3/21/06 Reactions to Asheville School's "The Hamlet Experiment"

NOTE: entry written without benefit of notes March 21, three weeks later)

PLAY: The Hamlet Experiment
DAY/DATE/CURTAIN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, ‘06
COMPANY: Asheville School (high school production
DIRECTOR: Wendy Kussrow
VENUE: stage of Graham Theatre (no relation)
HOUSE SIZE & TYPE: theatre ordinarily seats about 350 proscenium, but in this case--a first for this theatre that I know of--the audience was seated on the stage in four sections facing the center. The main drape was closed, creating a “black box”. Actors made entrances from four directions (though I don’t remember the “upstage” point used for entrances). The main acting area was center but extended toward what would ordinarily be the wings. Platforms were raised above all four entrances and were used for followspots (operated by Hamlet’s #2 & #3), acting area (s.r. above metallic sliding doors), and s & l operators/announcer (s.l.). Seating for 80 people (I think).

General reactions: A fun, adventurous, experiment that, for me, didn’t work more often than it did but was worth it. I feel quite ambivalent because I applaud Wendy, her staff, and her students for shaking up expectations, especially in a high school (albeit private and high-class) environment. And especially for playing around with the text to the degree that this production did (cutting and pasting, distributing the soliloquies among three Hamlets). At the same time, the production fell prey to some very familiar problems: It took itself far too seriously (though the “serious” opening--a disembodied voice inviting us all to witness the experiment and giving us some instructions--was fun, too). The cutting made for some real problems (no mention of Fortinbras until the very end, and then: who???) and other difficulties that I can’t remember right now. The addition of two other follow-spot-wielding Hamlets to share in the soliloquies and some other scenes was interesting and took the pressure off the girl who played the role most of the time, but I didn’t really get the reasoning behind the choice as far as the play goes. Some of the time I felt that Hamlet was succombing to the pressure he was putting on himself but at other times some other purpose was apparently being served. I wished the other two actors could get down off their perches: the followspots were good but more could have been done with the Hamlets moving in concert, I think.
I have one over-riding reaction: I saw my own kind of directing choices in Wendy’s production and I winced a bit: “Interesting” choices that didn’t seem organic to the process or the text but were made because they were interesting and unusual or made good pictures (and unmotivated movement). I am SO GUILTY OF THIS!
I’m not being fair to Wendy and I’m neglecting to mention all kinds of things about the production. This isn’t a review, it’s a personal reaction. I hope she got many, many kudos for the production (especially from parents, administrators, faculty) because she took a chance. And most important of all, she created a space (literally and metaphorically) where something had the potential of really happening.