Shakespeare, stripped down and uncomplicated

We’ve come dressed all nice to see Shakespeare, and we’re expecting it to be all posh and whatnot. But the house lights are on way after curtain time, and the actors are all out on stage, talking, laughing, putting their costumes on, tuning their instruments and such. Some of them are even walking out to the audience, shaking hands, striking up conversation. What is going on? By the time the house lights went down, the audience was quite loud, laughing, chattering, caught up by the festive music coming from the fiddles and whistlers onstage. The mood was effectively what it might have been in 17th century England when Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” was being set up for the first time. Globe-To-Globe brought Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” to Colombo on Thursday, May 14 at the British School Auditorium as part of “Shakespeare Lives”, a global, year-round celebration of the Bard’s 400th death anniversary in 2016. The performance wasn’t remarkable, there was no stunning cast or heart-swelling music, there were no fantastical lighting effects or flamboyant costumes, and there were no awe-inspiring props or beautifully choreographed dances either. There weren’t even any unexpected twists in the characterization. What the players served their audience was plain old Shakespeare, stripped down and uncomplicated. Ladi Emeruwa played Hamlet, almost angry and sarcastic in his energy, lively and distinctly young, unlike the prematurely sober character we are used to. His madness was youthful angst with a sharpish edge, while Ophelia’s (portrayed by Jennifer Leong) was pitiful though not so heart-wrenching. The actors’ exchanges were quick and fresh, but we missed the sweetness of the revenge and the horror of the tragedy. Keith Bartlett added that missed touch of old-school gravitas to his nevertheless very funny Polonius, and Rawiri Paratene to his Claudius, in a production that was remarkably lightweight and surprisingly humorous.