The Bacchanals Hamlet

Hamlet by William Shakespeare -- in New Zealand. What a thrill to hear and see Shakespeare in a new theatre community. I've seen a lot of theatre in New York and this is one of the best ever! This production by The Bacchanals, who say (in their program) that they are “...committed to fighting an onslaught of boring plays with nothing to say about the state of humanity. . . If theatre has the power to change the world, then it has the responsibility to as well.”

Here here!!

This production has been touring the Wellington area with FREE shows in Brooklyn, Paekakariki, Lyall Bay, Upper Hutt, Mount Victoria, Island Bay, Makara, Thorndon and where I saw it: Newtown. Their website: www.thebacchanals.net.

A three-hour show is long, but it was so inspiring. When it was over, I could still hear Ophelia singing. Erin Banks has a beautiful voice; she knows the differences and nuances between singing and speaking and how to use the singing voice in her character, to continue telling the story (something American Idol performers don’t get. They get picked up for Broadway and bomb!) I, along with the audience, was spell bound by Ophelia’s final scene.

Kudos also to John Smythe as the hilarious Polonius and the Grave Digger. His interpretation of each character was completely different and yet we laughed equally to the folly of each character’s take on the world they inhabited above and below ground.

Simon Vincent in the title role was like Iggy Pop with his shirt on. Veins were popping with each thought word and deed and when his dagger tore through the curtain and killed Polonius, he kept right on rocking.

Phil Peleton as the Ghost of King Hamlet and as Claudius delivered each performance with such grace and belief I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I knew what he was thinking, keeping me on the edge of my seat, wondering what he would do next, even though I knew the outcome of the story. My first sight of Gertrude the Queen seemed to be a too young casting choice but Jean Copland graciously dropped her young persona for finding a deeper meaning to her role as wife, mother, and whore.

All the actors worked together flawlessly. David Lawrence directed this production in the Newtown Community Center in a way to include the audience, sometimes more intimately than expected but always with style to keep us engrossed. Three hours can be a long time, but Hamlet gives us some of our most well known phrases: to be or not to be, get thee to a nunnery, sweets to the sweet, good night sweet prince & flights of angels sing thee to thy rest, frailty they name is woman!, the play’s the thing, and go not to my uncle’s bed (I’m sure that has been repeated since 1603.) What’s your favorite?

This production definitely accomplished its goal: bring great theatre to the community and they will come. The place was packed. The tea break was lovely too.