Hamlet: Backstage Review

May 19, 2007 by Dennis Baker 

The backstage review of Hamlet is in, see below:

Backstage Review

Filed under: Acting, New York, Shakespeare, Theater/Theatre
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Hamlet

May 18, 2007 by Dennis Baker 

For those who have seen the homepage of my website in the last couple of weeks you know that I am in a performance of Hamlet. I was asked by the director Chris Carter Sanderson (fiancee to one of my classmates) to play the role of Marcellus. It has been fun and an educational experience doing a workshop off-off-Broadway production. The reason it is a workshop performance is because Chris wants to put the show up again off-Broadway in 2008. Before then he will go to Iraq for a year as part of the navy reserve. One reason that he is doing that is to raise money for the theater company he founded, Gorilla Repertory.

The show is an uncut version of Hamlet which marks the show at about three hours and ten minutes. This is with no intermission…sort of. One thing Gorilla Rep. is known for is having the audience take their own intermission. Audience members are free to come and go as they choose, and with an uncut Shakespeare a plot point is usually repeated three times and therefore no one will miss anything. Gorilla Rep. usually performs outdoors in the summer time, and I think this intermission ideas goes great with outdoor theater as there are many avenues to get up, walk around, grab a bite to eat. Unfortunately we are doing this show indoors and with only one door to leave from (and it being so near the stage) audience members are hesitant to leave, which for some makes a very long show.

My role is done at the end of Act I so I usually go home after that. With an hour train ride it is nice to get in at 10pm verses midnight if I stayed for the curtain call. Below are the links to the reviews from NY Times and nytheatre.com. Karen and school friends gave me congrats for making my name in the NY Times. Which I responded, you have not arrived in theater until you get a bad review in the NY Times.

NY Times Review
nytheatre.com review
Time Out article

Filed under: Acting, New York, Shakespeare, Theater/Theatre
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