CurtainUp
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CurtainUp The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features,
Annotated Listings |
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A CurtainUp Berkshire Review
Gertrude and Claudius
By DL Simmons
To be fair, Shakespeare himself was re-telling an old tale. After researching the Bard's literary source, Updike discovered more than half the original plot had been dropped. Queen Gertrude's full backstory — both her arranged, loveless marriage to King Amleth (Hamlet's dad in pre-Ghost form) and her forbidden affair with his ne'er-do-well brother Claudius — became the spine of Updike's new narrative. Adultery, assassination and royalty — subjects with juice, ripe for squeezing. Yet in spite of its lofty pedigree and noble ambition, the plot boils down to a tasteful bodice-ripper. As a play, Mark St.Germainn's adaptation has a long way to go before it can stand on its own merit, apart from Shakespeare or Updike. Barrington Stage Company has nonetheless mounted a bold, handsome production. Right away, Lee Savage's castle set casts a foreboding spell with its gray columns and arches and flickering candlelight. Wagon-wheel chandeliers and royal banners fly in to differentiate locations within its towers, and a cyc visible behind the battlement crenulations lights up with brilliant shades of Elsinore's angry skies. With a thick haze of mist hovering over the stage throughout, David Lander's subdued lighting favors penetrating shafts to glaring spotlights — at times this production is visually stunning. Just when it seems Savage and Lander couldn't possibly top themselves, in flies a beam of eerily-lit, mounted deer heads signifying an ominous location change. Jaws will drop. Sara Jean Toseti's costume design aims for resplendent mixing of gold brocades, leathers and fur, jewel-toned velvets, even some armor plating. Her color choices are somewhat unexpected — purples are matched with magentas, drab greens with teals, browns with blacks and eventually Santa Claus-reds. Anne Ford-Coates' wigs, with the exception of Gertrude's restrained locks, have an amusing life of their own. Amleth's hedgehog 'do in the first half is so crazy-bushy, it's almost a letdown to discover the actor's real hair (as revealed in Act Two) looks totally normal. This reportedly marks the first presentation of St.Germainn's adaptation. If his play is to find an afterlife happier than Hamlet's ghost, he's got some editing to do. Act One, especially, has so many short expository scenes that a flowing rhythm never gets established. Julianne Boyd directs these brief vignettes with economy and efficiency, and she stages the lovers' written correspondence with nifty shorthand. (Think Love Letters compressed into a few terse exchanges.) But it's not until the second act before most scenes are given room to breathe, allowing characters to make discoveries on their own without having to impart plot pivots and circumstantial background. From a dramatist's point of view, the greatest limitation of Updike's source material is his dubious notion that Gertrude and Claudius (and Amleth and Polonius) are actually swell people, far more virtuous than villainous. While that's quite a revisionist theory from a literary perspective, it lacks urgency as drama. Where's catharsis in nice people committing adultery and murder ever so reluctantly? Or in Gertrude's case, unwittingly? If only James M. Cain had written the novel, we'd get hard-boiled pulp instead. A touch of The Postman Always Rings Twice, with its horny, immoral protagonists, is exactly what this tale of infidelity and conspiracy needs to come alive on stage. Instead, Updike and St.Germainn settle for a talky family counseling circle with proto-feminist undertones — plus one scene of chaste bodice-ripping that takes so long to arrive, we just want it over with so the drama can begin. The burden of carrying Gertrude and Claudius falls on Kate MacCluggage, who dominates nearly every scene in this production. Hers is an intellectual, modernist Gertrude, clear of vision and pure of thought. And she's nobody's pushover in a family row. The character is also inert, given more to side-eye than subterfuge. MacCluggage maintains a regal air between flickers of temper, and she has a commanding stage presence. But as a woman whose crimes of passion could cost her her head, she's questionably chill. Instead of showing the queen's wanton heart, she wears a determined mask of gritted teeth, dimples and furrowed brow. In the smaller role of Claudius, Elijah Alexander has an easier time of it. Loose-limbed and unafraid to swagger in unbuttoned tunics and leather breeches, he finds the character's sensual current and rides that wave to the finish line. He also brings self-aware humor to the role, which is a welcome relief . . . yet problematic because it makes the climactic, cold-blooded murder (which happens offstage, by the way!) feel out of character. Douglas Rees (Amleth) and Rocco Sisto (Polonius) provide able support. Rees gives Amleth layers and depth, an odd choice perhaps given how many characters refer to Amleth as "not subtle." For a supposed boor, he displays a lot of nuance. As Gertrude's god-fearing attendant Herda, Mary Stout gets all the laugh lines and sells them like rimshots. But, of the entire cast, why is she the only character to age physically over the 30-year timeline? A few go gray in the second half, but Stout actually slows down. Nice attention to detail there. For Hamlet and Shakespeare fans,
| Search CurtainUp in the box below PRODUCTION NOTES Gertrude and Claudius by Mark St.Germainn Based on the novel by John Updike Directed by Julianne Boyd Cast: Kate MacCluggage (Gertrude) Elijah Alexander (Claudius) Douglas Rees (Amleth) Mary Stout (Herda) Rocco Sisto (Polonius) Greg Thornton (King Rorik) Nick Lamedica (Hamlet) Scenic Designer: Lee Savage Choreographer: Barbara Allen Costume Designer: Sara Jean Toseti Lighting Designer: David Lander Composer: Jenny Giering Sound Designer: Lindsay Jones Wig Designer: Anne Ford-Coates Puppet Designer: Brandon Hardy Production Stage Manager: Geoff Boronda Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes; one intermission Barrington Stage Company, Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, Pittsfield, MA From 7/18/19; closing 8/3/19 Reviewed by DL Simmons at July 21 performance REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
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