Continuing Big Hutch's Metaphor

   The podcast Act V, by Jack Hitt for The American Life, is about an enactment done by prison inmates of the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center of Shakespeare's famous play Hamlet. He not only follows the development of the play, but he also gets into a deeper level with them. He interview the cast, which are actual inmates from the facility, and talks with them about their motivation, their understanding and their past life to get a better and more profound grasp of what the play means to them. The part that caught my attention the most (of the topics related to the play, of course) is the one where he interviews Big Hutch. Big Hutch plays Horatio in the prison production and he introduces a new location for the play with new circumstances for Hamlet to act under. This makes podcast's followers wonder: what if this play were really true? What would be other things that would have to change?

   Big Hutch sets his play in a prison, more specifically in the prison yard and involving the whole society that surrounds it. He says that Claudius would be an inmate that loves power and wealth, that Polonius would be someone who adores people with power and that Rosencratz and Guildenstern would be rats who go to the prison administration snitching on everybody else. Aside all the new plot turns that surround Hamlet's situation with Claudius, many other things would change. For example, the royalty of Denmark could be extrapolated and played as the top members of the gang that rules the prison. England, place where Hamlet is sent to be left for dead, could be some kind of reclusion room, or even an unjust death penalty sentence set up by Claudius and his gang. Basically the entire play could be set up using these parameters.

   There are still some elements in Hamlet that are very difficult to insert in this new prison environment, or some that would require a little change. For example, Gertrude would not be able to appear since most prisons are for men or women only; the same would go for Ophelia's character. They may fit into it by being outside the prison and visiting it regularly or whatever. Also, the gravedigger would not fit in in his original role, but it would be interesting to see how they play it out. This would be especially interesting in order to see the element of comedy and sanity that he possesses and how it develops in another gloomy environment like the correctional facility. Many other tiny aspects can also be complicated to insert into this new setting.

   Fortunately, Shakespeare's plays possess that universal quality that makes it adaptable to any new situation. We have seen Hamlet adapted to a lion kingdom (The Lion King), Romeo and Juliet put into a jail setting or in a New York City setting (West Side Story), and so on. This has not been a problem for many artists who can twist Shakespeare's stories into their own, leaving out some details for their and their audience's good.