Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' Lives on as a Lesson for Today

For me, reading a Shakespeare play is difficult to do. In high school I bought a book of his classic plays. Determined to read them all, I only got through about one and a half.

I remember being so frustrated by how many subtle jokes and period-specific references I did not understand. And let's not talk about the verse. While I did find some direction in high school and college, I still have always struggled to really get it.

This is why I enjoy productions like Kent State University's Hamlet so much. With a cast so completely knowledgeable of the fine intricacies of this play, audience members do not need to be familiar with the plot prior to the show. This timeless story comes through the actors so naturally that seemingly anyone can be engulfed by the drama. 

And what a drama it is. 

For those of you unfamiliar, the play opens with Hamlet mourning the loss of his father, King Hamlet of Denmark, and raging over his father's brother, Claudius, who shortly after married his mother, Gertrude. 

Not long hence, Hamlet's friends discover an apparition of the former King Hamlet. The next night they bring young Hamlet to greet the ghost, who reveals his death was a murder and urges his son to seek revenge on his killer. His killer is none other than his very own brother, Claudius. 

From here Hamlet and his confidant, Horatio, embark on a mission to avenge this evil man from his ill-earned position as King of Denmark. Along the way, there are many suspenseful twists and hearty soliloquies that remind us why Shakespeare is one of the greatest playwrights of all time. 

For those of you familiar with the plot, this production offers more than your run-of-the-mill Shakespeare play.

Director Mark Monday has chosen to highlight the theme of corruption because of the corruption in our very own government. He has stated that the play is set somewhere in the near future. I'm not sure I picked up on a 'near future' theme, but the setting is interesting nonetheless. With many varying levels, stairways and entrances, the space of action is dynamic and keeps the audience's attention moving around the stage.  The color scheming, costume quality and set usage is excellent.

While the set itself has the feeling of a futuristic, post-apocalyptic era, many of the characters are dressed from an indeterminate time.

For example, the members of Claudius' court wear arm bands that bring me to mid-20th century Germany. The clowns and players' ensemble feel more traditionally Shakepeare-esque.

The costumes not only break down barriers of time, but bring attention to our judgments as well.

This Hamlet is a Muslim in hopes to predict our progress with cultural boundaries. Ophelia is dressed in a  spectacular half-dress, half-shirt and vest with one pant leg.   My guess here is that this emphasizes a split in her character and potentially something about gender roles.

This amalgamation of time, place and being reappeared during the action of the play as well. 

When King Hamlet appears as a ghost, he is a projected avatar that shoots around the stage in a technically impressive manner. Later, a clown pulls out a plastic disposable water bottle for a joke and is handed a period-looking shovel a moment later. And, arguably the most intriguing, in between the lyrical beauty of Shakespeare's dramatic verse, Leonard Cohen sings in his powerful monotone.

The blend of periods and styles in this play threatens to be disconnected and confusing without the one solid thing that held it all together: the actors' natural delivery.  After the first few moments of the play the centuries-old verse became as normal as everyday speech to me. I felt as if I could be anywhere. So much so that if I ran into one of the cast members at the supermarket I would expect to be greeted in iambic pentameter. 

I would love to go on and on about the incredible talents of the cast and describe in detail why each actor gave such life to his or her character, but then that would take away the joy of seeing the play and discovering these things for yourself. 

The rest of the show runs Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Wright Curtis Theatre in the School of Theatre and Dance on Kent State's Campus

Ticket prices are:

$8 (Students 18 and under or with valid ID)
$12 Kent State faculty, staff, alumni and seniors
$16 Adults