Review by Anja Bless
In Act 3, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, when the Prince tells Ophelia “get thee to a nunnery” and “I loved you not”, did you ever think that, maybe, Hamlet isn’t really a good guy? Well Jean Betts certainly did, and her play Ophelia Thinks Harder encourages us all to take another look at one of Shakespeare’s most beloved protagonists by putting Ophelia centre stage instead.
Currently showing at Kings Cross Theatre on Broadway, Ophelia Thinks Harder is a romping rethink of Shakespeare’s Hamlet which revolves around the trials and torments of women throughout the ages. Gertrude (Lucy Miller) is given the chance to put her son in his place for belittling her sexuality and autonomy, and Ophelia (Brea Macey) can question whether Hamlet is truly offering her true love, or a trap. The depiction of Hamlet by Shaw Cameron is essential to this re-telling, and his roguish, forceful, self-indulgent portrayal of the Prince helps to shift the audience’s allegiances away from the hero they had known firmly into the camp of the women who suffer him.
For this is surely Betts’ intent, to highlight how the greatest tragedies are perhaps not those of men such as Hamlet, but instead the ones that have been suffered by the women of history who were forced into marriage, pregnancy, or assaulted and humiliated by men. The women who were told to think less, depend on men, and to obey them. Ophelia is at the mercy of her father Polonius (Richard Hilliar), her brother Laertes (Zachary Aleksander), and Hamlet himself. But in Betts’ telling, as opposed to Shakespeare’s, she takes that control back and is empowered by it. Macey’s Ophelia is both childish and obstinate, cheeky and clever. She makes her presence and her feelings known and, given Macey’s last minute shift from understudy to lead, she has done remarkable work to fill out the complexities of this character. However, likely due to the lack of time with the role, Macey’s delivery could have benefited from greater variation, allowing more moments for Ophelia to soften, to show her wit and her wisdom.
Another think to admire in Betts’ Ophelia Thinks Harder is how it explores the many facets of women’s experiences, and Alex Kendall-Robson has also picked up on this in his direction. In particular, “the maid” (Eleni Cassimatis), who as a woman of lower class suffers more than Ophelia at the hands of men but is largely dismissed by her mistress and the ladies of the court. Her plights are rarely considered equal to their’s, her sufferings irrelevant to their own.
Cassimatis’ depicts the complexities and injustices of the maid’s position with grace and power.
Additional praise should also be given to Miller’s Gertrude who is authoritative, haughty, and wise in all the ways a Queen should be. She is commanding on stage, and you can believe the influence she wields over her son even as Cameron towers over her in their confrontations. Just as Betts’ script highlights the different experiences of women across classes, so too through Gertrude does she emphasise the differences faced with age.
In terms of comic relief, Hannah Raven and Julie Bettens as Rozencrantz and Guildenstern both offer welcome reprieve, and some enlightening education on the origins of the word ‘virgin’. Although, at times the clarity of their delivery could have been improved, as their quick whipping lines sometimes allowed a joke to slip past the audience unnoticed. There were a few moments like this throughout this performance, at times the fault of the original script itself which loses its clarity and sharpness somewhat in the last third of Act 1, but likewise there was room to give clearer beats for the audience to understand how the state of mind of each of the characters was evolving. For instance, while Horatio (Pat Mandziy) was endearing and delightful, his seeming sudden switch of affections in Act 2 left the audience puzzled.
Mention should also be given to set designers Hannah Yardley and Jimi Rawlings for the exquisite scene of mossy garden infiltrating the marble floors of a church. Likewise, Aleksander’s music direction offered some enchanting performances, although given the length of the performance some could have been cut down to save on time spent by the audience in the cramped theatre space.
In summary, if you’re a Shakespeare fan, or perhaps even better if you think Shakespeare is overrated, Ophelia Thinks Harder at Kings Cross Theatre on Broadway is one to see. It will have you thinking just as much as Ophelia, and laughing, and mourning for the women whose stories are too often left untold.
