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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW State launches Medford campaign to deter pot use among youths ... Small fire fills second-floor Ramada Inn guest rooms with smoke ... Abdill fined, put on probation for state violations ... State launches Medford campaign to deter pot use among youths ... Small fire fills second-floor Ramada Inn guest rooms with smoke ... Abdill fined, put on probation for state violations ... REVIEW OSF's innovative 'Hamlet' stays true to play's heart Powerful acting, innovative direction make compelling combination Comment By Bill Varble, for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble, for the Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 2, 2016 at 11:56 AM By Bill Varble, for the Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 2, 2016 at 11:56 AM » Social News It’s said that “Hamlet” is a ghost story. True, it’s a ghost that incites the play’s main action, Hamlet’s arc from aimless mourning to bloody revenge. But Shakespeare left just enough opacity in the play to legitimize two questions. Is the ghost real? Is Hamlet mad, or is he faking it? Lisa Peterson, who directed the new production of “Hamlet” playing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre, has said she’s heard that to mount the play successfully you must have opinions. She has stressed one of Shakespeare’s favorite themes, that of the generations. Tension between the younger generation (Hamlet, Horatio, Ophelia) and the older (Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius) is foregrounded in the playing, especially in Hamlet’s interaction with Gertrude and any time Polonius is on. David C. Woolard’s costumes signal a generation gap, too. They are loosely period, but the younger generation’s garments have contemporary touches such as screen prints. Hamlet’s costume has little skulls and ravens. Electric guitars hang around Laura Jellinek’s spare, steely-looking set, and the stage is crowded with amps and speakers. High above the stage, co-composer Scott Kelly, who fronts a touring band called Neurosis, plays moody, doom-metal guitar phrases that float over the scenes and reinforce the play’s inner darkness. So what about the ghost, which shows up to deliver the news that he was murdered by his brother, Claudius (Michael Elich), who quickly married the newly widowed Gertrude (Robin Goodrin Nordli), and to demand that Hamlet seek revenge? The realer we perceive Hamlet’s madness to be, the greater the chance the ghost is in his mind. And Danforth Comins’ Hamlet is clearly one cup of sugar short of a Danish. His eyes grow ever wilder, he laughs (I was about to say cackles) maniacally, and crucially, he gives the audience no sign he’s putting it all on. Yes, the sentries see the ghost (played by Richard Howard), but nobody but Hamlet interacts with it. And Gertrude neither sees nor hears it. Peterson has deployed multiple ghosts, so that old King Hamlet’s shade seems to pop up in two or three places at once, running madly through the set and the audience. Unless ghosts have the power, like Anne Rice’s vampires, to move at warp speed, this suggests there’s something weird about this ghost. I mean beyond your normal ghost weirdness. So the possibility of a truly mad Hamlet and a spurious ghost seemed to me to linger through the play. Of course, it could be argued that it doesn’t matter. Whatever the literal truth, Hamlet’s problems remain the same. He was supposed to be the king, and he isn’t, and he’s an agent of revenge and in crisis mode from his first entrance to his death. Comins’ Hamlet is disturbed, mercurial, a little dangerous and always compelling. When the world’s most famous monologue comes up, he thrusts a floor-standing microphone at somebody in the audience, who says softly, “To be or not to be … ” Derrick Lee Weeden’s Polonius is marvelous, a pompous old bore whose dottiness lends a little welcome contrast to the play’s darkness. Jennie Greenberry does not give Ophelia that airy-fairy quality she often has, resulting in a refreshingly engaging character. There’s not a scene that doesn’t work. The killing of Polonius is truly awful. The Players bring vibrant color to the drab world of the court for the mousetrap scene. The gravediggers scene is clownish and funny and creepy and disturbing. “Hamlet” is the longest play in the canon, and Hamlet has the most lines of any Shakespeare character. Maybe there’s nothing more telling about this one than to say it flew by in a rush. Traditionalists who complain that directors monkey around with Shakespeare should check this one out. It’s a textbook illustration of how an innovative concept can tease out new resonances while staying true to the play’s heart. Bill Varble is a longtime arts and entertainment writer for the Mail Tribune. Reach him at varble.bill @gmail.com. By Bill Varble, for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble, for the Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 2, 2016 at 11:56 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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