My Name and Work Cred in The Chicago Sun Times

So the following is from the Review of Hamlet in the Chicago Sun Times. I am super stoked about it because she mentioned my name and my costumes as one of the best things about the show!! Yah! Her observations of the rest of the show are fairly dead on...I am just excited- I've been in the Wilmington paper a bunch- I just feel like I have finally arrived-career wise here in Chicago now that I am in the paper!



Alas, 'Hamlet,' you're a shadow of yourself

January 26, 2005

BY LENORA INEZ BROWN

To produce or not to produce "Hamlet," that is the question most theater artists ask sometime during their careers. To take up the task and make Shakespeare's 400-year-old revenge tragedy seem contemporary and new requires daring and vision. Accordingly, Keyhole Theatre Company's current production makes a number of bold decisions, but they entirely alter the play's focus and ultimately fall flat.

Director Frank Merle's adaptation, with its multitude of cuts, allows for a brisk telling of King Hamlet's murder, Hamlet's mission to avenge his father and the impact of the young Dane's madness on his mother, stepfather/uncle and onetime girlfriend Ophelia. This Top Ten Hits approach to "Hamlet" reminds us how often acting students choose these scenes for class. But Merle focuses on individual moments without connecting them to a greater whole. The resulting uneven pace underscores his vague choices for relationships between characters.

And don't blink, because you'll miss some rather key moments, including the all-important "Mousetrap" scene in which Hamlet catches the conscience of the king.

That's right. It's not there. This is one of the most bizarre decisions anyone could make, as it's one of the few moments in which Hamlet decides to do anything. Most importantly, it's the scene in which Hamlet lets Claudius know that someone knows how King Hamlet died.

Without this scene, we forget about Hamlet midway through the play and begin to focus on Claudius (well-played by Kyle Lemieux). And rightly or wrongly, we begin to sympathize with the false king, because in this version it's guilt, rather than fear of exposure, that inspires Claudius to pray.

Despite this stupefying omission, the production provides a few new insights. First, we learn through Lemieux's thoughtful and focused performance how much the people support Laertes and revile Hamlet after he murders Polonius. Second, Merle reminds us how much death is in the play. Merle creates a gallery of ghosts along the house left wall where King Hamlet sits and watches the entire play, rising only when in a scene or joined by another character who has died.

At first, this gallery provides the Ghost (a strong and powerful performance by Jason Lecompte) with a way to remain engaged in the action, suggesting that he controls this world. It also seems like a great way to keep the other ghosts connected to the action as well. As the play progresses, however, the Ghost and his fellow dead souls do nothing to connect with the scenes. It's as if Merle forgets they're there.

One emphatic argument Merle makes with this adaptation is that Hamlet never doubts what the Ghost says. That total belief suggests that Hamlet might hover around Claudius waiting for the right time to make a move. But that creates an inconsistency, because Hamlet (Bobby Zaman) does nothing except spout speeches about questioning truth when, in fact, this Hamlet questions nothing.

Costume designer Mariangela Saavedra executes a fabulous design. Her characters are of a single world and dressed in simple but rich-looking fabrics. The hair and makeup design stand out as considered and truly crafted for each character. To her credit, Saavedra avoids designing an exaggerated mad look for Ophelia (Erin Killean). Instead, Ophelia has a somewhat washed-out look and slightly mussed hair.

This well-planned design helps Killean fashion a simple and disarming madness, especially during Ophelia's second entrance in the famous mad scene. She isn't deranged or hysterical; her mind is just firmly grounded elsewhere.

Even with these few standout moments, Merle misses many opportunities to shape connections and explore the weighty and occasionally comic scenes that make this one of the theater's best-loved stories.