TOM TITUS -- Theater Review

There are as many ways to tackle Shakespeare as there are plays in the

Shakespearean canon. Updating or modernizing the setting while adhering

to the script is common, but Costa Mesa’s Vanguard University has taken

the creative process a step further with its estimable “Hamlet.”

The Vanguard production employs mixed media -- filmed presentations

augmenting the tragedy of the prince of Denmark -- in an interpretation

that, along with the obvious contemporary staging, becomes a stirring and

encompassing experience.

Student director Sunny Peabody has mounted a riveting production of

Shakespeare’s masterwork that builds to a startling, visceral climax. The

bloody finale ranks among the most physically demanding and

audience-involving episodes ever mounted on a local stage.

Peabody, who’s majoring in film and television, brings these elements

to bear with haunting effectiveness as the filmed images illustrate the

elements which actors recite to one another. Most effective in this

regard are Hamlet’s encounter with his father’s ghost and Ophelia’s

drowning, although Peabody also utilizes Hamlet’s interaction with the

touring players as cinematic moments with a lighter touch.

Vanguard has recruited a guest artist, Tyler Lindsay, for the

extremely demanding title role. Lindsay attacks the melancholy Dane with

the fervor, and the physicality, of a young James Woods.

It is an incredibly accomplished interpretation, replete with skillful

alterations of mood and tempo, culminating in the throat-catching duel

with Laertes that is calculated to exhaust the audience as well as the

actors.

Another outstanding performance comes from Heaven Peabody as the fair

Ophelia, driven mad by her father’s murder and commanding the stage

during her scenes both before and after the incident.

Christopher Tillman excels as Hamlet’s staunch companion, Horatio, in

an understated but quite effective performance.

As Claudius, who usurps the throne after murdering Hamlet’s father,

Steve Limones is long on emotional turmoil but short on clarity, losing

several key lines in his delivery.

Josselyn Burkett is an excellent Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother,

registering her frantic concern and stark sexuality beautifully. Tim

Larson overcomes the pitfalls of youth to render a convincing portrayal

of the stultifyingly verbose Polonius, father to Ophelia and Laertes. In

the latter role, Brandon Tyra seethes with a thirst for vengeance and

matches Lindsay’s climactic duel thrust for thrust.

In other assignments, Paul Hanegan and Tammie Clower provide rich

atmospheric portraits of Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,

Joel Kiker is a fine spectral figure on film as the ghost of Hamlet’s

father, and the trio of Adam Hurst, Kristina Kuzmic and director Peabody

create the players on film splendidly. John Evangelista functions

effectively in no fewer than four roles, most showily as the clownish

Osric.

Matt Gardner is an unsung hero in the tech booth as the film

projection operator, while also essaying the minor roles of Bernardo and

the clown.

Classic pieces such as “Hamlet” tend to bring out the best in theater

companies, and the Vanguard troupe has gone first cabin with its dynamic

interpretation -- even though by refusing to alter the dialogue, Hamlet

must refer to his sword while holding a pistol. This is a minuscule

glitch in an otherwise exemplary production.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Thursdays and Saturdays.

FYI

* WHAT: “Hamlet”

* WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays until

Dec. 3

* WHERE: Vanguard University, 55 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

* COST: $8

* CALL: (714) 668-6145