On Thursday night, Hold Thy Peace, Brandeis' Shakespeare theater group, premiered their production of Hamlet to a small but enthusiastic audience in the Shapiro Campus Center theater. Directed by Samantha LeVangie '15, the play stuck close to its original version, with some cuts to reduce the running time, which was already close to three hours with the cuts. There was also one major change: Horatio is a ghost.

The play opened with Hamlet's best friend, Horatio (Aaron Fischer '15), seeing the ghost of Hamlet's father. In this version, however, since Horatio was also a ghost, this scene seemed redundant. In the playbill, LeVangie explained that she wanted to enhance the supernatural already found in Hamlet. Fischer sported ghastly makeup to lighten his pallor and a bloody gash on his cheek, but the change is confusing at first. Once I realized what Horatio was supposed to be, Fischer's performance as Hamlet's voice of reason was convincing, even if his new ghostly identity was not.

Hamlet was volatile and his emotion did not seem forced, even in the over-the-top soliloquies that he had to recite while bounding around the stage. When Hamlet talked to himself, he didn't address the audience. Instead, he focused on a point on the stage to address at random, highlighting his alleged madness, which worked brilliantly.
The music played in between scenes was appropriately ominous, and the prop as well as furniture changes in between scenes went smoothly.

The set, designed and put together by Ryan Kacani '15, who also plays Claudius, was a dark medieval-style castle with colorful stained glass windows that offset the gray and black of the rest of the scenery. This set presented an odd contrast to the costume choices. At the start of the play, Hamlet (Alex Davis '15) wears jeans, a tuxedo-printed t-shirt and sneakers.

The rest of the cast wore modern formal clothing, and in one scene Hamlet wore a suit and top hat, but other than that he was dressed casually. Hamlet is supposed to be a rebel, but the jeans were off-putting and out of place. In the scene where Hamlet and his family views the players' performance, Hamlet's costume was given the addition of a cane, which he wielded comically and effectively, adding personality to the otherwise unstable character.

Another odd costuming element was the single leather glove, worn Michael Jackson-style throughout most of the play by Claudius. This could be seen as symbolic, since it is worn on the hand that presumably killed Hamlet's father, but came across as an out of place fashion choice for the murderous king.

Ophelia, portrayed by Barbara Spidle '16, was a convincing Shakespearean maiden, even in her J. Crew-style pencil skirt and heels. She started out overly bubbly but progressed into a wailing state of madness by the end of the play. Spidle's talents were especially showcased in the scenes before Ophelia's death, wallowing around the stage, singing to herself and handing out flowers. Her portrayal of the grieving Ophelia lent sympathy to the character, who has gone mad but is also mourning the loss of her father.

The other actors were spot-on as well, no matter the size of their parts. The small cast meant that many actors played multiple roles, which was only confusing in one scene. Rosencrantz and Gildenstern, played by Connor Wahrman '17 and Zack Kennedy '16, are pronounced dead, and shortly after the actors come back as two gravediggers at Ophelia's grave. It took me a minute to realize that Rosencrantz and Gildenstern did not come back from their graves to dig their own graves. Wahrman and Kennedy's performances are comical and they work well together as the inseparable pair.

Max Moran's '17 performance as the eccentric, babbling Polonius, Ophelia and Laertes' father, warrants a special mention. Wandering around the stage and gesturing comically, he delivered Polonius's nonsensical ramblings with gusto and humor.
The production went smoothly, and there were only a few minor slip-ups of the complicated Shakespearean dialogue. Overall, despite the odd choice of making Horatio a ghost and some unusual costuming, the play was an earnest rendition of Shakespeare's tragedy.

Editor's note: Max Moran '17 is an Editorial Assistant for the Justice's Forum section.