Hamlettes

by Delaney Gibson

If the title Hamlettes evokes thoughts of, “Oh, wow, that sounds really cute,” you’re in for a major surprise. It is an insightful and creative modern adaptation of Hamlet, set in an all girls school. Playwright Patrick Shaw makes audience members feel a surprising closeness to Shakespeare’s Hamlet when three pre-teen girls -Alex, Chloe, and Ophelia - decide to start a drama club, and, of course, perform Hamlet! Being committed actors, the trio refuses to break character – ever – which leads them to a pre-pubescent tragedy or their own, full of the betrayal, angst and lies that is Hamlet.

The casting is perfect; the actors embody their characters completely, bringing the entire audience back to when we were twelve. Working with a simple, but brilliantly composed set, the play ignites questions of betrayal, love, loss, and blame, and will leave you thinking of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet – and your own life choices – in a brand new light!

Anyone interested in literature will enjoy this production. With the production’s outstanding direction, strong, and capturing script, and remarkably flexible actors, Hamlettes is a great show bordering on amazing.

[Photo Credit: Brian Hashimoto]

*Plog Pick

Schedule and ticket information here.

The Merchant of Venice

By Reyna  Schaechter

This summer, Shakespeare in the Park, housed in Central Park’s Delacorte Theater, is reviving The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare in the Park has become an annual tradition, and because demand for tickets is so high, I arrived at the park at 7:00 AM to receive two tickets for that evening’s performance of “The Merchant of Venice”.

The Merchant of Venice, written by Shakespeare between 1596 and 1598, addresses the anti-Semitism in society at the time. Bassanio, a Christian Venetian, turns to Jewish moneylender Shylock for a loan, naming Antonio as the loan’s guarantor. Shylock agrees under the condition that if Antonio does not repay him by a specific date, Shylock gets to cut a pound of his flesh off. When Antonio defaults on Shylock, Shylock takes him to court, prepared to take his revenge. However, when Portia, a rich heiress, points out a flaw in the contract, the law turns on Shylock and he is forced to convert to Christianity against his will.

I will confess, I had to read the plot summary through a few times to grasp all that was happening. And that was after I saw the show.

Shakespearean English is more difficult to comprehend than the English we’re used to. I think that productions of Shakespeare must be very active in order to keep audiences awake and attentive. Though the court scene in which Shylock’s future is determined was gripping, it was more a result of Shakespeare’s brilliance than the doing of any director or actor. In other scenes, I often found my mind wandering.

Although we have all come to love Al Pacino, his accent threw me off. He spoke in a heavy modern Brooklyn accent, which led me to believe that director Dan Sullivan was attempting to modernize the storyline. However, the Elizabethan costumes screamed “17^th century” to me. Bodices, stomachers, kirtles, ruffs and cloaks were all present in the production. Brooklyn didn’t even exist when these garments were fashionable.

The one thrill of the show was seeing famous figures live. Al Pacino, for example, received an ovation when he entered the stage. In addition, at the end of the show, a bunch of fans crowded around the stage door (myself included). I was lucky enough to take a picture with him.

If you’re in the mood to get up at 5:00 in the morning, wait for six hours in Central Park, sit through an almost three hour show, but then have the opportunity to take a photo with Al Pacino at the end, then go see The Merchant of Venice.

TICKETS: Free tickets for Shakespeare in the Park are distributed via the free line at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and on the web via our Virtual Ticketing system. Visit www.shakespeareinthepark.org for more info.

As You Like It

by Ben Ellentuck

When I entered the BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Harvey Theater, where As You Like It is playing, I was immediately struck. The theater is absolutely enormous. It also looks like it’s about to collapse. Old columns just barely hold up the balcony. The walls and ceiling are crumbling: I would not have been entirely surprised if a piece of debris had fallen on me. Also—a warning—the seats are very flat and not ideal for sitting in for long periods of time. And yet, the space, especially in combination with the set, is breathtaking.

Ah, the set! The set designer has hit a home run, beautifully capturing the essence of the forest, where most of the action takes place. The trees are like telephone poles, the back wall like an infinitely tall prison barrier; first snow on the ground, then what looks like wheat—the whole set up is weird and wonderful. The lighting design, too, is great; there is a very nice chemistry between the lighting and the set that results in some very cool effects throughout the performance.

Ah…the performance. Is it a bad sign that I enjoyed looking at the set more than at the performers?
 

As You Like It is a comedy by William Shakespeare (remember him?). As such, you can be sure that there will be a woman (Rosalind) dressing like a man, lovers (her and a guy named Orlando, among others), fools, nobility, singing and general merriment, and of course many happy marriages at the end (As You Like It features a quadruple marriage). Yes, of course there is a plot, but it’s much too complicated to write here. (The program attempts a synopsis that is so confusing I almost didn’t bother to pay attention at all—but don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get the basics…by intermission.)

Sure, there are the famous speeches—“all the world’s a stage,” among others—that can’t possibly go wrong. There are the gags that are funny no matter what. There are some moments that inevitably work—the writing is just that good. But in this production, at least for me, these were the only moments that I really enjoyed.

The production, directed by Sam Mendes (he directed American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, among other movies—along with many other plays), is not played as a comedy—or at least it isn’t particularly funny. (But then again I didn’t find American Beauty particularly funny, either.) As a result, I didn’t really have that much fun watching the actors speak—and they speak quite a bit; the production is three hours long.

Additionally, Mendes sprinkles in a bunch of conceptual elements—some modern costumes here, some English accents there, some color-blind casting, a lot of the cast playing multiple roles—that feel more like afterthoughts than anything else. They’re never really fleshed out, and I didn’t feel like I “got” what Mendes was going for in the end—but perhaps I’m just stupidly inattentive. I don’t know. Maybe it was my flat seat, after all.

