{"id":106316,"date":"2024-07-26T12:57:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T16:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=106316"},"modified":"2024-07-26T14:00:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T18:00:02","slug":"scrutiny-canadian-stages-radical-redux-hamlet-short-sweet-surprising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/07\/26\/scrutiny-canadian-stages-radical-redux-hamlet-short-sweet-surprising\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Canadian Stage\u2019s Radical Redux Of Hamlet Is Short, Sweet, Surprising"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stephen
Stephen Jackman-Torkoff as Horatio and Qasim Khan as Hamlet in Canadian Stage Hamlet (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canadian Stage Dream in High Park\/Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, adapted and directed by Jessica Carmichael, High Park Amphitheatre, High Park, closes Sept. 1. Tickets here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

There are adaptations, and then there are radical adaptations. The Canadian Stage High Park Hamlet is radical on steroids, which makes for a most interesting theatrical experience, to say the least.<\/p>\n

The Adaptation<\/h3>\n

There is no definitive text for Hamlet because there are three published editions \u2014 First Quarto (1603), Second Quarto (1604) and First Folio (1623) \u2014 and they are all different. The accepted practice has been to combine material from Q2 and F1 to differing degrees, but there is one thing that productions of Hamlet always have in common. No matter what is put in, and what is left out, the play runs between three to four hours.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s adapter\/director Jessica Carmichael<\/strong>\u2019s version, which is roughly 90 minutes without an intermission.<\/p>\n

The usual adaptation might modernize language or eliminate wordiness, but the new text tends to leave the original play fairly intact. While Carmichael has certainly preserved the important elements of Shakespeare\u2019s Hamlet, she has added text from a host of other sources, even borrowing lines from two of the Bard\u2019s other plays.<\/p>\n

A radical adaptation \u2014 you bet it is.<\/p>\n

Carmichael\u2019s premise is simply this. Hamlet is a play about grief and loss, and her director\u2019s notes in the program go into detail about how she came to this conclusion, pointing particularly to author Meghan O\u2019Rourke\u2019s article, \u201cHamlet\u2019s Not Depressed. He\u2019s Grieving\u201d. The material Carmichael has added into her adaptation is, as she says, other people\u2019s words on grief, the purpose being \u201cillumination\u201d.<\/p>\n

Therefore, each added text expands or comments on Shakespeare\u2019s own words, and the crazy thing is, it all works. The program lists the extensive sources Carmichael has, as she says, woven into the play. They include a mindboggling 15 poems, two plays, ten books and three songs. In short, Carmichael\u2019s adaptation is virtually a new play in its own right<\/p>\n

I first encountered Hamlet as part of my Grade 13 English course. Since then, I have seen many productions, and because I am very familiar with the play, I tend to be on cruise control. By that I mean, I\u2019m looking to see if a director has brought new insights into character development, or how actors are delivering lines, or if I\u2019m I hearing new meaning in well-known speeches, and so forth. In other words, the usual reviewer\u2019s modus operandi with known material.<\/p>\n

Well, you can\u2019t be on cruise control in Carmichael\u2019s adaptation because you have to pay attention. In fact, it\u2019s quite an unsettling experience because you never know when something new is going to be spoken, given the easy drift from Shakespeare\u2019s text to the new passages. Conversely, you are also aware when well-known lines are left out, or when expected scenes aren\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

I have deliberately not given concrete examples because, if you have a passing acquaintance with Hamlet, I don\u2019t want to spoil the surprises you will experience when, suddenly, familiar texts riffs into something different. It\u2019s like being part of a puzzle, identifying the something old and the something new. I\u2019ll just say this. Be alert from the very beginning of the play.<\/p>\n

The Production<\/h3>\n

From a directorial point of view, Carmichael has been very skilful in utilizing the upper and lower stages, in fact, the whole amphitheatre. There are several occasions when the actors are in and around the audience to great effect.<\/p>\n

Another Carmichael device is having actors share lines that are only meant to be spoken by one person. In other words, it creates conversation. This occurs in a couple of Hamlet\u2019s speeches, for example, and I have to admit, it is a bit of shock when this happens.<\/p>\n

Another shocker is speeches that are given to different characters entirely, such as Polonius co-opting Ophelia\u2019s \u201cO, what a noble\u00a0mind\u00a0is here o’erthrown!\u201d It\u2019s just another example of Carmichael\u2019s curve balls aimed at shifting dynamics of characters and relationships. Her use of repetition for emphasis is another hallmark of this Hamlet.<\/p>\n

\"Am\u00e9lia
Am\u00e9lia Sargisson, Stephen Jackman-Torkoff, and Qasim Khan as Hamlet in Canadian Stage Hamlet (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carmichael\u2019s main thrust is emotion. The production is in high dudgeon for most of the time, and almost every character experiences angst at one point. This sturm und drang approach may not be to all tastes, but along with the furious pacing, it does capture attention. In short, Carmichael has given us Hamlet as melodrama.<\/p>\n

There are also some very clever staging ideas, such as how Polonius\u2019 and Ophelia\u2019s bodies are disposed of. Again, I\u2019m not giving away details. Carmichael has also put characters in scenes from which they are usually absent, which makes for a whole new configuration of meaning and purpose. For example, Horatio and Ophelia have a lot more stage time than one would witness in more traditional adaptations.<\/p>\n

