Review: Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Produced by Seattle Shakespeare Company. Directed by John Langs. With Darragh Kennan, Charles Leggett, Richard Ziman, David Pichette, Mary Ewald, Brenda Joyner, Mike Dooly, Shawn Law, Adam Standley. At the Center House Theatre now through December 5.
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| Darragh Kennan as Hamlet. Photo by John Ulman/Seattle Shakes |
It’s foolish to hem and haw so I’m going to cut to the chase. Seattle Shakespeare’s current production of Hamlet, directed by the brilliant John Langs, is the finest production of a Shakespeare play I’ve ever experienced and I’ve seen Hamlet done on Broadway with Ralph Fiennes in a production transferred from London’s Almeida Theatre and directed by Jonathan Kent. That was an experience I very much enjoyed; I enjoyed Seattle Shakes production even more. Mr Langs has created a terse, concise but emotionally rich production with a colloquial, fresh, conversational take on the language. This is not the dry, stuffy declamation of most Shakespearean performances with mush-mouthed, antiquated language and performances by actors who don’t really understand the material. The actors in this production are speaking the lines of Shakespeare verbatim, but they aren’t paralyzed by the verse or the language or the rhythms of speaking these lines like the majority of actors in America and many in the UK. The result is a crystal clear example of how these words should be spoken and interpreted and performed and the words, emotions and meaning of the play are not historic relics of a long gone era, but powerful components of a story rich with relevance and meaning and dramatic intensity and artistic power. It is also frequently very funny, sexy, ribald, flippant and enormously entertaining. For once, a Shakespearean production is not an exercise in academic theatrics but a grand night of crowd pleasing entertainment, like it was when it was first performed 400 years ago. Serious theater lovers need to go HERE, NOW and book their tickets…it’s a must see/go/experience theatrical event in Seattle.
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| Darragh Kennan as Hamlet, David Pichette as Polonius, and Charles Leggett as Player King. Photo by John Ulman. |
And, the lion’s share of the praise must be placed on the head of director John Langs who is rapidly becoming one of the most celebrated stage directors in the country. His work amazed me two years ago in New Century Theater Company’s powerful production of Elmer Rice’s “The Adding Machine” and now he has given us this definitive “Hamlet”… Part of me is afraid to heap any more praise on the man for fear that the avalanche of praise he continues to get locally could well mean he is eventually swept up by a bigger market and Seattle would lose one of its prime theatrical assets, but I’m willing to take the chance. Mr Langs has the uncanny ability to refresh the old, the tired and the steadfast works of dramatic literature and make them fresh, exciting and relatable to contemporary audiences. And, he doesn’t do so with arcane tricks, or bizarre settings, or strange interpretations of the text but by making the language and meaning and intent of the play the most important component of the work. I know actors love working with him and it shows in their performances; John Langs brings out the best in them and they respond with smart, human, carefully crafted performances of the characters they embody.
And, the man has such GOOD ideas. I doubt he was the very first director to do so, but he wisely cast the same actor (the always fascinating, Charles Leggett) as the Ghost of Hamlet’s Father, the Player King and the Comic/Gravedigger which unifies them into one major role as each character reflects on the other as the three watch over, guide and direct Hamlet to avenge the death of his father. In fact, the Ghost is always present on stage; after receiving the urn containing his father’s ashes early in the play, Hamlet pours them out in a totemic circle in the center of the stage and the rest of the show is played in and around that circle. Mr Lang, by emphasizing that this is a REVENGE play, has strengthened its theme and created a more dramatic and chilling structure to the work as a whole. It’s no longer just a play about a spoiled Danish prince who has to grow up and be an adult and act like a King; it’s now a work about a man and his destiny and the events both real and unreal, that shape his destiny.
There are many other amazing touches as well: the opening watchtower scene is played in complete darkness but then the lights slowly come up and as our eyes start to adjust we can begin to make out the characters on stage as they move about the ramparts of the castle. This contrasts strongly with the sharp, bright, high contrast light in the court scenes as the very politically savvy Claudius carefully presents the image he wants to project to the rest of the world. It’s a very recognizable world of politics and court intrigue that is presented here. The director and designers have set this Hamlet in a vaguely contemporary world that could be anytime between the 1930’s and today but maybe not on this earth…it’s like an alternate reality of our world where things are similar but not quite the same. (It’s sort of like visiting Vancouver BC for the first time; it seems a lot like the US but then it really doesn’t, as well…everything is just a bit “off”.)
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| Mother and son: Darragh Kennan and Mary Ewald as Gertrude. |
The production design on this Hamlet is of the highest quality, from the dramatic flourish of Geoff Korf’s lighting design; to Pete Rush’s crisply clean, white, creme, or black costumes; to Robertson Witmer’s haunting sound design; to Jennifer Zeyl’s simple but expressive set. The components all blend seamlessly to form a coherently solid and artistic whole.
