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darkemeraldsI saw a production of Hamlet last night at CoHo Theater.
I suppose it's a commonplace to say that Shakespeare never gets old, but I realized, as I left the little warehouse-theater on my bike at 10:30, that I'd never seen Hamlet performed live, and had never seen any Shakespeare in a small, intimate space before, and so that commonplace became particular with me last night.
This was a "brisk, exciting new cut"--meaning that it was significantly abridged, with some minor-character compression. Three men and two women comprised the whole cast, with all but Chris Murray as Hamlet playing two or three roles apiece--without costume changes. There were no sets, only some stair-like levels of bare, black stage, and only a handful of props. (Yorick's skull was a big Tinker-Toy looking block of wood. The ghost was a rumbling sound effect and some recorded voices--and it was terrifying.)
Brittany Burch as Ophelia AND Laertes was so affecting as she switched back and forth in the grief-mad scene where both characters are on stage at the same time, that there was loud sniffling in the audience.
Valerie Stevens, who played Gertrude, also played a very funny Guildenstern, one of the guards, and one of the gravediggers--all in a red sleeveless sheath dress and thigh-high black leather boots, and each entirely distinct and vivid.
Victor Mack made Claudius seem so reasonable, you know? and was a hilarious frat-boy Rosencrantz.
Gary Norman's Horatio was somewhat lukewarm till the final scene (but then, Horatio is arguably a rather lukewarm character), but he played Polonius like a prosy Regency bore à la Mr Collins, and earned the evening's biggest laughs.
The only "real" props were the dagger that kills Polonius, and the fencing foils in the final scene. Swoosh! Clang! Clang! The fight was thrilling--I was about two feet from the stage and had to rear back in a couple of spots. The deaths were shocking. And Horatio's "Good night, sweet prince" speech made me cry and cry.
It's impossible to say how much of the emotion I felt was from the play proper, and how much arose from the sort of Bic-lighter-swaying, anthemic love of the great, familiar words.
Doesn't really matter. It was a wonderful experience.
I suppose it's a commonplace to say that Shakespeare never gets old, but I realized, as I left the little warehouse-theater on my bike at 10:30, that I'd never seen Hamlet performed live, and had never seen any Shakespeare in a small, intimate space before, and so that commonplace became particular with me last night.
This was a "brisk, exciting new cut"--meaning that it was significantly abridged, with some minor-character compression. Three men and two women comprised the whole cast, with all but Chris Murray as Hamlet playing two or three roles apiece--without costume changes. There were no sets, only some stair-like levels of bare, black stage, and only a handful of props. (Yorick's skull was a big Tinker-Toy looking block of wood. The ghost was a rumbling sound effect and some recorded voices--and it was terrifying.)
Brittany Burch as Ophelia AND Laertes was so affecting as she switched back and forth in the grief-mad scene where both characters are on stage at the same time, that there was loud sniffling in the audience.
Valerie Stevens, who played Gertrude, also played a very funny Guildenstern, one of the guards, and one of the gravediggers--all in a red sleeveless sheath dress and thigh-high black leather boots, and each entirely distinct and vivid.
Victor Mack made Claudius seem so reasonable, you know? and was a hilarious frat-boy Rosencrantz.
Gary Norman's Horatio was somewhat lukewarm till the final scene (but then, Horatio is arguably a rather lukewarm character), but he played Polonius like a prosy Regency bore à la Mr Collins, and earned the evening's biggest laughs.
The only "real" props were the dagger that kills Polonius, and the fencing foils in the final scene. Swoosh! Clang! Clang! The fight was thrilling--I was about two feet from the stage and had to rear back in a couple of spots. The deaths were shocking. And Horatio's "Good night, sweet prince" speech made me cry and cry.
It's impossible to say how much of the emotion I felt was from the play proper, and how much arose from the sort of Bic-lighter-swaying, anthemic love of the great, familiar words.
Doesn't really matter. It was a wonderful experience.
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(no subject)
23/1/10 16:33 (UTC)But that's Shakespeare for you. Never disappoints.
Oh! Did you ever see David Tennant's Hamlet on the iPlayer? If not, have a little treat!
(no subject)
24/1/10 07:38 (UTC)And funnily, I just started watching David Tennant's Hamlet this evening! I'd acquired it a week or so ago, and finally found time to stitch all the parts together. I watched most of the first act (loving Patrick Stewart as Claudius--what a wonderful villain that character is!).
I guess I'm in a Hamlet phase.