Not a Review

I really love Hamlet. I have had the recent privilege of working on a production of Hamlet in my theatre. This production has made me think about the play in new ways while forcing me to examine what it is about the play that I love. Simply put, I love the characters in Hamlet. While some performances have depicted the people of Elsinore as caricatures and archetypes (is Freud to blame?) I have always felt that the characters in the play had more depth. More frailty. More reality.

The tragedy is set within the parameters of various narrative dichotomies -- love vs. lust, ambition vs. greed, murder vs. suicide, madness vs. sanity, youth vs. age, natural vs. supernatural, and the list goes on. It is easy to play upon these obvious dualisms yet, what I found more satisfying with this production is that the characters are never reduced to them. The characters are never more or less than human. Plural. Like you or I.

The set for this particular production is simple -- my favourite type -- and evocative. Moving doors open and close scenes. That scenes are cut isn't an issue because we, the audience, are provided with glimpses into, not just the action, but into the characters themselves as the doors are moved, spun opened and closed across the stage. Bridging space and time. While we are directed to look through one door we intuitively know that action is occuring behind another yet are never in any way left behind.

The reflection and refraction of the mirrors break up the stage and act to unify it. At one point the light reflected off two mirrors appeared to show the reflection spilling out onto Hamlet himself as if Hamlet's own reflection was now made real. His essence exposed. We in the audience were also reflected in the mirrors. What was going on on the stage could have been happening to any one of us. Indeed, it was.

I have more thoughts on this. More thoughts yet to be thought I'm sure. I love the feeling I get after witnessing/being party to something larger than it's parts. This is why I love what I do. This is why I love art. This is why I love Hamlet.