Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Hamlet, presented by the Gallery Players, is definitely worth the commute to Brooklyn. A strong cast and, of course, a strong script, make for an excellent afternoon or evening of theater.

The show is strong for many reasons. The first reason is the most important and that is Jeremy Bobb in the role of Hamlet. Mr. Bobb does an excellent job with Hamlet’s journey. He makes clear choices and truly differentiates with a wide range of actions. The musicality in his voice is excellent and he finds the appropriate build of Hamlet being a troubled youth to going quite mad. When he speaks to the audience, he is truly speaking to them, allowing them to feel included and like Hamlet’s only friends who understand him. He is a true Shakespearean hero with positive and negative traits.

The other extremely impressive highlight is Oliver Conant as Polonius. He has a really great sense of rhythm and knows how to deliver the funny lines to the audience so that they are funny and well-timed, but not forced. He also has a really nice sense of the musicality that is necessary to deliver Shakespeare’s lines effectively. Dan Lawrence as Laertes stands out with the best diction of everyone. Every single one of his lines was delivered with excellent breath support and distinction, so nothing was missed.

So many details in the production are very strong. The lighting and sound (designed by Stephen Sakowski and Toby Jaguar Algya respectively) fit the mood of the play perfectly with dark lights and sounds. The choices for the appearance of the Ghost are particularly strong. Also, the fight, directed by David Anzuelo, is choreographed perfectly, but not so choreographed that it doesn’t look authentic and organic. Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Bobb deliver the fight with the appropriate energy.

Brendan Averett does a good job as Claudius, showing his guilt, yet maintaining his determination to remain the strong and dominant king. Kimberly Gray as Ophelia has a nice sense of vulnerability, although occasionally she needs to allow herself to be a little more vulnerable to Hamlet’s horribly mean words. Sidney Fortner has a nice simplicity as Gertrude, but needs a little more strength in the scene when she is confronting Hamlet about the play he has just put on.

The only negative of the production is the opening scene. Everyone needs a few minutes for their ears to get used to the complexity of Shakespeare’s language and the diction in the first scene was not strong enough. It was very difficult to follow what was going on in the first scene because the actors were speaking too quickly and were too generic in their speech patterns. If one were not familiar with the story of Hamlet, he might feel incredibly intimidated after the first scene. Fortunately, the diction throughout most of the show is very strong and the audience is able to follow pretty easily.

Absolutely go see Hamlet at the Gallery Players. It is rare to see classical theater done really well, so this is not a play to be missed. It is refreshing to see people delivering these powerful lines the way they were intended to be delivered.