MU Theatre production of Hamlet 

a unique take on centuries old masterpiece

Something is just weird about the State of Denmark. The MU Theatre production of Hamlet, open through April 29 at Rhynsburger Theatre, leaves audiences questioning everything they knew about this classic drama. This production of the play takes place in Denmark during a post-decline era in “the not-so-distant future,” - a bold change from the play’s traditional setting of Denmark in the Elizabethan era. The play follows Hamlet (played by Brian Scanlan), the son of a king that was recently murdered by his brother Claudius (played by Peter Smith) who now occupies the throne. For centuries, this play has been showing audiences that revenge is not always so sweet and this production is no different. Although there are stumbles along the way, MU Theatre brings a unique voice to William Shakespeare, showing audiences a since of tragedy and the meaning behind it. 

The production featured student actors as part of MU Theatre’s 2011-2012 season, which ends with this play. Acting varies throughout but overall, the message is seen and heard by the audience well. Each student’s tackles the task of reciting Shakespeare beautifully, however, it is often at the cost of delivery. For example, in playing Hamlet, Scanlan never misses a beat when reciting his lines but, often, they are painfully over-acted. Scanlan’s enthusiasm for the role is evident and he really makes the audience feel the action of the play but it often leads to over-dramatic moments that reduce the play’s believability. During the scene in which Hamlet meets his father’s ghost, Scanlan calls out to the figure with such unnecessary drama that it leads to the opposite of the desired effect and is only worthy of eye-rolls rather than applause. However, the excess melo-drama reminds the audience that Hamlet is still in his adolescence, a fact many forget when just reading the play. 

Director Kevin Brown leads the production of this play outside of convention. The decision to pull the setting of the play out of the 17th century and into the future was an underwhelming element of the play. A problem that can be mostly attributed to design elements discussed below. In this production, Brown takes his inexperienced student-actors and, in terms of blocking and staging, directs them well. The most noticeable elements of direction come in the content that was cut from the play. Normally a five hour show, this production of Hamlet was cut down to just over three hours, requiring some large scene cuts and rearranging. For example, Hamlet’s famous “to be or not to be” speech is the opening scene in the first act. For those familiar with the play, this is an unusual twist from its normal placement at the start of act three. In addition, staple characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are completely eliminated from the script while a long, slow scene featuring the banter of two grave diggers remains.   

The change of the play’s setting creates an expectation for audience members that they will be seeing Hamlet in a whole new light. This notion falls flat, however, with design elements never showing obvious changes. Costumes, while excellently made, looked to have little departure from the play’s original Elizabethan style. Further, set design never had any indication that it was a “castle in Denmark in the not-so-distant future.” In fact, with several pieces of scaffolding and its tall platforms, the set could have been just a construction site in present-day Akron. 

In this production, MU Theatre calls upon its creative license to make changes throughout the course of the play. However, many of these changes fall flat and are seen as just change for change sake. For those interested in Shakespeare, seeing this production would not be a waste of time. For those that are not, better wait until next season. 

Top Girls

In the Stephen’s College Warehouse Theatre Company production of Top Girls, director Ally Poole perceives the play in a unique sense. While the setting of the play is somewhat near the present, many of the characters that appear in the earlier scenes are from the far-reaching past. In order to adapt the production to this unusual character set, Poole uses a minimalist approach that allows for little stray from the status quo. For example, in the dinner scene, each of the characters says their piece with little fanfare or reverence. The scene is just a typical dinner conversation with little reliance on outside props or characters. This holds true for most of the play. However, as the play progresses and the plot becomes more complicated, so does the directing of scenes and dialogues.

The staging and blocking direction in this production leave something to be desired. I found the blocking to be of no use to telling the story, symbolic or otherwise. In fact, throughout the play there were moments that an actor’s back was turned while delivering a line or an actor would be standing in front of another blocking the audience’s view of facial expressions. This proved most evident in the first act during the scene in which Angie and Kit are playing in the yard. Throughout the scene, the actress that played Angie (Alex Molnar) continually moved around the stage, often stopping to talk to Kit (Mariah Larkin) in a way that would obstruct the audience’s view of Larkin. Many times, depending on where in the audience you were seated, this resulted in Molnar’s back turned to the audience.

There were moments in the play that I found the casting to be effective and other moments where it was completely ineffective. For example, the casting of Alex Molnar as Pope Joan was very effective. She presents a purity and regalness that a pope, no matter the gender, ought to have. In addition, she made a very easy transition to the bossy Angie in her very next scene. However, the casting of Malia Wirtel as Lady Nijo was horribly ineffective. Her performance seemed forced, especially in her speaking parts. Her attempt at speaking in a Japanese accent consisted of dropping all the L’s and N’s from her lines. It was so difficult to understand her that I often found myself tuning her out.