There’s Shakespeare’s tragedy "Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark," the guy who’s paralyzed by grief at the death of his father the King at the hand of an uncle who then becomes his stepfather. Driven to madness, consumed with impotent rage, brimming with revenge – not to mention timeless aphorisms - he stages a play to nab the culprit.
And then there’s Sam Bobrick’s hilarious burlesque-ish “Hamlet II, better than the original,” directed by Gia Jordahl for Little Fish Theatre.
And barely the two shall meet.
Putting the ham back into Hamlet, this show’s great Dane is more a cross between a skittish Woody Woodpecker and the artist otherwise known as Prince. He’s not so much paralyzed as stoned by grief at the passing of his father, whose ghost is more Milton Berle stand-up than regal. The stepfather can’t decide if he’s Elvis, Ricardo Montalban, or one of the Bee Gees.
His mother resembles George Costanza’s mother on Seinfeld (oh how those redheads carry on!). His chums, Rose N. Krantz and Guilda Stern are dyed in the polyester Jersey Girls. His love interest Ophelia is a drug-addled, I’m easy!, Woodstock flower child and her brother is a cross between Little Lord Fauntleroy, Oscar Wilde, and Eddie Izzard.
His attendants first are jive-talking, tight white pants-wearing, afro’d dudes who too-easily become the Village People. His Elsinore digs are more Studio 54 than Windsor or Hearst Castles; it’s not lit by candles but a disco ball whose refracted light mirrors a script that sounds like it’s been cobbled together from mangled English that sounds like a bad translation from a Taiwanese DVD player instruction manual and snippets from Whose Line is it Anyway?, with a playlist from a Motor City prom.
In the original, a murder occasions a play. Here, a murder occasions a Laugh-In love fest, with the murders as light entertainment. It’s witty, it’s outrageous, and it’s over-the-top. It’s got an improvised feel to it; the cast seemed to have much fun on stage as we did in the audience. It picks up steam as one improbable scenario feeds into another towards a hilarious conclusion: the ending to “Reservoir Dogs,” where each hit man kills each other, has nothing on this.
The contemporizing of the language, the costumes, the sets – the tone – makes us look at dysfunctional family dynasties with a Jerry Springer eye.
Besides making us roar with laughter it also gives us an intelligent context with which to appreciate the humor in the business as usual of rulers and their realms – Governors and their Argentine trysts, to cite one recent example.
Hidden behind this confection of puns, gags, and caricatures, this production affirms the Bard’s spot-onness: he plumbs so deep into the human condition that our only recourse is to pop back out, gasp for air, and laugh.
Performances are 8 PM, Fri. - Sun. The show runs until July 19. The Theatre is located at 777 Centre St., San Pedro. For more info call (310) 512-6030 or visit www.littlefishtheatre.org
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