Art Show: Hamlet

On Thursday night, I went to see the play Hamlet performed by the theater students at UCSB. Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare play and I had never seen a production of it so I was excited. Overall the play was wonderful. The actors added more elements of humor that I had not previously noticed while reading the play myself. They did a very good job of acting and performing the lines in a way that made them easy to understand even if you do not like Shakespeare. A lot of the male characters such as Horatio and Guildenstern were played by female actors which I thought was interesting. They changed the lines accordingly so that they would address the changed gender roles. Some people I talked to did not like this but I figured the actors were probably just the best for the part regardless of their gender. They did not have much of a set besides a few large props such as portraits and ladders so they made up that with excellent use of the lights. I feel like this added more of a dramatic and immediate affected then painted scenery would have. All and all, I enjoyed the play very much. It was quite long because they did not cut out any lines. At first I thought that they should have shortened it but thinking about it now I do not know which part isn't essential to the whole play. I am glad that I went though and I look forward to seeing more plays next year.