When I first caught sight of the Long Beach playhouse and their exclamation mark-ridden Hamlet poster, I was mildly sketched out. Entrance of freaky ghost as well as pre-pubescent Horatio then exacerbated the sketchiness. After getting more into the play, however, I began to find a certain kind of charm with the small production. Several scenes showed a nuanced interpretation, including the Pyrrhus speech.
While the main player delivered the speech, two other players awkwardly and melodramatically acted out the scenes corresponding to his words on the side. I found their acting to be extremely distracting and even comical in a way that detracted from the power of the scene. It didn't help that the lady with the funky accent who kept appearing on the stage as random characters was one of the players. But anyway, when I originally read the scene, I felt that it was supposed to highlight the sheer impact an actor can create from voicing mere words and embodying different emotions. I felt this would best be conveyed by putting all the spotlight on a single actor and allowing the audience to experience the weight of his words directly instead of through this unnecessary mini-play.
Because this scene was not as raw as I would have liked it to be, I thought it also undermined Hamlet's subsequent soliloquy. When Hamlet cries, "What's Hecuba to him," I didn't feel the emotional impact since Hecuba had been physically manifested in the form of funky accent lady. To me, this important line could have been strengthened had the audience not seen an actual Hecuba.
Ultimately, I found it really interesting to hear the actors' enunciation of the lines and to see how the production manipulated the medium of the stage. Though I may not agree with some of their manipulations, I enjoyed the whole experience because I think it's always nice to leave with ideas that have been challenged.
Janis, I agree with you about that scene. When I read that scene, I didn't imagine other actors performing the narration. You make a good point on how it actually detracts from the power of words. I think they might have made that choice to try and bring a dynamic to the scene, since movement is usually more intriguing to the audience. But overall, I agree that the acting was distracting and not that effective.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your take on this scene. Whether he was aware of it or not, the actor who played Lucianus, a gravedigger and Osric was hilarious and more comic-relief than anything else. Combine that with "funky accent lady" and they completely distract the audience from the words and tone of the Hecuba speech. Plus, as you said, there is a chain reaction in that Hamlet's soliloquy now seems less heart-felt and more ridiculous because the audience didn't see the narrator's emotion in the Hecuba speech; they were too busy laughing.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this company tried to inject comedy into a lot of scenes that weren't really meant to be funny. While I can appreciate their attempt to make Shakespeare more comical, I don't think Hamlet is really built for laughs. Their attempt to add humor weakened some of the more profound scenes, which was ultimately pretty disappointing.
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