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Showing posts from August, 2014

Gertrude: The Cry

Gertrude: The Cry by Howard Barker produced by PTP/NYC (Potomac Theater Project) directed by Richard Romagnoli Gertrude – Pamela J. Gray Hamlet – David Barlow The Potomac Theater Project has produced a play by Howard Barker called Gertrude – The Cry . It’s is a riff on Hamlet focusing on Gertrude’s sexuality. That’s about it. Both Gertrude and the play have little to offer besides an obsession with sex. The script has only a rudimentary resemblance to Hamlet . Only Hamlet, Gertrude and Claudius remain from Shakespeare; Gertrude and Claudius never marry. And there are new characters introduced. Gertrude marries the Duke of Mecklenberg. Hamlet marries a character named Ragusa. Claudius’ mother also shows up. It’s ridiculous, but the play takes itself enormously seriously. The script might be free verse; it’s written with repetition of words and short phrases that we expect from verse. Director Richard Romagnoli has made interesting choices. He deliberately distances ...