Review: "Hamlet/the Furies" Opens New Perspectives on Two Classic Tragedies

 Hamlet/The Furies

Adapted from William Shakespeare and Aeschylus

Directed by Jim Niesen

Presented by Irondale Ensemble Project at The Space at Irondale

85 S. Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NYC

April 10-May 16, 2026

As is well-attested, the problem with seeking revenge is that, no matter how justified it might be, it almost always perpetuates seemingly never-ending cycles of violence. In pairing two classic plays centered on revenge, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the final play of Aeschylus’s trilogy The Oresteia, The Eumenides or The Furies, the Irondale Ensemble presents a fresh take on the bleakness and tragedy of revenge and the promise of renewal that may follow. Staged in the unique Space at Irondale, formerly the Sunday school for the adjacent Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, this production brings the audience into their creative process, underscoring that breaking generational cycles involves all of us.

The somewhat slimmed-down Hamlet that comprises Act 1 contains all of the most memorable scenes of the play, with a bit of shuffling around that potentially makes lines mean new things in new contexts. For example, Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy occurs much later in the play than written, after the murder of Polonius, here gender-swapped as Polonia. The acting makes these well-known scenes and lines shine anew, in particular the performance of Nolan Kennedy as Hamlet, who plays the character with a degree of ironic self-awareness that lightens the mood even as the character contemplates the annihilation both of himself and those upon whom he seeks revenge.

Following an intermission in which the audience is invited to make s’mores, Act 2 has the cast around a campfire, telling the tale of The Furies interwoven with singing folk songs in which the audience is invited to participate. The lightness and comradery of this act is a relief and balm after the tragic ending of Hamlet. Much like the Ten Commandments on the wall are superseded by Jesus’s teaching displayed alongside them that love of God and neighbor are the greatest commandment of all, the production suggests that renewal is possible once the cycle of revenge is broken—but it is a process that involves the participation of the whole community.

-Stephanie Pietros

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