Powerful, passionate ‘Hamlet’ at Golden West

Tom Titus

Of all the notable works in the Shakespearean canon, “Hamlet” not

only is the most famous, it is also, arguably, the most accessible.

Stripped to its essentials, it is a very personal drama about a young

man’s quest to avenge his father’s murder.

It also is among the most produced. Locally, audiences have viewed

productions of “Hamlet” at Orange Coast College and Vanguard

University over the past decade. Now Golden West College weighs in

with a powerful, visceral production that brings the melancholy Dane

up close and personal -- and also draws the play’s characters into

clearer focus with some judicious trimming (although the running time

still approaches three hours).

Director Tom Amen -- whose admirable track record at Golden West

includes outstanding productions of “Grapes of Wrath,” “Oedipus Rex”

and “The Crucible” -- has focused, quite rightly, on the central

theme of revenge, excising some of the fringe elements which not only

do not enhance the plot but often tend to restrain it. And he is

bolstered mightily by a strong and eloquent cast, abetted wonderfully

by a coterie of superb technicians in the fields of sight, sound and

action.

Hamlet himself, the prized role of most serious young actors, is

exceptionally well interpreted by Mark Bedard, who studiously enlists

the audience in his campaign of feigned madness that he might topple

the reigning monarch, his uncle, who poisoned Hamlet’s father and

quickly wed his mother. Bedard is a strikingly literate Hamlet,

steeped in irony and guided by an unwavering mission of vengeance.

The royal couple, however, are a mixed pair. Renata Florin’s Queen

Gertrude is an elegant, passionate woman torn between her love for

both her new husband and her son. Raymond Lynch as King Claudius, by

contrast, presents a strong figure of authority who speaks in a

strangely dispassionate monotone, rarely exposing his inner villainy,

save for the prayer scene in which Hamlet nearly brings down the

curtain prematurely.

Two of the show’s finest performances come from the duo of Matt

Santoro (Laertes) and Christa Mathis (Ophelia), brother and sister,

who ignite much of the passion in the play. Santoro excels as a

strong, impulsive youth incensed by the deaths of two family members,

while the beautifully ethereal Mathis delivers a sequence of

ascending madness that will chill her audiences.

Stephen Silva is a bit uneven but cleverly effective as their

loquacious father, Polonius, whose “brevity” hardly is the soul of

his wit, but who presses on with elfin vigor. Joshua Matheson is a

staunch Horatio, Hamlet’s closest ally, while Jim Thoms offers a

hollow-voiced, technically enhanced specter as the ghost of Hamlet’s

father, who sets the murderous plan in motion from the great beyond.

Others contributing notable performances are Blake Coomb as the

showy player king, Jeffery English as the pun-prone gravedigger and

the tandem of Greg Davis and Brian Sipkovich as Hamlet’s turncoat

buddies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. English’s contributions are

even more pronounced in the climactic sword battle between Hamlet and

Laertes -- superbly choreographed by English and played with

frightening realism.

Technically, the Golden West production is outstanding on all

counts. Sigrid Hammer Wolf has designed an imposing castle setting

and Robert Mumm’s lighting enriches the visual effect considerably.

Susan Thomas Babb’s costumes are beautifully realized and the

original music and sound effects by Wesley Hunt are nothing short of

awesome.

There may be a few local theatergoers who have yet to experience

“Hamlet.” If so, the Golden West College production is an ideal

opportunity to acquaint themselves with Shakespeare written, and

performed, at top form.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.