Bedlam's Hamlet and Saint Joan
directed by Eric Tucker
presented by Meredith Lucio, Martin Platt & David Elliott, Sarah Hancock, Ron Simons, Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Patrick Blake
with Edmund Lewis, Andrus Nichols, Tom O’Keefe and Eric Tucker
at The Lynn Redgrave Theatre, 45 Bleecker Street, NYC
My business partner, Martin, saw Bedlam’s first run of Saint Joan at the tiny Access Theatre in downtown NYC and urged me to go. We both agreed that this show, and this company, was extraordinary. Eric Tucker, the Artistic Director of Bedlam, wanted to pair St. Joan with Hamlet, using the same four actors, and we all readily agreed.
Teaming up with Meredith, and some great producing partners (some of whom we would later work with on Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and Georgie) and Patrick, my old partner from Cold Productions, we moved the show uptown to 45 Bleecker, a space I was very familiar with having produced The Exonerated there years before.
This began a long relationship with the Bedlam Company, with whom we would look later managing New York Animals at the New Ohio Theatre and their smash-hit Sense & Sensibility at the Gym at Judson and .
The reviews for Hamlet and Saint Joan were extraordinary. Of the dozens of shows on which I have worked, only one review is framed in my office. This was Ben Brantley’s review of Bedlams double-bill, who wrote:
“I arrived grousing and left grinning, surprised that there was still ice on the streets. As far as I was concerned, the warmth and effervescence of what I had just witnessed had turned winter into springtime.” – Ben Brantley, The New York Times
The others were equally glowing:
“Top 10 Best Plays of 2013” – Time Magazine
“Bedlam Theatre Company works genuine miracles.” – New York Magazine, Scott Brown
“Thrilling! An unforgettable show! The most exciting George Bernard Shaw revival I’ve ever seen, bar none.” —Wall Street Journal, Terry Teachout
“A production to be treasured.” – New York Times, Eric Grode
“An engaging, highly physical production of Shakespeare’s complex masterpiece that feels as raw and incestuous as the state of Denmark itself.” — Time Out New York, Jenna Scherer
“Masterful. One of the most entertaining theatrical experiences of the season.” – Theatermania.Com, Pete Hempstead
Saint Joan would go on to win the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Revival.