Review: ‘Hamletmachine’ intense, unfocused

Forget about fully comprehending “Hamletmachine.” You won’t. But you won’t forget it.

Studio 802 gives Heiner Müller’s avant-garde classic — an oxymoron if ever there was one — a beautifully textured production, with an expert cast, a program I couldn’t put down, and production values that create a rich sonic and visual tapestry.

The dissident East German playwright’s text is dense and aphoristic. No character ever talks to another character — or rather, no character ever actually answers. Act 3 contains three lines of spoken text; Act 5 has less than 100 words.

But the words count. Müller gives us a subtext of “Hamlet” transformed through the lens of class and (especially) gender conflict.

Among his messages is our duty to rebel against unjust systems: “Down with the happiness of submission,” says Ophelia/Elektra near the end. “Long live hate and contempt, rebellion and death.”

The path to that sobering conclusion is far from smooth. The audience’s greatest challenge is simply one of focus. While traditional directing aims the audience’s attention at something, this production forces you continually to decide what to look at.

Joseph Forbeck’s tormented Hamlet anchors the play. Forbeck plays with an understated intensity that sets the tone.

As Ophelia, Alysabeth Clements spends much of the play with her face as impassive as a mask. When she finally drops the mask — significantly, in a scene in which she’s being wrapped in gauze tape — what she reveals is barely suppressed rage.

Ashley Crockett’s Gertrude may be the strongest and most layered performance of all. She brings a wide range of motherly emotions. On the one hand, she’s the mom, and she can’t be cowed by her son, no matter how weird he is. But she’s also vulnerable to her son’s criticism.

What makes this performance a tour de force is that Crockett has almost no lines. Nearly everything is done with her face and body language.

Stage manager Tom McElroy provides a few moments of blessed comic relief. Lisa McElroy brings more than a hint of dominatrix to Horatio.

McElroy’s costumes, Doug Beechwood’s outstanding video, Will Small’s stark lights, and the sound-designby-committee also contribute to the brooding mood.

There aren’t many opportunities to see avant-garde theater here, and what few there are, are usually student productions.

Which makes this production a special treat.

Sort of.

details

Studio 802 presents “Hamletmachine”

When: 8 p.m. today and Saturday

Where: Studio 802, 802 N. Weber St.

Tickets: $10; for more information call 634-5429