilty creatures sitting at a play....")  In delivering the speeches, Goad had to erase the weight of history.  He tried to stay in the moment, to bring himself to the soliloquies and to put an original stamp on them.  Cimolino commented that the "How all occasions" soliloquy is very important.  He described Hamlet's tragic flaw as an excess of passion.  After the ghost's visitation, Hamlet wants to "get it right."  Then he kills Polonius inadvertently.  Seeing the Polish soldiers marching to their deaths has a huge effect on Hamlet.  The soliloquy is Hamlet remarking that nothing is perfect, so one must do one's best.  In that speech, the idealist in Hamlet dies.

The next topic was the troupe of players.  Just as the conversation was about to begin, Mike Shara, who played Laertes, appeared at the window behind the dais.  A knock and a wave--it was a beautifully inserted comic moment.  Returning to the discussion, Cimolino said that he chose to portray the players as wandering Romany gypsies.  It is a gesture designed to elicit empathy for the wandering underdogs who were much persecuted in European history.  The first player is as a second father to Hamlet.

At this point, the floor was opened for audience questions.  To the question of an aha moment, Goad replied that you have to know the lines so well that you forget them and lose yourself in the performance of the story.  On the topic of Hamlet's constant motion on stage, Cimolino ascribed it to his active hunt for the murderer.  A question was raised about Hamlet's supposed inactivity.  Goad stated that one thing they did with this production was to examine the text in order to question the standbys in this play.  Hamlet is never asked to kill anyone.  He's not effeminate.  He's not an artist.  He's not indecisive.

In response to a question about how the play mirrors the director's personality, Cimolino said that family is hugely important to him as well.  The family unit is greater than death.  Perhaps the loss of youth was a light into the life of William Shakespeare, who lost his own son around the time that he was writing the play.

A discussion about Ophelia dropped a bombshell on the audience.  She was pregnant!  It was not obvious, but Cimolino said that it was there.  (This makes the play fit for repeated viewings.)  Goad said that Hamlet and Ophelia have been intimate.  The songs that Ophelia sings are about men taking advantage of women.  Perhaps the one that she and her father duet early in the play was one of his favorites from his youth.  In addition, one of the herbs mentioned later in the play was used as an abortion drug.

The final topic of the Star Talk concerned the scene in Gertrude's chamber.  As Hamlet is dragging the body of Polonius away, he says, "Good night, mother."  Cimolino referred to it as a dream that has become a nightmare.  He paralleled the encounter to that of a young son who visits his mother in her room and doesn't want to leave.  Goad said that the moment itself was not intentionally comic, but the juxtaposition is.  It's an absurd moment, but it's done.  And with that so was the afternoon's discussion.

Being Hamlet

The appetizer to the production of Hamlet at this year's Stratford Festival was a forum entitled, Being Hamlet.  Hosted by Paul Kennedy, it featured a panel discussion of three actors who have played Hamlet at Stratford.  Present were Brent Carver (1986), Ben Carlson (2008) and Jonathan Goad (2015).  The forum was moved to the comfortable surroundings of the Tom Patterson Theatre to accommodate the large crowd.  While their answers to questions were insightful and interesting, it was a treat to watch the three interact with each other and trade occasional barbs.

Each of the four panel members described his first experience with Hamlet.  For Kennedy, it was when he was nine years old.  He described reading the text in his bedroom, a very personal experience for him.  Carver met the play during his university years at Summer Stock in Vancouver.  He was playing in a non-Shakespearean version of the play and so studied the "real" one.  He commented that when performing it you realize that you think you know the play, but you don't.  Goad discovered the play in the form of a comic book treatment when he was in grade 7.  The first time he saw it on stage was in 2000 in Stratford, when Paul Gross played the lead.  Carlson's first experience with Hamlet also was in Stratford; he saw Carver's 1986 performance.  As he told him playfully, "It's all your fault!"

The next topic for the actors was how they prepared for such a demanding role.  Goad commented that besides extensive rehearsals at Stratford, one's entire acting career is preparation for being Hamlet.  Carver's preparation was different.  In 1975, he had been part of a rock opera version of Hamlet.  (This Hamlet fan was intrigued, in the way one is intrigued by auto accidents.)  In 1984, he played Hamlet at the Grand Theatre, which prepared him for the 1986 Stratford production.  Carlson's preparation was different still--he took up running, roughly 14K.  Also, he read Shakespeare's entire canon in order to understand the playwright.

Hamlet is described as the quintessence of theatre and the "center of Western thought" and as such has become to an extent a cliche.  The actors discussed that aspect of the experience.  According to Carlson, because it is a cliche the actor must invent the role for himself and make it his own.  It's such a great role that an actor undertaking the role "can't totally fail."  Goad commented that in Hamlet we see more of William Shakespeare than in any other play in the canon.  Yet, as Carlson added, he's still a huge mystery.  Goad stated that we see ourselves in Hamlet; "Hamlet is us and we are Hamlet."

