![[CREDIT: Cat Laine] From left, Jeff Church and Marc Pierre trade jabs in the Gamm's production of Hamlet.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Gamm-Hamlet-9.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
WARWICK, RI – The Gamm Theatre concludes their 40th season with Shakespeare’s quintessential tragedy “Hamlet.” Director Tony Estrella has crafted an electrifying manufacturing that includes a slew of first price performances.
Jeff Church performs the emotionally tortured Prince of Denmark, aiming for revenge in opposition to his uncle Claudius (Kelby Akin) after receiving a go to from the ghost of his useless father (Jim O’Brien).
Claudius murdered the King, stole his title, and married Hamlet’s mom Queen Gertrude. Who wouldn’t be indignant about that?
Hamlet makes his family and friends imagine he has gone mad as he schemes to avenge his father. Within the course of, he finally ends up turning everybody in opposition to him.
A kind of damage essentially the most is the attractive Ophelia, deeply in love with Hamlet.
The genius of Shakespeare’s writing is his exploration of primary human flaws, comparable to greed, self-importance, lust, and the necessity for vengeance. One tragedy results in one other on account of Hamlet’s vanity.
The climactic swordfight between Hamlet and Laertes is tremendously thrilling and nicely choreographed by Normand Beauregard. Church and Pierre exhibit the uncooked ardour of those two males locked in a battle to the loss of life.
“Hamlet” has been tailored for the display screen a number of occasions and continues to be carried out on levels all around the world. As well as, the quotes are sometimes referenced in different leisure. The play was first carried out in 1600. That may be a beautiful testomony to energy of the language and the personalities of those characters.
Estrella, who performed “Hamlet” within the Gamm’s 2011 manufacturing, has labored nicely together with his forged and crew to create a fascinating theatrical expertise. The play is offered in two components, lasting about 80 minutes every.
Church, final seen in “Twelfth Night time,” brings a comically demented high quality to Hamlet. Whether or not he’s hanging the other way up like a bat or leaping over tables and stair railings, Church reveals the interior insanity of a person straining to satisfy his future.
Hamlet’s well-known monologue in Act Three, starting with “To be or to not be…” is a knockout. Church’s supply captures the wit in Shakespeare’s writing and helps to propel the narrative.
Nora Eschenheimer (“A Midsummer Night time’s Dream”) is riveting because the doomed Ophelia. Her psychological breakdown within the midst of insufferable loss is actually memorable.
One other Gamm veteran, Jeanine Kane, shines as Queen Gertrude. Kane’s greatest moments are when Gertrude is shattered by Hamlet’s revelations and his seething contempt for her marriage to Claudius.
Marc Pierre (“An Octoroon”) powerfully performs Ophelia’s brother Laertes, who seeks revenge after Hamlet unintentionally slays his father Polonius.
Set designer Michael McGarty has created picket platforms and staircases at each ends of the stage for the motion.
Jeff Adelberg’s ambient lighting and Peter Sasha Hurowitz’s sound design create an environment of uneasiness starting with the play’s opening scene.
The climactic swordfight between Hamlet and Laertes is tremendously thrilling and nicely choreographed by Normand Beauregard. Church and Pierre exhibit the uncooked ardour of those two males locked in a battle to the loss of life.
There aren’t any completely happy endings to be seen, or any redemption for the coldest of souls. Ghosts stay within the shadows and the blood of the responsible stains the bottom for eternity.
The overriding message of “Hamlet” is the futility of revenge. Hamlet can’t appear to recover from the lack of his father and that disappointment is additional compounded by Claudius’ and Gertrude’s indifference to his ache. It is a play the place the characters give in to their darkest impulses, leaving an limitless path of destruction. It’s miserable at occasions however Church’s exuberance and aptitude for the weird make this present a must-see.
Hamlet runs by means of April 27. The Gamm Theatre. 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick. Run time is three hours with intermission. For tickets, name 401-723-4266 or go to gammtheatre.org.
