My thoughts about movies and TV shows I've been watching

See also my blog on books: Elliot's Reading

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Hamlet - confused

Saw Ashland Shakespeare Festival production of Hamlet last night and let's say hamlet - con kindly: it's a great play! But it was a production without rhyme (well it did have some rhyme), reason, or point of view.  The stage set interestingly included a set up for a band, for guitar solos, for singing into a standing mic - but there was no sensible use or context for any of these props - I would be interested in a hamlet who was a moody teen who expressed himself not thru sililoquy but thru Rick solos but there was no point of view at all anywhere in this mishmash. The costumes included period coutier getup, clownish pantaloons (for r and g), hamlet's inky black, ridiculous military costume for fortinbras and his men - where are we? What's the point? A woman was cast as Horatian - a big mistake, in that it's central to the play that hamlet needs a buddy (and can't find one).  The acting was histrionic and full of needless bold gestures and theatrics - exactly the kind of acting that S via hamlet despises (speak the speech I pray you...). Truly one of the most confused and poorly conceived productions of H I've ever seen.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.