Reviewed by James
Karas
In what play do you get the following: a countertenor who walks across
the stage singing; a pianist who plays on a grand piano accompanying the
countertenor and much of the dialogue; three ghosts and three people who die
standing up: a puppet show?
If you stuck your hand up and yelled Hamlet you win a pair of
tickets to the Belvoir St. Theatre production of that play in Sydney,
Australia. “Production” may strike some people as somewhat of a misnomer and
calling it an unrestrained ego trip for director Simon Stone may be closer to
the mark.
The production does bear some relationship to Shakespeare’s play but it
only serves as the basis for Stone to select scenes and characters that are
suitable for his Hamlet. Anyone
wishing to see a more familiar version of the play should give Belvoir Street a
wide berth.
The lights go on a stage that is all black with black chairs lined up on
the sides. We see a grand piano and a countertenor (Maximilian Riebl) walks on
the stage singing Purcell’s O Solitude accompanied by pianist Luke Byrne.
We then see a man seated on a chair against the wall with a woman lying on a couple of chairs, her head on his lap. He says “Thrift, thrift, Ophelia! The funeral baked meats
did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.” Those lines are spoken to Horatio in Shakespeare’s play and they are not the opening dialogue. They are in Stone’s version.
That sets the
stage for this extraordinary emasculation of Shakespeare to suit the whim or
vision of Stone. Hamlet has some 34 characters but Stone produces his version
with eight actors who do some dubious doubling up and the two musicians.
Hamlet is played
by Toby Schmitz as an intense young man who is mad from beginning to end. Stone
has Schmitz perform with high emotional intensity and mental turmoil but within
a very limited range. Shakespeare’s Hamlet goes through a number of emotional
stages from contemplation to rage to despair to the final peace of death when
all is silence. There is very little modulation in the Stone/Schmitz Hamlet.
That is
unfortunate because Schmitz seems more than capable of presenting a much wider
emotional range and a more complex Hamlet. He has a full-throated, rich voice
that can handle much more than Stone’s version of the complex prince. He is on
stage almost throughout the performance making only occasional brief exits.
John Gaden’s
Claudius is a reserved patrician who rarely loses his cool. His evil is
well-hidden but he seems to have had enough polish to seduce his brother’s wife
and plan the murder and usurpation of the throne.
Robyn Nevin’s
Gertrude, with her mop of blonde hair, lacks the sexual magnetism that would
draw Claudius to her and to fratricide and the two seemed fairly business-like.
Emily Barclay
played what was left of Ophelia quite well and she did get some latitude in her
Mad Scene to show that she can act.
Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern, Shakespeare’s two fools, were rolled into one but not given a
name. Nathan Lovejoy played the unnamed character with a straight face mostly
as a foil for Hamlet and as messenger for the King.
Hamlet’s Ghost
(Anthony Phelan) appears at the beginning of the play and in the Bedroom Scene
in Shakespeare’s play. In this production he was on stage much of the time. He
is a flesh and blood Ghost and is given some of the Gravedigger’s lines near
the end. There is no indication that he is supposed to be the Gravedigger. He
is the Ghost that introduces Yorick’s skull.
Hamlet shoots
Polonius who ends up in a pool of blood. He gets up (Ghost No. 2) and the
Rosencrantz/Guildenstern stand-in comes on with blood all over. Ophelia returns
as Ghost No. 3 after she drowns. The King, Ophelia and Laertes , all have blood
all over as the end approaches.
How do you
handle the fencing scene at the end where Laertes, the King, the Queen and
finally Hamlet die? No weapons are used and no movement. All ten actors stand
on stage and recite their lines. The Queen, Laertes and the King die in turn,
standing on their feet. Hamlet’s turn comes and he goes into spasmodic fits,
screeching as he approaches the end. The spasms and the screeching stop
abruptly and he says “the rest is silence.”
Thank, God.
______
Hamlet by William Shakespeare continues until December 1, 2013 at the
Belvoir St.Theatre, 25 Belvoir St. Surrey Hills, Sydney, Australia. www.belvoir.com.au/
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