Hamlet @ OSF
Danforth Comins (Hamlet) and Scott Kelly (Gravedigger) in Ashland’s Elizabethan Theatre (Photo by Jenny Graham)
@osfashland @scottneurosis @Dee4th
You are down to just a dozen or so chances to catch Hamlet at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this year.
First off, I must admit that I’m not a fan of play going myself. I’ve been to 20 or so plays over the 16 years I’ve lived in Ashland. I typically go only because my arm has been twisted and the tickets are free. That’s not to say the quality of OSF isn’t excellent. It is. I’m just too ADD for sitting through long-winded plays that I usually don’t understand. I normally enjoy the first few minutes, taking in the set and hard work that went into the creation of such works, and then wish I were anywhere else doing anything else for most of the duration.
Such was not the case with Hamlet, which I saw this past Thursday evening and thoroughly enjoyed. A few things made Hamlet an exception to my general play-going experience. First, six or so guitars were the only thing visible on the stage before the show began. I think I have seen some of those guitars before. Second, Hamlet is more interesting to me than most of Shakespeare. (If you aren’t familiar with Hamlet, be sure become acquainted with it BEFORE seeing the live performance.) Third, Comins was excellent as Hamlet. Finally, Scott Kelly.
My only complaint is I wish there was a bit more of Scott Kelly in the performance. Sure he was visible 95% of the time, but I wish he was doing his thing most of the time. During the standing ovation, I thought it was pretty cool that Neurosis’s “Zero” was playing. Was I the only one there that realized this fact? Probably.
A few tickets remain to the final performances, including some for as little as $30.
P.S. To the powers that be at OSF,
I would love to shoot one of these final performances. I can do it without flash like a fly on the wall. No one in the audience will even know I am there. I think I can come up with some amazing photos (especially without a moon like this past Thursday night). Imagine something like this or this with a sky full of stars like this. Hit me up.
