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Despite my being an English Lit major wannabe I have yet to see a Shakespeare drama onstage, so I was really excited when Lorna Lopez (aka The Bachelor Girl) invited me to see Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet. Perhaps this is just me being a Shakespearean theater n00b, but I walked into Onstage Greenbelt expecting to see something like this:

Instead, what I got was this:

For a moment there I thought Ade and I had accidentally stumbled upon a Ragnarok cosplay event. Now, if I had done my homework and read up on the production, I wouldn’t have been too surprised by the post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk look donned by the actors. Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet is supposed to take place in a nameless world that – just like the play itself – has been “stripped to its core” (nevermind that I heard Denmark and England mentioned a couple of times in the dialogue). To quote the article from the Repertory Philippines website, “When stripped to its core, this immortal masterpiece, this most famous of Shakespeare’s plays, is really about greed, love, vengeance, passion: in short, all the ugly, hateful, beautiful, sordid things that make us human.”

Instead of tights, pointy shoes, and feathered hats, the characters wore leather jackets, goggles, and too many belts around their torso. In the place of a fancy palace set was rocks and a lot of sand.

Maybe this is just me being slightly disappointed about not seeing Elizabethan costumes on my very first Shakespearean theater experience. But I’d think that the audience can appreciate all the human emotions inherent in Hamlet (or the essence of Hamlet, if you will) through how the actors deliver their lines instead of what they wear. In that sense, Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet was very successful. Despite not being very familiar with Shakespearean English, it wasn’t too difficult for me to follow what was going on thanks to the actors’ fluid acting and distinct body language. Of course, it took some concentration for me to comprehend the nuances and the wordplay in the dialogue. But all you really need to do is pay attention, and you’ll get it. So first timers – you don’t have to be afraid of falling asleep in your chair or being completely lost in translation if you’ve never encountered a word of Shakespeare in your life. The actors will make it easy for you to follow the plot all the way to its tragic conclusion.

I do understand the need to “update” the costumes though. Hamlet has been done and redone for four hundred years and every production needs to add something new so the play doesn’t get stale. I still think Elizabethan costumes would have helped viewers contextualize the play, though. Don’t get me wrong – objectively speaking, I thought the costumes were fabulous. I’d wear that on a normal day if it were cold enough for boots and jackets here, but the costumes were little inappropriate for play and I don’t see how it helps “strip Hamlet to the core”. If anything the costumes added another layer of complexity to it. Why make the characters look like something out of an MMO-RPG instead of having them wear all black or all white if some sort of minimalism was what they were after?

Despite my problem with the production’s aims, I highly recommend that you catch Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet at Onstage Greenbelt 1. The show will be playing up til February 17 only so watch it! Now!

February 1-17, 2008
8:00 PM on Fridays & Saturday
3:30 PM on Saturdays & Sundays

Venue
OnStage
2/F Greenbelt 1, Ayala Center, Makati City

Tickets
Orchestra Center – P 550.00
Orchestra Side – P 350.00
Balcony – P 250.00

Other reviews:
Ade – Hamlet
Fritz – Still Awestruck by Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet
Gibbs – Welcome Initiates! (not really a review but whatever, I’m mentioned here :P)