Kathmandu Hamlet is one of the famous plays written by English playwright William Shakespeare. Many of us know what happens in the play. So, you expect its adaptation to be of a good quality. The adaptation of the same play Hamlet, that is being staged at Theatre Village, Lazimpat from April 7, is nothing of that sort. You expect it to be a good work of art, rather Hamlet directed by British director Gregory Thompson disappoints you with lengthy dialogues. Queen Gyaneshwori (Aruna Karki) has married Kamal Bikram (Kamalmani Nepal), brother of the former king and dead husband (Rajkumar Pudasaini). Bikram has become the king despite Hamlet (Divya Dev) being the heir. Suspecting a foul play in his mother’s remarriage and his father’s death, Hamlet weaves a plan to find out the truth. Often being tormented by his father’s ghost, Hamlet tries hard to know the truth behind his father’s death. Hamlet enacts the original text as it is except the funeral scene that has the flavour of Nepalipan— the funeral in Thompson’s Hamlet is done as per the Hindu tradition. There is minimal use of props to depict the prince’s story — there is nothing much in the sets other than the throne and Hamlet’s closet. And the use of lights to highlight Hamlet’s soliloquy hit the nail on the head. What disappoints you is a not so good presentation of a serious story, which fails to justify the original Hamlet. Another drawback of Hamlet is its dialogues. They are lengthy and make you yawn at times. And there is problem in dialogue delivery too — the actors haven’t pronounced certain words accurately. The actors and director should know how a slip of tongue distorts the meaning of the words or even the play. Shristi Shrestha as Hamlet’s girlfriend Ojaswi can’t attract you with her acting talent. She is neither expressive not audible. Nepal and Karki are convincing in their roles justifying with right expressions and emotions. Divya Dev lacks fluency for Nepali language and pronunciation. His acting as Hamlet — as a confused and indecisive son — can’t come through. But his sharp look at Kamal Bikram in different scenes is noteworthy. One can expect unexpected humour — movement of belly of Pratapjung (Bholaraj Sapkota) makes you laugh. He is dead on stage, and a dead man’s belly isn’t supposed to move! The play is being staged till May 7 everyday at 5:30 pm except on Wednesdays.