Raoul Bhaneja played this whole play and its characters with exemplary craft and feeling. He kept it simple, and clear, and understated.

There were no physical props –– just the actor's instruments — his voice(s), his face, body and hands.

When he wasn't acting from the black-floored stage, Bhaneja leaned into and clutched at the three black brick walls. He spoke from the upstairs and downstairs exits, occasionally the steps, and even declaimed his lines from the narrow balcony at stage left.

But the real subject this night was Bhaneja's acting and his easeful love of Shakespeare.

His Hamlet literally lived and sat among us, and credit for such inventive direction is surely due Robert Ross Parker.

Having said this, Bhaneja's voice for Ophelia was arguably the one uncomfortable caricature in his impressive gallery of characters.

This Hamlet was mostly self-contained, yet emotionally alive.