HOW TO SEE THE SHOW: $10 student rush tickets • BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Brooklyn

Hamlet

by Zoe Wolfe

In reviewing one of Shakespeare’s most iconic and tragic tales, where does one begin? The classic “to be or not to be” speech? The star studded cast? The set? The directing? All of these must be discussed in due time, but it might be best to start at the beginning.

As the dim lights come up, you see Hamlet (only recognizable because we know that he is played by Jude Law) kneeling, looking forlorn. This puts the viewer in a highly focused, almost frightened mindset. But as Hamlet exits and Barnardo and Francisco enter, the feeling is shattered. They start jabbering away, throwing around the witty lines that Shakespeare wrote for them, putting the audience at an utter loss. They speak so quickly that it is nearly impossible to keep up with what they are saying without having read the play at least a dozen times before. In the way they speak, they could be any duo from any Shakespeare play.

All of Law’s actions, however, are carefully chosen. You know exactly why he’s moving in a certain direction, or why he’s using a certain tone of voice. His intentions and the meaning of his lines are clear, even if you can’t understand every single word he’s saying. It is evident that director Michael Grandage put a lot of thought into Hamlet’s character and that he spent a lot of time working with Law to perfect his performance. Their hard work pays off, and Law’s portrayal of Hamlet is wonderfully in tune.

If Grandage had put as much thought into the rest of the characters as he did into Hamlet, then the play could have been truly amazing. With a number of characters, including Barnardo, Francisco, Horatio and Ophelia, all intentions are lost. The audience cannot clearly see what they want or how they are going to get it. While this might suffice in a contemporary play, the problem is blaringly obvious here. Many Shakespearean words and phrases are confusing or unfamiliar, so it would be in the director’s best interest to treat the script as a foreign language. Everything needs to be clear, or the audience will be lost.

The production’s time period is confusing, too. All of the characters are wearing somewhat modern clothes. The older men wear formal suits, while the women wear modern formal clothing. This is set against the stone backdrop of a medieval castle. This effect is not too confusing, because it seems to be trying to achieve an ambiguous time period. It gets muddled when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet’s school friends, are introduced as characters. They are dressed in dark jeans and peacoats—very 2009.

They also act like modern people, while the older actors act more reserved, either trying to maintain ambiguity or Shakespearian pomp. Through his sarcasm and sporadic bursts of energy, Law also acts with modern flair. While Grandage might have been trying to show a difference between the old and the young, his choice works against him and confuses the viewer. He could have gone one way or the other, and in my opinion, he should have chosen to direct Hamlet as a modern play, because Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two of the best-acted characters.

While Hamlet is many things at once, and is sometimes plain confusing, it is still an enjoyable experience. Through Law’s portrayal of Hamlet, the audience gets an inside view into his character’s mind. Hamlet speaks directly to the audience with openness and a bare honesty that amazes the viewer. This play has the potential to be truly great, but it is missing the little bit of effort that it would need to reach that level.

HOW TO SEE THE SHOW: $35 student rush tickets. Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 44th St.

The Taming of the Shrew

By Chris Ramirez

To tame or not to tame…that is the question.

The FringeNYC production of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare features two lovely women who live in the town of Padua with their very rich father, Senor Baptista. The older daughter, Katherine, is a mean, angry and violent girl; while the younger one, Bianca, is beautiful, sweet and gentle. When suitors come to request Bianca's hand in marriage, her father declares that before anyone can marry Bianca, Katherine must first be married. Thus…enter Petruchio, a man who tries to tame Katherine while his friend Lucentio woos young Bianca.

The set for this play was brilliant. It was quite simple with four big lawn chairs that doubled for many other things. The sound design was energetic and lively during scene changes with songs that ranged from artists like Pink to Michael Buble, garnering the attention of the audience throughout the play. The lighting was sparse yet effective, although some actors were unlit during scenes.

There were many great performances I truly enjoyed Henry Dwyer, who had great enthusiasm in his role of Petruchio and Violeta Picayo, complete with crazy moments of hitting and screaming in the guise of Katherine. Some of the other actors were hard to understand at times, particularly one who was trying to speed through his lines, creating a difficult time for the audience.

The theatre was quite hot (as always during the Fringe), but I was amazed at how the actors performed with bright lights and exotic costumes…it was a sauna for them to say the least. I am very glad I went to see this performance of The Taming of the Shrew as I am a huge fan of Shakespeare and I highly recommend this play to teenagers and families.

http://www.shrewnyc.com/

Othello

by Sarah Abdalla

Othello is about a black leader in a white society. Shakespeare touches on many issues, including gender, race, social class and betrayal.

The relationship between Othello and Desdemona is extremely significant because a white woman like Desdemona was expected to marry a white man. Being in an interracial couple has never been easy, but Othello and Desdemona have a particularly difficult time. Had Othello not maintained a high status that put him in the top social class, he would not have been able to marry a girl like Desdemona.

Other characters, such as Bianca and Emilia, forced me to question the role of woman. Othello made me realize that women have come a long way. For the most part, women are respected and treated equally in today’s society. We are definitely a progressive nation.

Overall, I recommend Othello and think that that it was well done. The set was really simple and the acting was tremendous. It did feel long at some points, but with the music and the action, I felt like I was living it!

That is why I love theater – you can release the other thoughts and worries that occupy your mind and become a part of the action in front of you.

$10 Student Tickets! Visit http://www.tfana.org/othello.html for more information.