Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
At the Flight Deck in Oakland, on a raised plank in the middle of an oblong stage, sits Michael Moran’s Hamlet. Eerie vocalizations surround him as provided by a cast of thirty actors. The entire action takes place in this space in a modern retelling of William Shakespeare’s popular tragedy about Denmark’s grieving prince. Continue reading “Theater Review: Ubuntu Theater Presents Michael Moran’s Passion Project: Hamlet“
If you’re in the mood for some High School literature class caliber violence, then look no further than the new adaptation of Macbeth. Personally, I haven’t opened to a page from Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies, since sophomore (maybe junior?) year of high school. So knowing that the Macbeth director and writers chose to stick to roughly 90% (guesswork) of the original Shakespearean dialogue, I quickly read a Wikipedia summary before heading to the screening. This was a good choice. The one, and only, thing that the new Macbeth cinematic adaptation suffers from is its unwillingness to cater to the play’s newcomers. Otherwise, outstanding performances and cinematic flourishes from the director and cinematographer help Macbeth ascend the throne as one of the best Shakespeare adaptations in the last decade (Joss Whedon’s 2012 modern adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing is right up there.)