Hamlet Bound in The Winthrop JCR Nutshell

If you can suspend disbelief enough to picture the Winthrop House Junior Common Room as the castle Elsinore, you'll enjoy the Winthrop House Drama Society's production of "Hamlet." The notoriously small JCR presents a challenge for any production; to put on "Hamlet" there successfully is a truly amazing feat.

Director Tim Foley has transformed this space into a surprisingly apt theatre. The intimacy of the room emphasizes the claustrophobic nature of the Danish court. While the limitations of the theatre quickly become obvious (the ghost is a spotlight accompanied by clashing orchestral chords, for instance), they are minimal.

Allan Piper's lanky Hamlet resembles a figure from an Evelyn Waugh novel, dressed in Edwardian finery and scribbling in a little notebook he keeps in his breast pocket. His initial monologues are compelling and his command of the verse consistently excellent. As the play progresses, however, Piper seems to run out of emotions: he alternates between declamation and manis, with little variation.

Foley takes liberties with the usual portrayals of Shakespeare's characters, creating a new sense of politics in the Danish court. David Bottorf as Polonius is anything but a doddering old fool -- he's an overbearing and controlling father and courtier. When Polonius sells the king and queen he knows the cause of Hamlet's lunacy, it's more a command to listen than a plea for audience.

Similarly, Phillip White's Claudius is not regal and controlling, but rather slimy and pretentious. When he commands Hamlet to "be as us in Denmark," White is less like a cool, calculating usurper and more like a glib James Spader. He's irreverent and funny, but the eloquence of his "o, my offence is rank" speech is undercut by the flippancy of the rest of his portrayal.

Silje Normand's Ophelia is marvelous -- fragile yet painfully aware of the politicking around her. Her sweet, sad songs during her mad scene are heart-breaking.

The smaller roles are all well-played: of special note is Seph McNamara's Horatio, stalwart and strong, and Kirk Hanson's Guildenstern, a truly insufferable twit.

The opening night performance was hamperred by a few technical difficulties which shouldn't happen again, but there were other production problems which seem unlikely to change. The use of dining hall bowis as tableware, for instance, is a little tacky, and the slickness of the stage door occasionally makes the play seem more like "Starlight Express" than Shakespeare.

The only major problem in this production is the actors' tendency to take Hamlet's "speak the speech trippingly" advice too much to heart. Everyone speaks to fast, it's as if Foley advised his players to pick up the peace of the show simply by speaking more quickly. The play is long, to be sure -- it runs over three hours -- but it's worth the time, and shouldn't be rendered unintelligible.

"Hamlet" is always worth seeing. This production, a rare Shakespearean offering for the HRDC and the Winthrop House Drama Society, shouldn't be missed. Remind yourself why you read this stuff in high school -- see "Hamlet."