A ghost of itself
A leaner and meaner ‘HAMLET’ takes the stage at A Noise Within
By Jana J. Monji 10/23/2008
Michael Michetti’s “Hamlet” at A Noise Within in Glendale is a lean and bracing romp, clocking in at two hours and 10 minutes (with 15-minute intermission). Compare that to Kenneth Branagh’s nearly four-hour 1997 movie and you’ll know that some cuts were made somewhere.
Hamlet is about a young prince who must avenge his father’s murder by his uncle, his father’s brother and now the husband of his mother. He ponders too long, mistakenly slaying his uncle’s advisor, Polonius, who is father of his love, Ophelia.
Most of the characters in the first scene where the ghost is introduced are cut, the play within this play has been severely edited and Fortinbras has been eliminated — he does not enter as a triumphant successor to the throne.
The cast has been whittled down to a mere 10 players. Most notably, Freddy Douglas, who plays a particularly disturbed Hamlet, also plays the ghostly father of the troubled prince. In Michetti’s version, young Hamlet is a cutter; he slices his arm. We see red stains on his white shirt (set and costume designer Sara Ryung Clement has the men mostly in modern dress although François Giroday as the villainous uncle, Claudius, dons gaudy coats). Set against the long dark boots and pants worn by both Hamlet and Horatio, the visual impact is striking.
Horatio (Steve Coombs) first spies the ghost, but does the ghost really talk to Hamlet or is this only Hamlet talking to himself? Clement’s set uses translucent blue panels and under the right light (lighting design by Peter Gottlieb), they darken, becoming mirrors.
Giroday’s Claudius is not an evil man, just one with ambition. These were rough and murderous times in royal courts. Deborah Strang’s Gertrude is both doting mother and beguiled new bride. Dorothea Harahan as the ill-fated Ophelia is a joyous sister and a bewildered woman in love. In her playful teasing with Matthew Jaeger’s Laertes, we see the lovely, spirited woman that must have attracted the young prince. As Polonius, Tony Abatemarco is a man trying his best—one too honest for this court of betrayals, and he is outmaneuvered by both Claudius and Hamlet.
Yet while Michetti has given us a psychologically deep Hamlet, ably portrayed by Douglas, he has also managed to inject a good deal of mirth into this tragedy—mostly from Abatemarco’s Polonius. This production of the brooding Dane is dark only in the predominant color of costuming. Balancing the comedy with the tragic aspects of this play makes this tragedy less than gloomy but wholly entertaining.
“Hamlet” continues at A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, through Dec. 7. Call (818) 240-0910 or visit ANoiseWithin.org.
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