Hamlet Unable to Sustain Innovation

"To be or not to be, that is the question."

There are few better-known words in the English language. Shakespeare has been elevated to the status of Literature Deity, and verse from Hamlet, perhaps his most famous play, can be heard in schoolrooms across the country.

The celebrity of this play can pose problems for those desiring to perform it. Hamlet has been staged so often, by such great talents, that any traditional treatment of the text is redundant. However, the sanctification of Shakespeare's words may make innovation a daunting process.

Director Zoe Mulford struggles with this dilemma in her production. Although she displays some creative and effective ideas, Mulford eventually capitulates to the intimidating power of the Bard's prose, letting the text dominate the actors.

In the early scenes of the play, Costumer Phoebe Faux clothed the characters in World War II-era garments. Only Hamlet, dressed completely in black and his father's ghost, in armor, deviate from this theme. This idea, coupled with interesting staging, gives the text an appealing freshness.

However, as the play progresses, the 40's motif is abandoned. Ophelia (Nora Connell) and Laertes (Adam Freed) travel backwards in time with each costume change. This mixed-era wardrobe becomes most distracting in the case of the of a courtier (Vicki Wiseblatt) who is dressed as if she had just left Versailles. Wiseblatt sported an enormous red hat which upstaged everything and everyone on stage.

Mulford's staging innovations are initially quite arresting. The farewell scene between Polonius (James Marino) and Laertes is especially humorous. As he utters the immortal words, "To thine own self be true," Marino writes a check for his son. Freed spends much of the scene grasping for the paper, evidently more interested in acquiring his father's money than his advice.

Unfortunately, Mulford abandons her experimental staging as the play progresses. During the second half of Hamlet, each speaker delivers their monologue while stiffly positioned at center stage--this technique effectively destroys the innovation that Mulford had promised the audience earlier. Hamlet's famous soliloquy is rendered by a subdued Alexander Pak, the emotional impact drained by static staging.

The constant presence of the tech crew on stage is an interesting addition in the early scenes of the show. Sitting in the audience, they supply sound effects by playing wind chimes, blowing in bottles and whispering. The techies reappear later as the roving theater troop, blurring the lines between cast and crew.

But Mulford's Pirandellian-like staging, after drawing attention to the artificial nature of theater, eventually becomes gratuitous, most notably when members of the tech crew walk across the stage in mid-scene.

A fairly solid cast bolsters this production. Pak is impressive as the troubled prince, his charisma carrying him through most of the difficulties of the production. Explosive throughout his early scenes, Pak remians believeable while expressing both sorrow and rage. Particularly during Hamlet's early moments of madness, Pak commands the audience's complete attention. Disappointingly, he loses some of his vitality in the second half of the show.

Marino provided outstanding comic relief as the doddering Polonius, and Sheila MacDonald shines as the troubled Gertrude. Saddly, Steven Lucado's Claudius never reaches any kind of emotional intensity. In the final scenes he appears bland--the evil man who killed his brother in order to possess his kingdom and his wife never emerges in Lucando's performance.

Mulford's production hints at the creativity which could have made Hamlet exceptional. Unfortunately, the abandonment of these ideas early in the play renders the remainder dull and leaves the audience wondering why a truly innovative staging was not to be.