Many students hate Shakespeare’s timeless classic “Hamlet,” mostly because it has been forced on them throughout their educational lives. However, Pioneer Theater Company is aiming to give students a few reasons to love Hamlet with its presentation of the comedy “I Hate Hamlet” by Paul Rudnick.
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“I Hate Hamlet” is a dramatic comedy that centers around the life of Andrew Rally, a young television actor whose show has just been canceled, so he moves to Manhattan to start rehearsals for his New York debut as Hamlet with the irony being that he actually hates everything about Hamlet. He moves into a swanky apartment that was once the home of deceased famous actor John Barrymore who hasn’t quite given up the ghost and shows up to help Rally prepare for the role of a lifetime.
“I Hate Hamlet” is directed by Art Manke who is well suited for the task, having been involved with four productions of Hamlet as well as directing television which as he puts it, “are primary ingredients in the play.” This production is a good fit for him as it centers around a character, Andrew, who is trying to decide if he should go back to a more lucrative career in television or embrace the virtues of performing in classical theatre.
“It’s not that he hates Hamlet, he hates the responsibility and expectation that comes with playing the greatest role in the English language and having to live up to all those expectations,” relates Manke. “What he discovers over his journey is that if you invest your time and energy in something greater than yourself, that you will grow and surpass any of your own fears and anxieties.”
Manke acknowledges that the great attraction for artists who want to work in television is the financial stability it can provide, whereas theatre artists have to go from job to job all across the country hoping they can string together enough roles to pay the bills. He can relate with the struggles that Andrew faces as he arrives in New York with a devil on one shoulder telling him to go back to television and an angel on the other telling him to pursue theatre. While there are many dramatic themes, the play is still a comedy at heart.
“I love doing comedy. To me there are very few experiences in our daily lives where we really drop our guard and share an experience that occurs when we laugh,” says Manke. “There is nothing like being in the theater with an audience that will be laughing together at the same thing at the same moment and experiencing that live.”
Ben Rosenbaum, who plays the role of Andrew, is charged with the task of playing a character who is struggling internally with the direction of his life and career while being pulled in different directions by the most important people in his life including his beautiful girlfriend Dierdre, played by Alyssa Gagarin, who insists on keeping her chastity while telling him what do with his life. If that wasn’t enough, he is dealing with the ever-present and insistent ghost of Barrymore, who only Andrew can see.
“There is a really unique view in this play by having a ghost on stage that gets to look back at the life that he has already lived,” says Rosenbaum. “He has to reconcile decisions he has made and try to make amends and justify the choices he has made by helping Andrew navigate the same waters.”
Rosenbaum also believes this is a great play for college students to see. They will be able to empathize with the plight of Andrew, who must make a decision that will define his career and his life while simultaneously dealing with the fear of failure and not being able to pay the bills, something that any student approaching graduation can relate to.
“What’s so great about this play is that it has this potential to just be a straight slapstick comedy with all sorts of gags, but this play really has some heart to it,” says Rosenbaum. “I actually got a little choked up the first time I read it. I think it’s a really sweet play that deals with real human connections and relationships.”
“I Hate Hamlet” will be playing at Pioneer Theatre Company from March 20 through April 4. Tickets are available online at pioneertheatre.org. Students can take advantage of discounted tickets with their UCard by purchasing tickets at the box office.