|
Dashiell Hamlet
The classic mystery
By Mike Nowak, Mike Nussbaum,
Kathleen Thompson & Paul H. Thompson
Directed by Mike Nussbaum
At City Lit Theater
1020 W. Bryn Mawr
Chicago, IL
Call 773-293-3682, www.citylit.org
Tickets $27, senior/student discounts
Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 100 minutes with intermission
Through October 26, 2008
Clever, well acted whodunit awaits at City Lit Theater
“Dashiell Hamlet” debuted 25 years ago at The Commons Theatre in Chicago. Written by Mike Nowak, Mike Nussbaum, Kathleen Thompson and Paul H. Thompson, “Dashiell Hamlet” is a film noir-styled mystery telling of Shakespeare’s tragedy, set in 1945 Los Angles. Mike Nussbaum returns to direct a most enjoyable remounting with a talented group of non-Equity players. We heard the sharply cutting detective style dialogue from Harry Teal (Mark Pracht), the private dick determined to help his old war buddy, Nat Hamill (Geoff Rice) solve the murder of his father. Nat Hamill, scion of the family that owns Hollywood’s Majestic Studios, return home from war in 1945 to find that his recently deceased father may have been murdered. This mounting features a revised script from the 1983 production.
This whodunit is a nicely paced action thriller that has an impressive body count as we try to solve who killed who. Love triangles, jealousy, greed and the need to cover up corporate pilfering motivate members of the Hamill family to consolidate the family business through murder. Most of the stock types appear from the cynical private eye to the jaded DA in this most engagingly fun mystery. Mark Pracht’s Harry and Geoff Rice’s neurotic Nat lead a cast of fine character players through the maze of clever murder mystery mayhem. Lovers of whodunits will enjoy this sharp, well staged production. Mysteries are difficult to stage live but director Nussbaum creates enough suspense to keep us on the edge of our seats. “Dashiell Hamlet” deserves your attention.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Tall Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: September 16, 2008
|
