No-Frills ‘Hamlet’ Is a Different Breed

“This ‘Hamlet’ is a different breed,” Robert Ellenstein said of his bare-bones, five-actor staging, opening Friday at the Actors Center Theatre Wing in Studio City.

The director (who mounted the piece last year at the Megaw as part of the Fringe Festival) was turned on to the minimalist style a few years ago when he saw a quintet of actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company stage a like production of “King Lear” at a local college. “It was the clearest, most intelligent ‘Lear’ I’d ever seen,” he recalled.

Part of that clarity comes from the no-frills presentation: no scenery, no lighting changes, no costumes or props. “Well, there is one box,” Ellenstein allowed. “It also serves as the throne, a bench and a grave. For the fencing scene, the actors were coached by the fellow who plays Conan the Barbarian at Universal--and the fight has been choreographed in pantomime.”

It’s a good thing there are no costume changes. The actor playing Claudius also essays the ghost, the player King and the gravedigger. An actress plays Gertrude, Reynaldo and the second gravedigger. One actor plays Laertes--and both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, changing his voice and movement to delineate the duo. The actor playing Hamlet is also one of the soldiers. And the person playing Ophelia also does Horatio.

In spite of the multiple role-playing, Ellenstein believes that text work was the most difficult.

“I worked with my son David for a year on the part (of Hamlet), and with the others for seven or eight months. This is almost a foreign language; to bring it to life takes some skill. The reason Shakespeare usually sounds so Shakespearean and boring is because too many (of the words are) hit, especially the adjectives. If you throw away a lot--except the salient thought-lines--it all becomes very clear. Remember, the man said the words should fall trippingly off the tongue.”

BFA’s ‘Mariana Pineda’

A new adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s “Mariana Pineda” comes to the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts in separate English and Spanish-language stagings.

“The story of Mariana Pineda is true,” said adapter/director Margarita Galban (who based her work on an English translation by Michael Dewell and Carmen Zapata). “In 1831 she was one of the few women executed (in the internal political strife). She had embroidered a flag for liberty--and even though they offered her her life if she talked, she would never (give up the names of her fellow revolutionaries). So she was garroted.”

Without altering Lorca’s words (the piece is written entirely in rhymed verse), Galban has updated the story from 1831 to 1936. The new heroine--a political prisoner--is also named Mariana. “In her jail cell she is reading ‘Mariana Pineda’ and begins to confuse the real scenes (with the book’s).” Galban added: “I do the adaptation as a tribute to this woman--and women who struggle for their ideals in every age. Maybe next year we will have another Mariana Pineda.”

Alejandra Flores plays the title role in the already-opened Spanish-language staging; Alison England plays her in the English version, beginning Friday.

Critical Crossfire

Marlane Meyer’s surreal black comedy “Kingfish” recently opened at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. David Schweizer directs Buck Henry, Philip Littell, Tony Abatemarco, Sam Anderson, Jacque Lynn Colton and Merritt Butrick.

Said The Times’ Dan Sullivan:”It concerns a man with a dog. True, it doesn’t look like a dog. But it barks. And--the point of the play--it bites. . . . A fascinating play, this shaggy dog story. And a brilliant production.”

From Thomas O’Connor in the Orange County Register:”Schweizer’s inspired, fey production is loaded with deconstructionist tricks. They play giddily with your perceptions--not just of the loose-limbed story, but even of sitting in this theater, watching this particular performance.”

The Herald Examiner’s Richard Stayton wrote:”Any way you look at it, ‘Kingfish’ is a breed apart from most plays. Meyer’s pure-blooded, blue-ribbon champion becomes an audience’s best friend:a faithful creation that challenges our perceptions while letting us laugh uproariously at our dogmas.”

Said Tom Jacobs in the Daily News:”Meyer’s theme--the universal need for love--essentially clashes with her hypertheatrical style. Why explore such an emotional subject in a style that negates emotion?What’s more, some of her symbolism is pretty awful.”

Daily Variety’s Timothy Gray:” ’Kingfish’ is confusing when it tries to be cryptic, tiresome when it tries to be funny. But Meyer throws in just enough violence and mystery that the gullible may be led to believe that the play is deep and that they’re missing something. They’re not.”

Last, from Lee Melville in Drama-Logue:” ’Kingfish’ is one of the year’s finest works and a play that certainly does more than (make)a statement--it mesmerizes you with its force, sensitivity and total immersion. You may not enjoy wallowing in the gutter with these lost souls, but you will not want to miss the experience.”