Hamlet

Last year’s production of Hamlet worked out so well for Jeune Lune that they’re taking it on the road. But before the company heads out for an East Coast and Midwest tour, they’re restaging the play at their home base for a couple of weeks, where they’ll also return in late November. As in the 2001-02 production, the creative vision comes from a pair of guest artists, director Paddy Hayter and set designer Fredericka Hayter from Footsbarn Traveling Theater in France. The Hayters’ interpretation is one of radical simplicity. Basing the set around the four elements, the visual effect is stark and monolithic. And the text itself is stripped down to its basic core, cutting out some minor characters entirely—Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. At the same time, they take care not to lose the dark humor that, if done right, makes Hamlet the funniest of the Bard’s four major tragedies. It’s also in some ways his most intractable, and so while we’re sure we’ll disagree with some of the artistic license this production takes, any fresh look at Elsinore Castle is certainly worthwhile. Theatre de la Jeune Lune, (612) 333-6200, www.jeunelune.org