Sunday, July 20, 2008

hamluke

I went to a production of Hamluke at the Lowry Lab Theater last week that was absolutely hilarious. It's a cross between Hamlet and Star Wars and it was so funny I almost wet my pants. No lie.

Before the show we knocked off another of Minnesota Monthly's best burgers in the state: the Lion's Tap in Eden Prairie. I went with the double cheeseburger and a side of delicious cholesterol. They really know how to make a thin burger at the Lion's Tap. Soooo good...
















Drinks at Pazzaluna before the show. This is one of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken. The light makes the glass pop perfectly and the focus on the bubbles is just right.
















Here's the sandwich board for the show out front. I really can't say enough about how fun and creative this thing was.





















As the title suggests, they combined characters from the 2 sagas.

-The king was Darthius (he was also the puppeteer for the cross between Yoda and Polonius: Polyodius).

-A puppet of Jar-Jar Binks was the gravedigger who unearthed not the skull of poor Yorrick but a storm trooper helmet that, in a really subtle nod to the original SW movie, Hamluke then addressed as TK421.

-Princess Leia and Ophelia became Opheleia. She doubled as Queen Gertrude/Amidala...Cinnabon hairstyle and all.

-The Players became Jawas played by 3 little kids.

-My personal favorite: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were Lando Calrissian and his bald, half-robot henchman.

The actors also stayed as close to the inflection of the characters in Star Wars as possible (the "I am your father" scene was frickin' hilarious). One of the funnier aspects were the lightsaber battles where the actors had to make their own sounds. If you live in the Cities and are a fan of Star Wars and Hamlet then you have to go and see this before it closes. It's the funniest Star Wars spoof I've seen since Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you enjoyed the show so much. I played Horeepio in the show and it is always nice to hear about the audience enjoying it so much. You are the people we do this show for. Thanks again and have a nice day.

Joshua Shank said...

That is awesome! You were hilarious! The R2-D2 sounds you made were spot-on. I sure hope I get to see it again sometime.
Josh

Anonymous said...

Hey - I played "Darthius/Polyodius" in the show and kudos Horeepio's sentiments... Glad to hear that you enjoyed the show and please; spread the word to fellow enjoyers of Star Wars Parody Mayhem!

May the force be with you... always... :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Josh

Really glad you enjoyed the show and your whole night out. Thanks for your enthusiasm and kind words. It really makes doing the play worthwhile to hear a response like yours and to know it's appreciated.

Brad

Joshua Shank said...

No problem, sir! I can't even imagine how long it took to put the structure of that entire script together. Wait...come to think of it I can because I got every reference (which may or may not be a good thing). Keep me up to date on your how things are going.