A Wrong Plot at a Right Time

/, Blesok no. 05, Theatre/Film/A Wrong Plot at a Right Time

A Wrong Plot at a Right Time

While the National Macedonian Theatre MNT during it’s 53 years of existence have never (sic!) included William Shakespeare Hamlet in it’s repertoire politics, Dramski theater in Skopje these days places this text again after 21 years pause since it’s last (then appraised as) disastrous performance, directed by Slobodan Unkovski. This time, the interpretation is in directors’ Vlado Cvetanovski different, more provocative and more experimental visual point of view.
Hamlets multilevel structure offers great director provocation in actualization of the rotten Denmark, where dead Kong’s spirit walks, needing the sons revenge. The guards and the prince are frozen to the heart from cold and fear of the possible war. But, Vlado Cvetanovski instead of this plot, for more provocative director conception takes it’s own and educated publics position, to which Hamlet is known as archetypical dramatic character.
Starting intuitively from this deconstructive position, he recomposes the text, removes the guard scenes, the spirit, the revenge, the slaughter, alluding to recreate Hamlet as general mythological hero with goal to answer the metaphysical question. Do I wont to die, sleeping?
This inner static, metaphysic leading characters motivation isn’t always precisely dramatically determined in the microcosm of the play.
While the swords effective appearance that falls from the backdrops and stubs Hamlet (and all of us) in the first scene, marking his (ours) grave, the fall of the second sword in Hamlets mothers bedroom, was only melodramatic effect. The universal book that Hamlet reads doesn’t have dramatic nor metaphysical meaning, because it doesn’t point out that it is Hamlet book.
Until the established Hamlets intimate world and his work room don’t answer the question: Who is Hamlet?, the metaphysical microcosmos world is established by Vlado Gjoreski’s functional and film scenery.
It is deeply thought – out and with it’s mental construction opens the scenery – the royal castle, which becomes river (with Ophelia’s dead body floating), grave (with mausoleum dimension), characters rooms (with no secrets and no doors), transparent curtain (net) through which the audience looks as in a dream or as it has been trapped. This scenery gives the audience possibility of reading other spaces-jail, postapocaliptic state, theater, state-machine that grinds everything in front of her, Hamlets “head” death areas… Even though black is basic scenery color, it doesn’t except the visualized death, uncontrary, it digs up white marble applicated on the castle. With that it follows directors moral concept and lightens the idea of Hamlets and all other actors relative death condition.
The postapocaliptic world is emphasized also by Blagoj Micevski’s half renaissance stylized costumes and techno-shoes. On one hand, they describe the characters as different periods and culture synthesis, but on the other hand, they are not throughly used in the conflicts between the characters with them selves.
Gjorgi Jolevski doesn’t have credible appearence: short, in leather trousers and tight vest with no shirt, he looks like melodramatic bandit, instead of highest rang intellectual.
Anastasias music has in it magic and byzantium duality on one, and techno sound on other hand, playing the guru role, giving the basic ritam and plays speed.
Actor Gjorgi Jolevski, seems, couldn’t get Hamlets mythical nerve he can’t intellectually perserve Hamlets problem, because he doesn’t seem to understand it. Arbitrary’soldering" practiced physical theater and learned emotional Stanislavski’s undergoing in his actors performance, Jolevski seems like last ninja in this universe. As more as he was usurped towards his colleagues, and rowdy towards his mother, the audience found him more repulsive. His Hamlets character changes were reached only by his voice higher oscillations.
Iskra Veterova also used quick voice tones for reaching dramatic changes in her role of queen Gertrude. With her maniristic act, she thoroughly accomplished directors assignment – she suffered untruly, playing the roll of woman and mother like an object of certain macho interests.
Her renaissance beauty was in constant conflict with the emotional position of poor and ruined mythic woman.
Excellent actors Kiril Ristoski, as king Claudius, and Vladimir Svetiev, as Polonius, built theirs characters duality and hypocrisy with their actors sensuality.
Inspite of previous actors, which played inappropriate roles to their actors sensibility, Zvezda Angelovska, with her sophisticated acting created a nymph (like in Botticelli’s pictures) glowing with truth love and irresistible warmth.
She built her character with absolute control over her fragile body and divine face of a trapped bird in a cage, sacrificial lamb of state-machine and the madness of the lonely goddess of love.
The rest of the team (Visar Viška, Biljana Dragičević, Risto Gogovski, Dimitar Zozi, Jelena Mijatović, Olivera Arizanova, Rubens Muratovski and Nikola Kumev) played their roles correctly protecting directors intimistic and symbolic interpretation of Jolevski’s Hamlet.

AuthorBiljana Garvanlieva
2018-08-21T17:24:03+00:00 October 1st, 1998|Categories: Reviews, Blesok no. 05, Theatre/Film|0 Comments