Review: (Vancouver) Hamlet

An Austere and Handsome Production
Heady first half gives way to emotional second.
by David C. Jones

Kim Collier is a detailed and passionate director with a keen sense of “what if”? Her take on Shakespeare’s classic and oft produced Hamlet is done with such precision and heart that it is often very compelling.

If you haven't seen or read Hamlet, the story is: The ghost of his dead father tells Hamlet a prince of Denmark that it was Hamlet’s uncle who murdered him. Hamlet is vengeful but questions his own sanity; after all it was a ghost. Hamlet has a girlfriend named Ophelia and she has a father named Polonius and brother named Laertes. His uncle Claudius married Hamlet’s mother Gertrude. Hamlet uses some wandering actors to confirm his Uncle's guilt while Claudius uses former school chums to assess what is wrong with Hamlet.

That heady stuff is set in the now with iPads and wide screen TVs casually tossed in.

In her director’s notes Collier states “Torn between the urge to kill and the urge to understand, Hamlet struggles with the social and political structures of the world in which he lives and questions the very meaning of life”.

That heady stuff is set in the now with iPads and wide screen TVs casually tossed in. The costumes are in sleek and cool grey and gold hues by Nancy Bryant. As always with Bard On The Beach and its big tent setting, the backstage is open to the ocean and designer Pam Johnson has added cream leather modular furniture and giant sliding glass doors that can be covered by large flowing curtains. As it gets dark outside Gerald King’s moody and grand lighting takes over.

All young or new directors should see this work to see how Ms Collier stages everything including the set changes. The show just flows with a sense of purpose and style. She has flipped the genders with some characters. Rosencrantz and Horatio are both female in this production and that neither adds nor distracts, it just is.

All of the actors have been encouraged to take the often-said lines and plum them for new interpretations and higher stakes truth. There are lovely details like Naomi Wright as the aforementioned Rosencrantz steadying herself on the couch as she leaves the scene after hearing Hamlet has murdered his Uncle. 

The introspective first half requires the audience's patience and also that they look within the actors to see the action. Many of the characters are pondering and questioning what to do that it can look like not a lot is happening. Jonathan Young (Hamlet) is so in the moment as he ponders killing his uncle or himself, as he play acts being mad and questions his own existence. You see thoughts land on him and he is always riveting because of it. Rachel Cairns plays a vital and hopeful Ophelia, which makes her descent into despair even sadder. One of the many touches the director adds is in the scene where she is telling her father of Hamlet's strange behaviour; she spots him through the window and that quiets her in distraction as she listens to her father’s counsel.

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The second part of the evening is when things start to happen – people get killed, go mad, and plan betrayals. One of most touching performances is Todd Thompson as Laertes, his grief is so stunned and stoic that you can see his heart breaking.  As always, seeing someone fighting emotion and trying to hold back the wave will always involve and move the audience. When an actor indulges in histrionics we sit back and observe. All young or new actors should see this cast to see the difference.

The entire cast is spectacular, this production is mature and sexy and if you can sink into the musings and meditations of the first half you will be rewarded in the second half and likely leave pondering and reflecting on your own life.

Hamlet continues to September 12