April 28-May 4, 2005

theater

In Minor Key

by Toby Zinman

It begins with terrific effect: the guards' wonder and panic at the sighting of the ghost of the murdered king, while all the major characters surround them onstage, frozen in place. The great play awaits.

It is significant that this production is at its best when the minor characters dominate the scene, since this is a Hamlet without a Hamlet. Joshua Scharback makes his disappointing Philadelphia debut in what may be English drama's most difficult role, playing the philosophic prince as a kind of annoying frat boy. He speaks one magnificent soliloquy after another without any passion, erasing all the ambiguities of this intellectual's tragedy, conveying none of the tormented, thwarted, guilt-ridden, self-accusatory, self-justifying, double-thinking and second-guessing that is Hamlet. His "antic disposition" is a collection of goofy tics, and we cannot imagine how sweet Ophelia or noble Horatio could love this shallow, unlikable person.

This production's strength lies in the minor characters. Allen Radway's deeply moving Horatio, always leaning a little to the side, his furrowed brow a study in intelligent compassion. John Morrison speaks Polonius' all-too-famous lines with more than mere foolish pomposity — he is a believable, meddlesome father. David Sweeny provides a surprisingly humanized Guildenstern, not the usual ingratiating fop but a decent guy who is trapped in a bad situation, a half-smile frozen on his face (why oh why did they cut that now-famous line, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead"?). Karen Peakes turns in a knockout of a mad scene as Ophelia, risking the over-the-top passions that should dominate the play.

As Claudius, Buck Schirner often falls into a singsong delivery, obscuring the meaning of the lines; but in the second act, once he is plotting Hamlet's destruction with Laertes, he is convincing, although he never conveys the driving ruthlessness and the smarmy, ingratiating quality the character requires. As Gertrude, Taylor Williams Wright is embarrassingly amateurish to listen to — she speaks her lines as if she were teetering on painful high heels; the dangerous, helpless, sexy and convoluted queen is nowhere to be found. Other famous moments one waits for, especially the Player King's "Hecuba" speech, fall flat.

Philly Shakes, a company of slender means, often chooses the high if bare road: no fancy costumes, sets or props. Peter Jakubowski, the lighting designer, creates some fine effects, and director Carmen Khan moves the scenes in quick succession — crucial in this three-hour-long version of the script.

HAMLET Through May 29, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, 2111 Sansom St., 215-496-8001