Alec Garton Ash brings his new play about an egotistical director who is on a mission to put on the greatest production of Hamlet that ever was. The theatre has been booked, tickets have been sold, but there is still no one to play the title character. When the ghost of Shakespeare appears to taunt the director, it becomes apparent that this production of Hamlet is doomed.
The play is short, and this is a good thing. The writing is juvenile (the second half is full of lines awkwardly thrown in directly from Hamlet) and the characters are irritating at best. I find myself caring very little about whether or not this production of Hamlet ever occurs, and at times even hoping that they will hurry up and throw in the towel in order to spare the audience.
The performances bounce back and forth between over-the-top to uninspired. This may be the result of the inconsistent writing, but it is difficult to tell. Overall, The Plays the Thing is a completely amateur production in every sense.
