Deconstructing ‘Hamlet’s’ Dilemmas

For aficionados of “Hamlet” mutations, the late German playwright Heiner Muller’s “Hamletmachine” at Santa Monica’s City Garage is surely one of the oddest.

Written in 1977, Muller’s dense, angst-ridden deconstruction of Shakespeare’s tragedy takes brooding to new depths with a series of postmodern soliloquies spoken by a self-aware Hamlet tired of his own recurring drama and a rebellious Ophelia struggling to break free of her hapless victimhood.

Much as Hamlet did with his own players, Muller seeks to drive a wedge between the artifice of theater and a reality too grim for the confines of the stage. Abundant imagery of death and decay (“the councillors goose-stepping behind the high-ranking carcass’ coffin” and so on) resonates with 20th century philosophical and political malaise.

Yet for all its tangled associations, Muller’s script (as translated by Carl Weber) is only five pages long. Director Frederique Michel responds to the open invitation for embellishment in avant-garde high style--with extensive nudity, evocative film imagery and liberal insertion of scrambled passages from Shakespeare’s text. Dual Hamlets (Nathan Dana, Stephen Pocock) and Ophelias (Ames Ingham, Sigal Diamant) strike stark, world-weary poses framed by Charles A. Duncombe’s abstract set and moody lighting.

Some wry tangents are sparked by throwaway lines--as when “Hail Coca-Cola” provokes a cheery rendition of “I’d like to teach the world to smile . . . “ that turns increasingly savage. Muller’s explicit linking of Hamlet’s drama with political uprising opens the door to appearances by revolutionary figures like Marx (Liz Hight), Lenin (Anna Pond), Mao (Louise Barlow) and Che (Carlos Alvarado).

Still, the barrage of plotless abstraction gets repetitious at times. While the overall tone is often more frivolous and amusing than the author’s stern intentions, that’s probably for the best.

* “Hamletmachine,” City Garage, 1340 1/2 4th St. (alley), Santa Monica. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 5:30 p.m. Ends Dec. 15. $17.50, Sundays “pay-what-you-can.” (310) 319-9939. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.