Review: Paapa Essiedu is a Fresh, New HAMLET at the Kennedy Center

If you've somehow missed the buzz surrounding Paapa Essiedu in the title role of Royal Shakespeare Company's HAMLET, let me be the one to tell you: get thee to the Kennedy Center before the end of its very short run. Simon Godwin directs this contemporary, graffiti-splashed, West Africa-set take on the classic, buoyed by enthralling performances from an excellent cast.

Washington is fortunate to receive the production following its critically-acclaimed UK run in 2016. This HAMLET begins with the prince of Denmark's return home from university, where he finds that his father is dead and his whole world is falling apart. The ghost of Hamlet's father (played with gravitas by Ewart James Walters, in traditional garb) advises Hamlet to avenge his death. And avenge he does.

Hamlet is often played as an angsty, melancholy young adult, and Essiedu brings the requisite angst - but he's also extremely likable. As he takes us on this well-worn journey of betrayal, madness, and death, he achieves the daunting task of making old lines sound new again. His emphasis on certain words draws out fresh meaning. He calls forth torturous anxiety when he mulls over the meaning of life. And he struts about and graffitis the throne room while wearing a suit soaked in paint. (The only puzzling moment is his frosty demeanor after killing Polonius - it's played for humor, and it halfway works, but the coldness left me scratching my head.)

Essiedu, a Brit with Ghanaian heritage, is part of an ensemble mostly composed of black actors, all of them captivating. Lorna Brown is pitiable as Hamlet's mother Gertrude, and Mimi Ndiweni is even more so as the declining Ophelia. Clarence Smith is diabolical as Claudius, Hamlet's scheming uncle. And Joseph Mydell is as bumbling and long-winded a Polonius as one could want.

The scenic design (Paul Wills) is almost one-note, apart from some visually appealing neon painted tapestries that come into play halfway through. But no matter. Instead, we're transported to this African state with live music, including rousing drumming by composer Sola Akingbola (of Jamiroquai) and Sidiki Dembele.

As there are almost unlimited opportunities to experience the cathartic classic in its many forms, there must be something special to make a specific production worth seeing. This HAMLET has two special somethings to recommend it: its unique African setting, and most notably, rising star Essiedu.

Running time: approximately 2 hours 55 minutes with one 20-minute intermission.

Royal Shakespeare Company's HAMLET runs through May 6, 2018, at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts - Eisenhower Theater, 2700 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20566. Tickets can be purchased at www.kennedy-center.org, at the box office, or by calling (202) 467-4600.

Photo: Eleanor Wyld as Guildenstern and Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet; photo by Manuel Harlan (c) RSC, courtesy of the Kennedy Center.

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