"it's not your grandfather's' "Hamlet" on tap at ROH

What happens to Shakespeare’s signature tragedy Hamlet when you pare two and a half hours from its four-hour run time, throw away the lavish sets and infuse some 20^th-century James Dean angst into the chief protagonist?

We shall find out Thursday night when Director Tim Robinson rolls out a unique version of The Bard’s most talked-about, performed and best-loved play at the Rochester Opera House for a short four-day run.

Robinson grew up in England and is well versed in all things Shakespeare, so when ROH executive director Anthony Ejarque told him he wanted a truncated version using actors in modern dress he was up for the challenge.

“It’s not your grandfather’s Hamlet,” Robinson commented on Monday. 

Local Shakespearian scholar Tiffany Moore edited the script down keeping only the most vital dialogue.

Then Jerard-James Craven designed minimalist sets that portray the play’s alienating pathos. The stage will extend all the way to the back of the cavernous theater conjuring an openness and emptiness, while the theater’s  “thrust,” a sort of gang plank that extends from the front of the stage into the audience, will be used for intimate scenes as between Claudius and son, Laertes, (spoiler alert) who ultimately will kill Hamlet in the play’s tumultuous sword fighting finale. It will also be used in the play’s famous “gravedigger scene.” (Alas, poor Yorick)

Lighting director Kelly Gibson adds drama with shadows and space, Robinson said.

Despite all the drama and tragedy, Robinson promises some bawdy humor and slapstick as in all of Shakespeare’s productions, which were designed to humor not only royalty and the rich, but commoners as well.

“Look for the Three Stooges guarding the battlements (in the first scene),” he said.

Craven said another favorite part of the show audiences will enjoy is the Ghost of Hamlet’s father who appears early on the castle ramparts. 

“The ghost sequences, visually and soundwise, are very exciting,” he said.

The final scene will feature an intensely rehearsed and choreographed swordfight designed by Ejarque that Craven said he and Kelly Litt, who plays Hamlet, have been working on for more than a month.

Litt played Romeo in last season’s Romeo and Juliet. Olivia Dodd, who played Juliet, returns to play Ophelia.

The cast also includes veteran Seacoast performers Lesley Hamblin as Gertrude, Jim Burkholder as Claudius, Adam McDougall as Polonius and Michael Stailey as Horatio.

Playgoers can purchase tickets online at RochesterOperaHouse.com or call/stop by the box office at (603) 335-1992 on M/W/F from 10-5 or two hours before the show.

For more info go to http://rochesteroperahouse.com.

This play is sponsored by TD Bank, Foster’s Daily Democrat, Albany International, Rochester Rotary Club, C&K Printing and The Lebanon Voice.