Review: Heroes and Villains Alike Are "A Little Less Than Kind" in Reimagined "Hamlet"
A Little Less Than Kind Written by Gracie Rittenberg Directed by Slaney Rose Jordan Presented by Bluebird Theatre Company at UNDER St. Marks 94 St. Marks Place, Manhattan, NYC April 5-20, 2024 A Little Less Than Kind is not the first Hamlet adaptation to re-envision Shakespeare's Danish royal family as a powerful corporate clan (see, for example, the 2000 film starring Ethan Hawke), but it's probably the first to do so in tandem with some canny gender swapping that includes a 21-year-old bisexual protagonist and some fruitful ratcheting up of multiple characters' moral ambiguity. From playwright, filmmaker, and actor Gracie Rittenberg, A Little Less Than Kind , which adopts modern language and a satirical tone in addition to its Silicon Valley setting, highlights the way in which women's lived experiences, from love to grief to ambition, are misjudged and misnamed by a patriarchal culture with a vested interest in doing so without insulating certain of their behavior...