The discussion turned to an interesting question.  What is it like to watch the play from the audience after having been Hamlet?  To Carlson, it was a "great relief!"  He has discovered, though, that he watches the play now and notices what has been cut, what has been added.  (I know the feeling.)  Of the performances Goad has seen, he commented that he's never met a Hamlet that he didn't like.  Carver referred to the phenomenon of Shakespeare's plays traveling in packs.  It seems that when one Hamlet appears, there are several other companies performing it also.  (If the past year is any indication, that has been the case around these parts.)

Goad took the next question, regarding using other productions of Hamlet in one's own performance.  He stated directly that if there is a good idea, you steal it.  Direct imitation is not possible, though.  The role is a personal experience.  He looks at it as throwing off the historical shackles, not reinventing it.  One must challenge the notions of history in performing it anew.

What about physical challenges of being Hamlet?  How does the actor catch his breath?  Carlson commented that the interval in his production occurred after the "How all occasions" soliloquy, so there was a very long break for him when Hamlet was in England.  As Goad put it, Claudius was the tour guide for the next several scenes.  Carver added that even a break is not really a break, though.  The actor can't really rest.  Soon he'll be back on stage and must be active and engaged.

Next was a tough one for the actors:  What is your favorite soliloquy?  Carlson is partial to Claudius' soliloquy ("O, my offense is rank..."); that's the one he's never had to speak on stage.  In it, we see Claudius' humanity.  Goad understandably ducked the question at first, declaring that each is special and inseparable from the whole.  He gave special mention of the "rogue and peasant slave" soliloquy, though, as being extraordinary both in content and length.  He described "To be or not to be..." as the heart of the play.  Carver remarked that he was surprised when that speech came up in his play.  It was always "Oh, here it comes!"  Carver gave high marks to Hamlet's "divinity that shapes our ends" speech.  Goad and Carlson agreed that they are struck by the tiny moments and by the rapidity and wit of Shakespeare's prose.

The actors were asked to describe epiphany moments.  Carver led off, stating that it is amazing to be able to play Hamlet.  He called it daunting, a privilege and a responsibility.  Goad remarked that he never feels up to the role, and he's always grateful for the opportunity to reveal himself through the part.  When asked if he would play it again, he hedged and then admitted that he probably would not.

Carlson's epiphany moment was a severe anxiety attack he had in Chicago on his first day in the role.  William Shakespeare taps into horrific themes--murder, violence, possible incest--and they got to him.  He called a friend who had Hamlet experience to ask if this was normal.  The response was that it was a shared phenomenon and a sign that "you're alive and thinking."  Carlson went on to describe an onstage interaction with a spider that became the object of his artistic anger.  (The arachnid fared better than Claudius.)

The heavy nature of the play was a continued topic.  Goad called every day a revelation.  The actor must avail himself to the circumstances of the day.  The play is consumed with death and self-revelation.  It examines disillusionment and one's place in the world.  Ophelia's drowning and 20,000 Polish soldiers marching to their death are the final straws.  Carver added that the play causes something in one's DNA to be shifted, and he's not sure what it is.  The actor plans something on stage and things go awry.  The best he can do is to be in the present.

The players were asked how being Hamlet has changed them.  According to Carver, it made him question what he was doing and why.  In fact, he began to probe whether he could act.  Carlson recounted that after Hamlet everything is more interesting.  It opens the mind to the possibility.  He finds that everything has more color.  Goad's response:  "I can't wait until it's over."  The play has caused him to put a heavy burden on himself.

There was time for some questions from the audience.  On the subject of universal themes in the play, Carver remarked that "It's William Shakespeare!"  The story is universal, as is the mystery.  Goad added that different countries have responded differently to the play due to their political stances.

The actors were asked what influence their directors have had on them.  Carlson described how his first director was an authority on the text of the play.  They disagreed over the relationship between Hamlet and Gertrude.  The director thought there was an Oedipal issue, and Carlson thought that was rubbish.  He found the relationship between Hamlet and his father to be much more formative and interesting.  They talked and were able to reach a compromise.  Carver said his director had the biggest influence on him in the areas of structure and pacing of character.  They had disagreements on where the energy level lies.  Goad, in the midst of a run with director Antoni Cimolino, remarked that the two have similar approaches.  Over twenty hours of discussion and conversation, they distilled the play in a certain way.  Their focus is not to be fussy, not to go for easy answers.  Goad was even encouraged in his character's outrageous behavior.

"Has being Hamlet made you paranoid?"  Carlson answered that question with a resounding YES!  Carver added that the role forces one to question everything.  It's required, and one's expectations must be shed.  He commented that he thinks Hamlet would have made a great king.  Goad's answer was that he doesn't think he's paranoid.  (Carlson:  "What does everyone else think?")  The actor must access sensitive parts of himself.  Hamlet saw himself as a leader and knew his capabilities.

Perhaps the most fitting summary was delivered as the forum was drawing to a close.  Everyone has an opinion on Hamlet.  One never forgets his first Hamlet...or his second.  Agreed.

