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#1

SF - John Douglas Thompson as Hamlet

Posted: 9/14/17 at 4:23am

San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater is kicking off its new season with Hamlet, a Shakespeare play I have never actually seen. John Douglas Thompson is playing the title character, and the more I read about him, the more excited I'm getting about this production. 

I know Thompson has won praise for his performances in past Shakespeare plays in New York, and got a Tony nomination for his role in Jitney.

Am I right to be enthused about this one? Ticket prices start at $10 for balcony seating on weeknights, which is almost laughably low unless you win the Hamilton lottery. (I would almost certainly pay more to be closer.) For those in New York who have seen Thompson, any thoughts on whether he's as good as some of the reviews I've read make him out to be?

Updated On: 9/14/17 at 04:23 AM

#2

SF - John Douglas Thompson as Hamlet

Posted: 9/14/17 at 5:22am

Thompson was great in Jitney and I also saw his one man show Satchmo at the Waldorf at A.C.T. several seasons ago. He was stunning in that as well. He's a wonderful actor and deserves the acclaim he's received. I think the risk of him turning in a poor performance is pretty small.

#3

SF - John Douglas Thompson as Hamlet

Posted: 9/14/17 at 10:25am

No, he's even better than the reviews. Thompson is a dynamo in everything I have seen him in, including 4+ hour productions of The Iceman Cometh and Tamburlaine the Great. You are very lucky to see his take on Hamlet, please let us know everything about it!

#4

SF - John Douglas Thompson as Hamlet

Posted: 9/14/17 at 10:29am

He's a consistently brilliant actor, and probably one of the top two or three American classical actors working right now. I'd see him in just about anything.

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#5

SF - John Douglas Thompson as Hamlet

Posted: 9/14/17 at 10:47am

Echoing everyone else's praise here.  The Emperor Jones, The Iceman Cometh, Satchmo at the Waldorf...he is wonderful.

#7

SF - John Douglas Thompson as Hamlet

Posted: 9/14/17 at 2:24pm

Interesting...I have absolutely nothing against JDT. I think he's a solid actor in every respect. But I've seen him in 4 different roles, including a couple that have been mentioned here, and I've never experienced the enthusiasm that you all have. Regrettably, I didn't get to see him in Satchmo, which it seems was a tour de force. I did see him in Jitney, Iceman Cometh, Troilus & Cressida, and Julius Caeaar. I thought he did great work in all of them, but I never found him to be especially memorable. Jitney was the best performance of the 4, for sure. I wish I could catch his Hamlet, to get the opportunity to really see him show his chops. But unfortunately I won't be in town for this one. 
 

Don't get me wrong - I'm genuinely glad that he's so well respected, and that you all have gotten to see him at his best! I'm jealous! 

#8

SF - John Douglas Thompson as Hamlet

Posted: 9/23/17 at 8:23pm

I saw the third preview last night. I'm probably not the best person to review John Douglas Thompson's performance in the title role, as I have never seen the play before and have no comparisons to others' performances, but he was very good. Thompson is totally comfortable on stage, and his range, from Hamlet's barbed quips to his uncontrolled anguish, was impressive and compelling. 

The characters wore modern dress. (At one point, King Claudius is in exercise clothes.) The scenes with the ghost are well-directed and acted, and Steven Anthony Jones - as Claudius and the ghost - is a standout. Graham Beckel, as Gravedigger 1, steals the show for a bit. Teagle Bougere, who has been in a lot of Shakespeare in New York, is a good Laertes. 

As I assume is common, the play is somewhat truncated and lasts 3 hours and 15 minutes with intermission. Even though I spent the week reading Hamlet, it's still striking to hear the language from the stage. 

#9

SF - John Douglas Thompson as Hamlet

Posted: 9/24/17 at 11:12pm

I've only seen Mr. Thompson as Joe Mott in "The Iceman Cometh" at the Goodman in Chicago, but I thought he was devastating. If you have the opportunity to see him as the Prince of Denmark, do it!!!!

#10

SF - John Douglas Thompson as Hamlet

Posted: 9/29/17 at 1:52am

Here's a sampling of reviews of Hamlet with John Douglas Thompson, which in my view is more a reflection of the critics' ability than the performance. It's a pretty mixed assessment, with a surprisingly hostile focus on Thompson's age. (Karen D'Souza of the Mercury News has not reviewed it.) While older than the average Hamlet, Thompson was a physical force on stage. The Chronicle's Lily Janiak's assessment of his Hamlet as "merely righteous" really makes me wonder if we were watching the same play, as I stand by my opinion of his impressive range in the role - while conceding that it was my first time seeing it. There are a few legitimate points made, but those are surrounded by snarky remarks, lazy analysis, and poor writing:

https://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-politics-are-rotten-the-acting-superb-acts-hamlet

http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/ACT-s-Hamlet-Something-is-chaotic-in-the-12238459.php#photo-14227196

http://sfist.com/2017/09/28/acts_hamlet_lets_a_veteran_shakespe.php

Updated On: 9/29/17 at 01:52 AM

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