[NEohioPAL]Berko review: HAMLET (Beck)

[Roy Berko]

Gender bending ‘HAMLET’ at BECK

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

What do Asta Nielsen, Sarah Bernhardt, Charlotte
Crampton, Anna Dickinson, Clare Howard, Bertha
Kalisch, Alice Marriott, Wineta Montague, Alma Murray,
Louise Pomeroy, Julia Seaman, Janette Steer and Sarah
Morton all have in common?   They are all females who
have played the role of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s epic
play of the same name.  Of these, locals probably know
best the name of Sarah Morton, who is presently on
stage in the gender-bending role at Beck Center for
the Arts.

There is nothing unusual about actors playing
opposite-sex roles in Shakespearean productions.  In
the Bard’s time, women were not allowed on stage, so
boys or young men played female roles.  But, with
Hamlet there is a slightly different twist.  There is
some conjecture among Shakespeare experts that Hamlet
actually was a female, pretending to be a male.  This,
again, isn’t far fetched as many of Shakespeare’s
plays had females dresses and pretend to be males.

The Hamlet script, however, has some differences. 
Many references are made to “him” in the dialogue.  
Even in the birth scene at the beginning of the play
there is reference to Hamlet being the heir to the
throne.  That role was reserved for males.  

Actually, after a while of watching director David
Hansen’s interpretation of the play one almost forgets
that a female is playing the role except for some very
feminine like reactions...the style of crying, the
tenderness, the body carriage often displayed by
Morton.  Feminine, in this case is as described in the
research of Sandra Bem, who has carefully documented
masculine and feminine traits.

Hansen adds to the questioning by throwing in a
passionate kiss at the end of the play, which either
has some homoerotic overtones, or clearly indicates
that Hamlet was a woman in love with her best friend,
Horatio.

The play’s plot, in its simplest form, centers on
Prince Hamlet, the son of the late King Hamlet.  The
young Hamlet is charged by the ghost of his father to
avenge the king’s murder by his brother, which the
young Hamlet finally succeeds in doing, but only after
the rest of the royal house has been wiped out and he
has been mortally wounded with a poisoned rapier at
the end of the play.

Beck’s production is effective in some ways, lacking
in others.  This is an uneven, yet creative and bold
production.  At times it could have been hoped that
Hansen had more carefully heeded Shakespeare’s words,
“Suit the words to the action and the action to the
purpose.”  At other times, the intent was clear.

Using many theatrical techniques...projections which
give the setting and titles to each segment, stylized
acting mixed with realistic presentations,
reinterpretation of the script that might drive
traditional Shakespearean viewers to scream in
protest...the long production, is often off-setting. 
Part of this is the inconsistent quality of the
acting, part is the breaking of the flow by throwing
in gimmicks, some of which seem gimmicks for the sake
of gimmicks, and the choppiness of the pacing.  Some
of the pacing problems may sort out as the players get
more comfortable.

Don McBride’s set of off-kilter flats and off-balanced
levels, works well to create this interpretation of
the script.  Richard Ingraham’s sound, especially the
music and echoing voice of the king, also add to
Hansen’s interpretation.  Alison Garrigan’s costumes,
like the production, run from “right on” to why does
the queen not look queenly and why is Polonius’s garb
so different from the rest of the cast?

The dumb-show segments were creatively choreographed
by Alison Garrigan and the fights, especially
considering the closeness of the audience to the
action, were well developed by Joshua Brown and Kelly
Elliott.

Sarah Morton is generally on-key as Hamlet.   At
times, Morton, seemed absorbed in the role, at other
times her concentration wavered and caused some
meaning discord.  Often played like the words of a
total madman, or a psychotic on the brink of suicide,
the famous “To Be or Not to Be” speech, was
underplayed, giving it a thought provoking
interpretation not often heard.  

Nicholas Koesters was excellent as Horatio.  He
created a clear character as did George Roth as
Polonius.

On the other hand, Mark Cipra was unbelievable as
Claudius.  His interpretation was all over the place. 
Some of his lines were meaningful, some meaningless,
others overacted, some mumbled.  The same can be said
for Anne McEvoy who played Gertrude, she of a weird
hairdo, and lack of consistency and clarity of
character.   Rachel Lee Kolis’s early scenes as
Ophelia were shallow, but she created a properly
paethic and psychotically grief stricken orphan after
Polonius, her father, was killed by Hamlet.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  ‘HAMLET’ is an awesome
undertaking.  David Hansen has developed a production
which can be very off-setting in its inconsistency and
interpretation, yet it is a brave attempt to create a
different slant on the most-oft produced of
Shakespeare’s plays.

‘HAMLET’ runs through October 22 at The Beck Center
for the Arts in Lakewood.  For ticket information call
216-521-2540.


Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.

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