“A sassy, wise and witty HAMLET with a sharp as rapier performance by Qasim Khan in the title role.”

When you think of Hamlet, does the word ‘sassy’ come to mind? If not, you probably haven’t seen the wise and witty production mounted by Canadian Stage for this year’s Dream in High Park. They have taken the source material and pared off at least 1000 lines, scraped off much of the melodrama and polished what was left into a work of theatre that is recognisable as one of the masterpieces of the Western canon, yet much leaner and lighter.

It is Diet Hamlet, with extra fizz.

Qasim Khan leads this innovative new production as that melancholy Dane, only not so melancholy. Khan explores and exaggerates Hamlet’s infamous wit, playing him not as a moody teenager, but as your friend who’s too clever for his own good. His ‘To be or not to be’ is sublime, but it is his back and forths with castmates that set this Hamlet apart. His wit is as sharp as rapier dipped in poison, and much more fun.

‘Fun’ is a good word for this production overall. If I recall my grade 12 English correctly, Rosencrantz (Amelia Sargisson) and Guildenstern (Christo Graham) were not particularly major characters, but here they are, simply beaming charm, in more than half the scenes of the show. Even Polonius, a figure I typically think of as dull and patronising, is played by Sam Khalilieh with a bright and slightly menacing charisma.

This Hamlet is no pure comedy, however. Everyone who should gets stabbed gets stabbed; the fight scenes are tight, and the deaths as dramatic as you’d want them to be. If watching Raquel Duffy as Gertrude die slowly of poison while you sit on the ground surrounded by darkened trees and probable raccoons isn’t on your summer 2024 bucket list, what is?

In years past, Canadian Stage mounted both a comedy and a tragedy for Dream in High Park; this year, we get only Hamlet. It could be argued, by someone bolder and more articulate than I, that this production is pulling double duty as both a tragedy and a comedy; that, by removing some of the slog and playing up the humour, Jessica Carmichael has directed a work of theatre that is thought-provoking and entertaining to all.

What a piece of work it is.

A side-note: This production runs over two hours without an intermission.

Production runs until September 1 at Toronto' High Park Ampitheatre, 1873 Bloor Street West. For tickets: canadianstage.com or call (416) 368-3110.

Canadian Stage presents
‘HAMLET’ by William Shakespeare

Director: Jessica Carmichael
Set and Costume Designer: Joshua Quinlan
Lighting Designer: Logan Raju Cracknell
Sound Designer: Christopher Ross-Ewart
Fight Director: Anita Nittoly
Stage Manager: Anna R. Kaltenbach

With
Prince Amponsah
Raquel Duffy
Christo Graham
Stephen Jackman-Torkoff
Sam Khalilieh
Qasim Khan
Breton Lalama
Beck Lloyd
Diego Matamoros
Dan Mousseau
Amelia Sargisson
James Dallas Smith