I Hate Hamlet

Colorado Shakespeare Festival: 6/12 – 8/9

                L-R: Sam Gregory and Alex Esola

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s production of “I Hate Hamlet” is a well-mounted and entertaining bit of comic fluff. 

     The cast is endearing and there are enough surprises to keep just about anyone engaged and entertained throughout. 

     Alex Esola plays Andrew Rally, a rising television star, who gets cast in a production of Hamlet. His self doubts regarding playing the greatest role in theatre seem daunting at first but he’s given supportive advice by almost every one he knows.

     Andrew has rented a place in New York that’s got lots of Gothic character and turns out to be the one time home of actor John Barrymore.

      Andrew’s’s realtor, also something of an amateur medium, conjures the ghost of Barrymore in a séance she performs at her client’s new digs.

     Invisible to most of Andrew’s friends, Barrymore instructs the young actor on how to perform the famous role.

     Martha Harmon Pardee is especially delightful as Felicia Dantine,the goofy realtor/medium.

     Steven Cole Hughes is teriffic as Gary Peter Lefkowitz, a very funny nay-saying friend from L.A. 

     Jamie Ann Romero is a breath of fresh air as Andrew’s girl friend, Deirdre McDavy.

     The main reason to see this show is the hysterically funny performance given by Sam Gregory as the ghost of John Barrymore.

   Gregory’s send up of classical acting with intentionally over-stated posturing, gestures and facial expressions makes the play deliriously funny.

     The scenic design is thoroughly well done and a constant source of visual surprises.

      It’s all feather-weight fluff that’s just about perfect as escapist entertainment. 

     One might think of “I Hate Hamlet” as sort of a light, refreshing pallet cleanser between the meatier courses on CSF’s Shakespearean menu… or a zesty dessert thereafter.

For tickets call 303-492-8008 or go online at coloradoshakes.org Marlowe's Musings