When the Danish Prince Hamlet returns from from his travels, only to find havoc, and disturbing behavior between his mother and his uncle, it’s the onset of his spiritual collapse. The ghost of Hamlet’s father appears, to reveal Hamlet’s uncle poisoned him, to marry his wife, and steal his crown. And they’ve gotten away with it.
Hamlet is overcome by the egregious nature of this crime, and the horrific injustice that it’s gone unpunished. Hence the famous to be or not to be soliloquy ponders if it’s better to leave this world on your own terms, or accept the absurdity, or try to fight when goodness fails. He resolves to feign madness; this will free him to investigate without tipping his hand. He begins to court Ophelia, kind of, but he’s giving off mixed signals like crazy.
Long considered to be William Shakespeare’s most absorbing (and nearly inscrutable) plays, Hamlet stands apart in its complexity and daring attempt to address especially troubling issues. Hamlet may seem to be insane, but how does that speak to a life strategy? If the world doesn’t hold to some unchanging logic, perhaps madness is the only thing that makes sense.
The taking of a life as a means to get by, to function, is key in Hamlet. Perhaps a touchstone. Murder may be revenge or self-defense or to conceal our own crimes, but to do so is to meddle with the balance of the universe. Ironically in Hamlet, victims die by accident, by design, by ridiculous happenstance. Even duels are rigged. No matter how we fight for some sense of reason, or purpose, or simple contentment, events would appear to happen by some inexplicable, perverse logic.
I’ve been intrigued by the recent practice of some theaters casting against cisgender sex, I assume for the sake of broadening our sense of what gender actually means. Femaleness and maleness (and everything else along the spectrum). Not necessarily polarized but not absent either. And certainly these are worthy questions.
If a female plays a male character, a woman plays a prince, is it a comment on androgyny, or the deconstruction of gender indoctrination, or simply a woman depicting a man? I do not raise these questions by way of disparagement but rather to consider the experience aimed for, the expectations behind the choice.
Isabella Wilson plays Hamlet, with avid, congenial, kinetic energy. It almost feels too obvious to mention the sentience, presence and clarity needed are stupefying. Ms. Wilson gets a head of steam going, and it’s amazing to see. Much of the show calls for manic emotion and pensive affect. Shakespeare has designed Hamlet to stand in for us, the audience, who share his deep despair in the midst of havoc and abject misery. I’m not altogether certain Wilson has lived quite long enough to bring the necessary gravitas, but it’s easy to see that everything she does, she does with the strength of her convictions.
Outcry Youth Theatre, a cutting-edge troupe that specializes in showcasing younger actors, recently staged Hamlet (a difficult drama for any theatre) with compelling vision, intense dedication and intriguing innovation. The metaphoric concept of clocks appear and reappear throughout the show, a reminder of our mortality. Only humans keep time because only they have use for it.
The performers rise to the occasion with humor, humanity and smartness. As is so often the case with Outcry, dance numbers to contemporary music emerge to elucidate and comment on substance and story. The alienation and exasperation of rock songs enhanced this production of Hamlet, immeasurably.
The gracious folks at Outcry Youth Theatre let me attend Hamlet on closing weekend. They will always make you feel welcome.
1915 North Central Expressway, Suite 120, Plano, TX, United States, Texas (Not actual theater address).(972) 836-7206. outcrytheatre@gmail.com outcrytheatre.com.