The Daily Gamecock

‘Hamlet’ adaptation delves into mental asylum

Modern-day reinterpretation goes dark, thoughtful

“Hamlet,” one of Shakespeare’s most enduringly popular plays, is now being presented on the stage of Drayton Hall at USC with a fresh twist: Instead of being set in Denmark, this adaptation is set in a mental asylum in the 1950s.

Directed by Robert Richmond, undergraduate director of the Theatre Department, the play explores the theme of madness and mental illness, something that critics have asked about Hamlet for years.

Richmond said he set out to answer the question, “Is Hamlet mad, or is he just pretending to be mad? … I don’t think we really truly have a complete understanding of what insanity is and who gets to define what insanity is.”

Richmond told the actors to explore what particular illness they thought their characters had and to choose what they thought was most accurate for their characters.

“They’re not all as obvious,” he said. “Those particular dimensions come on throughout the evening.”

He focused on Hamlet’s character specifically, saying that Hamlet begins the show with a nervous disposition, partly brought on by depression from his father’s death and partly from his frustration at his mother’s marriage to his uncle. Hamlet’s actions, he explained, become “more confident, more passionate, more actionable as the production goes on,” taking the audience on a distinctive journey from start to finish.

Having his actors research mental illness was a learning tool that actors found to be very enlightening and helpful. Fourth-year theater major Liam MacDougall, who plays The Player King and Bernardo, said he learned a lot about the treatments that mentally ill patients were put through.

“A lot of the practices we use in the production are still used today,” MacDougall said.

Even though the show is set in the 1950s, many of its themes remain relevant today. Third-year theater major John Floyd agreed, saying that patients were treated almost as puppets.

“You end up finding out about these terrible experiences and that [the institutions] were testing on them,” Floyd said.

Having directed “Hamlet” twice before, Richmond came in ready to work with a grander scale than he had previously with the production and with the idea of the asylum already in mind. Richmond said that he believes having a strong opinion from the beginning is what makes a great production.

The take on the play is fresh, but working with Richmond is something many of the actors found to be special. First-year theater student Grayson Garrick noted that Richmond is the most “actor-friendly” director he has ever worked with.

“He has this way of telling you what he wants to see in a scene but also listening to what you’re finding,” Garrick said.

Richmond, who has directed many Shakespeare productions, brings years of experience to the table, his actors said.

“He’s got a really, really great sense of sort of really trying to [educate] his students; it’s something that’s always at the forefront of his mind,” MacDougall said.

Each new production to Richmond is just that: a new production. For “Hamlet,” Richmond said that he is doing the show on a much larger scale than he has before and adds that the sets and the lights really add to the story and help to show the world of the asylum the characters are living in.

Hamlet also marks the MFA graduate students’ last performance at USC before they take on internships next year at different locations. On being the last director to work with them before their next steps, Richmond had nothing but good thoughts.

“There’s nothing like ‘Hamlet.’ It’s been 450 years now since the playwright was born; it’s a great milestone for the world,” he said.

“Hamlet” runs at Drayton Hall through Saturday. Shows on Thursday and Friday begin at 8 p.m., and Saturday has two showings: one at 7 p.m. and a half-priced late-night show at 11 p.m.


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