A send up of bad acting and giant egos
Charlene Baldridge | Uptown News
If Paul Rudnick’s “I Hate Hamlet” (Intrepid Shakespeare Company through July 19) is to be considered seriously at all, it must be at the level of the acting skills required. On its surface, the rip-roaring comedy is a send up of bad acting, the egos and greed involved in making television series, and the penchant of theater management to cast summer Shakespeare with celebrity “talent” in leading roles just to attract audiences that otherwise might not attend (This is not an allusion to The Old Globe’s “Othello” with Blair Underwood and Richard Thomas. Both are experienced classical actors).
Underneath the sitcom gloss of “I Hate Hamlet,” which played Broadway in 1991, Rudnick asks theater lovers and practitioners serious questions about themselves and their motivations. It concerns a self-involved TV actor who meets the Ghost of John Barrymore, decides to go through with portraying Hamlet, and is changed by the experience.
The secret to bringing off this send up of bad acting and giant egos is in the casting and direction. Intrepid Shakespeare has the right idea, with director Christopher Williams and some of San Diego’s finest classical actors, Francis Gercke as the television star Andrew Rally; Ruff Yeager as John Barrymore; Tom Stephenson as Hollywood deal-maker Gary Peter Lefkowitz; and Dagmar Fields as Andrew’s agent, Lillian Troy. Gerilyn Brault portrays Felicia Dantine, a clairvoyant realtor, and Brooke McCormick Paul makes her Intrepid debut as Andrew’s 29-year-old virgin fiancée, Deirdre McDavey.
The play is set in Barrymore’s former New York apartment, where Andrew stays while rehearsing for his role in Central Park. Though Felicia tries to summon Barrymore in a séance, the old-style Shakespearean (“I am not a ham!”) appears when he hears Andrew proclaim: “I hate Hamlet.” With few exceptions the others do not see Barrymore, clad in his velvet Prince Hamlet costume. Nor do they hear him declaim or see his sword fight in the living room with the reluctant Andrew. Yeager is larger than life vocally and histrionically, giving audiences some idea of early performance style as well as some knowledge of the wastrel actor whose profligate drinking and womanizing contributed to his demise.
One forgets what an excellent physical comedian Gercke is. His toting of moving boxes is just one example. He perfectly captures the actor’s insecurities and especially his opening night jitters and is exceptionally good at dealing with the reality of his abominable performance. After impugning his reputation and stage acting acumen, possibly forever, Andrew chooses between a remunerative new TV series and becoming a serious stage actor.
Well played here, the rest of the characters support the essential pair — Barrymore and Andrew — and their story. Laughs abound and the audience has a great time, but eventually we acknowledge along with Barrymore that theater isn’t something actors do for anything. It is the theater.
A favorite scene — there are many such moments — involves Barrymore and the aging Lillian, with whom he had a long-ago one-night stand. They rekindle memory, dance a bit, and she asks, “Should I be afraid?”
“Of what? Of death?” he asks. “Never. But of life? Yes.”
Intrepid stages “I Hate Hamlet” in a black box across the courtyard from its regular space. The theater is comfortably appointed, intimate and perfect for playing Rudnick’s surprisingly profound comedy. Lighting design is by Curtis Mueller, set design by Sean Yael-Cox (original set designer, Sean Fanning), and costume design by Kristin McReddie.
Next up is Shakespeare’s sparkling comedy, “Much Ado About Nothing” directed by Richard Baird and starring Shana Wride and Sean Yael-Cox as the warring, witty lovers, July 24 – Aug. 16.
