This summer, the Dark Dane rises... again! Bat-Hamlet returns to Chicago's Cornservatory stage after three years for a rip-roaring remount of epic proportions. The play tells the story of a Dark Knight who emerges from betwixt the pages of Shakespeare to exact revenge on his murderous uncle, King Jester. Once resolved to avenge beloved King Police Commissioner Gordrick's death, Hamlet dons the fighting persona of Bat-Hamlet: a flashier and much cooler version of his brooding youth. The universes of Shakespeare and Batman collide as Songbird Boy, Lord Riddles, O-Feline, Bat-Hamlet-Girl and many others unfold this dastardly plot. Fans of Shakespeare and Batman, alike, will enjoy watching the maddening spiral of these iconic characters. After all, madness in great ones must not unwatched go.
"...The key to this brand of slam-bang parody is to maintain a velocity suggesting madcap giddiness without hurtling along so swiftly that the performers ( displaying more diversity than in earlier productions ) trip over themselves-especially during Orion Couling's ingenious fights. These include metal-musician hair employed as a flail, thumb-wrestling as a traveling maneuver and a female-on-female smackdown featuring Ann-Claude Rakotoniaina and Lindsay Bartlett as O-Feline and Bat-Hamlet-Girl. Theatergoers more enamored of style than slapstick will enjoy Reed Bentley's effete Jester and Winter Jones' svelte Riddles, while Patrick Pantelis returns as the portly Lord Puffin." Read Full Review
