Bernhardt/Hamlet
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Cititour.com Review
The challenges of mounting a live theatrical production. The struggle of women to exert themselves fully in a male-driven environment. The patronization of strong women by powerful (and not-so-powerful) men. These are all subjects the prolific Theresa Rebeck has explored previously on stage (“The Understudy”) and on television (“Smash”). But she has never done so in such a giddily entertaining, if admittedly often less-than-subtle, fashion as she does in “Bernhardt/Hamlet,” which is bringing audiences to its feet at the Roundabout’s American Airlines Theatre.
To be fair, as enjoyable as the play is, the thunderous ovation at the end of these 2 ½ hours is primarily for the dazzlingly brilliant Janet McTeer. Guided by the savvy director Moritz von Stuelpnagel, the Tony-winning star makes not just a meal but an entire tasting menu out of the central role of the celebrated French actress Sarah Bernhardt. Egotistical, self-deprecating, romantic, self-reliant, foolish, super-smart, McTeer’s Bernhardt literally contains multitudes.
And no matter how mercurially she behaves, you understand from her first entrance (on Beowulf Boritt’s excellent rotating set) why every man and woman in her orbit is infatuated with her and why she is known worldwide as the “Divine Sarah.” (Credit as well goes to Toni-Leslie James’ superb costumes, including a party dress for McTeer that deserves to be seen on a red carpet!) Whether standing solo on a bare stage or at the center of a dinner party, McTeer (and by extension, Bernhardt) simply exudes charisma with a capital C.
But, just as importantly, Rebeck also forces us to see Bernhardt as more than just a stage icon; she is every middle-aged woman facing the dilemma of where she fits in society. It’s why Bernhardt has decided to tackle the near-impossible: the title role of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” As she proclaims in a second-act speech that serves as rallying cry for many women in the audience, she is simply too old to play the ingenue role (especially Ophelia), unwilling to settle for a smallish role like Gertrude (even if she might well relate to the part’s maternal aspects given her relationship with her own grown son, Maurice, smartly portrayed by Nick Westrate), and outrightly refuses to repeat her past triumphs ad infinitum. To quote Peggy Lee, is that all there is?
Indeed not! Bernhardt feels she has no choice but to forge her own path – even when good friend and noted critic Louis (Tony Carlin) makes his disdain (and other men’s as well) for Bernhardt’s project clear in no uncertain terms. The bigger rub, as it turns out, is herself: Bernhardt can’t really “get into” Hamlet. although it’s less the male character that eludes her than Shakespeare’s overly poetic language. (That part, while perhaps true in history, doesn’t quite ring so here: whenever McTeer’s Bernhardt does speak the speech, she does so more than trippingly; it’s positively gorgeous – not to mention she’d be performing it in French!)
Receiving little practical help from fellow player (and former four-time Hamlet) Constant Coquelin (a dryly funny Dylan Baker) or adoring artist Alfonse Mucha (a delightful Matthew Saldivar), she turns to former collaborator –and in Rebeck’s telling, current lover Edmond Rostand (the magnificent Jason Butler Harner, alternately mopey and maniacal and always heartbreakingly torn between Sarah and his family). But asking him to simplify Shakespeare’s play by reducing it to mere prose proves to be more than a simple favor. And as Rostand is too infatuated with Bernhardt to bow out of this task, his seemingly meek but ultimately clever wife Rosamund (a stunning Ito Aghayere) finds the perfect solution to her husband’s dilemma.
Clearly, an actor’s disregard for the writer’s words is yet another bone Rebeck wishes to pick through this play. (In real life, Bernhardt turned to two other writers to accomplish the task and triumphed as Hamlet in Paris, if not in Britain). But if much of Rebeck’s work has often felt like a mere excuse for airing grievances or settling scores, in “Bernhardt/Hamlet,” she has finally found the winning hand!
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/Shows-Events/Bernhardt-Hamlet.aspx
Cast
Janet McTeer, Dylan Baker, Jason Butler Harner, Matthew Saldivar, Nick Westrate, Paxton Whitehead, Ito Aghayere, Brittany Bradford, Aaron Costa Ganis, Triney Sandoval
Open/Close Dates
Opening 8/31/2018
Closing 11/11/2018
Box Office
212-719-1300
Theatre Info
American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
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