Streamlining ‘Hamlet' - Gamm Theatre's swift and subtle take
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High profile interpretations of the Prince of Demark have also catered to extremes, ranging from David Tennant's sardonic volatility to Mark Rylance's pajama-clad insanity to Ethan Hawke's hipster irony. And the play has quite often lent itself to high concept productions, including Aviva Studios' 2024
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Michael McGarty's bare-boned scenic design consists of a multi-tier labyrinth of weathered wood platforms and stairs in front of a translucent black scrim. Nothing hints at a particular time in history for this play to take place, reinforced by Mikayla Reid's ambiguous costume design that vaguely suggests somewhere between the post-Civil war through pre-World War I America, Mostly, the costuming serves to define each character's station and status, and separate the younger from the older generation. All this creates a desired timeless quality for this play, which allows us to focus on the words and the intriguingly drawn and marvelously performed characters delivering them.
Jeff Adelberg's lighting design does the heavy lifting in this production, for intense, oversaturated spotlighting constantly isolates each performer from the surrounding darkness that fills the stage and adds drama and foreboding shadows to everything. It also accentuates small but formidable acting moments – such as the tear falling from Rosencrantz's eye (an engaging Abigail Milnor-Sweetser) when she first betrays her old friend Hamlet, and the flash of emotional pain that briefly crosses Ophelia's face (a brilliant Nora Eschenheimer) when Hamlet rejects her love – that might otherwise go undetected beyond the second row. Each scene abruptly ends with a complete blackout accompanied by a deafening percussive beat, which quickly segues to the next scene.
Quick is the catchword for this staging, for speed is of the essence for director Tony Estrella as he works hard to not only keep his production at three hours but in line with the speedreading given by Jeff Church in the title role.
Church's Hamlet is marred by moments of melancholy and blinded by bitterness, but mostly he is a man of great passion that manifests in his quick, well-articulated speech and hurried physicality. So passionate is this Hamlet that he has no time for stairs – choosing instead to climb onto platforms and leap onto tables – and literally bowls over his mother Gertrude (Jeanine Kane), his best friend Horatio (David Ensor), and his childhood friends Ophelia (Eschenheimer) and Laertes (Marc Pierre) when accosting them with fervent speeches. He does the same when greeting Polonius (Joe Penczak) with a knife to the chest and comes close when accosting his Uncle Claudius (Kelby Akin).
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But given his immense talent and training, Church pauses at all the right places to add weight to the words and make the heightened language of Shakespeare's text sound as if it was newly discovered. He also excels at fencing.
Like the bread in an Italian restaurant and the desserts in a French café, the true litmus test for a production of 'Hamlet' is the sword fight. The fatal foil exchange between Church's Hamlet and Pierre's Laertes, as choreographed by Normand Beauregard, is the best I've ever seen on any stage. Not a thrust is telegraphed or anticipated, not a parry or riposte is insincere, and the outcome – for those unfamiliar with the play's complete title, 'The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark' – is always in question until it's not.
For a play known for its excesses, this Gamm Theatre production astounds with its subtlety.
HAMLET
Play by William Shakespeare. Directed by Tony Estrella. At the Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick. Runs through April 27. Tickets $65-$75, plus fees. 401-723-4266,
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Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him
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As Ross summed it up in the Appeal two days later, 'The renavigating of the Feather is one of the most important moves in the history of Marysville—probably the most important…When boats are again running shippers will not be at the mercy of the railroads.' And beyond the obvious business ramifications, Ross reminded his readers, there were 'unbounded' social possibilities: 'The excursion of the future will not be made in a small launch with a dozen or so passengers, nor in a fifty-or sixty-foot pleasure craft—but it will be possible for excursion boats carrying hundreds of passengers to ply between this city and Sacramento—yes, even to {San Francisco] bay.' "The news that day, as duly reported by H.W. Ross, was good: the Sioux had been unimpeded. The Appeal signaled the importance of the story not only in big headlines and top-of-the-page treatment, but by attaching Ross's byline to it. At this time in American journalism, a byline—the writer's name at the beginning of a story—was rare, for the most part reserved for articles of real significance or distinction. This is just one of the reasons it is difficult to follow the zigzag, vaporous trajectory of Ross's newspaper career." Miller took a strong liking to his young reporter, and taught him the newspaper arts. "…Ross, for his part, was a quick study. He had to be, merely to survive the grueling regimen. The Appeal published six days a week, eight pages a day. Since it specialized in local news (said one headline: 'Beggars Have Come To Town') and competed with the evening paper for readers, exhausting hours were required to report and write enough material to mill that maw. "Five weeks after Ross wrote that story, Miller took ill. He was hospitalized in Sacramento but died on May 31. Out of respect (if not out of printer's inertia), Miller's name remained on the newspaper's masthead until June 3. Then, on June 6, it is replaced with this: 'H.W. Ross, Editor.' Still learning the finer points of eluding railroad Pinkertons and scarcely old enough to shave, Ross suddenly found himself in charge of a daily newspaper. Almost certainly he gave himself the battlefield promotion, but he had little choice: when Miller died, the Appeal's owner, Colonel E.A. Forbes, adjutant general of the state of California, was traveling on military business. At the time it all must have been a little terrifying, but two decades later Ross recalled the episode with the newspaperman's sangfroid: 'Someone had to edit the paper. The only part I couldn't do was write the editorials—we got a man for that and I did the rest.'" Two months later, Ross's name disappeared from the mast without explanation. Whether he was fired or just moved on, we'll never know. In 1917, Ross was in the military as World War I erupted. His newspaper skills landed him a position with a brand new adventure: the military wanted a publication that spoke to the soldiers. During his time as as a contributor, and ultimately an editor of the brand new Stars and Stripes newspaper, Ross passed up every opportunity for a promotion and met several of the writers, including his first wife, who would later be critical to the successful launch of The New Yorker. He was praised by the military brass and President Wilson for his contributions. In New York, he launched a magazine called Home Front modeled on Stars and Stripes, and was editor of two other magazines, before he convinced Raoul Flesichman, whose family had gotten reach selling yeast, to go in with him on creating a new magazine focuses on life in New York, in 1925. The magazine struggled, but survived, during the Depression, but it came of age during and after World War II. The magazine is known for its cartoonish covers and brilliant writing and editing, a tradition started by a man who cut his teeth writing about, and editing stories about, activities on, and around, the Feather River.
