Review: Bat-Hamlet (Corn Productions)

By Chicagotheaterbeat @chitheaterbeat

  
  
Bat-Hamlet

Written by Jordan Pulliam  
Directed by Kallie Noelle Rolison
at The Cornservatory, 4210 N. Lincoln (map)
thru April 26  |  tickets: $7-$15   |  more info
  
Check for half-price tickets  
  
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Matching of two infamous brooders in need of shrewd reboot

     

  

Corn Productions presents

  

Bat-Hamlet

Review by Clint May 

Fun fact: Hamlet is the longest of Shakespeare’s plays.

Less fun fact: Bat-Hamlet feels longer.

What begins as a pleasingly—if very overtly—Monty Python setup becomes an exercise in endurance as yet another stale gag or fight scene is thrown against the castle walls to see what sticks. Some of it sticks quite nicely actually, but as the second hour progresses, it becomes clear that it’s just not enough to sustain the simple gimmick of matching up two infamously melancholy brooders.

King Police Commissioner Gordrick (Jade Landry) appears as a ghost to tell his adopted son Hamlet (Matthew Lunt) of his less-than-natural demise at the hands of the new King Jester (Lucas Thatcher). After a suspiciously nonexistent mourning period, the old king’s daughter Barbara (Kalina Kitten McCreery) has remarried the new ruler a bit o’er hastily. To get to the bottom of the evil goings-on in the castle of Gothic, Hamlet transforms into a caped crusader. Aided by his hapless friend Horatio (Raymond Hui) as Songbird Boy, they’ll do battle with Jester’s henchmen Lord Riddles (Pete Navis) and Lord Puffin (Patrick A. Pantelis). This isn’t just a boy’s party though. Hamlet’s “girlfriend” Ophelia (Kelly Schmidt), along with Barbara (McCreery), gets to be part of the action too, and decades of trying to redeem Shakespeare’s female characters is circumvented quite neatly by these ladies getting to kick some costumed ass of their own for a change. Even Laertes (T. Isaac Sherman) gets an 11th hour reveal that got what was, at least for me, the biggest chuckle of the night.

Just like watching Monty Python, you’ll have to endure several unlandable, lazy or just plain dated gags (e.g., “men cross dressing is funny,” a fight scene continually becoming gay sex—seriously, gender confusion as a punchline is old news) to get to smarter bits like the wry gravedigger scene parody. Much of an individual’s stamina will depend upon the healthy use of the BYOB policy. Lunt has the comedic chops—and the eyes—to sell the ludicrous, and Schmidt gets to have a lot of infectious fun as the crazy cat lady who morphs into “O-Feline.” Thatcher’s high-pitched Jester starts to grate the nerves after a while, and though Pantelis is appropriately larger than life with his “quackery,” Navis is too pitched on the side of lethargically sinister. Pulliam and Rolison mingle campy 60s era Batman with gritty reboot Batman, but they might want to stick with the latter. (The one-off gag of the gravel-talking bat in Best Beloved got a bigger belly laugh than most of these.) It’s all very earnest and they clearly love their sources, but by the end, both attentions and contrivances are stretched to the utmost.

Catering to a Millennial crowd that loves it some post-modern mash ups of pop culture is such a fine line to walk. If Pulliam and Rolison can become a dynamic duo of shrewd editing, Bat-Hamlet is poised to become a party night crowd pleaser with a smart balance of the erudite and the zany. As a comic book nerd and Shakespeare fan, I’m personally rooting for a reboot.

  

Rating: ★★

  

  

Bat-Hamlet continues through April 26th at The Cornservatory, 4210 N. Lincoln (map), with performances Wednesdays-Saturdays at 8pm.  Tickets are $7-$15, and are available by phone (773-650-1331) or online through Vendini.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at Cornservatory.org.  (Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes, includes an intermission)

     

artists

cast

Matthew Lunt (Hamlet), Lucas Thatcher (Jester), Raymond Hui (Horatio), Kelly Schmidt (Ophelia), Kalina Kitten McCreery (Barbara), Pete Navis (Lord Riddles), Patrick A. Pantelis (Lord Puffin), T. Isaac Sherman (Laertes), Emilia Hodges (Jape), Lindi Blake Jones (Jingle), Derik Iverson (Jest, Lefty, Gravedigger 1), Rory Leahy (Guard, Boss, Gravedigger 2), Jade Landry (Ghost Gordrick, Fortinbras)

behind the scenes

Kallie Noelle Rolison (director, sound designer), Jes Mican (stage mnager, mask and make-up designer), Andrew Canada (production manager), Justin Oliver Lance (props designer), Stephanie Palko (costume designer, asst. director), Michael Brooks (set designer), Daniel Polonka (set crew), Orion Couling (fight choreographer), Seth Wanta (graphics designer, publicity), Robert Bouwman (artistic director)

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