As its second offering in this season dedicated to themes
of revenge and conscience – the first was "The Tempest"
– Kings County Shakespeare Company is presenting "Hamlet,"
directed by Jemma Alix Levy.
Featuring the company’s veteran Equity troupe, "Hamlet"
runs from Aug. 9 through Aug. 24 at St. Francis College’s Founders
Hall in Brooklyn Heights.
"It was a very conscious choice," said Renee Bucciarelli,
associate artistic director of the Kings County Shakespeare Company
(KCSC). "We talked about it soon after 9-11 Shakespeare
wrote ’Hamlet’ in the style of a revenge play. It has madness,
a perpetrator, a ghost and an avenger driven mad by trying to
figure out whether or not he wants revenge. But Shakespeare changed
the nature of the beast. It’s the first time someone in English
drama asked the question, ’What is the price we pay when we decide
to get revenge?’ It’s been said that this is the first great
tragedy after the Greeks."
Bucciarelli’s other principal contribution was the decision to
cast two women as the gravediggers.
"The ratio of women’s parts to men’s parts in a typical
Shakespearean play is about 3-to-17," she said. "We
look for ways to cast women in men’s roles that support the text
with a result that may be an enrichment of the text."
But gender bending is not the only thing that makes this staging
unique. Levy has clearly approached "Hamlet" by a road
she believes has previously not been taken. The company established
itself as a non-traditional interpreter of "Hamlet"
with its 1992 production "Genet/Hamlet," which fused
Shakespeare’s tragedy with Jean Genet’s prison novel, "The
Miracle of the Rose." And Levy’s direction is certainly
in this vein.
"The story is so well known that people tend to view it
as a complete story about a guy who goes crazy because he sees
the ghost of his dead father. There’s a girl who goes crazy.
There’s a weird relationship with his mother. And everyone dies
in the end," Levy said. "I’m trying to make the story
new again by allowing the audience to see it through Hamlet’s
eyes We’re trying to approach Hamlet as a new play so every piece
comes to light as a surprise."
One way of achieving her goal is by leaving open the question
of whether or not Hamlet is actually insane, because, said Levy,
"Hamlet himself doesn’t know."
Another way is by focusing on the question of what exactly the
ghost is – angel, devil or hallucination. "Hamlet himself
doesn’t know, and we want the audience to go on his journey,"
Levy explained.
In this production, the ghost never appears onstage but is represented
by a beam of light and the offstage voice of Dan Snow (who also
plays the Player King).
Unlike many interpreters of "Hamlet," Levy does not
believe there is much that is particularly unusual about Hamlet’s
relationship with his mother, Gertrude.
"Gertrude loved her son a little more than she should, but
there’s nothing incestuous in their relationship," said
Levy. "Hamlet is a normal son. She annoys him because she’s
his mother. He wants to protect her because she’s his mother.
Their relationship is very typical."
In fact, Levy sees Gertrude more as a victim than a perpetrator.
"She is not implicated textually in the killing [of Hamlet’s
father]. Claudius has all the power, even though she is the queen."
The role of Gertrude is taken by Deborah Wright Houston, who
is also KCSC’s artistic director, playing opposite Cullen Wheeler’s
Claudius. Hamlet is played by Sean McNall, whose Shakespearean
credits include Octavius Caesar in "Julius Caesar"
at the Public Theater’s New York Shakespeare Festival and the
title role in "Romeo and Juliet" at the St. Louis Shakespeare
Festival and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival.
The production features the choreography of Erika Kinetz; and
the costumes of Rebecca Dowd, who dressed the actors in turn-of-the-century
Edwardian clothing. Dowd made this decision, said Levy, "because
clothing of that time was very restrictive to women, and it reflects
the restrictions on women in the play."
Levy, who was a dramaturg and text coach for last season’s "The
Taming of the Shrew," has also directed Shakespearean dramas
for the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival ("A Midsummer Night’s
Dream"): and Runamuck Theatre Company in Austin, Texas ("Measure
for Measure," "Richard III"). But this is her
first time directing for KCSC, and directing "Hamlet."
Levy is grateful for the opportunity to direct this play, which,
she said, contains "some of the most beautiful language
ever written."
"It’s unusual for someone as young as I to have a chance
to direct Hamlet," said the 29-year-old. "It’s a huge
undertaking, and it shows a huge amount of faith on the part
of the Kings County Shakespeare Company."
Like Bucciarelli, Levy believes this is a timely and called-for
production.
"’Hamlet’ is a story about a man caught between believing
and not believing, between knowing and not knowing, between heart
and head," she said. "For him, it comes down to justice
or revenge. That is the same question most of the world is facing
after Sept. 11. What is the difference between justice and revenge,
and which is more appropriate?"
Bucciarelli believes Hamlet comes down firmly on the side of
justice.
"An eye for an eye doesn’t work," she said. "An
eye for an eye leaves you with a pile of dead bodies."
Kings County Shakespeare Company’s production
of "Hamlet" runs Aug. 9-24, on Mondays and Wednesdays
through Saturdays at 8 pm, with matinees Saturday at 1 pm and
Sunday at 2 pm. Final performance is Aug. 24 at 1 pm. (No evening
show.) Performances take place at Founders Hall, St. Francis
College, 182 Remsen St. Admission is $10. For tickets, call Smarttix
(212) 206-1515 or visit www.smarttix.com.
There will be an artists’ panel discussion that includes director
Jemma Alix Levy and actor Sean McNall on Aug. 11, after the matinee
performance, and a panel discussion on "Hamlet Post 9/11:
Conscience and Revenge," featuring several Shakespearean
scholars including William Heller of New York University, Brother
Edward Wesley of St. Francis College and Dick Riley, who co-authored
"Bedside, Bathtub and Armchair Companion to Shakespeare"
with Park Slope author Pam McAllister, on Aug. 18.