Return to Stratford

After much anticipation, July 29 arrived.  Time for a return trip to Stratford, Ontario to see Hamlet!  With as long a wait as it has been, I was worried that the show might not live up to the expectations.  Gladly, it did not disappoint.  In fact, it is a considerable achievement!

The show opened promptly at 2 p.m. with a new twist.  Soldiers walked onto stage in view of an onstage observer, leaned down near the trap door in the floor and made as if to carry a body.  They walked upstage, the lights went out and then the play began in proper.  It was a great way to grab the audience's attention quickly.  The soldiers were attired in what appeared to be World War I era military outfits; a sign of a modern presentment?

As the action began, the costuming of other cast members fit into a WWI time frame.  The design was lavish, striking and colorful.  Claudius was in a white military dress uniform.  Gertrude's silk dress was stunning.  Polonius, in a novel twist, wore a religious cassock.  Laertes was in a leather coat.  Hamlet, fittingly, was entirely in black.

The modern era continued to present itself in Ophelia's chamber.  As Laertes entered to bid Ophelia good bye, she was interrupted while working away at a sewing machine.  In the room were a music stand and violin, which she played later when her father visited.  She accompanied him on a song about St. Valentine's Day, a clear foreshadowing of her madness scene to come.

The set consisted of numerous black rectangular prisms, reminiscent of the monolith in Stanley Kubrick's 2001:  A Space Odyssey.  They could be moved to suit numerous purposes--walls, seats, parapets on which Hamlet climbed.  Two of the larger ones had wall lighting on the back, and one had a large lighted cross.  This reminded me of the University of Rochester production I saw years ago.  (See 10/14/13 post.)

The play within a play scene featured a large troupe, approximately eleven in number.  The dumb show remained.  In a new twist, the players pulled Claudius from the audience and had him imitate pouring poison in Gonzago's ear.  The play continued as typical.  I noted a stress on Hamlet's line about "lacking advancement," perhaps a knowing allusion to J. Dover Wilson's treatment of the scene.  (See 12/28/14 post.)  The interval arrived as Hamlet grabbed a rifle with bayonet from a palace guard and headed to Gertrude's chamber.

The bedroom scene opened the second act.  Polonius was not stabbed through the arras; instead he was shot with the rifle Hamlet had taken.  It was a different take, one I had seen in the RSC film version (see 2/23/14 post), but it worked within the context of the production.  The remainder of the scene was very dark comedy indeed.  Ophelia appeared clad in her father's robe, and her madness was well-played psychosis.  The "flowers" she presented were her father's personal effects, carried to the room in the violin case.  The daisies, which withered and died, were represented by the broken neck of the violin.

In a notable shift of dialogue, the discussion between Laertes and Claudius of the murder plot did not occur in its textual place.  Instead, it was shifted until the funeral scene in the graveyard.  The two conspired at Ophelia's grave after the rest of the cast had exited.  It was adept editing that did not seem particularly out of place.

Prior to the duel, Claudius took a foil from Osric.  He made a few mock thrusts with it and then presented it to Laertes.  Thus began the plot.  The fight itself, a fencing match, was respectable although not terribly violent.  Gertrude was evidently drunk when she called her son "fat and scant of breath" and then drank from the poisoned cup.  The duel ended with no stage blood spilt and bodies strewn about.  Fortinbras entered, and bid his soldiers to shoot.  In a visual rhyme from the play's opening, the soldiers picked up Hamlet from the floor, the trap opened with a bright shaft of light directed upward and the stage went black.  The opening of the play had been the closing, played in reverse.

The acting in this production was balanced and excellent all around.  Each member of the cast helped to create a wonderful production.  Jonathan Goad as Hamlet was believable--at times sad, at times manic but never so over the top as to detract from the role.  Seana McKenna and Geraint Wyn Davies as Gertrude and Claudius were regal and human.  (In an aside, both starred in The Physicists, which I saw later that night.  Two different starring roles performed excellently in the same day--my opinion of repertory actors could not be high enough.)  In fact, I never really found Claudius to be evil enough to warrant boos or hisses.  Tom Rooney as Polonius was neither the underhanded spy nor the comic fop, but rather seemed just a normal person.  Adrienne Gould as Ophelia brought both beauty and class to the role.

Bravo to Antoni Cimolino's direction!  The play was a tight 2:45 in length.  While there were editions to the script, nothing stood out as prominently missing.  Fortinbras was left in the play, which adds the political dimension to the work.  All of Hamlet's soliloquies were there, including "How all occasions," which frequently is dropped.  The dumb show was there.  The lines that were removed were done very adroitly, never detracting from the overall force of the work.

And so I can add another Hamlet to my collection.  This was a very worthy production, certainly in the upper echelons of those that I have seen.  It takes its place alongside another excellent work, the Stratford festival production of 2008 (see 11/17/13 post).  They are two different takes on a classic (with, as I discovered in looking back, several overlapping cast members) but two excellent takes.  After a few recent subpar Hamlet productions that I have seen, Stratford has restored my faith in the stage!