Hamlet... in a Cemetery

Review of PAE’s Hamlet (14 July 2012)

To begin their 43^rd season, Portland Actors Ensemble took a straightforward, streamlined Hamlet and set it in Portland’s oldest cemetery – Lone Fir Cemetery. The setting was magical. To watch a play that echoes unceasingly with the inevitability of death while surrounded by tombstones is an amazing experience.

The cast had to work hard to live up to the setting, and in many cases they succeeded. The entire production was fast-paced and intense. Occasionally the intensity seemed over-the-top for those of us with front-row seats, but it was necessary with audiences in the hundreds night after night.

Manipulation oozed from every angle of this play – Old Hamlet’s Ghost (Mark Rothwell) manipulating his son, Polonius (Curt Hanson) manipulating his daughter, Claudius and Gertrude (Mark Rothwell and MaryAnne Glazebrook) manipulating Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Samson Syharath and Sam Burns), Claudius manipulating Laertes (Peter Schuyler)… the list goes on and on.

Doug Reynolds was a convincing if young-feeling Hamlet. He made us feel the pressure the character was under – the pressure to be the perfect son (both to his demanding, dead father and to his self-centered, oblivious mother), the perfect prince, and the perfect boyfriend. He had to keep up appearances the entire time and had no one that he could be himself with. Ophelia (played by Kayla Lian) would have been the one person Hamlet could have poured out his heart to, if her brother and father hadn’t gotten in the way. Then Hamlet recognized that she was a chink in his armor and he couldn’t afford the distraction, which provokes the “Get thee to a nunnery” scene. But we really did feel that he loved her very much.

Kayla Lian did an amazing job of showing the strain that leads to Ophelia’s madness. It was very clear that, despite his many shortcomings, she loved her father very much. In fact, the whole family dynamic with Polonius, Laertes and Ophelia was touchingly and beautifully done.

Polonius (Curt Hanson) was perfect. He was a believable rather overbearing father and trusted advisor to the king, while at the same time being a tedious windbag. Hanson’s comic timing and delivery were brilliant.

Mark Rothwell’s performance of Claudius was remarkable, also. Every time he was on stage I hated him a little more… and when you’re playing a villain that means you’re doing a good job. He reminded me of a slug, or something that gives you that slimy feeling. He was self-centered and evil with a thin veneer of charm and polish – a perfect stage politician.

The production was filled with wonderful moments – many of them brilliantly awkward and funny. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern excelled at awkward, as did Adam Thompson playing Reynaldo (and various butler-esque minor moments). Charlie Pierce made an excellent gravedigger… and watching someone play with a skeleton in a cemetery was an experience I won’t soon forget!

My main concerns with this production were with bigger conceptual things. For one thing, the way the players were presented bothered me – turning the leading player into a woman and implying some past between Hamlet and her didn’t help my view of Hamlet’s character. Say what you want about princes or college students or whatever, I still feel like it weakened the character and called his relationship with Ophelia into question somewhat. With that kind of history, you almost feel like Laertes and Polonius were right to tell Ophelia to keep her distance.

Director Bruce Hostetler also majorly minimized the Horatio / Hamlet friendship and turned Horatio (Scott Fullerton) into a glorified babysitter the entire time. This did help to isolate Hamlet and require him to put up even more of a façade, but when everyone in the play dies, you kind of want the one person left on stage to be someone you’ve come to love and sympathize with. This didn’t happen.

In fact, the entire second half was plagued with continuity issues because of the way the play was cut down. Now, I totally understand the need to cut the massive play so that people are able to sit through it. And I don’t know how I could have done it myself. But I would not have taken out Hamlet’s encounter with Fortinbras’s army (Act 4 scene 4 – the whole impetus for the “How all occasions do inform against me” speech) or Hamlet’s ill-fated trip to England. I was not convinced by the “Oh, he just decided not to go all of a sudden” way that was handled. When Hamlet forges the letter that sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths, it is a significant step in his journey, and not one that can be left out.

The ending (after everyone dies) was also cut down significantly, leaving out what I think of as the zinger – the “this was the point of this story” moment – and weakening the end considerably. I missed

“So shall you hear

of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,

of accidental judgments, casual slaughters,

of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,

and, in this upshot, purposes mistook

fall’n on th’ inventors’ heads. All this can I

truly deliver” (5.2.422-428).

So while it was overall a good performance and the actors played their parts very well, the whole thing lacked a cohesive feel and a main point that resonates with the audience as they drive home.

The cemetery was very, very cool, though.

Graphic Design and Shakespeare

So, occasionally I get the chance to blend a few of my diverse interests. I'm excited to be doing the graphic design for Portland Actors Ensemble this year! And here's the first poster.

