Word: hamlet
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...July, the Bosnian Serb Army overran the tiny hamlet of Srebrenica. The city's 3,000 defenders were no match for Serb tanks and artillery, and 300 Dutch peacekeepers were able to do little more than watch as the Serbs systematically rounded up the civilian population. Thousands of women, children and the elderly were bused to the boundary of Serb-controlled territory with only what they could carry in their hands--the latest victims of a war that has left more than a million homeless...
...usual portrayals of Shakespeare's characters, creating a new sense of politics in the Danish court. David Bottorf as Polonius is anything but a doddering old fool -- he's an overbearing and controlling father and courtier. When Polonius sells the king and queen he knows the cause of Hamlet's lunacy, it's more a command to listen than a plea for audience...
Similarly, Phillip White's Claudius is not regal and controlling, but rather slimy and pretentious. When he commands Hamlet to "be as us in Denmark," White is less like a cool, calculating usurper and more like a glib James Spader. He's irreverent and funny, but the eloquence of his "o, my offence is rank" speech is undercut by the flippancy of the rest of his portrayal...
...only major problem in this production is the actors' tendency to take Hamlet's "speak the speech trippingly" advice too much to heart. Everyone speaks to fast, it's as if Foley advised his players to pick up the peace of the show simply by speaking more quickly. The play is long, to be sure -- it runs over three hours -- but it's worth the time, and shouldn't be rendered unintelligible...
...Hamlet" is always worth seeing. This production, a rare Shakespearean offering for the HRDC and the Winthrop House Drama Society, shouldn't be missed. Remind yourself why you read this stuff in high school -- see "Hamlet...