 | Hamlet |  |
"O, that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!" Act I, scene ii
Written: 1600
No Nude Men Productions at The Climate Theatre ; November 4, 2006 San Francisco, CA
Starring :
Reviewed on : 2006-11-13 13:42:10 ; Reviewed by : Denise Battista
| The heat is on for director Stuart Bousel's production of Hamlet. No,
really - the heat is on. The Climate Theatre's stage floor measures
approximately 12'x 20' on a good day, and it accommodates about forty
surrounding patrons. Close the one small window facing the very loud and
busy street, add a lack of intermission during this two hour production, and
I will agree with Hamlet: "...methinks it is very sultry and hot for my
complexion." I will add "uncomfortable" to his list of adjectives, and
include that Bousel must consider his audience in relation to this theatre's
many blind spots. Good acting and good ideas should not be missed due to an
unfortunate choice in seats.
The heat is on, and Bousel's actors deliver one hell of a hot and cold
performance. Genders bend, or rather do a 180° turn as male roles are
played by females, and female roles by males, with the exception of
Guildenstern, played by James Tinsley, and the most frightening Ghost I've
ever experienced, played by Christopher P. Kelly. With no reason given for
this switch, I presume it fulfills the gender imbalance in this troupe and
nothing else. It unfortunately proves a bit confusing, as I found myself in
a who's who hot seat more than once; but this distraction is nothing more
than an initial nuisance that cools about one third of the way into the
play.
Another bit of heat can be found in this production's sexy and hotheaded
Hamlet, played by Kendra Arimoto. Dressed in black (tight leggings and tank
top, ankle boots, short leather jacket, fingerless gloves with blackened
nails), Arimoto begins the play with the famed "To be or not to be"
soliloquy, spoken directly to her audience as though each word is a lesson.
At times, I was entranced by Arimoto's performance, and at times
disappointed. If a scene calls for passion and high emotion, Arimoto most
certainly delivers. She self-righteously leaps upon chairs in response to
the sudden appearance of Rosencrantz (Alexis Boozer) and Guildenstern; she
crawls across the stage floor in an eerie scene with her ghostly father, and
she embraces her Ophelia (Lee Marcotte) in a most passionate nunnery scene.
Basically, words with action or interaction become Arimoto; but solitary
words fall flat, which is a tough one to swallow with our words words
wordsmith Hamlet.
There are some interesting ideas in this production, and some very artistic
interpretations. Ophelia's death scene is a case in point, as her (or in
this case his) deathbed becomes his grave. Ryan Hayes as Gertrude speaks
his lines in narration from a chair at the perimeter of the stage as
Marcotte silently retrieves large stones from a small dresser and places
them into his pockets. The Ghost and the now ghostly Polonius (Lisa
Rowland) lure Marcotte into his watery grave. This scene flows ever so
smoothly into the next as Boozer and Tinsley sit at this grave's head and
foot and rob Shakespeare's gravediggers of their lines. The scene change is
flawless, but Boozer and Tinsley must work on their comedic timing in order
to make this scene come to life.
Marcotte also falls flat, unless he finds himself in a scene without need
for words. He is quite the passionate lover to our Hamlet, and he
definitely kills his death scene, but he by no means speaks the speech, and
his actions and reactions are underdone throughout. Ophelia's insanity
scene is nothing but anticlimactic, and there are several oddly shaped
scenes involving Polonius, in which Rowland chastises and even strikes
Marcotte for his hints of disobedience. Something else that eludes me is
Marcotte's incessant cutting of black paper. As Polonius provides Laertes
(Cassie Powell) with an abundance of advice, Marcotte sits center stage and
cuts pieces of black construction paper into long spirals. She later drapes
the paper over a mirror that hangs above the dresser that holds this play's
smoking gun. This paper, also in the form of Hamlet's letters and of the
rosemary for remembrance, finds its way into many of Marcotte's scenes, and
I, for one, haven't a clue as to why.
Bousel takes some bold liberties at the end of the play in his decisions as
to who lives and who dies. *Spoiler alert* Bousel lifts the burden of
telling Hamlet's story from Horatio (Felicia Benefield) and places it on the
shoulders of Gertrude. I love the idea of letting Gertrude live, and it
seems to be a growing fad in Bay Area Hamlet productions. This idea alone
could create a fascinating play. But I don't think Bousel is following a
trend, at least not after reading his Jerry Maguiresque mission statement
within the program. For some readers, this confession, of sorts, laden with
death and fear and dying, may be too much information. For others, it just
may provide the insight this play needs to go from good to even better. For
me, it is an essential read that leaves me no other choice but to secretly
psychoanalyze this Hamlet based on Bousel's statement. And based on his
statement, I find that I like his Hamlet all the more.
No Nude Men Productions' Hamlet, directed by Stuart Bousel, is playing at
San Francisco's Climate Theatre through November 18, 2006. Visit
www.horrorunspeakable.com for more information.


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Sir John Gilbert, R.A.,
Hamlet in the Presence of His Father's Ghost
Reviews
|  | Guildford Shakespeare Company
February 14, 2011 |  | Luzerner Theater
April 3, 2009 |  | Stratford Festival of Canada
August 29, 2008 |  | Royal Shakespeare Company
August 25, 2008 |  | Theatre Project Si
June 17, 2008 |  | Tobacco Factory
April 27, 2008 |  | No Nude Men Productions at The Climate Theatre
November 4, 2006 |  | Intersection for the Arts
October 26, 2006 |  | Actors' Shakespeare Project
October 21, 2006 | | Actors From The London Stage
September 21, 2006 |  | Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
September 10, 2006 | | Shakespeare & Company
July 15, 2006 | | Shakespeare at Stinson beach
June 24, 2006 |  | English Touring Theatre at the New Ambassadors Theatre
March 13, 2006 |  | Royal Shakespeare Company
August 28, 2004 |
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