A Gender-Bending, Uneven ‘Hamlet’

“The Tiny Hamlet Show,” Robert A. Prior’s gender-bending, severely streamlined version of Shakespeare’s tragedy at the New Haunted Studios, is a sort of Cliff’s Notes version of the play with a bit of early Raw Magazine mingled in.

Prior also directs, festooning the play with occasional inventive flourishes. However, despite his transgendered approach to casting and an occasional flight into whimsy, Prior doesn’t go quite far enough, revisionistically speaking. While appreciating the cute, one longs for the genuinely outrageous.

The uneven production is ameliorated by some very good acting, including Prior’s solidly serviceable turn in the title role. Pat Brown (a woman) plays Polonius with puckish verve, and Christopher Wells displays an epicene venality as Claudius. An unexpectedly authoritative Ophelia, Bennett Schneider transcends considerations of gender. Mark Brey proves equally facile as the athletically commanding Laertes and the campy Player Queen.

Speaking of range, Schneider and Brey, in their respective roles as Rosen Craft and Gilda Stern, show us the abandoned romp lurking just under the surface of Prior’s adaptation. And the breathtaking pantomimed sword fight between Prior and Brey at the play’s end is alone worth the price of admission.

* “The Tiny Hamlet Show,” New Haunted Studios, 11345 Chandler Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8:30 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends May 7. $13. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.