Hamlet (What Dreams May Come)

See it if you already know Ham (if not, it's confusing). 4 actors play all roles. Barebones staging (no props, one backdrop). Interesting sound/lights

Don't see it if you are a WS traditionalist. Language is supreme, but deep cuts to 90 mins. Whirling, fast-paced. Before you go, google plot/characters .

See it if You want to see Hamlet, but don't have the time. This very distilled version hits the high spots but little else.

Don't see it if You are allergic to over the top acting. The director and lead allows Chauncy Thomas to trample over the production.

See it if You know Hamlet well, and are curious for a new take.

Don't see it if You are not familiar with Hamlet.

See it if you like Shakespeare with a little innovation.

Don't see it if you want a four-hour play filled with all the trappings.

See it if you want to see how to cast a version of Hamlet with only 4 actors, and if you want to see Polonius as the clown he never is but should be

Don't see it if you want to see a new interpretation of the character of Hamlet

Also I do want to give props to RIPT for trying something new, and conceptually, I liked it. I loved this Polonius - I have been waiting to see a Polonius like this for years - but I found most of the other characters fell into the same traps and tropes that I have seen a million times before. I also feel that the full world of Hamlet helps inform his character, direct his choices, and raises his stakes, so eliminating his friends who are spying on him, and the impending invasion of his country allows him to be more relaxed and indulgent in his grief. It's a choice - one I see often - but not my favorite choice.... Read more Read less

See it if You enjoy fast paced, text oriented Shakespeare.

Don't see it if You don't enjoy Shakespeare's language

See it if you enjoy watching Shakespeare plays that are clear, innovative, and intense, and that are (on top of everything else) only 90 min long.

Don't see it if you just REALLY love Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, or Fortinbras, or any of the side plots really...

Also It is so refreshing to see a Shakespeare play that really lives and thrives because of, not "in spite of" the text. The actors are so precise and so clear with the language, that despite it only being four actors juggling all of the various characters, you are never left behind nor in the dark. Nathan Winkelstein's Hamlet never wallows, as Hamlet is often wont to do. He brings a snark and humor to the character that makes it that much harder to watch him struggle and become increasingly haunted by his depression. If you've never seen Hamlet, or are uncertain about seeing Shakespeare plays because you remember not understanding any of it in high school, this is a great introduction.... Read more Read less

See it if ...you enjoy vibrant, intense and emotionally stirring theater with terrific individual and ensemble performing

Don't see it if ... you need Rosenkrantz and Guidenstern ... a play isn't complete without elaborate sets etc. ...Shakespeare?boring

See it if you love Shakespeare, and love watching people who can explore it masterfully. And to watch actors brilliantly play multiple roles!

Don't see it if you don't enjoy small casts, low budget, simple, pared down Shakespeare. It was about the text, the story, and the lives of these people.

See it if You enjoy intelligent deconstructions on the Bard's best tale, good performances, and stream-lined Shakespeare

Don't see it if You can't do without Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, or if you've never seen or read Hamlet before

Also An excellent and stream-lined four person, 90-minute take on family, revenge, and the ghosts that haunt us. Like Bedlam, RIPT employs small casts with smart doubling to tell the story - but the focus here is on heart, text, and emotional resonance. The ending moment is particularly good, the cast versatile, and Winkelstein - who stars and directs - proves an engaging, cynical, and death-haunted Hamlet that is refreshing, wry, heartfelt, and conversational. Recommended.... Read more Read less

See it if You'll enjoy a new examination of a classic work.

Don't see it if If you are not familiar with Hamlet and following Shakespearian speech the changing characters could be confusing.

See it if you are looking for an innovative, relationship-centric, fast-paced interpretation that stays faithful to the language.

Don't see it if you think the uncut version of Hamlet is too short and has too few characters.

See it if You love Shakespeare or you don’t like Shakespeare and are prepared to have your mind changed. Unlike any Shakespeare I’ve seen before.

Don't see it if You are a Shakespeare purist and don’t like it when people do their own take on it. I can’t imagine there are too many people like this...

See it if You want to see a fresh and valid prod. of Hamlet- at 90 min, it hits everything that needs to happen and still clips. Innovative staging.

Don't see it if You are looking for a full, uncut, traditionally staged production. This has 4 actors masterfully switching on stage between characters.

See it if You like surprising stagings of Shakespeare, and also like to understand what the actors are actually saying.

Don't see it if You need ruffs and tights

Also This is a fast, clean, smart production of Hamlet. The script is pared down to 90 minutes and four actors. Nathan Winklestein's direction is a stream of inventive staging decisions. His performance of Hamlet is unpretentious, funny, and shares the character's processes of thought with the audience with immediacy and clarity. Chauncy Thomas offered impressive, crowd-pleasing turns as Claudius, Polonius, the Ghost, and the Player King. Thomas is an accomplished classical actor with impressive vocal and physical dexterity. His heightened, stylized characters each had inner life. The ensemble as a whole is cohesive and moves fluidly through the multiple role changes. But Thomas' presence with the audience, and the intensity of the attention he directs to others onstage, in particular contributed much to the atmosphere of this imaginative Hamlet.... Read more Read less