• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Business index
  • Contribute
  • Wellesley Square
  • Private schools
  • Camp
  • Eat
  • Schools
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Kids
  • About us
  • Events
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Athlete of the Week
  • Seniors
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend

Theater review: “Our American Hamlet” at Babson College in Wellesley

March 25, 2017 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Jacob Fishel and Will Lyman
Photo Credit: Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots
Babson College Sorenson Theater

 

John Wilkes Booth: eternally famous, and set down in every history book, for assassinating the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in 1865.

Junius Booth: best known for…well, context tells us that he must be a relative of the famous John Wilkes Booth.

Edwin Booth: best known for, ummm, being another relative of John’s, I suppose.

Here’s how this family tree works: Junius was John’s father, and a stage star of his time. Edwin was John’s brother, and also a renowned actor. Junius the father and Edwin the brother are now mere footnotes in history. John Wilkes Booth, slacker and murderer, stands tall as a primary source. But it wasn’t always that way, as playwright Jake Broder (an actor in the play, as well as a regular on HBO’s “Silicon Valley”) lays out for us in the world premier of Our American Hamlet at Babson College’s Sorenson Center for the Arts.

The play tells the story of the Booth family, well-known as theater luminaries until John flipped the script, making himself best remembered for his assassination of President Lincoln. Broder’s 90-minute, (no intermission) play running through April 2 takes place six months after the murder. Edwin, played with brooding melancholy by Jacob Fishel, is determined that his brother’s bloody deed will not define the family name, and he means to express this through a production of Hamlet. Would that it were so easy. It’s a full house out there that’s come to see Edwin’s portrayal of Hamlet, but the audience seems filled with rage.

Jacob Fishel, Maureen Keiller, Jake Broder, Will Lyman, and Joe Fria
Photo Credit: Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots — at Babson College Sorenson Theater.

 

Fame hasn’t deserted the Booths as a whole, even after John, (played with petulance and a prickly-pear air by Joe Fria)  fires a single bullet into the back of Lincoln’s head at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. But the family’s reputation is shot, and the on-stage success that had been earned through talent, accomplishment, and judicious mining of connections has been downgraded to infamy and a certain level of guilt by association.

In his dark drama, Broder suggests that John practically invented the idea of murder most foul as a way to leapfrog to fame without all the bothersome work, skill, and talent that takes so long to cultivate in oneself. If Broder is right, then we as a society will have to own  the fact that violence as a path to stardom is one hallmark of true American style. Such violence just might be as original to us as Americans as is jazz, and our notions of the American Dream.

“I shall eclipse you all,” gasps a smug and dying John Wilkes Booth to his father and brother. The father and brother are innocent of murder, of course, but subject to the reverberations of John’s act and the way in which it sends out concentric circles of consequence that rattle like a ghost’s chains.

Plenty of dialogue mined from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and scenes that draw continuous parallels between The Bard’s work and Our American Hamlet will keep audiences familiar with the original work on their toes and appreciative. Those who aren’t familiar with the Hamlet storyline might come away feeling like they didn’t quite get it all.

Maureen Keiller, Joe Fria, Lucy Davenport, and Jacob Fishel Photo Credit: Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots — at Babson College Sorenson Theater.

 

Also with: Kelby Akin, in multiple roles; Jake Broder, playwright and the voice of reason as Adam Badeau; Lucy Davenport, played dutifully as Asia in the face of an arranged marriage; Jacob Fishel, as Edwin Booth; Joe Fria as John Wilkes Booth; Maureen Keiller, with brisk practicality on one hand and entitled snideness on the other, in dual roles; Will Lyman, as Junius Booth.

Directed by Steven Maier; scenic designs by Julia Noulin-Merat; costumes by Nancy Leary; lighting by Brian Lilienthal; sound by David Remedios; properties design by Lisa Charlotte Berg; Fight Director, Nile Hawver; Assistant Director, Leah Carnow; Stage manager, Jenna Worden; Assistant Stage Manager, Rachel Corning.

