Hamlet as Told on the Streets
by Shel Silverstein
Venue #25 The Vault 283 Bannatyne Ave. (basement)
July 17 – July 28, 2013

Recommended For: Mature Audience

Length: 30 mins.

Tickets: $10

One Trunk Collective premiered their version of Hamlet, written by the brilliantly funny Jewish author Shel Silverstein, in the 2012 Winnipeg Jewish Theatre Tribefest. Here is my WJR review of that performance:

A truly gripping story can thrive in many incarnations. Shel Silverstein's Hamlet as Told on the Streets was probably already hilarious in print (published in Playboy in 1998); it was raised to new comic heights by One Trunk Collective, in the final show of Tribefest. (Direction by Andraea Sartison, music by Peter Reinhardt, video by Caroline Wintoniw – all terrific) One of the reasons this Hamlet worked so well is that it didn't exactly parody Shakespeare, it retold a great story in startling visual, audio and emotional language. And, ok, it was really, really funny.

Still images and short film sequences were projected on a huge screen, and at most points the hip-hop, profanity-laced text was shown as well. All the characters were acted in silly masks, by performers in black balaclavas and neutral T-shirts (except for Ophelia and Gertrude in slinky black.) They danced, slouched teenage-style, turned into zombies – the characters were so clear physically that I was surprised at curtain call to see that the whole show was played by only five actors -- Toby Hughes, Gwendolyn Collins, Andrew Cecon, Loc Lu and Erin McGrath. Loc Lu as Hamlet really captured the moody, indecisive, impulsive teenage prince. Most of the text was voiced off-stage, so it was surprising when Polonius spoke live, and even more so when Gertrude broke into gorgeous song.

 Late into the production the tone suddenly became serious and moving with Hamlet's realization of the implications of his murder of Polonius, Ophelia's anger and madness, and the symbolism of the wire coat hanger she gripped as she moved off stage toward her suicide. There was a disturbing and beautiful silent film of her death. Only moments later came the comedy excess of the final death scenes of the play. This is pretty over the top in Shakespeare already – it didn't take much to push it over the edge to slapstick gross-out extravaganza.