The Tragedy Of Hamlet (Shakespeare By The Sea 2023 Production) Theatre Review

Hamlet set

Often in productions of Hamlet, the Ghost of Hamlet’s father feels distant, for the otherworldly aspect is emphasized to the point where his other qualities are diminished. He is regal and frightening, commanding, but somehow remote. That is not the case in the current production of The Tragedy Of Hamlet put on by Shakespeare By The Sea, one of two plays the company has been performing this summer in various parks throughout Los Angeles. The Ghost (Cylan Brown) is present at the beginning of the performance, an observer at his own funeral, a moment added for this production. As Gertrude (Tara Donovan) breaks down, the Ghost goes to comfort her, and seems almost surprised that he cannot. The audience feels for the Ghost before the play has even truly begun. The audience also feels for Gertrude in that moment, Tara Donovan giving us a very human Gertrude. The other relationship that is highlighted by this added scene is that between Hamlet and Ophelia, another important relationship that is sometimes not given the attention it requires. As Hamlet (Brendan Robert Kane) breaks down in grief, Ophelia (Melissa Booey) takes his hand. This opening scene, which again is not in the text, is brief, but gives a strong sense of the relationships, and of the overall atmosphere in which the action will take place.

Then during the first scene of the text, the Ghost walks among the audience, as if feeling his way in his new surroundings, getting a sense of what he can do and what he cannot, something that must be difficult for someone who was up until very recently a king. He approaches the stage from the audience, and then exits around the back. He seems curious to be there, surprised perhaps by this sort of afterlife, and attempting to find his place, which is interesting and sad. As the second scene begins, Hamlet enters alone and sits at the edge of the stage. The others enter behind him, and Claudius (Patrick Vest) and Gertrude kiss as she places the crown upon his head. Whatever one might feel about their hasty marriage and the dubious way their relationship began, it is clear that there is physical attraction between them and affection even from these early moments. Because of the staging, it is Hamlet who is closest to the audience, the action happening behind him, almost as if he is not there. And he must feel that way, that his presence is of little consequence. How strange for him, for of course he should have been in line for the throne, though in that moment he is immersed in grief, and while the others at first pay him no mind, he, with his back to them, likewise pays little mind to what is occurring. It is a powerful stage image, and the audience cannot help but focus on Hamlet, who is using all his strength just to hold himself together. He doesn’t speak until he has to, until he is addressed by the new king. Claudius gets close to Hamlet when he says “‘tis unmanly grief,” delivered one on one, as if not to embarrass Hamlet, which is a nice touch. And it is clear that Ophelia worries about him, and when Gertrude goes to Claudius, she goes to Hamlet until her father leads her away.

When finally alone, Hamlet allows himself to wail, to let it out before going into his first soliloquy. He gives a powerful and compelling delivery, at the edge of tears, putting those of us in the audience into a similar state. What a remarkable performance by Brendan Robert Kane, who just the night before was hilarious as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night. This is someone to pay attention to. On “But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue,” he pulls himself together. It is that moment when we first see that he must pretend to be what he is not, something that of course recurs throughout the play. However, he is truly glad to see Horatio (Peter Green). When Hamlet says “methinks I see my father,” both Marcellus (Melissa Ortiz) and Bernardo (Alec Yamartino) look out, fully expecting to see the Ghost, but Horatio’s focus remains on Hamlet, which is great, since Horatio knows him better. The line “he wore his beaver up” is cut, because the Ghost in this production is without a helmet. When the Ghost next appears, there is an excellent moment when Hamlet says to him, “I’ll call thee Hamlet/King, father.” And it is upon hearing the word “father” that the Ghost stops and turns back to him. That is the designation that means the most to him now, that is the relationship that connects them. Soon after that, there is a beautiful moment when Hamlet tentatively reaches out to the Ghost, and then embraces him. And they sit together, as we sense they did in life. What we see then isn’t a murdered king and a man who must revenge that murder, but rather a father and son. It isn’t until after the mention of murder that they stand again. The Ghost’s delivery of “by a brother’s hand” is striking because it is clear he is still astonished by this betrayal. The Ghost embraces Hamlet again before leaving, and his “Remember me” comes from a place of need rather than delivered as a command. This entire performance is excellent, but the scenes between Hamlet and the Ghost of his father are probably the best I’ve ever seen. And when Hamlet tells the others, “It is an honest ghost,” it is a pointed and certain delivery. The Ghost’s “Swear” occurs only once in this production, leading to Hamlet’s “Rest, rest perturbed spirit.”

