You might anticipate that a one-man performance of William Shakespeare's Hamlet would help to illuminate when and if the melancholy Dane drops into madness or if his behavior throughout is, as he says early on, simply an "antic disposition."
For A One Man Hamlet, Andrew Cowie has distilled Shakespeare's five-act drama to just over an hour. He includes major events, such as the appearance of the ghost and Hamlet's bedroom confrontation with Gertrude, as well as the soliloquies. The adaptation is a whirlwind tour, and while watching the piece, theatregoers will sense the character's isolation.
Unfortunately, in director Lauren Pfitzner's unremarkable production with Will Bligh, there's not much else for theatregoers to contemplate. Bligh relies throughout much of the performance on a sort of breathy monotone and halting delivery of Shakespeare's words. Often, as if to indicate the prince's realizations or shifts in thinking, he pauses between words in curious places or raises his tone at the ends of lines, making them sound as if they are questions.
This solo performance is further undermined by Bligh's decision rarely to explore or play the humor found in the Shakespearean lines that Cowie includes. Irony, bitter anger, and ghoulish humor are all missing when Hamlet holds up Yorick's skull and comments that a woman could "paint an inch thick, to this face she must come."
In the few instances that Bligh plays other characters, his performance borders on parody. For example, he employs deep raspy breaths when playing the ghost of Hamlet's father, bringing to mind James Earl Jones' Darth Vader.
Sadly, the cumulative effect of Bligh's performance is that we never get the anticipated exploration of madness. The piece works only as a sort of CliffsNotes version of the great play.
Presented by Haus Der Farben Productions as part of the New York International Fringe Festival at Henry Street Settlement's Recital Hall, 466 Grand St., NYC. Aug. 22-27. Remaining performances: Thu., Aug.24, 8 p.m.; Fri., Aug. 25, 7 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 26, 4 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 27, 2 p.m. (212) 279-4488 or www.fringenyc.org.