Review: New York Circus Project's HAMLET an Exhilarating Debut

The circus has always had a special fascination for us all; but because we usually associate it with trained elephants, clowning, cotton candy, and simpler times, it almost never occurs to us to think of circuses as a highly-developed art form, with tremendous expressive potential. 

Thanks to companies like Quebec’s “Cirque du Soleil,” which got rid of the elephants and allowed us to focus exclusively on its intensely-trained human artists, we can finally return to the circus as adults and appreciate the hard work, and artistry, of the performers in front of us. 

And now we have an emerging company, the New York Circus Project (NYCP), that wants to take the art of the circus one step further, into the realm of stage drama.  Currently on its first national tour with their production of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” co-created by Sam Landa and Emma Owens, the NYCP offers audiences an exhilarating take on a familiar tale. 

OK, you might say, but why a circus version of “Hamlet”?  The creative team, led by director Sam Landa,  associate director Carolyn Friedman, and producers Emma Owens and Lola Picayo, have created a whirlwind tour of this classic tale, with performers literally swept up in the action.  Most of the company are primarily circus-trained, but there are standout moments of traditional acting woven in with the spectacular action.

What’s especially effective here is the use of circus routines to illustrate the inner torments and challenges of the characters. Hence, the ghost of Hamlet’s father (played by the engaging, and ever-present Ron Oppenheimer) doesn’t speak about his days in purgatory; he enacts them, weaving sinuously around a swinging pole, mesmerizing his son, Hamlet; a graffiti inscription, “Remember Me,” remains visible for the rest of the evening, and Oppenheimer returns constantly to haunt the stage and remind us what needs to be done.

As Hamlet we have Maddox Morfit-Tighe, whose youthful smirk gives an amusing edge to the Melancholy Dane’s presence onstage.  As with his father, this Hamlet enacts his pain; and the splintering of his mind and soul are reflected by his routines, and by the many company members who join in on what, on the surface, look like circus acts, but which—in this context—prove to be dramatically quite compelling indeed.

One highlight, among many exceptional moments here, is the performance of Ilse Baryshnikov as Ophelia.  We first see her flopped down on the ground, scribbling in her schoolgirl’s diary, Hamlet’s many love letters stored in her heart-shaped box.  But before long we see her exploring her inner life, incorporating the highly-focused moves of a contortionist, which—again—point well beyond the circus performer’s desire for applause, and towards the complicated emotions of a young girl trapped by forces beyond her control.

By far the most moving sequence, for this critic, has Baryshnikov’s Ophelia performing solo in a glass-enclosed tank (i.e, the stream over which ‘an envious sliver broke’).  We see her as she carelessly gambols over the water and drowns.  And as the company bears Ophelia’s dead body offstage, our Gertrude (the quietly powerful Hilary Dennis) recites the famous account of Ophelia’s death.  It’s one thing to hear of it, quite another to see it enacted so brilliantly before our eyes.

Not all the performers here are given the opportunity to demonstrate their physical skills; complementing Dennis’ quiet Gertrude, we have Adebowalé Adebiyi’s memorable take on Claudius; his authority, and his moments of doubt, are expressed verbally, and powerfully so.  And in some way, it makes sense that his stationary status shows how the world literally revolves around him.

Of course, it ain’t a circus without clowns, and we are fortunate to have Asom Hayman-Jones and Glenn Doyle as the comic duo, Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern.  Eager to please the king, and make some serious money, these two flip and fly their way across the stage, and are willing to chase Hamlet through the audience if they have to.  Their different statures, as well as their talent for physical comedy, bring to mind the antics of Laurel and Hardy, and it helps that they are also brilliant at ad-libbing commentary on the action (hint:  try to sit close to the action, you’ll hear it all!).

The climax of the play usually involves a duel with rapiers – but of course, why bother, when you have so many talented acrobats?  The sequence becomes an intricate dance of death involving the whole company.  What lingers in my memory, however, isn’t so much Hamlet’s last gasp, as the beautifully-executed routine by Samuel Kellar-Long as Horatio.  All the pain, the anxiety, the need to express what Horatio knows, is personified in movement, not words.  Does it upstage Hamlet?  Sure. And it’s a welcome change of balance, because the play ends on a note that looks both backwards and forwards in time.

The soundtrack here, assembled by director Sam Landa, is amazingly eclectic and runs the gamut from Nina Simone and Etta James to Kim Petras and Woodkid.  The lyrics are often apropos of the action, and provide the foundation upon which the company can generate its densely-packed motions and emotions.

Washington, D.C. audiences have long been familiar with the brilliant Synetic Theatre and its unique, balletic approach to wordless drama; in fact, “Hamlet:  The Rest is Silence” was their own inaugural production, their own initial statement as a company.  Something about this monolith of a tragedy inspires some of the greatest, most inventive stagings I have ever seen.  And now I can place the New York Circus Project among the companies we need to watch.  This is a very auspicious debut indeed.

Production Photo, from Right to Left:  Maddox Morfit-Tighe, Samuel Keller-Long, Hannah Grove, Glenn Doyle, Jacob Crow (with Shea Baker suspended).  Photography By Ora Lin.

Running Time:   1 hour 45 minutes, with one intermission.

NOTE: The New York Circus Project’s Hamlet will tour to Chicago, Illinois

For information about the Project, about Hamlet, and for tickets, visit:

https://www.newyorkcircusproject.org/portfolio/hamlet

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