One Reason I Love Shakespeare

I had a discussion with some of my students last week about why one should study Shakespeare. One asked for clarification in an email later, which gave me the chance to write this:

Shakespeare understood human nature -- what makes us tick -- and he wrote about it so well, that being familiar with his characters helps me understand the people around me. That's why his plays have survived 400+ years -- because deep down the people in the plays are the same people that we live with, that we work with, that we meet on the street or at the library.

Macbeth isn't really a story about witches -- it's a story about a man with ambitions and with a wife who pushes him to "succeed" no matter what it takes. He could be an executive, trying to be CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a Senator aiming for the Presidency. And we see people like that in the news all the time.

Hamlet isn't just an emo kid who is commissioned by his father's ghost to revenge his (the father's) murder. Hamlet is a scholar, pushed into a world of action. But he's a thinker... and he finds himself paralyzed by thought. The "To be or not to be" soliloquy isn't about suicide -- it's about how thinking too much about which course of action we should take ends up keeping us from taking any action. I know people who are Hamlets in this sense -- they think and consider all the options and on and on and on... and things just don't ever get done around them... because it's always think first and make sure you've thought about it all.... Knowing Hamlet helps me realize that that's the way they think, and I can relate to them better because I've seen how Hamlet reacts when he's pushed into action (it doesn't go well).

Merchant of Venice is a story of the kind of loyalty you want in your friends -- and how important it is that your spouse and your friends get along, too. Merchant is such a beautiful story of friendship... it's almost a shame that it's clouded over with controversy about anti-Semitism (which isn't really in there... but a lot of people would debate that one).

Othello and Much Ado About Nothing are both warnings against believing everything you hear -- the tragedy (Othello) shows the horrible, horrible consequences, and the comedy (Much Ado) shows in what a tangled mess you can put yourselves and others if you don't verify rumors and accusations. And in this day and age where people are so quick to believe anything they read on the Internet, we could all use that reminder more often.

Henry IV is a coming of age story -- only here you have a dissolute prince who is having to deal with the consequences of his "sewing his wild oats" and become the kind of man he needs to be in order to be a good king. Those consequences (including having to abandon old friends and turn your back on the people who were closest to you) are quite painful and not easily dealt with. So this teaches me a couple things: (1) don't go there in the first place (personally), and (2) don't be quick to judge those who are having to clean up their act.


This is obviously just a smattering of examples. For the moment I've left out Lear, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, The Tempest and a whole passel of others. And Shakespeare isn't the only one who knows human nature and who expresses it in memorable ways. The reason he is one of the best, though, is that he created a massive cast of characters... so he has a wide range to explore. Not many people have that opportunity.

So that's one reason I love Shakespeare. One of many. What about you? Why do you love him?

Upcoming Shakespeare -- Updated with links to reviews

This list is for me as much as it is for anyone else. I'm trying to find a way to keep track of all the productions I want to see. People keep telling me that I should put all this in one place, so here are the upcoming productions of Shakespeare in the Portland area (at least, the ones I can find; if you know of others, please let me know!):


Cymbeline -- Portland Center Stage -- through April 8th. 
http://www.pcs.org/cymbeline/
I've already seen it once, and will see it again...
Here's my review of Cymbeline. 

Much Ado About Nothing -- Northwest Classical Theatre Company -- March 23 - April 22
My review of Much Ado can be found here.

A Midsummer Night's Dream -- University of Portland -- April 13-15, 19-21
Here's a link to my review of this production.

And then it appears there's a dearth of Shakespeare in May... but things really pick up in the summer.

Hamlet -- Portland Actors Ensemble -- June and July 2012
Here's my review.

Measure for Measure -- Northwest Classical Theatre Company -- June 22 - July 15
This is what I thought of it.

A Midsummer Night's Dream -- Post5 Theatre -- June 29 - July 20
My review is here.


Twelfth Night -- Portland Actors Ensemble -- July 21 - September 3
My review... with lots of deep, philosophical thoughts.

Much Ado About Nothing -- Willamette Shakespeare --July 28 - August 19
My review: Not Much Ado

Henry IV Part 1 -- Post5 Theatre -- August 17 - September 8
http://post5theatre.com/2012season
My Review: Princes and Theatre Groups Have to Grow Up


In November and December, Portland Center Stage is doing A Midsummer Night's Dream. http://www.pcs.org/blog/item/25th-anniversary-season-announced/

And I know there will be more announced later. :-)

NWCTC's Hamlet (5 January 2012)

How does one take what could very well be the best-known play in the English language and make it fresh and vibrant and vivid?

