Family Affairs: Ript Theater Company's HAMLET

Nathan Winkelstein is not the first actor-director to trod the boards as the Melancholy Dane, but he is one of the successful ones.

Ript Theater Company's inaugural production of Hamlet boasts a 90-minute running time and four person cast: the second four person Hamlet in as many years (Bedlam having done the feat in rep with Saint Joan before).  With such a sprawling tale and such a limited scale to perform, it was possible going in that this Hamlet might fall literally short. 

Gone is not only Fortinbras - who is frequently excised anyway - but also Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whose loss causes surprisingly few ripples, despite what Tom Stoppard might argue otherwise.  The heart of the play, as director Winkelstein says in his notes, is a focus on the two families, as well as the "types" that exist in Hamlet's world: the Soldier, the Comforter, the Father.

The conceit is straightforward.  Although those who don't know the play may have a few moments of adjusting which character is which if the script doesn't say outright.  Most successful in aiding these character transitions is Chauncy Thomas whose articulation, physical choices, humor, power, and intelligence immediately make his Polonius unrecognizable from his Claudius, even if played in scenes one behind the other.

Lindsay Alexandra Carter gives an admirable Ophelia, although she hasn't quite grown into her own gravitas for Gertrude.  When finally allowed to play a character role, she breathes new life into Osric, which only makes this reviewer sad that Shakespeare didn't write his women as strongly as his clowns.

Ade Otukoya has a good fire and vitality as Laertes and Horatio, but more difficulty separating them as different characters for the audience to understand.  He, too, is excellent as his clown roles, particular his Lead Player and Gravedigger: tools that it would be helpful for him to bring into his angry young men.

And as for the angry young man himself?  Well, caveat spectator, because the role of Hamlet is so intensely personal that you can see a dozen truly competent, perhaps even brilliant Hamlets and remain unmoved if for some reason you don't resonate with the actor on the stage.  But for me, Winkelstein's Hamlet was just the Prince of Denmark I like best: delivering his soliloquies with respect to the verse but without slavishness, honestly asking the questions of the audience, making the old words new again as he puzzles through his predicament.  Winkelstein particularly shines whenever he lets his inner snark out, speaking with an easy conversation and intelligence, a twinkle in his eye that he's cleverer than you, an openness and freedom in his movements that explain his dexterity in the final fight scene (excellently choreographed by Cat Yudain).

It's worth appreciating, too, how Winkelstein cut the script to make a 90-minute Hamlet not just one long soliloquy interrupted by short scenes, but a true sense of ensemble.  A vanity project, this is not.  Each character has the chance to shine and tell their story.  A few pieces do go on too long: Act IV, as always, could be cut in half and half again and I'd be satisfied.  And after a glorious movement piece enacting Ophelia's death, I did not need Gertrude's speech describing the same.  Similarly, although the Osric scene is perhaps a quarter of its length, by the time we round into Act V, I'm happier when it's cut.

There are some smart directing choices here, too (as old Shakespeare fans go crustily to theatres to see What The Director Will Do).  Winkelstein takes care not to let his Hamlet fall into the trap of misogyny - a view that Bedlam did not escape - so that this Hamlet is truly trying to save Ophelia in the nunnery scene, to appeal to his mother's reason in the closet scene.  Even with his occasional flashes of cruelty, they're a lover, a child lashing out: not a grown man assaulting women.  An important distinction in this day and age.  Likewise, the delivery of "Now might I do it pat," when Hamlet chooses not to kill Claudius, is delivered with such intelligence and intelligibility that it's a real stand-out, and explains the actions of the man who might lose the name of action.  Too good to ruin are how the opening stage moment and the ending stage moment bookend, but needless to say, it's a device future directors might think worth stealing.

The sound design by Alan Waters, light design by Paul T. Kennedy, and set design by Melissa Anderson all work in harmony.  Especially for the aforementioned drowning of Ophelia, which is hauntingly realized.  Special mention must go to costume designer Sarah Marie Dixey for see-through and distressed doublets with an edge of punk - and the use of white paint as blood.

All in all, this is a Hamlet well worth seeing, and a theatre company to keep an eye on.  In our current New York theatrical landscape, where "clever" Shakespeare is sometimes held more highly than telling the story cleanly and with emotion, it's refreshing to see a company that manages to do both.  Highly recommended.

Nathan Winkelstein, stars in and directs Ript Theater Company's Hamlet. Playing at the Secret Theatre in Queens through to September 30, 2018.

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All photos courtesy of Reiko Yanagi

Ript Theater Company's cast of Hamlet.  From left to right: Nathan Winkelstein, Ade Otukoya, Chauncy Thomas, and Lindsay Alexandra Carter.

Hamlet (Nathan Winkelstein) and Ophelia (Lindsay Alexandra Carter) in the Nunnery Scene.

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INTERVIEW with Nathan Winkelstein.