PORT ANGELES — This is Shakespeare like never before.
Clallam Mosaic, the county’s nonprofit program for people with developmental disabilities, will present “Something Like Hamlet,” a comic take on the tale, this weekend. A light meal will be served as part of the show at 6 p.m. Friday and at 2 p.m. Saturday, and everyone is welcome.
Admission is by donation at the door for the performances in the Fellowship Hall at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 301 Lopez Ave.
For information about the event, and to learn more about Mosaic’s recreational and social activities, call 360-681-8642 and visit www.clallammosaic.org.
“I don’t want to brag, but it’s much funnier than the original,” quipped Anna Andersen, the acting teacher and director working with the cast of 15 performers.
This is the second time she’s staged an adapted Shakespeare play here; last year Andersen and the Snappy Players, Mosaic’s theater troupe, presented “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
“There was some skepticism at first about doing Shakespeare with this population,” she said.
“But the participants really took to it. It was wonderful.
“The choice of ‘Hamlet’ has raised even more eyebrows,” she added, but with several months of exploration behind them, cast and crew are poised for some good comedy.
As the cast first arrives on stage, they move to recorded music by Portland, Ore., troubadour John Craigie. Clearly, the tune lifts and loosens the performers — and then they’re off to tell the “Hamlet” story.
Mosaic participant Fred Cnockeart of Port Angeles plays the title role while Bonny Ann Cates, also of Port Angeles, is Gertrude the queen. Riley O’Neil of Sequim plays Ophelia — and serves as assistant director.
O’Neil, 29, has been studying other productions of “Hamlet,” and calls her dual role in Mosaic’s version “a good challenge.”
Like most actors, O’Neil has quaked a bit, added Andersen.
“It has been great watching her deal with her anxiety — and really step up.”
Along with the Mosaic participants, who include adults with autism and Down syndrome, Andersen has recruited members of the local theater community.
Actor and director Josh Sutcliffe plays Fortinbras and serves as a narrator. Emma Easton, like Sutcliffe a cast and crew member in the summertime Shakespeare in the Woods productions at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, also appears in the show.
The soundtrack, featuring music by Craigie and by Catherine Feeny, another Portland singer, is edited by Mattias Jarvegren, aka Deejay Schmeejay of Port Angeles.
The music is key to bringing this play alive, Andersen said. With his mix, Jarvegren “is going to make us all feel like rock stars.”
For her part, Andersen has a longtime relationship with Shakespeare. Ever since discovering her dream role of Kate in “The Taming of the Shrew” and performing it in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park, she’s been acting in, directing and adapting the tragedies and comedies.
She spent two years with Shakespeare by the Sea in San Pedro, Calif., and has since worked in theater in Southern California and in the San Francisco Bay Area.
After moving to Port Angeles six years ago to help care for her mother, Andersen has directed and performed in productions at Peninsula College, Olympic Theatre Arts and the Port Angeles Community Playhouse.
In 2015, she co-founded the Shakespeare in the Woods festival, with performances in the park beside the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center every July and August. So far she’s brought “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Tempest,” “Much Ado about Nothing” and “As You Like It” to the outdoor venue; next summer, Andersen plans a full-scale production of “Macbeth.”
Andersen said Clallam Mosaic’s “Something Like Hamlet” is one of the most rewarding things she’s ever worked on.
These actors, she said, “are so much joy.”
When they get a laugh from the audience, there’s nothing like it.
“Shakespeare is my biggest passion in life, and I have been lucky enough to share it with many people through the years,” Andersen said.
At the same time, she’s long felt called to work in the field of special education. Andersen has worked in behavior analysis and parent support and taught in the Long Beach, Calif., school district.
Working with the Mosaic actors combines her two passions. She draws on both her teaching and theater experience, she said, to support each actor’s potential.
Bonne Smith, Andersen’s co-teacher at Mosaic, said she’s watched the performers grow more confident.
Presenting a stage play “takes a lot of dedication on their part,” she said, “and a lot of patience on our part.”
“Their personalities come right through, so you get to know the actors,” added Mosaic program coordinator Catherine McKinney.
She added that Andersen’s humorous take on the play works with this cast. The Prince of Denmark is here in all his glory, paralyzed by indecision. He struggles with personal obstacles, much like the Mosaic participants do.
The play “definitely has an ensemble feeling,” McKinney said
“It’s really exciting. I can’t wait to see it.”
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Diane Urbani de la Paz, a former features editor for the Peninsula Daily News, is a freelance writer living in Port Townsend.