By sticking to the script.

Hamlet doesn’t need gimmicks. It doesn’t need innovation or concepts or rediscovery.

It needs actors who know it and love it, actors who breathe life into those incessantly quoted lines as if they were speaking them for the very first time, actors with passion and deep emotion, but who aren’t afraid of blending humor with heartache.

All this is present in Northwest Classical Theatre Company’s production of Hamlet. Director Alana Byington has assembled a wonderful cast whose generally spot-on performances reminded me of how I got sucked into Shakespeare in the first place.

Butch Flowers was brilliant as Hamlet. He was totally believable in every facet of the Prince’s complex personality. He had just the right balance between brooding and energy, and what’s more, he gave the character consistency throughout, which is saying something.

Byington peopled Elsinore with a great supporting cast, too. Glen McCumber played Horatio with gentleness, simplicity and sincerity – the perfect friend for someone in the middle of a family crisis of epic proportions.Almost as soon as Dave Bodin (playing Polonius) started talking, I knew he had nailed the part. He drove me nuts. But then, Polonius is supposed to babble on incessantly and get under everyone’s skin. Polonius is obviously a dad who identifies with and really loves his son, but has no idea what to do with his daughter. Dave Burnett and Robert Wylie as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were delightful. The interaction between Claudius (Jason Maniccia) and Gertrude (Deanna Wells) helped explain Hamlet’s frustration at the situation he finds himself in. Chris Porter, Bibi Walton and Tom Walton did a fantastic job as the players. In fact, the whole staging of the bits with the players (the monologue when they first arrive, the “speak the speech” scene and the play within a play) was spot-on. Usually I find the players tedious… but especially the interweaving of the “speak the speech” monologue with the player (Tom Walton) “practicing” his line had me in stitches.

The only real downside for me was I couldn’t help thinking that somewhere, sometime, there has to be an Ophelia who can keep her clothes on. But I suppose it’s a tradition by now to show Ophelia’s insanity is not through her strange songs and odd fancies, but by having her lose all sense of decorum.

The pacing of the whole thing was masterful. Obviously, since the production was not four hours long, some parts were trimmed. But even though I know the play quite well, I didn’t find the missing bits distracting; I barely noticed them at all. Nowhere did the story get bogged down. The moments where things did slow down to emphasize something or let us catch our breath were earned and judiciously used.

Overall, the production was thoroughly enjoyable. To a theater geek like me, part of the fun is watching the cast operate in such a small space – which they do expertly. There’s nothing quite like live Shakespeare; and even if you’ve seen as many movie versions of Hamlet as I have, this production is still totally worth the time and money – as long as you’re the type who doesn’t mind mixing your laughter with tears, and leaving the stage covered with bodies at the end of a play.

Iconic moments and images

Say, completely hypothetically, you were asked to find in a Shakespeare play the moment that defines the whole thing. Where would you even start if, for example, you had to find the iconic image or moment in Hamlet? I'm not talking here about the moment where Hamlet the character is defined, but more like a moment that embodies the essence of the play.

The "alas, poor Yorick" moment gets a lot of press -- the whole skull-holding bit. I dare you to Google "Hamlet" and count the number of skulls on the first page of images alone. But when you come to that moment, is it really what Hamlet is all about? Yes, there's the preoccupation throughout with death... but at the gravedigger scene, the mood lightens and we don't really feel as much of the gravity of death as in the rest of the play. (In fact... I take issue with Sir Larry here: Hamlet says his "gorge rises" at the thought of the skull belonging to someone he knew and loved... and I kind of doubt he'd cozy up to it like this if he wanted to puke.)

What about the bit(s) with the ghost? After all, the whole thing starts on a dark and stormy night when a ghost appears. Doesn't that suggest that the rest of the play is basically a ghost story? (But then corollary question -- how do you graphically portray a ghost? Hmmmm.... Something to think about.)

How about Ophelia? There's definitely something going on with Hamlet's pretend madness and Ophelia's real insanity. Is there something with Ophelia that captures the whole play? Or is that too narrow?

If we pick one of Hamlet's soliloquies as the iconic moment / image, which one? There are a few to choose from! I find the "how all occasions do inform against me" bit to be more poignant than even the "to be or not to be" even though most folks know the latter better.

And don't even get me started on why Fortinbras is SO important to the play... because that could take forever.

But seriously... what do you think is the iconic image or moment in Hamlet? What sticks out in your mind the most? What do you feel sums up the whole thing? I haven't even mentioned the play within a play. Or the duel at the end. Or Gertrude. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?

I have some ideas of my own, but I'm really curious -- What do you think?