Thrill of being ‘Hamlet’

The ghost of "Hamlet" haunts popular culture. The play’s spectral tentacles
grip our language. Hardly a line in Shakespeare’s tragedy hasn’t become common
parlance, as a cliche, a ready-at-hand allusion, even for hose who don’t know
the provenance of the phrases they speak, or a title of a film, "The
Undiscovered Country," or novel, "Infinite Jest."
For all that, few community troupes take on "Hamlet." They are more likely
to stage "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)," which
concludes with repeated, increasingly fast, romps through the plot, ending up
telling the tale in reverse.
Still the Beautiful Kids Independent Shakespeare has been defying the odds for 16
years now, continuing to stage an annual Shakespeare production on the stage of
Needle Hall in Bowling Green’s City Park without any institutional support to
speak off, and an organization that’s little more than the company’s legacy
being handed down each year from one group of young actors to another.
Director Ryan Albrecht and producer A.M. Duffee decided that audiences would want to
see the "Prince of Denmark," and actors would love to inhabit these
iconic roles. (Coincidentally the Toledo Rep will stage the tragedy in fall.)

"’Hamlet’ is what really drew them in," Albrecht said of the groundswell of
interest in this summer’s production. "They just wanted to be a part of
‘Hamlet.’"
The play will be stage starting tonight at 6 p.m. at Needle Hall, continuing with
shows Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. The performance is being dedicated to Hilary
Mankin, a theater student who died two weeks ago.
For the title role, the role of a lifetime for any actor, Beautiful Kids cast Jeffrey
Sneed, a familiar presence from Bowling Green State University theater
productions.
Sneed seems not intimidated in the least by the role. His Hamlet deteriorates before
our eyes as his rage eats away at him and unwittingly wreaking havoc on those
around him. He plays at being insane, but then that insanity takes root, coming
to a certainty of purpose in the end. Sneed brings his own voice to the part
even the "to be or not to be" soliloquy. He commands the language and
enunciates it with a clarity that lets the audience hear it anew.
As with other Beautiful Kids productions, delivering the poetry of the Bard is of the
utmost importance.
The bare bones productions offer few distractions. The scenery, props and costumes
are spare. A folding table and chairs get hauled up at intervals, and Ryan
Halfhill as the ghost of Hamlet’s father looks to be wearing his costume from a
production of "Macbeth" a couple years ago.
This being a play in the park, the troupe and audience must contend with other
distractions – the nearby game of hide and seek or the toddler who wandered up
onto the side of the stage. These, though, are part of the charm of the setting,
putting Shakespeare right in the middle of life’s muddle.
As usual for Beautiful Kids actresses are employed for male parts. That seems less
like a casting necessity than a decision not to let their acting talent go to
waste.
D. BonAnno makes a striking Laertes, full of passion, a loving brother then a
vengeful cavalier, manipulated by the usurper Claudius (Joel Paine) to exact his
revenge on Hamlet.
As Horatio (Eric Batts) announces at the beginning that the proceedings will be full
of "bloody, carnal and unnatural acts," and Shakespeare delivers.
Horatio, Hamlet’s steady friend and rare sane presence, survives the bloodshed
as the body count piles up.
That includes the scheming courtiers Rosencrantz (Kate Grilliot) and Guilderstern
(Mark Krause). The actors play their parts light and easy, so I’m kind of sorry
when their off-stage demise is announced.
Eli Brickey handles the difficulties of Ophelia as she is buffeted by Hamlet’s mood
swings, his love cloaked in anger. She reflects back the softer side of the
hero. She loves him, and that drives her mad.
Katy Schlegel plays the other woman in Hamlet’s life, his mother Gertrude. She is
hapless, caught in the middle. The lingering maternal bond is evident, but not
near sufficient to withstand the terror that engulfs them.
Jon Gazda plays her counterpart, Ophelia’s father Polonius, a pompous buffoon, and
sycophant, who will do whatever he can to curry favor with Claudius.
Between Beautiful Kids and its sister troupe Lionface, the actors have developed a
sense of easy camaraderie. They act as a company. That’s evident in the rest of
the cast – Michael Porteus, Pat Mahood, Brittany Pausch, Christina Hoekstra,
Justin Campbell, Alexis Washer, Jeffrey Guion and Bailey Oswald – called on to
played assorted named and unnamed characters.
They exude the spirit of the venture. Shakespeare for the fun of it, even if it’s a
tragedy in which just about everyone ends up dead.