Hamlet (Hatem Adell), the prince of Denmark, peruses the skull of Yorick, while the gravedigger (Sue Downing) looks on. — Photos by Johanna Bobrow

By Shira Laucharoen

As soon as lights rise on the opening scene, we are introduced to a set of guards, trembling before the appearance of a ghostly apparition. This is how we step into the world of Hamlet, in a new production by community theater organization Theatre@First, which runs from November 15-23.

Directed by Elizabeth Hunter, this fast paced rendition of Shakespeare’s classic delivers a pared down performance, a bare bones interpretation that grounds its characters in the text. Hamlet is struggling after the death of his father with his mother’s new marriage to his uncle Claudius. Played with strength and muscularity by Hatem Adell, the feisty prince of Denmark adopts an act of madness, while he grapples with whether he should act on his wish for revenge. Meanwhile, the young Ophelia, played earnestly by Evelyne Cardella, seeks to restore Hamlet to his sanity, eventually falling victim to his downward descent.

Ophelia (Evelyne Cardella) goes mad, in the wake of her father’s death and Hamlet’s downward spiral.

Hunter emphasized that she wanted the characters to feel real and palpable, giving them definition through Shakespeare’s words. For this reason, the play used gender blind casting, with roles such as the stately queen Gertrude played by a man, Ron Lacey, and the self-possessed Claudius portrayed by a woman, Myra Hope Eskridge. While Hunter did not deliberately cast actors with this intention in mind, she based auditions off of who gave the most powerful delivery, regardless of gender. The result is a passionate performance given by each of the players, who approach the text with control and emotion.

The production touches on themes such as action and indecision, artifice and disguise, and political corruption. As the plot unfurls, we watch Hamlet feign madness in order to access the truth, creating a lie that serves to expose a reality. By the second half of the play, the stability of the kingdom begins to unravel, with a fragile Ophelia losing her mind and Claudius facing the consequences of his actions. At the core of this Hamlet, we see that the characters, through their uncertainty and strife, are very human.

This performance of Hamlet was produced by Theatre@First, a community theater organization that is part of the Massachusetts Community Theatre Corporation. Founded in 2003 by Hunter, Theatre@First has put together more than 50 mainstage shows. Hunter said that she formed the group during a time when there was not much community theater in Somerville, while there was a burgeoning visual arts scene. She was inspired to have a place where a performing arts community could also thrive, she said, and the organization was created.

After the death of Hamlet’s father, Claudius (Myra Hope Eskridge) assumes the throne, with his new wife, the queen Gertrude (Ron Lacey).