Afshin
Hashemi in “Hamlet, Prince of Grief,” a production by the Leev Theater Group of Iran, in the Under the Radar festival at the Public Theater. Courtesy NYTimes
It’s easy to think of activities that could
reasonably be completed in a half-hour. You could cook a pasta
puttanesca, get a solid workout on the treadmill, buy a tube of
toothpaste at Duane Reade.
But perform “Hamlet”?
And yet that is the challenge met, after a fashion,
by “Hamlet, Prince of Grief,” a production of the Leev Theater Group
from Iran presented as part of the Under the Radar
festival at the Public Theater. Performed in Farsi by the actor Afshin
Hashemi, with English supertitles, the production is billed as freely
adapted from the Shakespeare play. No kidding!
“Prince of Grief” is a stylized, eccentric riff on
“Hamlet” rather than a condensed version of the play, which is probably
just as well. A half-hour trot through the text would probably come
across as a joke, intentionally or not.
Still, there’s significant humor in the Leev
production, written by Mohammad Charmshir and directed by Mohammad
Aghebati. With the exception of Hamlet, personified by Mr. Hashemi, who
remains seated at a table throughout the performance, the characters are
symbolized by small plastic toys plucked from the battered suitcase
that is the primary prop. Mr. Hashemi supplies them with individual
voices.
Gertrude — or rather the protagonist’s mother, since
no character names are used — is a tiny elephant, who pours the poison
into her husband’s ear with the help of her long curved trunk. That’s
one point where the story intersects directly (more or less) with the
original. But for the most part there is little continuity between the
contemporary (though not particularly Iranian) story being told and
Shakespeare’s grand tragedy.
With dark, expressive eyes and a rich, versatile
voice, Mr. Hashemi is a compelling presence, ably suggesting a man
haunted by the agonizing tale he must recount. It begins with the Hamlet
figure escaping his studies by driving out to the countryside with some
friends (enter a little toy truck) for a day of relaxation. On a
billboard the hero catches sight of a portentous phrase: “To be or not
to be.” Still, on they drive.
But cellphone interruptions derail the fun, and soon
the protagonist is forced to confront the dark knowledge that his
mother has conspired with his uncle (plastic dinosaur) to kill his
father (plastic lion). Much brooding unhappiness ensues, including an
encounter with his father’s ghost, grappling with some angels; and the
death of Ophelia, who at least is allowed to go to her rest in humanlike
form: she’s a Barbie-type doll with luxuriously long tresses.
While it’s nominally funny to see some of English
literature’s most famous characters represented by children’s toys, the
silliness necessarily undermines the seriousness of the story. Mr.
Hashemi’s quacking-bird Polonius was pretty delightful, but a little of
this goes a long way — even at 30 minutes (or so). The concentrated
intensity of Mr. Hashemi’s performance held my attention, but any
emotional engagement with the story was disrupted by his playful
manipulation of his little plastic menagerie.
Still, since I have endured many an interminably
long and equally emotionally unsatisfying “Hamlet,” I will admit there’s
something to be said for arriving at the play’s sanguinary conclusion
in less time than it takes some actors to put on their makeup.
Created by Leev Theater Group; written by Mohammad
Charmshir; directed by Mohammad Aghebati; performed by Afshin Hashemi;
music by Keyhan Kalhor; assistant directors, Mehdi Shahoseini, Elham Gol
Jamal and Ehsan Safarzadeh. A Leev Theater Group production, presented
by the Public Theater as part of the Under the Radar Festival, Oskar
Eustis, artistic director; Patrick Willingham, executive director; Mark
Russell, festival director. At the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street,
at Astor Place, East Village; publictheater.org.
Through Sunday. Running time: 30 minutes.
Via NYTimes
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