To be or not to be...

On Saturday night, I continued the weekend of culture with free Shakespeare at the Barnsdall Art park. Vaj and his sister provided most of the food for the picnic, I brought a big picnic cloth and the highly addictive Sprinkles cupcakes, and me@co and clancy brought beach mats, blankets, and sarongs to keep us warm throughout Hamlet.

The guy playing Hamlet was a cross between Jimmy Fallon of Saturday Night Live and Nicholas Cage, but with an authentic British accent. For a free production, this was a highly entertaining and inventive Hamlet for the masses. There's something about the spirit of nonprofit productions that make you really want to cheer for them. The actress portraying Ophelia introduced the show and joked that with helicopters, planes, and police sirens buzzing about Hollywood, this was one show where we didn't really have to worry about shutting off our cell phones.

About a third of the way into the show, Hamlet walked out onto the stage and said "We'll have to a take a quick intermission at this point. The actor playing Rosencrantz has dislocated his shoulder backstage. (Pause) Is there a doctor in the house?" After a fire truck came to cart Rosencrantz off the hospital, another thespian stepped in, script in hand throughout the show, but still convincingly delivering all his lines and keeping up with the stage blocking.

By the end of the very long play (it's Hamlet after all), we were all freezing. I had my hooded sweatshirt wrapped around me like Kenny from South Park I stopped to donate a few dollars to the actors holding up buckets after the show. Not too classy but effective.
"Did you put money in the cute bucket?" Me@co asked.
"Cute bucket?" I echoed.
"Horatio." she answered.
The actor playing Horatio. He was cute and holding a bucket. A bucket in which I put in a few dollars.
"Ah, cute bucket..." I said, finally catching on.