Trinity Shakespeare Festival offers solid version of 'Hamlet'

While there may be plenty of things rotten in Denmark, there is nothing foul about the Trinity Shakespeare Festival production of Hamle t, which opened Thursday at TCU.

This solid-as-a-rock presentation of one of the best-known Shakespeare tragedies sticks mostly to the basics and lets the text tell the story while keeping the theatrical trappings to a minimum.

Andrew Milbourn brings an exceptional physicality to the title role. His take on the Danish prince is punctuated with jolting bursts of violence that give the character a bit more edge than normal.

In terms of his delivery, it is obvious that he and director T.J. Walsh want to make his speeches as natural as is possible with 400-year-old dialogue. His soliloquies -- including the immortal "To be, or not to be" -- are not writ in all capitals but are instead tossed off almost offhandedly.

In general, you could quibble about the inflections in a line here or there. But on the whole, Milbourn's interpretation is valid.

Plenty of strong support is provided by a cast that joins seasoned pros with students and recent grads. Among the veterans, David Coffee is a standout as the pompous and meddlesome Polonius. Timing is usually an asset associated with comedic acting. But Coffee demonstrates that hitting a line in just the right way at just the right instant is a pretty effective strategy in any play.

David Fluitt also turns in a fine performance in the thankless role of Hamlet's murderous stepfather, Claudius. He makes the character more human than the mustache-twisting villain we usually see.

In the small part of the gravedigger, Richard Haratine hams it up a bit. But the part allows for that, and, at the Thursday performance seen for this review, I think even poor Yorick chuckled at a few of his disjointed deliveries.

In terms of the production's look and feel, Walsh and company largely keep things in bounds. There is no set to speak of, but the costuming by Ric Leal is traditional and excellent. The actors make no effort at English (or Danish, for that matter) accents. But in a few areas, the production colors outside the lines.

There is, for instance, a nifty audio effect used for the speeches by the ghost of Hamlet's father (Alex Chrestopoulos). Recorded music is also judiciously employed. And the scene of the acting troupe's visit to Claudius' court is staged in a more elegant and stately manner than usual.

But the elaboration of the staging of some of the scenes comes at a price. Publicity about the show says it runs two hours and 40 minutes. Although the pace never feels slow, the total running time is more than three hours.

You will probably not think this Hamlet the best you have ever seen. But you will probably find this take on the classic an extremely satisfying production that respects both the Bard and 21st-century audiences.