Cliff has a review of the new Hamlet at Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, performed by the touring company. The company is about to go on tour, but they’ll be returning in the spring. It was a great show, and the performances were worthy of the play.
Anyway, so the production my friends and I saw was the Second Quarto. It’s the longest of the three, but I was enthralled and the audience seemed to love it. The high points for me were the performances of Luke Eddy as Hamlet and Dennis Henry as the wonderfully pompous Polonius. Henry did an excellent job of letting Shakespeare’s humor shine through the tragedy. Eddy not only looked like Hamlet should look, but his swings from cheerfulness to madness, from anger to affection, were compelling. His scenes with Ophelia, played wonderfully by Brandi Rhome, were especially moving. Aidan O’Reilly as Horatio and Josh Carpenter as Laertes were also strong. (And you’ve got to love Blunt and Hoben as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern; I can’t wait to see them in the Stoppard.)
I would like to take this opportunity to submit my nominee for funniest story about Hamlet: Shakespeare in the Bush.
Filed under: theater, virginia | Tagged: American Shakespeare Center, Blackfriars Playhouse, Hamlet, Perpetual Folly, Shakespeare
