Local theaters put singular spins on Shakespeare
By Art Thomas
Insights
Published Oct. 11, 2006

Hamlet debates the future of a praying Claudius; In foreground, Mark Cipra as Claudius and in background, Sarah Morton as Hamlet.

It’s amazing, but right now, you can see three productions of plays by William Shakespeare on area stages. Each is an adaptation in one way or another.

If one questioned the relevance of Shakespeare, he only need look across the West side to find that the three productions are each attracting a diverse audience.

Downtown, the Great Lakes Theater Festival is presenting “Love’s Labours Lost.” I have to say first, that I am not a fan of Shakespeare’s comedies. This production is set in the surreal world of Rene Magritte. This is the 20th century Belgian painter who had a hat floating in space with a suit below but no head of the owner.

The costumes are largely contemporary, and there is little tampering with the script as far as I can tell. The story has a king and three of his nobles making a pact to stay away from women for three years to pursue a more pure, contemplative life. However, in a short time, a princess from France arrives with three handmaidens. Love letters are written, read by the wrong person, and finally love triumphs, as we knew it would.

The Great Lakes production is straightforward with broad comedy coaxed from the professional cast by director Drew Barr. An audience favorite is Jeffrey Hawkins as Costard, the freed servant who is charged with delivering the letters. A master of both physical and verbal humor, Hawkins wrung laughs from audience members of all ages at the performance I attended.

Over-the-top Andrew May has a blast in a Salvador Dali costume, twirling a ridiculous mustache as the eccentric Spaniard Don Adriano De Armado.

When a pedantic schoolmaster and his servant endlessly discussed a deer hunt, the resulting humor left most of the audience and me in a stony silence.

To be fair, the majority of the audience enjoyed “Love’s Labours Lost” more than I did. I did find the production to be attractive and well acted, and that is a lot, given the complexities of Shakespeare.

“Love’s Labours Lost” runs through Oct. 20 in the Ohio Theater at Playhouse Square Center.

At the Cleveland Public Theater on Cleveland’s West side, an all-male production of “Measure for Measure” is taking place through Saturday. One of the problem plays, “Measure for Measure” is not characterized as a history, comedy or tragedy. A reduced seven-member cast takes on all roles, and I’ll bet that the result is, at the least, intriguing.

The Beck Center has the oddest concept of all. This is a production of “Hamlet” that was inspired by a silent movie! In it, a woman plays Hamlet. Supposedly the woman is impersonating the male character and the director gives evidence from the text to support the idea.

The production, directed by David Hansen, has some suggestion of the silent film era, such as projection screens with title cards. I was intrigued with starting the play with the gravedigger scene. After that, the play skips the ghost of Hamlet’s father scenes, and gets to the heart of the conflict. Despite the extensive cutting, this “Hamlet” seems and is long.

Sarah Morton is effective in the title role, but one quickly forgets that this is a woman, and accepts the production and the plot for what it is. The lengthy “players” scenes are there and long as ever, with the less experienced performers in the player roles. George Roth is a goofy next-door neighbor as Polonius and gives perhaps the best performance of the cast.

“Hamlet” runs through Oct. 22 in the Studio Theater of the Beck Center.