Hamlet / Saint Joan – Location, Tickets, Reviews
Shakespeare. Shaw. Four actors. Two plays, each over three hours long, in repertory. Alternating performances of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Shaw’s Saint Joan is the daunting task Bedlam Theatre, the tiny yet mighty ensemble, has undertaken. This production originally appeared at Access Theater in 2012. It was celebrated there and Bedlam is re-staging it at Culture Project’s Lynn Redgrave Theater.
The quartet – Edmund Lewis, Andrus Nichols, Tom O’Keefe and director Eric Tucker – deserve nothing but respect. Playing dozens of characters over the course of two shows (and making fellow classic play reppers Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart look like slackers by comparison), they have a quick handle of the text and colossal stamina. They are smart, capable actors, and the applause that meets them after each performance is surely as much for their survival as their performances.
Let’s start with Hamlet. It is the less interesting of the two. The actors command the story of Danish prince but, exhausted by multitasking and Tucker’s cleverer-than-thou direction, they never quite find the heart of the play. We were less impressed than the critics generally (of the production at Access Theater, Backstage raved that it is “the most fluid, most high-pressure, and most direct access to Elsinore possible”). It’s an okay Hamlet – and lucidly told, for the Bard-ophobic – but it never grips your heart for a second, let alone three and a half unabridged hours.
Saint Joan is another matter entirely – critics went wild for it last year (the New York Times called it “a production to be treasured” and Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal called it “the most exciting George Bernard Shaw revival I’ve ever seen, bar none”). We agree, Saint Joan is riveting. The production lifts Shaw’s powerful story of heresy and politics out of the dry repertory doldrums as a beautiful masterpiece of Western drama. The same ensemble that huffs and puffs its way through Shakespeare soars through Saint Joan, particularly Andrus Nichols who will break your heart as the title character. Tucker’s direction is also much stronger, balancing the play’s epic tone with an astonishing intimacy with the audience. This production is smart, moving, and crowd-pleasing.
Good thing Bedlam doesn’t make you watch both. We suggest skipping Hamlet, heading for greener Shakespearean pastures around town, and promptly getting a ticket for Saint Joan.
LOCATION
The Lynn Redgrave Theater at The Culture Project
45 Bleecker Street
New York City
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RUNNING TIME
Each show is 3 hours and 30 minutes, including 2 intermissions
TICKETS
Student: $25, Regular: $75, Premium: $95 (click here for tickets)
DATES
Performances through March 9, 2014
REVIEWS
Hamlet (Access Theater Production)
New York Times
Don’t worry: The Bedlam company’s “Hamlet” is not as gimmicky as it sounds.
TheaterMania
.”..uses the formal limitations of only four performers as a jumping-off point for an engaging, highly physical production of Shakespeare’s complex masterpiece that feels as raw and incestuous as the state of Denmark itself.”
Backstage
Minimalist ‘Hamlet’ Provides Maximum Effect
Saint Joan (Access Theatre Production)
New York Times
Shaw’s View of a Woman Headed to a Burning Stake
New York Magazine
In this brisk, lucid, and (for once, appropriately) declamatory production, Shaw’s uncompromising humanism and unshakeable faith in the power of ideas take the field in glory.
Wall Street Journal
Bedlam’s off-off-Broadway version of “Saint Joan”…is the most exciting George Bernard Shaw revival I’ve ever seen, bar none.
Huffington Post
It’s an audacious concept for the production, one that showcases both the human drama of the piece as well as the philosophy that abounds in the text about the nature of warfare, the church’s role in man’s life and so much more.
NEWS
New York Times
The Bedlam Troupe’s Many Roles, On and Off Stage
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Eric Tucker
Featuring Edmund Lewis, Andrus Nichols, Tom O’Keefe and Eric Tucker