Laertes (Mateo Mpinduzi-Mott) clearly cares for his sister, and his advice to her comes from that, even if it ends up not being the best advice. This production takes great care to make the relationships believable and human, and as a result the audience admires and feels closer to more characters than is sometimes the case. Flowers are a part of Ophelia’s costume, an interesting touch. Laertes is ready to leave, but Polonius (Gregory Mason Dodds) stops him to give him his famous words of advice. When he begins, Laertes sits down. He and Ophelia, by their expressions, have heard this speech before, or something like it. But again, Polonius loves his son. Polonius gets more upset with Ophelia, which is interesting, as he charges her not to talk to Hamlet. There is an added bit with Hamlet coming and wordlessly giving a note to Ophelia, and another added moment later of Hamlet with Ophelia, where Polonius takes the note Hamlet has given her and leads her away. Where he leads her to, of course, is to Claudius and Gertrude, and in their presence Polonius hands Ophelia the note for her to read aloud, which she does (in the text, it is Polonius who reads the letter).

After Hamlet’s first “except my life” to Polonius, he pulls out his dagger, holding it on his second “except my life.” Polonius exits by the third “except my life,” which is then aimed more at himself. There is a bit of re-ordering of scenes in this production, and the “except my life” moment leads straight into the “To be or not to be” soliloquy, so he has the dagger in hand as he begins it, the “bare bodkin.” Interestingly, he is seated for much of this famous speech, emphasizing the intimacy of the moment, and the honesty. He stands on “dread of something after death,” and here how can he help but think of his father? When Ophelia enters, Hamlet is first going to leave, until she speaks to him. And here he is hurt, not wanting his letters back. A noise alerts Hamlet to their being overheard, leading to his “Where’s your father?” Interestingly, he does not hesitate, and looks behind the curtains. His “all but one” is directed upstage to where he believes his surveillants to be. There is a nice moment after Hamlet exits, when Polonius clearly intends to comfort Ophelia, but stops because Claudius speaks to him, and he feels duty-bound to respond to the king first. Ophelia uses the moment to exit. This production then goes back to Act II Scene ii for the entrance of Rosencrantz (Trevor Guyton) and Guildenstern (Savannah Moffat). It does not take Hamlet long to realize their presence is no coincidence, and that might be partly due to the reordering of scenes. After all, he just experienced Ophelia turning against him to some degree, so what would lead him to trust these two? Trevor Guyton is particularly good when asking “To what end, my lord?” He obviously doesn’t want to admit that they were sent to spy on Hamlet, and tries to weasel out of answering by asking a question himself (and we can’t help but think he’d make a good politician). And when Hamlet turns on him again after he laughs at his “Man delights not me,” he is clearly glad to have answer for him this time, telling him the players are coming.

The players are momentarily caught off guard when Hamlet immediately requests a speech from them. In a wonderful bit of casting, Cylan Brown, who plays the Ghost, also plays the main Player, which essentially means he is poisoned twice, and of course for Claudius, the resemblance must add to his discomfort at the performance. After the “rogue and peasant slave” speech, this production goes straight to Hamlet’s instructions to Horatio to watch Claudius during the performance. Hamlet’s instructions to the players are cut, as is the bawdy “country” joke with Ophelia. When Hamlet says to Gertrude, “O, but she’ll keep her word,” he stresses the word “her,” implying that Gertrude has broken hers. The players are confused when their performance is suddenly interrupted, which is great, for sometimes they just seem to accept it as a normal thing. Hamlet retrieves the player’s crown just before he says “We shall obey, were she ten times our mother,” a line in which he uses the royal “we.” Hamlet does not much contain his anger with Guildenstern during the moment with the pipe, and his “Leave me, friends” is delivered with sharp sarcasm.