Designer Joshua Quinlan<\/strong> has costumed the cast in modern dress which works, given the added non-Shakespearean text, and has given the set a bleak look which suits the theme. I\u2019m assuming that sound designer Christopher Ross-Ewart is the composer of the excellent score which brilliantly evokes the play\u2019s many moods. For his part, lighting designer Logan Raju Cracknell has done wonders with the limited grid at the amphitheatre. His effects are very noticeable in pin-spotting the action.<\/p>\n

The Actors<\/h3>\n

Well, what about the actors? How do they fare in such an emotionally-wrought production? The answer is that director Carmichael has made both good and bad decisions in character development.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, Qasim Khan<\/strong>\u2019s Hamlet is not your average brooding prince. He emotes all over the place in very dramatic fashion, at times, almost hysterically so. It is his fervour that drives the play, and Khan, awash as he is in nervous energy, portrays a man who is clearly on a mission to revenge his father. It is almost as if every interior thought or feeling, as played by most actors, has bubbled to the surface and now pours out of him. Khan\u2019s in-your-face Hamlet flies in the face of convention. I appreciate it. Others may not.<\/p>\n

At first, Diego Matamoros<\/strong>\u2019 Claudius seems to be the one voice of reason on the stage, a man who is fully in command. Yet, when it became his turn to emote, it somehow didn\u2019t work. There was, for example, a flatness in his reaction to the play within the play that re-enacts his killing of his brother, which was followed by the actor seeming to lose energy thereafter. Thus, with Claudius, it\u2019s a mixed bag, with a strong beginning and a dubious ending.<\/p>\n

As usual, Raquel Duffy<\/strong> can do no wrong, and her impressive Gertrude has a sly, almost teasing persona as the play begins. Hamlet\u2019s killing of Polonius is her undoing, and her collapse into a hysterical flood of tears is absolutely believable. When she does recover, Duffy makes sure that Gertrude is no longer the strong and confident woman she was at the beginning of the play. It is a beautifully constructed character arc.<\/p>\n

Sam Khalilieh<\/strong> as Polonius gives a questionable performance. He begins as a vigorous hail and farewell personality, an extravert of high position, a veritable know it all, but he falters when he has to show raw emotion. His take on Ophelia\u2019s \u201cO, what a noble mind\u2026\u201d speech falls flat because his passionate delivery seems to come out of left field, with no basis in reality.<\/p>\n

Carmichael\u2019s adaptation, with its extra lines, has given Horatio a much bigger role, and Stephen Jackman-Torkoff<\/strong> is almost as agitated as his friend Hamlet, which is just another one of the play\u2019s many surprises. This Horatio is a far cry from the restrained and thoughtful Horatio of old. Fortunately, the actor has the charisma to make his presence felt.<\/p>\n

\"Beck
Beck Lloyd as Ophela in Canadian Stage Hamlet (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ophelia is another enriched role, and Beck Lloyd<\/strong> is excellent at showing a more feisty personality than usual. Her mad scene presents a young girl of strength, which is far removed from the usual wilting rose. In this adaptation, Ophelia has been upgraded from a supporting role to a major character.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, her brother Laertes seems to be of weaker stock, and Dan Mousseau<\/strong>, at times, is practically a cry baby. In a production, however, where every character is wearing their heart on their sleeve, this Laertes, consumed with grief, fits right in with the high drama swirling around him.<\/p>\n

Both Christo Graham<\/strong> as Guildenstern and Amelia Sargisson<\/strong> as Rosencrantz are terrific. From their very entrance with Hamlet, Carmichael has directed them to be the epitome of youthful enthusiasm, and their playful high jinks are refreshing amid the doom and gloom. The actors also shine in their other roles \u2014 Graham as a pompously silly Osric and Sargisson as the comic Gravedigger. In fact, these two give the most even performances among the cast.<\/p>\n

James Dallas Smith<\/strong> was a little low key for my tastes as the head Player, but his Ghost of Hamlet\u2019s father fared better in delivery. The capable Prince Amponsah<\/strong> and Breton Lalama<\/strong> round out the cast as Bernardo and Marcellus, and two Players, respectively.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

Carmichael has given us a Hamlet that is short, sweet and surprising. Purists might howl, but she gets full marks from me for her gutsy adaptation. No one is going to tune out of this production.<\/p>\n

But, is it Shakespeare\u2019s Hamlet or an entirely new play?<\/p>\n

On another note, Canadian Stage has given audiences another crack at Hamlet. Coming up next February is Fat Ham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by James Ijames<\/strong>, that is an updated comic retelling of Hamlet. It should be a must see.<\/p>\n

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The Canadian Stage High Park Hamlet is radical adaptation on steroids, which makes for a most interesting theatrical experience, to say the least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":106320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40967,52,62,63],"tags":[631,41203,41131],"yst_prominent_words":[22923,11439,11181],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/07\/Copy-of-REVIEW-54.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-rEM","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106316"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106324,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106316\/revisions\/106324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106316"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=106316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}