Hamlet for hams at McCarter

"Come on, Max", said my husband, "It's Hamlet, you can't ruin Hamlet."

Well, today, Mr. Maximalist was proven wrong, by McCarter's production of Hamlet. They played it as a comedy. No, not as a tragedy with Shakespearean comic relief, but as a full blown comedy.

In the first act, the comedy was based on the minimalist set, and the interaction with the audience sitting on stage, but by the second act, the Prince of Denmark, who I was halfway enjoying (the only performance I enjoyed), vacillated wildly, from a crafty young man (not so young, actually, but not as painful as the paunchy middle aged Laertes)to a Jim Carrey-esque clown portraying a mean full blown manic episode, to an insufferably shallow delivery of Hamlet's best known soliloquy. Listening to this version, you would never know that the young prince was considering suicide. It just wasn't funny.

If the point was Hamlet was a reckless manic, it could have been made without slap-stick. Mania can be destructive, and human destruction is never funny.

The anachronisms " tape recorder, flashlights, massive stage lights, and careless 21st century dress were merely annoying, because it was a silly farce anyway. I was too irritated by the disembowelment of Shakespeare to care.

Was "hating on" Shakespeare the point of this? Was there a point at all?

As Mr. Maximalist and I left the theater (after the second act), the other departing patrons expressed that they too had "given up". We also wondered if it was the performance and NOT Superbowl Sunday that kept people away.

For all those who stuck it out until the end, I thank you. It was much easier to drive home quickly.

Finis

Great news for dog care!

GREAT news for dogs!

About two years ago, I sunk a fortune into canine dentistry for my rescue dog, Rusty, whose teeth were badly covered with tartar. The anesthesia was rough and he was out of it for days.

Fast forward: vet said that he needed another cleaning. Try as I might, and try I did, Rusty resisted the brush.

I tried a sonicare.

He looked apprehensive, but let me do it. Maybe the crazy old pom likes the noise or the vibration. Anyway, Rusty does this growlessly.

And the tartar is GONE, not diminished, but gone. It is cracked away and he looks great. I was amazed what a week with sonicare can do, as this was a last ditch effort prior to plunking down another $1000.00.

So, for those beset by dental bills for your dog, those who never want to do it again, and those who have a new pet and don't want problem, get a cheap sonicare and go.

I make no guarantee that your dog will love this, but oddly mine does!