Saturday night took us to LaMama to check out HAMLET SHUT UP – a fun and funny adaptation of HAMLET, but without all the pesky dialogue. It is probably the only Fringe show we’re going to see this year and it is well worth the trip. Ably performed by a cast of L.A.-based actors, director Jonas Oppenheim pulls no punches in this over-the-top slapstick rendition of Shakespeare’s classic play. Broadly comic and full of silly sight gags, the show follows the plot of the original faithfully, unspooling the drama through mimed (and occasionally grunted) vignettes.

HAMLET SHUT UP is classic “fringe” theater – very DIY and seat of the pants, irreverent and loose. The acting is broad and high-energy and the show pretty much races through HAMLET at full speed. And yes, there is a shark. Almost hidden in all the hi-jinks and madcap mishegos is a beautiful little puppet show put on by the now-mad Ophelia, where she enacts her drowning. This moment hints at the tragic dimensions of the play and suggests that there is more here than just full-throttle comedy.

I find the Fringe to be generally overwhelming and usually I get frustrated by all the silly schtick, but HAMLET SHUT UP is clever and fun and Fringe at its messy best.

WHAT: “Hamlet Shut Up” at the New York International Fringe Festival

WHEN:
SAT 8/14 @ 8:30pm
MON 8/16 @ 2:30pm
WED 8/18 @ 9:45pm
FRI 8/20 @ 8:15pm
SAT 8/21 @ 2:30pm

WHERE: The First Floor Theatre @ LA MAMA, 74A East 4th St., New York, 10003

TICKETS & INFO: fringenyc.org, 866.468.7619, hamletshutup.com

More info at http://hamletshutup.com/.