by Ernest Kearney — The main problem with creator Eric Billitzer’s Nobody Needs Another Hamlet, (playing The Hollywood Fringe at the Broadwater) is that just about every actor does need a director.
Billitzer‘s show is a rambling, somewhat disjointed hodge-podge of his life in the theatre, personal tales, facts about Shakespeare and his recital of snippets and monologues from the works of the “Swan of Stafford.”
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote 39 plays, and wisely Billitzer refrains from doing readings from all of them. The trouble with the ones he does is they’re all pretty much indistinguishable. The exception is when he discusses the pitfall of believing that doing Shakespeare requires the utilization of British English. He shows his point very well, performing a passage of Lord Capulet’s, patriarch of the Capulet Family and father of Juliet; one which is generally cut from productions. Billitizer does it by employing a thick southern twang. It is his best acting moment.
The piece is peppered with information and fun facts concerning Shakespeare. Billitizer doesn’t show any immense knowledge or startling insights, but his facts are solid and could prove of interest to those who have only a passing familiarization with the Bard.
His promise of “a ghost story to rival Hamlet’s” isn’t much of a rival. But it too is one of the more interesting aspects of his show.
A BRONZE MEDAL in respect for a fellow bardolater…
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Nobody Needs Another Hamlet
On stage at
1078 Lillian Way
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