Cylla von Tiedemann
Hamlet, Tarragon Theatre
HAMLET by William Shakesepeare (Tarragon, 30 Bridgman). Runs to February 11. $20-$60. 416-531-1827. See listing. Rating: NNNN
I hope a lot of students go see the Tarragon’s Hamlet. It’s not definitive – could any production be? – but it offers a refreshing, immediate take on the world’s most famous play that should appeal to those with few preconceptions about the work. And who knew that the Bard’s famous lines could withstand a steady, pulsing bass beat?
Yes, Richard Rose’s production is the Danish play as rock concert. Characters wield microphones, thrash instruments when they’re not centre stage and occasionally belt out their lines. And, yup, that’s dry ice evoking the ghost.
What this does is take the pressure off its hoodie-clad lead actor (Noah Reid), who, freed from the requirement to speak Shakespeare’s lines “properly” can channel a more intimate aspect of the man. Sure, you lose a lot of the poetry, but you gain mood, energy and a rawness that’s missing from many traditional productions. And let’s not forget that Shakespeare’s soliloquies have their own metre and rhythm, something a steady drum beat can enhance.
Rose’s concert conceit works best during sequences where characters are performing, whether it’s Claudius (a crafty Nigel Shawn Williams) addressing the court or the Player King (Jack Nicholsen) and Queen (Beau Dixon) turning the Hecuba scene into a duet I’d pay to see more of at, say, the Cameron House.
The sound design (by Thomas Ryder Payne) and lighting (Jason Hand) are integral, the one adding momentum and drive, the other continually creating a sense of space and atmosphere (at one point, shafts of light projected on the footlights make it seem like they’re ramparts).
Some cuts to the text work, while others don’t, and the acting is uneven. Tiffany Ayalik’s clear-voiced Ophelia is beautifully grounded and expressive, while Cliff Saunders, who at times seems plucked from another production, adds humour to both Polonius and the Gravedigger. And Rose’s conception of Rosencrantz (Rachel Cairns) and Guildenstern (Jesse LaVercombe) is savvy – this production makes Hamlet’s final handling of them dramatically apt.
And for all his inventiveness, Rose knows when to pull back. When Reid gets to Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy, it’s unplugged, and the result is haunting. Some things don’t need to be amplified.