I was down in San Diego yesterday to see Hamlet with Mom (at the Old Globe Theatre).  On the way to her house, I stopped by and saw Dad and Sally, Darrell and Jeanne and little Madeline (Jeanne's granddaughter).  It was quite the fun visit.  We got a few things squared away regarding printers and various computer programs...then it was off to downtown San Diego.

I am amazed how light the traffic is in San Diego when you're going against the commute.  A trip that would take an hour in LA, even during light traffic, takes 20 minutes or so in San Diego.  Unless you hit the commute.  Then you're toast.

Fortunately, I was going against the commute, so made good time to Banker's Hill.  Mom continues to do amazingly well on her new knees.  We had dinner at the Prado restaurant in Balboa Park, then walked over and had coffee while people watching by the Globe.

There was an educational lecture just prior to the show, so we listened to a lecture called "The Question of Questions" by Dr. Peter Kanelos of USD.  He was quite illuminating in his talk.  I've seen Hamlet I don't know how many times (a dozen?) and he pointed out things I'd never caught in the play.

For one, Hamlet is in his late 20's or even as old as 30 when the play takes place.  Another really interesting insight is that the "Mousetrap" play Hamlet stages to gauge his Uncle Claudius reaction to a poisoning has a nephew poisoning an uncle.  Kanelos suggested that Claudius' reaction to the play might be partially explained by his own fear of Hamlet.  This would be more convincing if Claudius didn't later confess to killing Hamlet's father.  But it was still an interesting twist and, I've read enough Shakespeare (and seen enough) to be convinced he doesn't put in such twists by accident.

The last insight, which I found very satisfying in the production, is that the play is a play of questions.  The most famous of which, "To be or not to be," finds its complementary echo when Hamlet finally decides to take action and says, "If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come--the readiness is all.  Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows what is't to leave betimes, let be."

The lines above foreshadow Hamlet's dying statement...also amazing in this excellent production where there were words, and words, and words.  "...The rest is silence."

Watching this second production of Hamlet in one summer, I found that I preferred this Hamlet to the OC Performing Arts production.  The key, as I told Mom last night, is that the actor in the OC production "interpreted" Hamlet (in a truly quality performance).  By contrast, Lucas Hall of the Old Globe's production, inhabited the young(ish) prince.

One last note and I must get to work!  I also saw the film Donnie Darko for the first time this weekend.  A very interesting flick.  And it occurs to me that in many ways, Donnie is a modern pastiche of Hamlet. There is much of the same struggle with mortality and the corruption of the world in the eyes of the protagonist.  There is also the same question of the protagonist's madness being real. 

Anyone else ever see the connection between these two cult classics?  This rumination on Donnie Darko by Annie Frisbie quotes Hamlet, but doesn't link the plays.  Maybe there's an article in this for me!

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