If ever there was a student who showed passion in a play, it certainly showed up in the performance Gilbert Martinez, who plays Prince Hamlet. Martinez gave an excellent portrayal of they young prince Friday during the opening night of the Theater Department’s version of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at the Burnight Theatre.
After two and a half months of rehearsals in which the 28 cast members worked to hone skills such as sword fight and timing, Martinez and the rest of the cast showed that they could carry a role down to the end of the John Zamora-directed production.
The play will continue with showings Nov. 1 and 3 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.cerritos.edu/theater or by calling (562) 860-2451, ext. 2638.
The story is about the prince of Denmark, who tries to avenge the murder of his father by his uncle, but isn’t sure who to trust during his relentless pursuit of justice.
From the opening scene Martinez captures the torment and rage of Hamlet because of what has happened and the anger he has toward his mother Gertrude, played by Katie Lehr, because of her marriage to Claudius, now king of Denmark and Hamlet’s uncle, played by David Martinez.
Furthermore, the performances by Maria Lopez as Rosencrantz and her twin sister Barbara as Guildenstern that also standout.
In spite of both having low key roles, they make the most of their appearances as does Kevin Hoggard, who plays the ghost of Hamlet’s father. What is appealing is the voice Hoggard uses to portray the ghost.
In addition, Laertes, played by Tyrone Justis, and Ophelia, played by Mary Ann Boice, make an impact.
Ophelia is torn between the fact that Hamlet is obsessed with the murder of his father and that she is not sure whether or not he could be saved and because of it, she tells him that she doesn’t love him anyway.
Hamlet’s reaction is that of hurt and rage. Ophelia is then driven to the point where she drowns in a bathtub of water. Laertes calls out to Hamlet for a duel to avenge his sister’s sudden death.
Throughout the play, Martinez displays a great quality of dramatic effect on the character he was portraying and was right when he said, “There are (so many) layers to Hamlet that I could write an entire essay about him.”
How true that turned out to be because as an audience member one can certainly see the pain and anguish Hamlet has and that is transparent from scene to scene and from dialogue to dialogue.
Zamora was correct when he stated, “In the end, I would hope that the audience would be passionate about learning more about Hamlet.”
With that in effect, it all makes this play worth the watch. The play lasts more than two and a half hours.
There is a smooth transition of the storyline and to have someone like Martinez, who has taken the lead of Hamlet and placed himself within the story, made the other 27 performances follow along very well.