Acting-wise, we have some of the creme of the Seattle acting crop with representatives from all levels of the local theater world. Long time stalwarts like David Pichette as the prissy courtier Polonius and Richard Ziman as the vain-glorious King Claudius have delighted local audiences for many years and both are excellent in this show with Mr Pichette making Polonius a real and multi-dimensional character and not a stuffy, dull sap as he has been frequently portrayed and Mr Ziman enabling his Claudius with power and strength and cunning and cruelty. So often, productions of “Hamlet” end up being a star vehicle for a big name theater actor trying to prove his mettle in one of the pinnacle roles of theater and all the focus is on Hamlet and the famous Hamlet moments, (the ghost visit and “to be, or not to be” and “get thee to the nunnery” and “alas poor Yorick!” and the fight scene) but the other characters and plots tend to get the fuzzy end of the director’s lollipop. Mr Lang’s direction of Mr Pichette and Mr Ziman, and their performances, make these characters as equally important and interesting as the character of Hamlet himself.
In smaller roles, many other familiar actors bring a lot to this Danish table. Mike Dooley nearly killed me at a performance of “True West” at the Balagan last spring; here he is as equally impressive and powerful as Hamlet’s only true friend, Horatio with a strong fine voice and feel for the text and his character’s relationship with Hamlet. Shawn Law is one of the busiest young actors in town, going from “The Laramie Project” to “reasons to be pretty” to this production and his range and stamina are evident in his performance as Laertes, as he shapes a character that is as equally believable as the callow youth of the first act as he is as the vengeful but conflicted enemy of Hamlet in the second act. And, the Satori Group’s Adam Standley was excellent in a number of smaller roles, but really stood out as a cross-dressing actor in the Player’s Scene, making the small part interesting, vibrant and very amusing.
Women have always had a tough time in Shakespeare. Yes, there are some great roles, but the parts are always smaller and event the larger women’s roles tend to be off stage for much of the play, so it can be hard to integrate the characters into a show and make it relatable to modern audiences. Hamlet really only has two female roles; his mother, Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, Hamlet’s female interest and the daughter of Polonius. Both Mary Ewald, as Gertrude, and Brenda Joyner as Ophelia are capable, powerful actresses and give strong performances with Ms Joyner especially good in her “Mad Scene” where she crafts a realistic but haunting and emotionally powerful performance of a woman destroyed by grief. Actresses playing the part tend to go overboard with the crazy, but Ms Joyner plays it simple and haunted and hurt and it feels like a real moment from someone in great agony and not like an actress having an epileptic fit in a Monty Python sketch.
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| Good night, Sweet Prince…Darragh Kennan and Mike Dooly as Horatio. |
Finally. We come to Hamlet himself. It’s a bitch of a part to play, a complicated mess of a man who is tortured by his grief and his own failures and his immaturity and his own petulant attitude towards life. More than one actor has failed, or, at least flailed in this part and it’s driven a couple mad, at least temporarily, (Daniel Day-Lewis famously had a mental breakdown playing the part). We’ll check on him in a few weeks when the play is over, but for the time being Darragh Kennan seems in fine form and up to his mettle wrestling with the demons of the Danish Prince. Mr Kennan is astonishing in this role…relaxed, confident, in control but enjoying the moment. His Hamlet seems modern and contemporary and very relatable…his Hamlet is not some ham actor in a black doublet and tights and a blond pageboy mincing about the stage. Mr Kennan is a tad too old to really be a Danish student prince but he convinces us that his Hamlet has been a bit of procrastinating party boy/bum prince who’s been spending years at Wittenberg living the high life as the eternal grad student/good time charlie living off the family fortune. He’s jaded, sneering, rude, but also sentimental and fiercely loyal to those he holds dear. This Hamlet is flesh and bone and while he’s quite capable of being strong and dramatic, he’s also very much at home being funny and ironic and silly if need be. Again, it’s an amazing, award worthy, high praise performance and Darragh Kennan’s Hamlet is equal to, if not superior to the Hamlet of Ralph Fiennes. It’s that good.
It’s a delightfully rich and complex and vibrant performance and it works because the language works and the language works because the actors understand what they are trying to convey and they know they don’t need to hide behind the misconceptions of “properly reverent Shakespearean acting.” Mr Kennan almost throws away some of the biggest, most famous moments in the play…usually the “to be, or not to be” soliloquy is presented as “the Big Moment” of the night and put up on a pedestal to be looked at and admired and praised and it usually is a big yawn of ham acting. Here, the director and actor have made it a quiet, simple, heart felt moment that rings true to the moment and to the character. It was beautiful and I’m starting to think that Mr Langs should travel around the country once a year and give Master Classes to theater directors on how to direct Shakespearean plays…or, ALL plays, for that matter.
Who’s it for? Everyone who loves brilliant, challenging, and entertaining live drama.
Go!
Thank me later.
– Michael Strangeways
