Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (reviewed Saturday 22 March 2025).
Some Shakespearean purists will say you should never rewrite his text, because it compromises the integrity of his work. Bollocks!! New Zealand playwright Jean Betts heavily borrows from the Bard to give us something equally as clever, if not more pertinent, than a play as brilliant as Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
In Ophelia Thinks Harder, Betts gives the titular character a much needed voice to understand why – WHY?!!!! – are women subject to so much ridicule, shame and judgement to the point of insanity. Born with female parts simply “to sprog”, she cannot possibly hold up the impossible standard of the Virgin Mary.
Hamlet’s text is intricately woven into a polemic that squarely puts feminism first. The result is rich, delicious and stimulating; Betts bitingly examines the appraisal of a woman as either saint or whore.
Ophelia rants, she cries, she despises, she forgives Hamlet for his narcissistic abuse of her, she hates herself, she is full of hormones and all the things that makes her female. But she is also strong, not willing to accept that ‘this is just the way things are’; she still questions, and argues against and lashes out at those that try to ‘calm her down.’
The role of the maid is also dominant in this play, becoming the soothing parental figure, the confidante, the one who saves Ophelia from her most destructive urges. The one who witnesses the deep ugliness of men, their boorish desires, their carnal lust and abuse of their masculine power. It is rather disconcerting to watch Polonius (Ophelia’s father) forcibly lead the maid away to do as he pleases.
Most of us probably haven’t given Hamlet much thought beyond our HSC days. But this interpretation hits home. Also consider this: 30 years before Shakespeare was born, Anne Boleyn was sentenced to death by her husband, King Henry VIII, on wishy-washy grounds of betrayal, and for not bearing him a son. Moments before her beheading, Anne refused to defend herself, or show fear; instead, she praised Henry for being a “good husband.” Her execution, her trial by her Uncle, her disposability, her allegiance to the King right up until the very end – all of this was seen as completely normal. Anne’s execution is never discussed openly in Shakespeare, but the misogyny surrounding those times seeps through. When Ophelia and the Queen are brutally treated, with little to say for themselves, we almost feel like Shakespeare is hinting that ‘they deserve it’.
And so, in Betts’ play, when the Queen rages a retort against Hamlet’s rather rude and immature outburst about her ‘hasty marriage’ (“I HAVE GREAT SEEEEEEEEEEEX WITH YOUR UNCLE!!!!!!”), the audience claps and cheers. Betts takes a unilaterally accepted version of Hamlet and turns it into a multi-dimensional study, one that speaks to a historical and contemporary perception of why some people still think women deserve to be treated like s***.
There are so many stand out moments in the play; perhaps my favourite scene was the hammy re-enactment of the play within the play with director Alex Robson cameoing as Claudius, the villain. Lucy Miller gives an inspiring performance as Gertrude, the Queen, and a ghost like figure that comes back to haunt Ophelia. Ophelia is played by Brea Macey with truthfulness and abundant respect for the text (delivering, hands down, the best ‘To Be or Not To Be soliloquy ever!). Shaw Cameron gives Hamlet narcissistic appeal that even had the ladies in the audience melting under his gaze (I totally get it why Ophelia couldn’t just let go, I’ve been there too). Pat Mandziy is wonderful as Horatio, a character who inspires us all with salubrious masculinity (something that should be celebrated more). Finley Penrose is adorable as St Joan of Arc (though St Joan would probably admonish me for describing her as ‘adorable’). The random humour of St Joan works perfectly in this play, highlighting another historical example of extreme misogyny. Hannah Raven yet again is a force to be reckoned with, delving more into her quirky side as Rosencrantz with Julie Bettens pairing perfectly as Guildenstern. Richard Hilliar is icky as Polonius (sorry Richard) but that is a compliment because he did his role so well. Zachary Aleksander plays Laertes (Ophelia’s brother) and doesn’t really have a big scene, but when he’s on stage, he means business.
Last but not least, a huge shoutout to Eleni Cassimatis as the Maid, she carries the story with her stoicism and quiet leadership. I watched her facial expressions and she is so present to every moment, carrying the tears of womanhood and caged status with so much dignity and strength.
You need actors like this that give us more than what is on paper, and this production very much had us in the grip of its uninhibited truth telling tempered by moments of silliness and play, mostly driven by the band of players. The stage is an actor’s playground!
The acting and directing is OTT, as it should be, because theatre is crying out for this level of passionate intensity, where “every word is suited to the action, and every action is suited to the word”. Every line is delivered precisely like a dagger, and set designers create a juxtaposed scene on a traverse stage, one that has lush, wild bush on one side and a framed portrait of the Virgin Mary on the other. In the middle there is said to be a merging, a compromise, but why women must?
Ophelia Thinks Harder produced by Fingerless Theatre is playing at KxT Broadway til 29 March. For tickets and showtimes, go to https://www.kingsxtheatre.com/ophelia-thinks-harder
CREDITS
CAST
Ophelia: Brea Macey
Hamlet: Shaw Cameron
The Maid: Eleni Cassimatis
Gertrude: Lucy Miller
Rosencrantz: Hannah Raven
Guildenstern: Julie Bettens
Horatio: Pat Mandziy
Polonius: Richard Hilliar
Laertes: Zachary Aleksander
St Joan: Finley Penrose
PRODUCTION
Director: Alex Kendall Robson
Co-Producer: Jade Fuda
Associate Producer: Shaw Cameron
Music Director: Zachary Aleksander
Stage Manager: Caity Cowan
Set and Prop Designers: Hannah Yardley and Jimi Rawlings
Costume Advisor: Alex Kendall Robson
Light Designer: Sophie Parker
Sound Designer/ASM: David Wilson
Intimacy Co-Ordinator: Sonya Kerr
Graphic Designer: Matthew Whittingham
Social Media Manager: Maddy Withington
Production Placement: Jess Dalton
Publicity Photographer: Abraham de Souza
Production Photographer: Philip Erbacher