Tag: performing arts

Robert LePage’s Hamlet without Words, Words, Words

Told through dance, LePage’s Hamlet is a thrill.

What a treat. Last night a group of us celebrated a friend’s birthday by attending the Robert LePage production of Hamlet. Billed as a Hamlet without words Le LePage collaborated with choreographer Guillaume Côté, who also danced the title role, to deliver a piece almost entirely as a ballet performed by a company of nine. It was an exquisite theatrical adventure. 

Hamlet 4 photo by Stephane Bourgeois.

With the exception of a few supertitles announcing character entrances for identification, the story unfolds and unfurls through dance, and Côté’s choreography was excellent throughout. Although, I felt the vocabulary he established for himself in the title role was not as strong or consistently surprising as it was for the rest of the ensemble. In and of itself surprising, because the entire story revolves around Hamlet’s surprising reactions to the events enfolding him. 

The true standout in the company was Carleen Zouboules as Ophelia. Her descent into madness, her drowning, and the graveyard scene were the highlights among many in the production. The entire ensemble were excellent and each had standout moments of their own.

LePage always surprises and Chicago audience were lucky to have this US premiere here. Thrilled I got to see it. There’s a trailer linked below, although it seems to have a larger ensemble than the nine person version we saw last night.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

 

A Dream Cast Delivers a Dreamy Dream of Autumn by Jon Fosse

Exceptional performances highlight a magical evening with a magical play.

Fantastic! That’s the first, but not the last compliment I’ll issue to the remarkable cast of our staged reading of Jon Fosse’s play Dream of Autumn last night. Matt Keely, Thomasin Savaiano, Gabrielle Brite, Amy Stricker, and Kevin Grubb were each, and as an ensemble, gloriously fantastic. They deserve all the praise that came flying their way after the reading. Producers should hire them.

Dream of Autumn was presented as a part of this year’s International Voices Project festival. Each piece is given a one-night only reading after a limited rehearsal period (more on that later).

For those unfamiliar, the actors read from their scripts, but are expected to bring full life to the text. This group sure did. Dream is a tricky play, dwelling in the realm of magical realism, with time shifts, and in this story character shifts, that can turn on the edge of dime. In a full production there would be production elements to help the audience follow those shifts. In this very barebones reading style, with the actors sitting in chairs and reading from their scripts from behind music stands, those shifts were handled via the reading of stage directions and the acting choices made by each member of the cast. According to the audience during our post-performance talk back, every one followed each twist and turn.

We only had about six hours of rehearsal to prepare, and the cast took the direction that was given and ran with it, culminating in a very “in the moment” experience for themselves as well as the audience. This was the first time this cast had read the play start to finish, together, without stopping. It was also the first time I had heard it. You could feel the entire room caught in the moments of the play and the moments of performance, breathing as one.

Having directed a number of these staged readings I’ve seen similar quite a few times, but rarely as well and as thrilling as last night’s effort. I often maintain that one of the true tests of an actor’s mettle is watching them carry the day with little preparation, trusting their skill and instincts. This team certainly carried this play last night further than most.

My hat’s off to each of them. Job exceptionally well done.

All photos by Scott Dray.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. Check out the categories for this blog to read more about my theatre work.