If you, like me, are rejoicing in what feels like a cultural renaissance of the strange and spooky, then I’m sure you’ll be as eager as I was to see Theatre Memphis’ production of Hamlet.
It was my first time seeing the play, and I will confess I was more unfamiliar with it than you might expect from a person who has studied theater and Shakespeare, in particular. I even found myself thinking, “Yes, this will be the perfect way to usher in the Halloween season! Witches!” before realizing more than a day later that I was thinking of Macbeth. Hamlet is ghosts. But, you see, this is exactly why I entered into the experience with such an air of anticipation. I was finally going to understand the hubbub surrounding Hamlet (arguably one of the most famous plays in Western history despite my own ignorance). Now having watched the play, I understand the hype.
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard the line “To be or not to be,” but if the rest of the story is hazy, allow me to fill you in. The full name of the play is The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, but you can see why it’s been shortened over the years. The title is in itself a bit of a spoiler alert. As one of the ushers sitting next to me remarked at show’s end, “Everyone dies. It’s quite a disaster!” Par for the course in a Shakespearean tragedy. Prince Hamlet, after a spectral visitation from the ghost of his father, learns that his uncle, Claudius, murdered said father and promptly married his widow, Hamlet’s mother Gertrude. Hamlet doesn’t know what to think but eventually schemes to find out the truth, and in doing so, inadvertently kills Polonis, who just happens to be the father of Ophelia. Yes, that Ophelia. Crises ensue, and, as our friend the usher put it, everyone dies.
This play, tragedy though it may be, has much to offer in the way of entertainment. My friend Kayla Dawson, who was also seeing this show for the first time, said during intermission, “I didn’t expect to laugh.” Shakespeare is typically funny, and the actors here did a marvelous job reminding us of that. This production was in the Next Stage at Theatre Memphis, a slightly smaller space. This allowed the audience to be closer, literally, to the show. It was a more intimate experience, with Hamlet even walking up into the audience during one of many soliloquies. William Shakepeare loved a soliloquy, something that Hamlet is particularly well-known for. Such a famous character can seem a bit larger-than-life, adding even more pressure to an already high-stakes leading role. Kevar Maffitt, who played the title character, delivered a memorable performance. The Prince of Denmark from his first lines seemed balanced on a knife’s edge of bitterness and grief. At moments his portrayal of Hamlet was devastatingly human, at others, wildly unstable. The entire cast managed to make their characters feel lived-in, which is no mean feat when it comes to Shakespeare.
I’ve always felt that part of what makes watching a Shakespeare play enjoyable is feeling a connection to history. Thousands of people have heard the same words you’re hearing, and it’s a powerful experience being connected to humanity through art, no matter how far from our own era it may initially seem. The same thing that can turn some potential theatergoers away from a Shakespearean production is the very thing that makes it timeless. If the actors and director have taken the time to understand the text, which they absolutely have in this case, any potential half-baked language barrier is overcome. We don’t speak in the same way they did in the 1600s, to be sure, but there are plenty of themes in Hamlet that a 21st-century audience can relate to. I have to wonder if those watching this play for the first time, hundreds of years ago, would feel something similar watching a soap opera 50 years ago or reality television today. The drama of this play is turned up to 11, so to speak. Murder, lust, revenge — Hamlet has it all.
Hamlet runs at Theatre Memphis through October 5th.