By William Shakespeare
Hamlet arrives home to Denmark from school for his father’s funeral. He finds his mother remarried to the king’s brother Claudius who has had himself crowned King of Denmark despite the fact that Hamlet is his father’s heir. Hamlet suspects his father was murdered by his uncle and begins an act of insanity so he can observe the interactions around the castle and avenge his father’s death.
Orlando Shakes continues to create beautiful works of art with the stories they tell. The true heroes of this production are the supporting members of the cast.
Gene Gillette as Claudius. This seasoned actor created a version of Claudius I was mesmerized by. Gene’s ability to captivate an audience is unmatched by any other I’ve seen on this stage. I applaud this actor for showing the humanity in this character. I am absolutely thrilled when an actor is able to manipulate the audience into feeling for the antagonist. More Gene Gillette PLEASE!
Susan Maris as Ophelia. Susan was the MVP for this production. This actress was impressive with her subtle and nuanced performance. Susan’s breathtaking approach to Ophelia’s spiral into madness created an elevated emotional transition for this production which made me care so deeply for this character. This helped set up the emotional connection to her brother Laertes.
Adam Reilly our Laertes, a local performer, is an actor to watch. I’d seen him in the Mad Cow Theatre production of Bad Jews and look forward to his next performance. This actor makes great choices and is emotionally connected to every person he interacts with on stage.
Notes. This play calls for multiple layers and emotions to be portrayed within such a heavy atmosphere. My note to young actors across the board is that stomping around and spitting your words does have a place on stage, however this is not who your character is. Remember, frustration, rage and anger can take many shapes and too much of any mannerism does eventually deflate a scene.
Many of the performers were impressive to watch. What I find disheartening is the number of out of town performers used for productions in this theater. With the talented actors, dancers and singers the central Florida community has to offer, I would like to see more of these players in lead roles as opposed to supporting. I recently watched a local understudy perform a role regularly played by a New York actor in a highly anticipated musical and enjoyed the actor’s performance immensely, which was a reminder of how many talented people there are in our own town. I hope this organization continues to look to members of our community to fill leading parts to further support local artists.
Thank you to the cast, crew and volunteers at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. I had a lovely chat with a volunteer about Orlando live productions. I look forward to the next production. Bravo to everyone involved.
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