“Hamlet”

[rating=5]It is always difficult to speak about an entertaining theatrical experience that deals with revenge, passion and deception, but this is the “gist” of Shakespeare’s enduring masterpiece, “Hamlet”. This new version, staged by Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, takes us into the story of Prince Hamlet ( a sterling performance by Maurice Jones) and his fury over his father’s death and his mother, Gertrude ( Karen Aldridge) marrying his uncle Claudius (deftly handled by Tim Decker). Hamlet had been visited by his father’s ghost and swore to avenge his murder.

Hamlet has only revenge on his mind and thus seems estranged from all around him, including his love, Ophelia (Rachel Nicks is new to CST, but take note, you will see her again). Claudius, in order to keep Hamlet from discovering the truth, brings in Rosencrantz ( Alex Goodrich) and Guildenstern ( Samuel Taylor) , his close school friends to take him away and to kill him. Hamlet is strong and escapes only to come back home and find more misery and tragedy. The ending is not one of happiness.

Along the way of discovery and revenge, we meet some very intense characters and Gaines has once again brought some of Chicago’s finest actors to bring his characters to life. Sean Allan Krill is Horatio, Kevin Gudahl (plays a number of roles with just a change of costumes and hair), Paul Deo Jr. is marvelous as Laertes ( the sword fight with Hamlet is powerful and amazing to watch), Greg Vinkler ( in two solid roles) the always reliable Larry Yando as Polonius ( his character is amazing and if you listen to his quotes, you will hear many that have become a part of our language) and the incredible Mike Nussbaum as one of the gravediggers ( he, along with Vinkler has a scene that is as juicy a role as an actor could ever hope for). The ensemble is  composed of: Sam Pearson, Drew Shirley, Al’Jaleel McGhee, Callie Johnson. Mehmet Aksoy and Sarah Chalcroft.

The run time for this show is pretty close to three hours including one intermission, but it is by far the quickest three hours of theater I have ever experienced. As staged by Gaines, the flow of action is thus, that the time flies ( as the saying goes, “when you’re having fun”)! Since Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s stage is a thrust, there is not a great deal of set but Scott Davis manages to use the barest to convey the scenes. Susan E. Mickey’s costumes are truly modern and fitting and the lighting by Robert Wierzel perfect. The ghostly projections are designed by Mike Tutaj and the sound and original music by Lindsay Jones help to make every part of the story fill the theater. The fight choreography by Matt Hawkins is terrific and Roberta Duchak ( who most of us know from the musical comedy stages) is the music director. The wigs and make-up by Richard Jarvie are amazing. In particular, when the “company” of actors, who appear to be a motorcycle gang, takes the stage. The hairdos are something else and as I said earlier, watch all of the wigs that Gudhal dons as he shows us his special versatility as an actor. As an aside, Larry Yando serves as the Verse coach to the cast for this production. He is indeed a Chicago “treasure”.

“Hamlet” will continue at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier thru June 9th.

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 312-595-5600

www.chicagoshakes.com

Tickets range from  $48- $88Navy Pier does have an enclosed parking garage ( bring your ticket to the theater for validation/discount)

SPECIAL PERFORMANCES:

Audio description   May 19th at 2 p.m. with optional touch-tour at 12 p.m.

ASL Duo-Interpretation  Friday , May 31st at 7:30 p.m.

Open-captioning, Thursday, June 6th at both 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

To see what others are saying, visit

www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Hamlet”