First, a note about the venue. The Playhouse is located in what once was Shoppingtown Mall. As I arrived, it was to the sight and sound of a patron lying in the parking lot moaning. Thankfully, security was on the scene. The interior of the mall is largely vacant space; even the public library has moved out. The Playhouse and the Regal Cinema were seemingly the only tenants that were open during my visit. One of the few signs of life was the bird droppings on the railings near the Playhouse, left by the birds who have taken up indoor residence. Later in the evening, the theatre manager directed patrons to restrooms, located in what used to be the food court. The vacant, hulking setting made the entire performance feel like a play-within-a-play.
So much for that. On to the production. The stage set consisted of two levels--the upper level was four steps above the lower, which was on the stage. Seating for audience members is all on one level at tables, which led to views obstructed by other patrons' heads, especially during Hamlet's death scene. There were a few red cloth backdrops to give the hint of a castle interior. A bench downstage was the sole piece of stationary furniture, with other pieces moved onstage as needed. Stage left contained a tomb within ivy-covered iron gates, adding a funereal tone to the set. Costumes were modern dress, with dark colored clothing contrasting with bright red armbands and sashes. There was a feel of Nazi Germany in colors and mood, lack of swastikas notwithstanding. Claudius had the unmistakable bearing of Reinhard Heydrich, down to the blond hair, and he had his own sneering SS officer at his side for much of the action. The director played up this idea of a violent military state, at times going overboard with it.
The play opened as the play should open, namely with Francisco and his mates on the watch. The ghost appeared as an apparition; in this case it was an image of a man in a white suit projected on a screen. From there we moved to the court interior where Claudius addressed his subjects. Polonius, bald and with goatee, was clad in a curious suit which was half-grey and half-black, hinting at a half-neutral, half-enemy character. Laertes was given a definite family resemblance, also bald and with a goatee. Upon news that Hamlet would not be returning to Wittenberg, clear distress on the faces of Laertes and Ophelia was evident.
Hamlet's first soliloquy belied something that would be apparent all evening. As part of this performance, some of the original Shakespearean language was re-translated into a modern feel. It was unclear if this was a conscious decision on the part of the director or if it was a sign of lines not having been memorized fully, but these textual differences were notable. While they did alter the meter, they did not alter the feel of the play. In fact, they likely were only apparent to one who is intimately familiar with the source text.
Laertes and Ophelia entered the stage from the rear of the theatre as brother instructed sister prior to his departure. The subsequent interaction between Polonius and Laertes was played for humor, leading this audience member to laugh aloud. It was a well done scene, showing Polonius for a caring, foppish, disciplinarian father and Laertes for a long-suffering son.
The meeting between Hamlet and the ghost included some peculiarities. The ghost transitioned from apparition to actual actor with a jump and loud landing on stage, something a ghost would not have done. The entrance should have been muted a bit. Hamlet came to the meeting carrying a rifle, not a sword. That alteration fit the context of the play, but leaving in the line about swearing "on my sword" did not.
As with the recent Lyric Theatre production (see 5/13/18 post), an invented interlude between Hamlet and Ophelia took place. The scene, with no trace of madness, made obvious the romantic relationship between them. Following Polonius' conversation with Reynaldo--cleverly staged as a phone call!--Ophelia burst in "affrighted." Hamlet stood upstage left, mouthing the words that Ophelia spoke as if the two had planned the entire script together. Ophelia became a conspirator with Hamlet, creating a story of antic disposition.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern came on the scene and, as at the Lyric Theatre, one was male and one was female. Unlike that staging, though, the female role was not played as a floozy. Instead, both were played as legitimate characters. It was odd, though, when they were called "good gentlemen." Was the role male or female? No matter. It was not an egregious fault.
Polonius' description of Hamlet's apparent madness was played for humor, with Polonius every bit the verbose fop. Claudius and Gertrude drank wine to help them get through his monologue, and even the servant who brought the wine got into the act. His dozing off was an added humorous touch for a scene very well done.
The entrance of the players was altered from Shakespeare's original. Polonius did not introduce them. There was no speech about Priam. This made the "rogue and peasant slave" soliloquy awkward as there was no basis at all for it. The soliloquy itself was heavily edited to mitigate the confusion.
