The play's the thing (Kentucky Shakespeare Festival)
Jun 24
3 min read
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Hamlet Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Amy Attaway Review by Brian Kennedy
Entire contents are copyright @2025 by Brian Kennedy. All rights reserved.
To go or not to go to Hamlet at Kentucky Shakespeare? That is the question. The answer…maybe.
Kentucky Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which Associate Artistic Director Amy Attaway directed, is set in 1964 Denmark. The only way to know that is to look in the program. Although the set is sparse, period costumes with colors and prints provided the necessary references to the era. Walls and most props were made to look like stone, and no Danish accents were heard.
Regardless, the Shakespearean tragedy deals with murder, revenge, madness and lies as Hamlet (Mollie Murk) looks to retaliate against the murderer of their late father, Old Hamlet.
Murk’s performance as Hamlet was okay. Their recitation of Hamlet's soliloquies, including the famous “to be or not to be” were notable to be sure, but lacked the weight of Hamlet’s contemplation of life and death. Murk, however, did liven up in entertaining scenes with the king’s adviser Polonious (Kyle Ware) and more serious ones with their friend Horatio (Tai Rosenblatt).
Polonious, by the way, was one of the standout characters of the night. Besides his scenes with Murk, Ware brought some humorous moments with his mannerisms and deadpan delivery. This added necessary levity to the tragedy.
Meanwhile, the brother-sister rapport between Sasha Cifuentes’s Ophelia and Crystian Wiltshire’s Laertes was immediately felt thanks to their joking and happiness with seeing one another. As the play winds through its twists and turns, the audience sees these two ultimately taking different emotional paths, all of it on point. Cifuentes’ performance of a song after hearing of a personal loss is haunting, unsettling and perfect for Ophelia’s mental state at that moment. Wiltshire has Laertes figuratively rolling down a hill toward revenge that was convincing and the most emotional of the night.
Also wonderful to watch were the traveling performers Gregory Maupin, Neill Robertson, Mary Baunjoko, Kate Drury, Logan Lee Edwards, and Justin Jackson. These six actors harmonized well as they entered the stage performing a song that could easily fit into a mountain music festival and be one of the highlights. Later, when they perform a play for the royal family, it’s very entertaining and sets into motion the events of the latter half of the tragedy.
The back half of Hamlet, however, had problems with pacing. The show seemed to slow down the closer it got to the end. Part of that could be due to the unique Shakespearean style, which puts the climax of a play in the middle as opposed to the end like most modern shows. Part of it, though, could also be due to the heat and the show running as late as 10:30 p.m. on a Sunday night. Whatever the reason, energy was lacking from multiple characters on stage.
If that energy could be sustained throughout Hamlet as well as increased dynamics from several performers, Kentucky Shakespeare could ultimately have a pretty good show on its hands.
Much Ado About Nothing Part of Kentucky Shakespeare’s Festival in Central Park June 19-June 29 and July 15, 18, 23, 26@8:00 p.m. (no performances on Monday or Tuesdays)
C. Douglas Ramey Amphitheatre in Old Louisville's Central Park
1340 South Fourth Street
Louisville, KY 40208
