By Marilyn Ferdinand
Some people see Shakespeare’s monumental tragedy Hamlet as the triumph of old age and treachery over youthful idealism, others as lurid court intrigue, and still others as an overlong play they were forced to read and never want to think about again. For the dedicated performers of The Commons Theatre, this classic drama from around 1601 seemed like another type of classic – a film noir. Twenty-five years ago, Commons members Mike Nowak, Kathleen Thompson, and Paul H. Thompson worked with now-legendary Chicago actor/director Mike Nussbaum (known more widely around the world as Gentle Rosenburg the Arquillian Jeweler in the hit film Men in Black) to produce Dashiell Hamlet: A Classic Mystery . Nussbaum directed and Nowak played Nat Hamill, the adaptation’s Hamlet.
Sadly, The Commons, a theatre company I loved and patronized frequently, is no more. But Chicago treasure City Lit Theatre, in keeping with its focus on literature on stage, decided to revive Dashiell Hamlet. They were fortunate to get Nussbaum back to direct and Nowak to appear, this time in a role more fitting to his current age – Ralph (Claudius), Nat’s uncle.
Smoky jazz music rises as a pin spot illuminates (Horatio) Harry Teal (Mark Pracht) as he recounts to Detective (Fortinbras) Jordan Brass (Greg Hardin) his involvement in the crimes that have taken down one of the most powerful families in Hollywood, the Hamills – something he will do periodically throughout the play. Nat (Geoff Rice), a World War II soldier, returns home only to find his beloved father dead and his mother (Gertrude) Lillian (Shawna Tucker) shacked up with his uncle Ralph. Nat has found a recording, apparently made by his father (voice of Nussbaum), saying that he thinks he’s about to be murdered. “It’ll look like a heart attack, but it won’t be . . . Get the bastards. There’s something rotten in the books.” Trusting no one, Nat talks Harry into coming to the family mansion and investigate.
We meet all the principals during a cocktail hour. Lillian and Ralph, now the head of the Hamills’ Majestic Studios, are obviously cozy; Paul Owen (Polonius) and his son Keith (Laertes) are senior and junior executives, respectively, at Majestic. Jerry Bloom’s Paul sports a refined accent and manner that hide a ruthless heart. Julian Martinez as Keith resembles a Latin lover, with his all-white attire and jet-black, waxed moustache and hair. The Ophelia in this group is Nita Owen (Erin Myers), a hophead who sprinkles her wacky dust onto her hand from her oversized ring. She and Nat were in love before he shipped out, but she’s been easing her loneliness with strange men, prompting Nat’s rejection when he finds out.
Nat’s in a bad way, so Lillian invites his friends, a married movie duo (Rosencrantz and Gildenstern) named Rosie Clancy (Melissa diLeonardo) and Gillie Stern (Andy Hager). They enter stage right singing and dancing and scolding Nat for not seeing their latest movie – which, in fact, he has, amazing them with his knowledge of the plot. Nat is anxious to show a film to the party; a flickering light is directed at the theatre audience, and we hear dialogue revealing a murder plot similar to what Nat suspects has happened to his father. Ralph brings an abrupt end to the screening. The end of the evening also brings the end of the first act, as Paul is gunned down in the dark after everyone has gone to bed.
In the second act, the bodies pile up, and the mystery deepens before it resolves – and not as fans of Hamlet would expect. The script grows less Shakespearean and more noirish, and includes a funny scene between morgue workers Tyrone (Andy Hager again) and Clyde (Jerry Bloom again) in which Clyde does needlepoint and uses the corpse as a pin cushion to be free to show a horrified Tyrone what the body reveals about the man.
The cast is excellent. I was particularly impressed with Shawna Tucker, who shares a mutual attraction with Harry. Her seductiveness is reminiscent of Mary Astor as Brigid O’Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon, with Pracht doing a respectable, if less charismatic Bogey. It was great to see Mike Nowak again – it’s been a while since I’ve seen a play in which he’s appeared – hitting all the right notes with impeccable timing. I also greatly enjoyed Greg Hardin as Brass; he played the envious detective looking to bring the privileged Hamills down with particular relish. Gillie and Rosie were my least-favorite characters – too brassy – but diLeonardo and Hager handled them well.
And what of our modern Hamlet and Ophelia? Erin Myers was miraculous as a jaded Hollywood ingénue with tender Ophelia’s heart for Nat. Hamlet’s a tough part for anyone, overwhelming as he is with flamboyant craziness and dark brooding. Geoff Rice wisely keeps his Nat in check most of the time, infuses a pleasing conceit of self-pity, and knocks the “get thee to a nunnery scene” with Nita right out of the ballpark.
It should be noted that the script references Shakespeare’s language almost not at all. Some fans might miss the famous phrase “to be or not to be,” but the sincere speech Nat gives in its place, bringing in his experiences fighting on the battlefields of 20th century Europe, is very moving.
You won’t have to know Hamlet to enjoy Dashiell Hamlet. Mounted in the same space in which it first appeared – a tiny theatre on the second floor of Edgewater Presbyterian Church – it’s a first-class production that should appeal to everyone.
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Dashiell Hamlet runs Fridays through Sundays, now through October 26 at 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue. Call (773) 293-3682 for more information and to reserve tickets. (And watch for Nussbaum taking notes in the audience.)
Posted on September 26, 2008