shakespeare – Spinning Platters

Film Review: “Hamnet”

Buckley is the engine powering this emotionally condensed drama

Agnes (Jessie Buckley) waits for Hamlet to start in ‘Hamnet.’

Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling book Hamnet was a literary sensation, and quickly sparked rumors of an inevitable movie adaptation. When Oscar winner Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) was announced as Hamnet’s director, followed by the casting of Oscar nominees Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter) and Paul Mescal (Aftersun) in the starring roles, expectations shot through the roof. Now that Zhao’s Hamnet is finally arriving in theaters, does it live up to the hype? The answer is a soft ‘yes.’ Through a tremendously powerful performance from Buckley and a deeply emotional script, Hamnet reproduces the story’s inherent drama even as it strips away any narrative complexities. Continue reading “Film Review: “Hamnet””

Theater Review: Ubuntu Theater Presents Michael Moran’s Passion Project: Hamlet

R. to L. : Hamlet (Michael Moran), Horatio (Ogie Zulueta), and Claudius (Rolf Saxon) duke it out. Photo courtesy of Simone Finney, 2018.

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“

Film Review: Macbeth

‘All the perfumes of Arabia’ cannot sweeten Macbeth, and that’s a good thing, because it’s not a sweet story.

Macbeth thinks about jolly, hilarious things!

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.)

Continue reading “Film Review: Macbeth”