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Articles
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Articles |
The New Improved ShakespeareBy Catherine LammDateline: 17th March, 2002Since their original productions, the temptation to tinker with the text has been too great a temptation for directors, producers, and actors on the stage as well as in movies and television. Still today these Shakespeare plays have proved a fertile source for adaptation. Some good and not good reworkings that come to mind are West Side Story and R & J (Romeo & Juliet); Kiss Me Kate, 10 Things I Hate About You, and an episode of Moonlighting (Taming of the Shrew); Prince of Homberg, Two Gentleman of Verona, Rockabye Hamletwith Meatloaf and Rosencrantz & Gildenstern Are Dead (Hamlet); Men of Respectwith John Tuturo & Rod Steiger, Scotland, PA with Christopher Walken, and Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood (Macbeth); Anthony Hopkins' Titus (Titus Andronicus); My Own Private Idaho (Henry IV), Peter Brook's carnival A Midsummer Nights Dream; A Thousand Acres with Jason Robards and Kurosawa's Ran (King Lear). The list seems endless. The Hamlet Project has kicked off a 40th Anniversary Season for LaMaMa's Founder and Artistic Director, the chameleon Ellen Stewart. In the dictionary under the word "edgy" you will find Ms. Stewart's name. For the Hamlet virgins, Hamlet has come home at the death of his father only to find that his mother has too quickly married the uncle, perpetrator of the death. Hamlet, at the prompting of his father's ghost, is compelled to avenge his father's murder. The plot thickens as, in his first attempt, he manages to kill his girlfriend's father instead. This drives her madly to her own death. The brother returns to seek his bloody revenge. I don't think I'm letting the secret out, but about half the cast is dead by the end of the play. This "Hip-Hop Rock Musical" conceived and directed by William Electric Black is an attempt to "adapt Shakespeare's tragedy into an edgy, urban hip-hop/rock musical using the Bard's actual dialogue." The rapid paced production utilizes all of the available space in LaMama's Experimental Theatre Club. Against the upstage wall is the three-pieced band featuring the musical composer, Valerie Ghent on keyboard, Giselle Hamberg on bass, and Tony Mann on drums. Aside from the three microphones at the edge of the playing are there are a few movable set pieces and hand props. There is also overhead and against the wall a loft space from which some of the action takes place. Walter Pagan makes a beautiful Hamlet but has an only fair command of the stage. The crucial soliloquies at "rap" pace are almost too much for even this veteran rapper and too quick for the audience to understand. (You can tell rap is not new territory because he knows when to grab his crotch. Sorry, I couldn't help myself mentioning this!) The decision to make Gertrude a lush did not give much room for character development. Lauren Barrett Porter does not have a strong enough voice to deliver some of her songs nor the maturity to find Hamlet's mother. Of the triumvirate, Michael Noon as a very young Claudius seems to be totally miscast. The delight comes with some of the supporting characters: Stephen Reyes solid performance as Laertes continually rings true. In "Think It No More" he manages to wail out part of the lyrics that made me want for more. He can sing a story! Vanessa Burke as Horatio, Erin Logemann as Fortinbras, and Katharyn Yew as Ophelia have lovely voices and bring Shakespeare's words to life. The choice of where to use music and what kind of music to use seems random. Had they put the text before the music in importance, the story would not be lost. With some successful and some not so successful attempt at putting the Bard's words to music, this high-energy attempt should be applauded. This is a delightful stab at marrying these two mediums. Much better conceived, organized, and executed was Hamlet, The Musical which previewed to sold out and raucous houses at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Although a rough and somewhat amateurish production, it showed extremely great promise. It was very much in the same class of musicals as The Rocky Horror Show and Bat Boy, The Musical. The best number "The question is to be or not to be" which best illustrates the lyricist's and composer's knack for translating the Bard into songs was a treat. A professional mentor from London seemed to be snapping at their heels, and well deserved. The Jazz Winter's Tale, which recently played at the Trilogy, was a production of Artemis & the Wild Things. This noble production did not seem to know if it was a musical or not but did not need the excuse of "jazz" to make it worthy and would have been better served without. Leontes, having gone somewhat mad, suspects tricky goings-on between his pregnant wife, Hermione, and best friend, Polixenes. But his manservant, Camillo, knowing that Leontes has unjustly accused the pair, cannot bring himself to murder. So Hermione is banished to the tower and Camillo runs off with Polixenes. Sixteen years later we see that the baby has grown up as a poor shepherdess and fallen in love with Polixenes' son. All manage to find their way back to the repentant and sane Leontes. He welcomes back Camillo and the not dead Polixenes, discovers that Perdita is his daughter and that his wife is also still alive. P.S. We match up Camillo with the honorable Paulina and everyone lives happily, etc. The mesmerizing Nelson Lugo has excelled at making Polixenes real and believable. Larry Brustofski makes a powerful and mesmerizing Leontes. But weak direction allows for lack of focus so he wanders aimlessly during some of the more crucial speeches. Anson Hedges is delightful as Camillo and Time. Sara Hatfield makes a poignant and powerful advocate as Paulina. Kenneth Lee has some exquisite moments pleading his case and proclaiming his love. Artistic director Artemis Preshl not only plays a solid Hermione, but the production's downfall is that she has also taken on the reigns of director and choreographer. This is an unadvisable task for even the most seasoned professional with limitless of rehearsal time. Although she has assembled a mostly sterling cast, the production would have been better served with the outside eye of another director. Articles Indices:
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