Beautiful Kids venture to the dark side

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Hamlet (left, performed
by Michael Portteus II) looks on as his uncle King Claudius of Denmark (right, performed by Ryan
Halfhill) attempts to comfort Hamlet after the death of his father. (Photos: Enoch
Wu/Sentinel-Tribune)

How fitting that the Beautiful Kids Independent Shakespeare Company’s production of "Hamlet"
starts while the sun is still out.
When Horatio, played by Christina Hoekstra, first steps on stage, City Park is still buzzing with
activity, with the cheerful chatter of kids in the background as the character promises listeners they
"will hear of carnal, bloody and unnatural acts."
Two and a half hours later, when Horatio, reprises the summation of the play, dusk has settled in. The
children have all gone home, even those who had wandered over to watch, wide-eyed, bemused, entranced at
the action unfolding on stage.
When Hoekstra again utters the summary, pain and anguish have replaced the resignation of the opening.

That’s always the joy of community theater, seeing local thespians bringing their personalities to bear
on the roles of the ages.
Each actor stamps their character with a bit of themselves, helping to freshen 500-year-old lines.
The Beautiful Kids production of "Hamlet," directed by J. Ryan Albrecht, will be presented on
the Needle Hall stage Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
Michael Portteus brings a beefy extroversion to the role. No wan, uncertain Hamlet, he seems driven,
purposeful in his madness, dogged by his father’s charge for revenge.
Ryan Halfhill does double duty as the ghost of Hamlet’s father, wearing a trench coach, and as Claudius,
Hamlet’s usurper uncle, in a black vest and golden tie. While this may have been an opportunity to bring
out links between the brothers, Halfhill doesn’t go in that direction. Rather they are distinct
antagonists. The slain king is full of rage at not being able to wreak his own bloody revenge on his
brother.
But he must rely on his troubled son.
Hamlet’s plotting is sure, and his motives clear even if it disturbs him. When he has the chance to
dispatch Claudius as he prays, Hamlet withholds his knife. His father died without the comfort of a
deathbed repentance, so Hamlet will not kill his uncle as he is making peace with God.

Claudius, King of
Denmark (right, performed by Ryan Halfhill) attempts to comfort Hamlet (middle, performed by Michael
Portteus II) after the death of his father, King Hamlet, near Gertrude, the widow of the late king
(left, performed by Brigid Randolph).

All these "accidental judgments, casual slaughters" have their collateral damage.
The most tragic being Ophelia. Kat Moran shows us the young woman’s passion and gaiety before Hamlet’s
brutal renunciation sends her truly over the edge into madness.
Her mad scene, as she flits about the royal family, mourning her father, Polonius, who was killed by
mistake by Hamlet, and her loss, is played in sweet song. Moran sings the songs in a meandering,
madrigal melody, full of images of bright flowers.
But the play is full of meaty parts – even in this truncated version with the entire subplot about a plot
against Claudius excised.
This seems more like a distillation of the power of the play. Giving local actors a chance to grapple
with iconic lines, and bring iconic characters to life.
Brigid Randolph as Gertrude is young Hamlet’s doting mom, truly concerned and bewildered about her boy’s
melancholic turn.
Kevin Caudill brings out the comic dimensions of the pompous and prolix Polonius. When in the course of
an elaborate speech he states, "brevity is the soul of wit," it is a joke, because he seems
neither pithy nor a wit.
Caudill then delivers the comic role of the gravedigger setting up Hamlet’s "Alas, poor Yorick I
knew him… a fellow of infinite jest" soliloquy.
Griffin Coldiron’s Laertes, the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia, is full of the enthusiasm of
youth that sours to rage over the fate of his family at the hands of Hamlet.
And Jeffrey Guion and Justin Betancourt add their touch as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the unwitting
accomplices of the evil king, and among the most inept operatives in literature.
Josh Powell mostly looks stern and fills Claudius’ glass from a flask, until he gets to trade repartee
with Hamlet, inviting him to duel Laertes.
Lynette Cooley and Albrecht, Matthew Gretzinger and Rachel Hetrick round out the cast in smaller roles
that they make the most of.
It’s a fine thing indeed to live where a group of such talent can just spring up in the middle of summer
and stage such a bloody fine rendition of such a classic.

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