THEATER / MARK CHALON SMITH : Schools Offer Two Degrees of Shakespeare : Cal State Fullerton and UCI stage tragedy and comedy this weekend with ‘Macbeth,’ ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Measure for Measure.’

You want Shakespeare? We’ve got Shakespeare.

Actually, two local universities have him this weekend: UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton.

UCI is the most ambitious, staging two of his plays in repertory: Shakespeare’s dark comedy, “Measure for Measure” opens tonight, followed on Saturday by the great tragedy, “Hamlet.”

Cal State Fullerton chooses another of Shakespeare’s greatest hits. The campus creeps into the Bard’s world of rich English vowels and dirty castle intrigue with “Macbeth,” which opens tonight.

For Stephen M. Burdman, the 27-year-old UCI graduate student who is directing, “Hamlet” is “the greatest play ever written.”

“It’s just so incredibly rich,” he said. “There are so many layers and themes involved. My challenge is finding which ones to emphasize. The danger is that you try to do too much and end up with a mushy production . . . but it’s such a wonderful story, you always have that.”

That wonderful story, of course, involves murder and revenge, deception and manipulation, madness and betrayal, ghastly men and poetic ghosts, all of which give the young prince of Denmark quite a ride on the way to self-discovery.

“I see Hamlet as 19 or 20 years old, and he’s not yet ready to rule,” Burdman said. “He becomes a king because he learns how to use the tools of betrayal and manipulation. (But) Hamlet’s end is tragic because he refuses to accept the machinations of a corrupt world.”

To some, the play’s complexity might demand a director with more seasoning, but Burdman, who is directing “Hamlet” as his master’s thesis, said his age and experience allows him to understand the callow hero.

“This is definitely something for young directors to do,” he said. “I know I feel connected to Hamlet, that in some ways there’s a direct connection to my life.”

As for the staging, Burdman described it as “modern gothic,” meaning both traditional and contemporary styles will mingle. Characters, for example, will wear today’s clothes under period outer-garments, and Julie Allardice’s set design incorporates the old and the new, he noted.

Burdman conceded that part of the reason is the prohibitive cost of a full period look. But he also thinks that the combination may make the production more accessible. “You walk anywhere in L.A. and see the old and new in architecture and clothes,” he said. “Much of the staging comes out of that idea.”

The same notion will carry over into “Measure for Measure,” which is directed by Dudley Knight, the head of acting for UCI’s drama department.

“The designers have created a brilliant blending of historic and modern elements that help free us from viewing these masterworks as history and allows us to appreciate the validity of Shakespeare’s point of view in our time,” Knight said.

Although “Measure for Measure” was chosen to contrast with the weightiness of “Hamlet,” it’s not considered one of Shakespeare’s lighter comedies. The play has long been recognized for its dark humor and cynicism. That’s not surprising; the plot, after all, revolves around an immoral magistrate who tries to use his position to seduce a beautiful young woman.

“It is not in the vein of unalloyed laughter characteristic of earlier comedies,” Knight said. “Rather, it is a scathing indictment of moral hypocrisy . . . in which Shakespeare embraces the dark and light of human nature.”

Smiles are even more unlikely at Cal State Fullerton.

“Macbeth” is all gloom and grimace as Lady Macbeth stirs at the caldron of her own deceptions and, as Shakespeare ruminates on the taint of guilt, Macbeth himself stumbles to madness. In short, it’s the stuff of tragedy that the Bard is famous for.

James Taulli, the graduate student who directs, turned metaphorical when describing his take on “Macbeth.”

“It’s like the fires of hell breaking through the fragile crust of the earth,” he said. “This play reminds us of how easily we succumb to the evils of power.

“How, with just a few promises of greatness, we can be led into darkness, swallowed up and transformed.”

* UC Irvine’s “Measure for Measure” opens tonight at 7 and continues Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. and April 30 at 2 p.m. “Hamlet” opens Saturday at 2 p.m. and continues Sunday at 2 p.m. and April 29 and 30 at 7 p.m. Both productions are in the Fine Arts Concert Hall, UC Irvine. $6 to $14. (714) 856-6616 or (714) 856-5000. * Cal State Fullerton’s “Macbeth” opens tonight at 8 and continues Saturday and Thursday through April 30 at 8 p.m.; April 30 at 2:30 p.m.; and Sunday and May 1 at 5 p.m. at the CSUF Performing Arts Center’s Little Theater, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton. $6 to $8. (714) 773-3371.