Hamlet
Directed by Bert Pigg
Produced by Auriga Productions
Audience Rating: PG
Running Time: 2:45 with one 10 min intermission
Accessible Seating: Available
Hearing Devices: Not Available
Sensory Friendly Showing: Not Available
ASL Performance: Not Available
Volume Level: Comfortable.
Noises and Visuals to Prepare For: Some thunder sounds.
There are very few plays that have inspired as many OTHER plays as Hamlet. I’ve personally been part of two of them (Bernhardt/Hamlet at Rover Dramawerks and I Hate Hamlet at the Pocket Sandwich Theatre) and seen one of the latest in London (The Motive and the Cue, presented by the National Theatre), just in the last six months. What is it about this play that intrigues people so much? Well, if you’ve only slaved over it in a high school classroom, it’s definitely time to revisit - especially courtesy of Auriga Productions’ excellent interpretation.
Director Bert Pigg has managed to strip all the pretention out of his Hamlet, with modern dress, a blank stage with just boxes, and simple black curtains, and it is extremely effective. There’s nothing to stand between the audience and the story because, and this is key, the actors obviously know what they’re saying, which means the audience knows, too, even with the flowery Shakespearean text.
You couldn’t ask for a better Hamlet than Brandon Whitlock. He perfectly portrays the moody college student who can’t handle the fact that his mother has married his uncle so soon after his father’s death. And once he’s visited by the ghost of his father and urged to revenge his death, his whole demeanor changes. He goes from sulky to practically vibrating with intensity in the blink of an eye. Whitlock has great physical control and facial expressions, and when he speaks Hamlet’s lines, it really does feel like he’s just talking “normally.”
As Hamlet’s best friend Horatio, Joel Frapart matches Whitlock in his ease of delivery, making the scenes between the two some of the best in the show, and they have excellent rapport. Frapart shows a wide range of emotions throughout as he tries to help his friend maneuver both his grief and revenge. Nice job.
Kim Winnubst brings a new spin to Ophelia’s father, Polonius and has some of the funniest moments of the play (yes, Hamlet does include humor!). Her performance was excellent, Winnubst definitely shines in the role and even dies beautifully.
As the Ghost of Hamlet’s father, Carter Frost creates an imposing and scary figure, and his scene with Hamlet as he commands him to get revenge for his murder is really powerful. When Frost returns later in the play as Osric, he has a completely different physicality about him. Playing such contrasting roles, especially in a space as small as Amy’s Studio of Performing Arts, can be difficult, but he makes it look easy.
The rest of the supporting cast is also strong overall, with extra shoutouts to Joshua Halen and Malcolm Stephenson.
This is one of the best productions of a Shakespearean play I’ve ever seen, and I have to say that I was dismayed at the size of the audience on Saturday night of opening. This is a show – a Hamlet – that needs to be seen! Seriously, you need to plan to see it, whether in Farmers Branch through April 28 or when it moves to the Hardy and Betty Sanders Theatre at Arts Fort Worth, running there May 10-19. You will not regret it!
Auriga’s production of Hamlet will run at Amy’s Studio of Performing Arts in Dallas from April 5 to April 28, Fridays and Saturday evenings at 8pm and Sunday matinees at 2pm.
A second run at Fort Worth’s Sanders Theater will be on the weekends of May 10 and May 17. Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm and Sunday matinees at 2pm on Sundays.
Talkbacks on Sundays following the performance.
Tickets can be purchased online at Ticket Leap https://auriga-productions.
There’s NOTHING like live theatre!
Carol M. Rice
Comments
Post a Comment