|
Local News
| News | Sports |
Business | Opinions |
Columns | Entertainment |
| Science/Technology | Weather | Archives | E-mail Us |
Saturday, October 16, 1999
Something rotten in the state of Denmark
Playhouse production leaves Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' dying lingering death
By Paige Ross
Caller-Times Arts & Entertainment Writer
To be or not to be? Whatever.
A story of a fatherless, angst-ridden youth outraged at the decadent behavior of the ruling generation, upset about betrayal by government leaders and concerned about the direction of the country, and surrounded by the possibility of violence has the possibility of engaging contemporary audiences at several levels.
But the community theater production of "Hamlet" at the Harbor Playhouse fell distressingly short Friday night. At best, it's a snoozer. At worst, it's the kind of production that can result in unsuspecting audiences deciding they hate Shakespeare, have no use for theater and no need for the classics.
Colorful court scenes, with attempts at Elizabethan costuming that left shreds and patches of glittering stuff stuck on some of the robes, created moments of Mayberry charm. This is the kind of Shakespearean exercise you used to find in church basements and small town high school theaters, the kind of evening you endured to root for friends braving the footlights.
Some capable comedic actors were cast in dramatic roles, and as the production foundered they drew on what has worked for them in the past. Bob Caro's comedic double takes as Hamlet, Patrick Bowen's bumbling delivery as Claudius and Alan Gardiner-Atkinson's hammy posturing as Polonius nearly took the production to a new level. It billowed and sagged, almost rising to the level of camp parody, but was ultimately just too dreary and dropped under its own weight.
Well-loved lines flew past, mangled and spit aside by actors who simply were not able to make the audience feel their characters' pain.
Actors playing the leading female roles were the exceptions. Cynthia Eisenberg, who played Gertrude, is an engaging talent who underplayed the role quite well, bringing maturity and depth to her interpretation. Megan Roaten showed skill, talent and surety as Ophelia, but the women's parts are scant in "Hamlet," hardly enough to keep the production on course.
"Hamlet" stalks the stage at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 30 at the Harbor Playhouse, No. 1 Bayfront Park. Tickets are $8. For information, call 888-7469.
Arts & Entertainment writer Paige Ross can be reached at 886-3753 or by e-mail at rossp@caller.com
| Talk about this story | Next Story
| Home |
© 1999 Caller-Times Publishing Company, a
Scripps Howard newspaper.
All rights reserved.
|
 |
 |
|
