“Hamlet” at the Mark Taper Forum

In my most recent review on this site, I discussed my general wariness about imposing new directorial takes or twists on Shakespeare works. Once in a rare while, these changes can illuminate the piece in an entirely new way, or imbue it with fresh life, but often, they’re not successful. And thus we come to the Melancholy Dane, who has more to be morose about than usual in the Taper’s new presentation of Hamlet. There are many things that don’t work with Robert O’Hara’s adaptation of the play, from an ineffective basic concept to an overall sense of imbalance, but it does distinguish itself in other ways. I’m pretty sure, for example, that no other Shakespeare production in history has ever used the word “cumdump.”

Center Theatre Group has been fairly forthcoming with the fact that this show is not an entirely traditional Hamlet, pointing out that it’s “an intense excavation of the classic text with new scenes and characters,” so I’m accordingly going to be a bit more spoiler-y than I might normally be in the plot description. You probably know the basic story: Prince Hamlet’s (Patrick Ball) dad was murdered by his uncle Claudius (Ariel Shafir), who then marries Hamlet’s mother Gertrude (Gina Torres) and becomes king (although here it’s CEO of the Elsinore Company). Spurred to seek vengeance by the ghost of his father, Hamlet pretends to be mad to those around him, including his girlfriend Ophelia (Coral Peña), her father Polonius (Ramiz Monsef) and his friend Horatio (Jakeem Powell), while he makes up his mind what to do. But before we see the traditional tragic conclusion of the play, the story shifts to Detective Fortinbras (Joe Chrest), a fixer for Elsinore, interrogating people about all of Hamlet’s murders.

It’s not the actors’ fault. They’re a good cast and they do the best they can with what they’re given. Ball gives a smart and vigorous performance in the lead role, and in a traditional production his portrayal could be properly appreciated. This isn’t to say that he doesn’t succeed in this adaptation – he gamely jumps into it with both feet and finds a lot of humor in the role. Shafir excels as a forceful, coke-sniffing Claudius, saying “How now” to various audience members like a politician working a room. Peña effectively shows off her dramatic and comedic range, playing both the usual confused-then-dead Ophelia as well as the much bolder version in this new version. Powell impresses as both versions of Horatio, while Chrest doesn’t get much to work with in a role that’s almost entirely exposition. Torres is sadly underused but does get one great angry speech toward the end of the show. Monsef, unfortunately, plays Polonius in such a manic and broad comedic way that it comes off as over the top, even in an adaptation such as this.

It’s difficult to judge O’Hara’s direction separately from his adaptation, as he’s simply following his own script, but he gets strong work from his ensemble, the pacing is swift, and the show seems very professional on a technical level. Lap Chi Chu’s lighting design and Lindsay Jones’ sound design are both expertly done, but Yee Eun Nam’s projections seem overused and visually somewhat drab.

O’Hara’s adaptation and original writing are problematic in several ways. The first and most important is: What was the point of all this? In what way did this “interrogation” of Hamlet provide any new insight or even entertainment? To my mind, it produced no fresh meaning and only fitful enjoyment. Structurally, cramming the main plot of the play into an hour and fifteen minutes and then only limiting that to scenes from Hamlet’s POV, the piece lessens the impact of all the other characters, reducing a lot of them to more or less walk-on parts, especially the women. Then combining this mini-Hamlet with forty-five minutes of mainly jokes that deflate the seriousness of Hamlet creates a production of two parts that neither cohere with nor build upon each other. Also, the character of Hamlet is missing from almost half the show, which furthers the sense of imbalance.

Finally, O’Hara has added a great deal of sexual material to this version, which unfortunately adds little to the production but a mild sense of juvenile surprise. I have no issue with exploring sexual issues in theater, but in this play it adds so little that the result is more risible than revolutionary. It begins with Hamlet performing cunnilingus on Ophelia and later has Horatio on his knees to perform fellatio on the presumably Less-Melancholy Dane, not to mention the less than savory language referred to in the opening paragraph of this review. I wasn’t offended by these changes – everything’s fair game in theater – but I did find them tiresome and pointless, the kind of thing a tyro playwright might do to create an interest that otherwise isn’t there.

I’ve said this before, but the caveat to doing twists or avant-garde versions of classic works is that the new material or insight has to be extraordinary, and at the very least worthy of the play it’s altering. Just being new isn’t enough. This current production of Hamlet features a lot of very talented people in a disappointing adaptation, an experiment that doesn’t work. If you want to see one that does, however, I’d recommend Lear Redux: A Quantum Fantasia at the Odyssey Theatre, which runs until July 13, 2025.

Hamlet is presented by Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum and plays through July 6, 2025. Tickets are available at https://www.centertheatregroup.org/