Bedlam is a New York-based company specializing in speed-read versions of the classics. Having won plaudits a few years ago for its go-go production of Hamlet (done on alternate nights with Shaw’s Saint Joan), the company has taken to the road with it, including a two-week run in Santa Monica at The Broad Stage. Not only does Bedlam race through Shakespeare’s classic text, it does it with a stripped-down cast of four, Aubie Merrylees, Aundria Brown, Kahil Garcia and Sam Massaro. Credit these stalwart performers with unflagging energy and courage, racing on and off the stage while reciting, changing costumes and personas in a mad minute. It was exhilarating to watch them attack Hamlet like that—for about the first half hour. After that, the sound and fury began to grate on my nerves, made me want to flee the theater . . . and not come back the following night for the equally long and frenetic Saint Joan. Bedlam’s artistic director, Eric Tucker, played Hamlet in New York; here at The Broad he was content to direct and also introduce the play with some jovial remarks. The deconstruction of Hamlet was played out in many other ways: the action took place on a narrow strip of stage, with a sizable portion of the audience seated upstage on modern chairs. There was no set to speak of—just some atmospheric lighting (by Les Dickert). To compensate for the cramped playing space, the actors sometimes spoke their lines from the auditorium or from up in the balcony; one never knew where their voices were coming from or exactly what they were saying, so often did they garble or speed through Shakespeare’s poetry. The Bedlam company is proud of its youthful take on a play like Hamlet, but too much youth can sometimes be a bad thing.
