This is Hamlet for those who've feared the complexity and intensity of the Bard's dramas. Since it's been over 400 years since the original manuscript, director Keith A. Anderson changed some of the archaic words. As an example, the original, incomprehensible "fardel," a bundle of sticks, has been changed to "burdens." Also the director did a bit of script surgery. Hamlet has a normal performance time of three hours, while the version at Coronado Playhouse is just a tad over two hours.
Changes such as this are quite common. Kenneth Branagh's film version ran 242 minutes but was later pared to 150 minutes. Starting previews on Broadway last week was yet another version starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jude Law as Ophelia and Hamlet, respectively. That production marks the 66th time Hamlet> has been staged on Broadway. You can easily obtain a synopsis of the play on the internet, but I digress.
Hamlet, even with many complexities and a large cast of characters, is the story of Prince Hamlet (Terence J. Burke) exacting revenge on his uncle, who had murdered Hamlet's father. Shakespeare, however, brings in the ghost of Hamlet's father and a host of relatives as well as Hamlet's school friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Nathan Boyer and James Paraiso), from their days at Wittenberg University.
The role of Hamlet has the most lines and largest range of emotions of any of Shakespeare's characters.Terrence J. Burke, Coronado's Hamlet, is well versed in many of Shakespeare's works having performed in at least seven other plays. He is quite effective in his brooding and in the many moments of high tension, though he does have a habit of reverting to monotone. Opposite him is Anna McMillan, excellent as the lovely Ophelia.
Director Keith Anderson staged the action quite interestingly, with an array of colorful and authentic-seeming costumes by designer Mary Anderson, This is extremely important, since many of the cast play multiple roles. Rosemary King's set works well, too. Special kudos to Victoria Mature, who choreographed the stylized fight sequence that maintains believability without anyone getting hurt.
The whole cast gets a workout in this production, which runs through October 4, 2009. One of the pleasures of Hamlet is the many phrases that are memorable or that have actually become common usage. Remember "Frailty, thy name is Woman!," "Neither a borrower nor lender be," "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," "brevity is the soul of wit," "The lady doth protest too much, methinks," and my favorite, "Alas, poor Yorick!