A small complaint: There’s no doubt the Sorenson is a welcoming place from ticket-takers to ushers, but one second I was waiting to see the play, and the next second, boom! The play started. There was no friendly stage manager type telling me not to smoke and imploring me to turn off my cell phone. No one warned me in soothing tones that the gunshots I would hear would be part of the play and nothing at all to worry about (there was an insert in the program giving that heads-up). As an audience member, I felt a little un-warmed up. Apparently, I’m the type who needs to be told that it’s going to be a great show, and what’s more, the next show — currently in production and that I’ve got to see — is going to be great, too.

I’m a high-maintenance theater-goer. So sue me.

Presented by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. At Sorenson Center for the Arts, Babson College, Wellesley, through April 2. Tickets $25-$60, 866-811-4111, www.commshakes.org

print

Share

Filed Under: Babson College, Entertainment, History, Politics, Theatre

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You have to agree to the comment policy.

Linden Square, Wellesley
Wonderful Wellesley
Riverbend School

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]

 

Advertisements

Wellesley Square
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Edge on Science
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cachet, Wellesley
Cheesy Street Grill
Admit Fit, Wellesley
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Most Read Posts

  • Restaurants in Wellesley, Mass.: more than 50 dining options
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: New parklets popping up; Papa Razzi taps GM; Babson Beaver Bite
  • Wellesley's plan for Morses Pond beach this summer: Return of the lifeguards
  • Wellesley, football world mourn death of longtime Patriots star Gino Cappelletti
  • Letter carriers' food drive this Saturday to benefit Wellesley Food Pantry

Upcoming Events

May 21
8:00 am

Pancake Festival

May 21
9:00 am - 10:00 am

Centennial Reservation trail walk

May 21
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Wellesley Pooch Parade

May 22
8:00 am - 10:00 am

Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club Wonder Run

May 22
1:00 pm

Atelier Boutique Salon Grand Re-opening

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 2022 Boston Marathon charity runners

  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • Jan Matejka on Sneak peek: We visit Wellesley’s Laughing Monk Cafe
  • Steven scott on Wellesley, football world mourn death of longtime Patriots star Gino Cappelletti
  • Eric on Wellesley Business Buzz: New parklets popping up; Papa Razzi taps GM; Babson Beaver Bite
  • Herb Gliick on Wellesley Business Buzz: New parklets popping up; Papa Razzi taps GM; Babson Beaver Bite
  • Dianne Dowling on Wellesley POPS senior profile: Caroline Mack takes on theater both center stage & behind the scenes

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • Animals (411)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (575)
  • Beyond Wellesley (45)
  • Books (364)
  • Business (1,492)
  • Camp (11)
  • Careers/jobs (48)
  • Churches (79)
  • Clubs (226)
  • Construction (291)
  • Dump (127)
  • Education (3,084)
    • Babson College (250)
    • Bates Elementary School (16)
    • Dana Hall School (33)
    • Fiske Elementary School (9)
    • Hardy Elementary School (42)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (40)
    • MassBay (55)
    • Schofield Elementary School (24)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (34)
    • Wellesley College (608)
    • Wellesley High School (945)
    • Wellesley Middle School (201)
  • Embracing diversity (69)
  • Entertainment (781)
  • Environment (742)
  • Fashion (140)
  • Finance (14)
  • Fire (159)
  • Food (341)
  • Fundraising (608)
  • Gardens (156)
  • Government (550)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (14)
  • Health (843)
    • COVID-19 (198)
  • Hikes (2)
  • History (386)
  • Holidays (402)
  • Houses (152)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (843)
  • Law (7)
  • Legal notices (6)
  • Letters to the Editor (61)
  • Media (68)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (10)
  • Morses Pond (108)
  • Music (562)
  • Natick Report (29)
  • Neighbors (272)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (71)
  • Outdoors (637)
  • Parenting (62)
  • Police (754)
    • Crime (386)
  • Politics (551)
  • POPS Senior Profile (3)
  • RDF (6)
  • Real estate (328)
  • Religion (131)
  • Restaurants (328)
  • Safety (149)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Seniors (120)
  • Shopping (140)
  • Sponsored (5)
  • Sports (975)
    • Athlete of the Week (6)
  • STEM (107)
  • Technology (164)
  • Theatre (392)
  • Town Meeting (23)
  • Transportation (224)
  • Travel (16)
  • Uncategorized (1,229)
  • Volunteering (346)
  • Weather (177)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (276)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (16)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed
Wellesley Pooch Parade

© 2022 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login