Outdoor summer Shakespeare productions have a strong history in Christchurch, including memorable Summertimes productions in the Arts Centre and the Botanic Gardens throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. For more than a decade, Top Dog Theatre has been continuing this tradition by presenting performances on the lovely lawn at the historic Mona Vale homestead.  

This year’s play, Hamlet, is a bold choice. Director and company founder Derek Doddington has condensed the play from a meaty four hours down to just over two (including interval) so that we can beat the setting sun, which means that the play romps along, although this is a little ironic given that it is a narrative that is driven (or not) by Hamlet’s indecision.

My companion points out, quite rightfully, that productions such as this have an enormous responsibility, as they will be the only form of live, theatrical engagement with Shakespeare’s text that many people will have, and that a bad experience, such as a lack of clarity or confusion about place, language and character, can turn one off for life.

This condensed version does an excellent job of making the machinations of the plot comprehensive and digestible, and the intimate, contained nature of the family drama, as well as its bounded situation within the court of Elsinore, means that there is a clear and contained sense of narrative trajectory throughout. I suspect that this would be a very good production for high school students who want to see the play up on its feet, but who don’t want a couple of hours of Hamlet engaging in some heavy self-analysis.  

The downside of this brutal editing is that it sacrifices theme, nuance and language in the name of plot and the piecemeal retention of recognisable lines. In particular, it strips out some key character development and causation, so that, for instance, Ophelia’s sudden descent into madness and Hamlet’s meditation on death seem wholly unjustified. (“To be or not to be” occurs 30 minutes in, so it’s obviously a very slippery slope for the moody Dane.) 

This wouldn’t necessarily be an issue if there were evidence of a strong directorial hand, or a definitive vision at work, but in this instance we are left with a very literal, face-value reading of the play that denies any subtext or complexity.

Many of the questions that engage with the complicated, interior lives of the characters are cast aside: what’s Gertrude’s agenda? How much is Hamlet playing at madness, how much of it is real, and why can’t he make up his mind? Can the ghost be trusted? Does Claudius genuinely care about what he’s done? What’s Polonius up to? How crushed Ophelia to start with by her family and the weight of (gendered) expectation? Why is Laertes such a dick? Characters rarely seem to have an opinion about anything.

Some of the actors – especially Sebastian Boyle (Hamlet), Andrew Scott (Polonius), Raoul Neave (Claudius), Shannon Quinn (Ophelia), Dan Crossen (a bizarrely camp Osric) and Ruth Agnew (a gender-swapped Horatia) – offer strong characterisations and some authoritative vocal work. However, more often than not the cast of 24 seem to be marooned on stage: they are given entrances, exits, broad-stroke characterisations, a place to stand and some stage-business to do, but little of it has any real meaning or purpose.

Certainly, there are some beautiful moments where everything falls into place. One such instance in the intimate graveside scene in which Hamlet is ‘reunited’ with his childhood companion, Yorick, where we see a glimpse of genuine grief and of the strength of his relationship with Horatia, before Ophelia’s funeral party arrives. It’s a gorgeous and compelling scene, but these character- and relationship-driven instances are rarely borne out.

Given this play’s status as of the finest works in the English language to have dealt with the complexity of the human condition, I find this utterly frustrating. I cannot agree with the programme’s assertion that this production presents “deep and diverse characters with their own hopes, ambitions and choices”. It’s a flippant, two-dimensional engagement with a deeply complex work: Hamlet-lite.

Top Dog Theatre has been presenting open air Shakespeare productions for over ten years now, and if you’ve attended any you will know what to expect:  a brisk presentation with a pre-dusk finish; the same use of marquees and the full, but unwieldy breadth and depth of the lawn; original, period music (care of the talented composer Robert Tait), often delivered live; similar period-but-not-period costumes and props; similar blocking; something of a repertory cast of seasoned, well-respected local performers who support green up-and-comers; and so on.

They are also united in their lack of depth and a lack of engagement with the nuances of language, character and theme. While knockabout slapstick and arch characterisation can excuse this in some of the comedies, in a play like Hamlet there’s absolutely nowhere to hide.

The success of this production really depends on your expectations. If you are after a lovely summer’s evening with a picnic and some fast-paced, undemanding and affordable outdoor entertainment, then this is absolutely for you, and certainly my companion and I have a nice night.   

If you want some quality theatre that has a clear point of view, that exhibits an understanding and mastery of its source material, and that takes full advantage of the capabilities of its actors and resources (as well as the goodwill of the public), then you should look elsewhere – or just focus on the picnic.

This year, we mark the 400^th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and the 25^th year of the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand, which is celebrating through a year of events called ‘Shake Alive 2016’. In this context, I can’t help but want a bit more life, direction and thoughtfulness from Top Dog Theatre’s summer productions, and certainly something more than “words, words, words”. 

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