NEW YORK—The Wooster Group's production of Hamlet (the ultimate Shakespearean tale of revenge) is an interesting animal, but one best reserved for serious Shakespeare enthusiasts. People with only a passing interest in the subject might want to give this a miss, especially if they've never seen the play before.
In 1964 Richard Burton played Hamlet in the Broadway production. The show was filmed at the time and shown in 2000 for two days in theatres across the United States only. What the Wooster Group has done, is reverse the stage to screen transfer. With the Burton production projected in the background, the live actors mimic the movements and gestures of the screen performances (uncannily accurate at points) while speaking the Bard's lines and acting out the scenes.
This is a fascinating look at the creative process as well as a chance to see a Shakespearean masterpiece of yesteryear. There also some nice technical touches, such as erasing actors from a scene in the film or making the screen counterparts look as transparent as ghosts. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to forget that we're seeing a reenactment of sorts and not a living, breathing play per se, (especially with spoken comments which refer to the film from time to time, i.e. "fast forward"). As such, one never really feels any emotional connection to the action on stage.
The actors are all quite good, especially Scott Shepard as Hamlet, Kate Valk (who does double duty as Gertrude and Ophelia), and Casey Spooner as Laertes. The dialogue is passionately spoken and the sword fights are fun to watch. But the melding of these two mediums is uneven at best, with neither utilized to its full potential. Direction by Elizabeth LeCompte and sets by Ruud van den Akker are okay, and the sound design (by Geoff Abbas, Joby Emmons and Matt Schloss) is excellent.
Also in the cast are Ari Fliakos, Bill Raymond, Judson Williams, Daniel Pettrow, Dominique Bousquet and Alessandro Magania.
Hamlet
Presented by The Wooster Group
The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street
Tickets: (212) 967-7555
Running Time: 2 Hours, 55 Minutes
Closes: December 12, 2007
Judd Hollander is the New York correspondent for the London publication The Stage.
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