Folger Theatre: A Room in the Castle

 "A Room in the Castle" is the story of Ophelia and the relationship that she develops with Queen Gertrude and a handmaid named Anna that ultimate gives her the power to write her own ending out of one of Shakespeare's most beloved tragedies, "Hamlet".  In "A Room" Lauren Gunderson, the playwright, does what she does so well, she creates empathetic characters who live just outside the lines of actual historical or fictional works.  She looks for the cracks and then inserts her own unique and delightful light.  The play is both funny and tragic, and holds the same timeline as Hamlet, only deeper inside the walls of Elsinore Castle.  

The acting is outstanding.  Anna, played by Burgess Byrd, is Ester Roll reincarnated and just as sassy and tiger-mom maternal.  I don't know if it was intentional, but a life-long fan of "Good Times" and Ms. Roll's creation of Florida Evans, Byrd seems to adopt many of her mannerisms and facial expressions--and it works.  Rather than feel stolen, they come off as inevitable.  Oneika Phillips plays the implacable Queen of Denmark in a script that is cut like a fine diamond or a polished glass slipper perfectly fitted to allow her walls to slowly come down as her world in the other play also unravels.  I would LOVE to see her play Gertrude in Hamlet, too. And here I take a moment to praise Gunderson again.  She devised  a way to integrate the two was simple, yet very affecting and didn't require any actual actors in the rolls of Hamlet, Laertes, Polonius or Claudius, for this was first and foremost a women's play.

Saving the best for last, Sabrina Lynne Sawyer was made to play the isolated, neurotic, creative and still very much adolescent Ophelia.  From the first time we see her sitting on her bed composing love songs in response to the letters Hamlet has sent to her, the very end when her escape is complete and she knows she will never again live in the shadow of a castle or a man I was captivated by her performance.   The production is a joint affair between Folger and the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.  Both Byrd and Phillips work in the Cincinnati region, while Sawyer is a DMV native.  

One final shout out to a supporting member of the design team that I rarely praise: The Costumer.  Nicole Jescinth Smith created outfits that were trapped between two worlds: ancient Denmark and the red carpet.  Of particular note were the Queens gowns--stunning in their look and enhancing the character in the way they accentuated her powerful physical choices.   

When we first encounter Ophelia (Sabrina Lynn Sawyer) composing songs

Enter her handmaiden, Anna (Burgess Byrd), who was unaware of her musical talents.

When we first meet Queen Gertrude (Oneika Phillips), like her gown, she is as cold as ice.

But as she warms up, so does the color of her gown

Over wine the three women hatch a plan to save Ophelia's life.

And still there are obligations to the other play that must be met.

Anna, in her most tiger mom moment lets the queen know that if the plan fails it will be her fault and Anna will have her justice.

The plan does not fail, and yet the end for the queen is not something that she or they can rewrite...Her death scene delivered from a balcony.

Ophelia with Anna disguised as men realizing that they are as Anna tells them, "Free at last."