There have been as many versions and interpretations of Hamlet as there have been people who’ve seen it. Directors in China, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Poland have drawn on the work’s subtexts to make political statements, and actors of all backgrounds –from classically-trained to Hollywood types –tend to see the role as the Holy Grail of acting.
"Think, Hamlet, think": Ben Carlson as Hamlet, Photo: David Hou
In two responses posted on the Plank web site, audience members mention the desire they felt to walk out of this show. While I may have had the impulse, I stayed glued to my seat for its duration, jaw dropped.
There's something sexy about being around a person who performs a job well. A friend and I once compared notes about being impressed – and somewhat turned on – by being a passenger in a vehicle when the driver had to respond quickly and adroitly to black ice on the road (in my case) or a deer stumbling out of nowhere (in her case). Effortlessly expert performance is hot, baby.
Reviewers note: I am not a fan of musicals. I have performed in a few, designed several more and once upon a time I ran lights for a couple of the big ones in a city far, far away. When you hear the same songs night after night for months on end you begin to enter one of two categories: love, or hate. That’s when you know if you like musicals or not, there is no middle ground.
Well. It seems my failings are now tied inextricably to this Marvel of Manhood. I was charged with seeing this show on sept 6th (I did), and write a review (I did...36hours later…bad me).
Tucked away in the gym of a church basement, a diverse group of performers put on a theatre show and made their family and friends, and most importantly, themselves, proud.
“The term refers to a particular type of play which first became popular during the 1950s and 1960s and which presented on stage the philosophy articulated by French philosopher Albert Camus in his 1942 essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, in which he defines the human condition as basically meaningless. Camus argued that humanity had to resign itself to recognizing that a fully satisfying rational explanation of the universe was beyond its reach; in that sense, the world must ultimately be seen as absurd.” — Jerome P. Crabb
The first thing this show has going for it is the source material: 50’s-60’s R&B. In my books you can’t do better than that.That’s my Shakespeare in a beat-box — the whole range of human emotion is there, coupled with incomparable grooves and soulful musicianship.
