"Hamlet" presented by Fort Worth Opera

HAMLET
program

The Travelling Toe and a dear friend attended the Sunday matinee performance of "Hamlet" presented by the Fort Worth Opera.  The opera is based on William Shakespeare's tragedy of the Danish Prince - Hamlet.  The opera composed by Ambroise Thomas was completed in 1865.  

William Shakespeare

For this production, the director took a different approach in staging the opera.   The setting of the story is not the Denmark of yore but set more in the time period of the cold war era in an East European country.  This sober time period gives it a rather dark and ominous feel with a grey tone back ground.  Also the chorus members were dressed in costumes reminiscent  of the 50's and mingled with audience members before the opera began.   In the lobby, guarded by fascist looking solders, was the  King displayed in a glass coffin just in case you wanted to pay your respects to him (think Lenin in Moscow).

Ambroise Thomas

Hamlet, played by Wes Mason, is grief stricken over the sudden death of his father the King. And ever more distressing to Hamlet, is that within 2 months of the King's death his mother, Queen Gertrude, has already remarried and to the current King,Claudius, the previous king's brother (Hamlet's uncle).  

Wes Mason
Hamlet

Robynne Redmon plays Queen Gertrude and Kim Josephson plays Kind Claudius.

Robynne Redmon
Queen Gertrude

Kim Josephson
King Claudius

Into all this emotionally charged scene, Hamlet's finance, Ophelia (Talise Trevigne) grows concerned about Hamlet and his cold demeanor towards her.  Where as King Claudius thinks Hamlet is just feeble minded.

Talise Trevigne

Hamlet, walking the ramparts sees a shadow and it is his father's ghost. The dead King tells his son Hamlet, that his wife and brother killed him and that Hamlet must avenge his death.  The former King demands that Hamlet kill Claudius but spare Gertrude and leave her for heaven to judge.  

Hamlet decides to provide a theatrical presentation for the King's party.   Within this play, the acting couple of a king and queen fall asleep in each others arms.   A traitor silently enters the sleeping chambers and poisons the king and then steals the crown and puts it on his own head. King Claudius becomes enraged and orders all the actors gone.

Hamlet continues to reject Ophelia and sings to her the famous lines of Shakespeare's, "get thee to a nunnery".  Because Hamlet rejects her, Ophelia goes mad and while joining a group of peasant women by the river, tells them that she is Hamlet's wife.  Then she spins a story of a young girl who has died from a broken heart and the peasant women can see she is mad.   But before anyone can stop her, Ophelia throws herself into the river and drowns.  Talise has such a beautiful aria in this act and her singing would break anyone's heart. She was just wonderful.

Well, dear readers, as most you know Hamlet bites the dust in the final scene but not before getting revenge for his father's death by killing King Claudius.

And the curtain is lowered.

The Travelling Toe has never seen Hamlet staged as an opera before and this one was very emotionally charged.   All the cast were excellent in their roles and provided a very stirring production.


Fort Worth Opera



Disclaimer:   The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.