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Oct 26, 2014 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
A British theatre group brought Hamlet to the National Cultural Centre (NCC) on Friday evening. It was an enjoyable production, but perhaps within the Guyana context the wrong Shakespeare play.
Hamlet remains one of about four of Shakespeare’s plays that have become part of philosophy. It ranks as a book on philosophy rather than a drama of tragedy. The theme of Hamlet has influenced many phenomenal works of literature of which ‘The Lion King’ stands out.
It was understandable for the group to take Hamlet across the world, because most Shakespearian companies would select Hamlet due to its influence on western philosophy, its theme, theatrical demands and the length of the play. In the Guyana context, it was perhaps not the most suitable aspect of Shakespeare to perform for a Guyanese audience.
First, Guyana’s intellectual tradition died a long time ago, so there is little appreciation for Shakespeare in 2014 in Guyana. Secondly, Shakespeare hasn’t been done here in decades either at the Theatre Guild or at the NCC. It meant, therefore, an introduction should have started with a short play that would not be too burdensome on the new audience.
Macbeth fits the occasion. Whereas Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest production, Macbeth is one of the shortest. The advantage Macbeth has over Hamlet in the Guyana context is very, very simple – Macbeth is a somewhat shorter version of the theme of Hamlet with the same captivating nuances.
Other forms of Shakespeare that would have be suitable given the context mentioned above would have been Romeo and Juliet, Merchant of Venice and Julius Caesar, maybe Othello too. From taking subtle looks at the audience during the production, Hamlet was weighing on their patience. Yes, the remnants of the civilized class in Guyana were there and they would have been familiar with Hamlet in their younger age (as this columnist) but there was a substantial number of the non-Shakespeare generation.
Heather Neill, theatre writer, is quoted in the booklet given to the audience as saying that Hamlet “seems to encompass everything, to speak to every nation and every generation.” Be that as it may, I don’t think Ms. Neill has an extensive Third World travel diary. If she is familiar with the breakdown of some states in the Third World, she would know Shakespeare would probably be mistaken for a perfume. Surely, Guyana falls into that category.
The Hamlet performance last Friday evening has to be judged within the understanding of the group. It is named ‘Globe to Globe Hamlet’. This is a small company that is taking Hamlet around the world using a tiny travelling stage that relies on the more accommodating stage facilities of the host country. Even though the show was plausible, one suspects that a finer product will emerge in countries that have far more modern stuff than the NCC, which in fact is an outdated theatre.
There was one conspicuous flaw in Friday’s show. The two directors went as far as possible to clothe their actors with medieval costumes, though there seems to have been a shortage. In what was a glaring contradiction, the central character, Hamlet, looked like a rapper on an American stage. He wore what may have been Dockers trousers, a tailored long-sleeved shirt buttoned to the wrist and designer’s loafers on his feet.
His acting was good and he carried out his lines impeccably for the one person among the actors who has the shortest biography. But the directors did him an injustice by having him don 21st century clothes – maybe from the stores that Mario Balotelli shops at in Milan. Each time he took centre stage with his Denzel Washington body and David Beckham sartorial aura, I wondered if finance is a problem with Globe to Globe Hamlet.
I must confess the last time I saw Shakespeare was many moons ago at my graduate school, University of Toronto, so I cannot compare the acting with any recent production, but one can hardly find fault with any of the actors
The most phenomenal moment at Hamlet last Friday was the audience. The NCC wasn’t filled, but for Shakespeare to attract those numbers, it meant civilization is still alive in Guyana. There was a surprisingly large turnout of young Guyanese.
I would appeal to the NCC administrators to fix seat 401 in the ‘L’ section. The leatherette is missing and below the sponge is a sharp metal object that touched my behind. My daughter suggested we move a row back, but it was a good thing we didn’t. Those were the seats of Nigel and Cathy Hughes. I invited Nigel to feel the metal object, but he said he didn’t want to get his finger pierced.
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