Arts & Entertainment

Hazards of performing ‘Hamlet’ outdoors

Maryland Renaissance Festival offers range of entertainment

Published

13 years ago

September 22, 2011

By CAROLYN SPEDDEN

Tackling what is arguably Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy would be a daunting task for any director and ensemble of actors. But performing “Hamlet” in an outdoor environment where a hurricane pelts rain on you during your first performance and horrific humidity follows for the next show, might send even the most devoted thespian scurrying back to the comfort of a castle in Denmark.

“Outdoor performance is really about survival as much as it is about being heard. After opening with a hurricane this year, that couldn’t be more apparent,” notes Graham Pilato, a Washington actor playing Horatio in the Festival’s production of “Hamlet.”

While the Renaissance Festival presents edited versions of classic plays each year, this 100-minute edition of Hamlet is the most ambitious so far — not least because the play is so famous.

Jack Powers, who plays Hamlet in the production, had to deal with that from the start. “You try to ignore the renown of the speeches and only try to pick up on the big thoughts in them, not the larger-than-life status of the speeches themselves.”

Director John Sadowsky also had the daunting task of editing Shakespeare’s longest play into two 50-minute acts. “I approached the job as telling the story in as simple, direct and entertaining a way as possible. First and foremost, I wanted to tell the basic story of Hamlet’s conflicts and revenge.”

And how does one approach one of the most iconic roles in theater? For Sadowsky, his view of the role changed at auditions. “I was going to go with the traditional 30-something, who just prefers to stay in and around his college until called back to Elsinore to assume the throne. But I saw something really special in Jack’s audition and decided to go with the 20-year-old Hamlet, a real college student who is genuinely pissed off at not succeeding his father and who could be goaded into action by the ghost of his father, real or imagined. He isn’t any more indecisive than any other 20-something and we can clearly see his vengeance plot take hold. I think our Hamlet is someone that young people in the audience can identify with, even those without uncles who killed their fathers and married their mothers. He has more fun in him and I hope people will see him sympathetically.”

The play is presented in two acts, beginning at 1 p.m. each day at the festival’s Globe Theatre. In addition of their roles in Hamlet, Pilato and Powers also do improvisational work in the pathways, directly connecting with the audience.

“For street work, it’s about gauging the audience to know what sort of bit to perform with them, to really make some quick judgments about what they might prefer to have me say or do, says Pilato. “I’m a huge fan of what we do. Being able to help provide that depth and wonder to audiences makes me really happy. It’s also lovely to have an opportunity to work and play with some really awesome talents — I’ve learned a lot about clowning, classical theater, voice and movement and improvisation in the company of these great folks.”

Director Sadowsky, who also performs at the Festival, agrees. “Audience interaction, the improvisation and sustaining a character for very long periods of time have tremendously helped my acting in more traditional theaters the rest of the year. I can easily handle anything that could go awry in live theater because of my experience in the Renaissance Festival.”

Absolutely. Because after performing in a hurricane, a drafty theater is a piece of cake.

The Maryland Renaissance Festival runs weekends until Oct. 23. For more information visit marylandrenaissancefestival.com.

Related Topics:Hamlet Maryland Renaissance Festival

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FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Nightlife

Ed Bailey brings Secret Garden to Project GLOW festival

An LGBTQ-inclusive dance space at RFK this weekend

Published

29 mins ago

April 26, 2024

Evan Caplan

Ed Bailey's set at last year's Project Glow. (Photo courtesy Bailey)

When does a garden GLOW? When it’s run by famed local gay DJ Ed Bailey.

This weekend, music festival Project GLOW at RFK Festival Grounds will feature Bailey’s brainchild the Secret Garden, a unique space just for the LGBTQ community that he launched in 2023.

While Project GLOW, running April 27-28, is a stage for massive electronic DJ sets in a large outdoor space, Secret Garden is more intimate, though no less adrenaline-forward. He’s bringing the nightclub to the festival. The garden is a dance area that complements the larger stages, but also stands on its own as a draw for festival-goers. Its focus is on DJs that have a presence and following in the LGBTQ audience world.

“The Secret Garden is a showcase for what LGBTQ nightlife, and nightclubs in general, are all about,” he says. “True club DJs playing club music for people that want to dance in a fun environment that is high energy and low stress. It’s the cool party inside the bigger party.”

Project GLOW launched in 2022. Bailey connected with the operators after the first event, and they discussed Bailey curating his own space for 2023. “They were very clear that they wanted me to lean into the vibrant LGBTQ nightlife of D.C. and allow that community to be very visibly a part of this area.”

Last year, club icon Kevin Aviance headlined the Secret Garden. The GLOW festival organizers loved the its energy from last year, and so asked Bailey to bring it back again, with an entire year to plan.

This year, Bailey says, he is “bringing in more D.C. nightlife legends.” Among those are DJ Sedrick, “a DJ and entertainer legend. He was a pivotal part of Tracks nightclub and is such a dynamic force of entertainment,” says Bailey. “I am excited for a whole new audience to be able to experience his very special brand of DJing!”

Also, this year brings in Illustrious Blacks, a worldwide DJ duo with roots in D.C.; and “house music legends” DJs Derrick Carter and DJ Spen.

Bailey is focusing on D.C.’s local talent, with a lineup including Diyanna Monet, Strikestone!, Dvonne, Baronhawk Poitier, THABLACKGOD, Get Face, Franxx, Baby Weight, and Flower Factory DJs KS, Joann Fabrixx, and PWRPUFF.

Secret Garden also brings in performers who meld music with dance, theater, and audience interactions for a multi-sensory experience.

Bailey is an owner of Trade and Number Nine, and was previously an owner of Town Danceboutique. Over the last 35 years, Bailey owned and operated more than 10 bars and clubs in D.C. He has an impressive resume, too. Since starting in 1987, he’s DJ’d across the world for parties and nightclubs large and intimate. He says that he opened “in concert for Kylie Minogue, DJed with Junior Vasquez, played giant 10,000-person events, and small underground parties.” He’s also held residencies at clubs in Atlanta, Miami, and here in D.C. at Tracks, Nation, and Town.

With Secret Garden, Bailey and GLOW aim to bring queer performers into the space not just for LGBTQ audiences, but for the entire music community to meet, learn about, and enjoy. While they might enjoy fandom among queer nightlife, this Garden is a platform for them to meet the entirety of GLOW festival goers.

Weekend-long Project GLOW brings in headliners and artists from EDM and electronic music, with big names like ILLENIUM, Zedd, and Rezz. In all, more than 50 artists will take the three stages at the third edition of Project GLOW, presented by Insomniac (Electric Daisy Carnival) and Club Glow (Echostage, Soundcheck).

Out & About

Washington Improv Theatre hosts ‘The Queeries’

Event to celebrate queer DMV talent and pop culture camp

Published

1 hour ago

April 26, 2024

Tinashe Chingarande

The Washington Improv Theatre, along with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC, will team up to host “The Queeries!” on Friday, April 26 at 9:30 p.m. at Studio Theatre.

The event will celebrate Queer DMV talent and pop culture camp. With a mixture of audience-submitted nominations and blatantly undemocratically declared winners, “The Queeries!” mimics LGBTQ life itself: unfair, but far more fun than the alternative.

The event will be co-hosted by Birdie and Butchie, who have invited some of their favorite bent winos, D.C. “D-listers,” former Senate staffers, and other stars to sashay down the lavender carpet for the selfie-strewn party of the year.

Tickets are just $15 and can be purchased on WITV’s website.