Claudius is nervous as he begins his “O my offence is rank” speech. Patrick Vest is particularly good here. He moves downstage, as if to get sympathy from the audience, and then Hamlet enters upstage center, so for a moment it is nearly a reverse of the second scene of the play. Hamlet here is very close to killing him before stopping himself. It is obvious he is not looking for a reason to hesitate or to put off doing what he’s been charged to do, but truly feels he would not be following his father’s will in sending Claudius to heaven. When Hamlet goes to Gertrude, he looks behind one curtain and is about to look behind the other, where Polonius has concealed himself, until Gertrude stops him with her line, “Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.” The Ghost’s “Speak to her, Hamlet” is moving. In that line, we hear how he still cares for her. Does he wish to speak to her himself, but can’t? That is the sense we get. He needs Hamlet to do what he cannot. And though Gertrude is afraid at times in this scene, she embraces Hamlet when she sees his pain. Brendan Robert Kane, who is fantastic throughout the performance, is particularly compelling in the scene where he talks of the “politic worms” and confronts Claudius to a degree, at least in words. Gertrude watches from above when Hamlet leaves with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. When Ophelia enters with flowers, Laertes sits with her, a touching moment. And Ophelia’s delivery of “And will he not come again?” is heartrending. When Ophelia exits, Gertrude follows her. When she returns with word of Ophelia’s death, Tara Donovan is particularly good.

Part of the second scene of Act V is moved to the beginning of the first scene, when Hamlet tells Horatio about the fates of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Horatio’s response is to take a step or two back from Hamlet, surprised by this action of his friend. And then the Gravedigger enters, and while Hamlet takes some delight in his conversation with him, Horatio remains apart, still clearly shaken by the fact that Hamlet signed the death warrant for two of his old friends. He seems worried about Hamlet’s state. And so all of Horatio’s lines here are cut. The funeral procession enters, and Hamlet and Horatio move up stage to watch. On Laertes’ “my sister,” Hamlet is overcome, and Horatio comforts him, which is wonderful. Though Horatio seems to not agree with what Hamlet has done regarding Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he is still Hamlet’s friend, and is there for him. Osric (Alec Yamartino) has a somewhat expanded role in this production, and is often seen with Claudius before that interaction with Hamlet in the fifth act. On Horatio’s “You will lose this wager, my lord,” the Ghost enters above and watches Hamlet. But Hamlet is faced downstage and does not see him. So the Ghost is present for the “fall of a sparrow” speech, and exits on “leave betimes.”

When choosing the blades, Hamlet is the first to grab one, and does so without the slightest hesitation or care for which blade it is. Then Laertes takes one and has the line about it being too heavy. Interestingly, Hamlet hands him the one he has chosen, so the two exchange blades before the fight has begun. Hamlet then offers this observation, about the blade that Laertes has rejected: “This likes me well.” It is so interesting that Hamlet happened to choose the envenomed blade, and willingly (though of course unknowingly) hands it to Laertes, giving him the instrument of his own death. The Ghost enters again after Hamlet wrests the cup from Horatio’s hands, looking down at Hamlet as he dies. But after Hamlet’s death, the Ghost’s focus rises, perhaps watching Hamlet’s soul rise. Fortinbras is cut from this production, and so Horatio speaks the play’s final lines, which are re-ordered a bit so that the final line in this performance is “And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

This production of The Tragedy Of Hamlet was directed by Stephanie Coltrin. She directed a different production of the play back in 2014, and interestingly in that one Hamlet was played by Cylan Brown. So he went from son to father. There are only a few performances left, so check the Shakespeare By The Sea website for the schedule. There is one fifteen-minute intermission, which comes at the end of Act III Scene ii.