The discussion between Claudius and Polonius about Hamlet was a key piece of the development of Ophelia's character. She discovers that her lie of Hamlet's madness is leading to their investigation of her boyfriend. She has become trapped in the plot. The nunnery scene, then, gained an entirely new dimension. The whole interaction was staged for the benefit of Claudius and Polonius' spying ears. Ophelia gestured throughout the interaction to alert Hamlet that the spies were present, ratting them out as it were. It backfired, though. Hearing that Hamlet would be sent to England caused an emotional response. Her conspiring was the cause of her boyfriend's expulsion. She was hoist with her own petard, to borrow a phrase.
"The Mousetrap" took place after edited directions from Hamlet to the players. The dumb show was removed, and the murder was transplanted from Vienna to Venice. The scene itself was relatively mild, although Ophelia's emotion at the pending departure of her boyfriend was apparent. It gave a different dimension to her outburst. Following the call for lights, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern appeared clad in red armbands, a sign that they had become allies of Claudius. Hamlet went off to his mother's chamber, and the first part ended with a dreadful addition to the text. The players were brought back on stage and executed for their disrespect of Claudius. It was a violent and entirely unnecessary invention. Eighty minutes after the play had begun, we went to intermission.
The second part began with Claudius and Hamlet's soliloquies. They were oddly blocked, with the usual question present of how one cannot hear the other considering their physical proximity. Guns were substituted for swords. Hamlet carried a pistol, which he brought with him to Gertrude's chamber. He brought it out to shoot Polonius, a modern and not unique alteration. The subsequent search for Polonius was needlessly violent, with Hamlet being savaged by Claudius' SS man. Perhaps it was the overplayed violence that caused Hamlet to flub the line about finding Polonius--If your messenger find him not within two weeks, seek him in the other place yourself. Oops. Fortinbras and Norway were left in this production, so the retention of the "How all occasions" soliloquy made sense. Hamlet went off for England.
Ophelia was a mess in the madness scene, and that is a compliment. She was suitably emotionally distressed. An oft-posed question is the cause of her unhappiness. The relationship between Polonius and Ophelia seems not to be an overly loving one. Hamlet has shunned her, but the depth of their relationship is not clear. Polonius dies, but he and his daughter seemed not to be close. Why such a momentous emotional break? In this production, the question was answered interestingly and well. Ophelia and Hamlet were co-conspirators in his antic disposition. Her lies to Polonius and her scheming with Hamlet led to Hamlet's expulsion and subsequently to Polonius' death. How could she not feel responsible? The madness was given cause. Later, her suicide was displayed vividly. As Gertrude delivered the account of Ophelia's death, a flashback was shown on the video screen depicting quite clearly that her death was suicide and not accident. It was good for those who like resolution, but it also removed the doubtful nature of her death that Shakespeare had written.
Laertes and Claudius plotted Hamlet's death. As a sign that Laertes would be ruled by Claudius, the former received a red armband from the latter. Gertrude entered upstage during the conversation, and thus she heard the entire plot of the poisoned chalice. She delivered the aforementioned account of Ophelia's death.
The gravedigger scene was left nearly intact, although an above ground tomb was a bit confusing. The churlish priest entered in a lab coat, a very odd costume choice. The altercation between Laertes and Hamlet was as violent as one might imagine given the director's predilection for violence. Hamlet's subsequent account of the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern was much edited. Osric was annoyingly fun, a well portrayed character in a well portrayed scene.
The duel was relatively straightforward, ironic considering the violence that had surrounded previous scenes. Following a tearful moment with her son, Gertrude drank the chalice which she knew to be poisoned, thereby committing suicide. The usual characters died, and the rest was silence. Fortinbras entered to see much amiss, and he was notably very excited at the sight. The lights faded and nearly three hours after it had begun, the play was over.
Overall, I found this to be a very creditable production. The acting was on all counts quite good. The actors were believable in their roles and played them well. While some directorial decisions were questionable, none of them were severe enough to sink the production. I applaud the entire company for an interesting and enjoyable evening!
