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by Caroline Ahearn
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
This past weekend, the Needham High School Fine and Performing Arts Department presented its spring production of the play "Fortinbras" by Lee Blessing.
The witty play picks up where William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" left off, and centers around Young Fortinbras (Matthew Lorence), a modern man of action, who enters during the last scene of "Hamlet" only to order the bodies of the royal family shuffled off while he devises the best possible media blitz to legitimize his ascension to the throne of Denmark. Horatio (Morgan Sammut), sworn to the dead Hamlet (EJ Gerth) to convey the truth of his actions, is immediately cast by Fortinbras into the role of an unwilling public relations person.
Meanwhile, Fortinbras is forced to balance a disastrous and mistaken invasion of Poland with a seductive and harrowing array of ghosts, ranging from a vampish Ophelia (Julia Chase) to a repentant Claudius (Luke Heinzmann) and Gertrude (Olivia Blackmer), all of whom cast doubts in his mind as to what really makes up the character of a ruler.
Despite having only a month to rehearse, the cast and crew had the audience hysterically laughing during both performances.
"It is my personal belief," said director Jonah LeDoux, "that you cannot fully understand something until you can also laugh at it."
