‘Women Playing Hamlet’ tries too hard, comes up empty

A good cast bravely meets its fate in the Unicorn Theatre production of “Women Playing Hamlet,” a two-act comedy that plays like a drama-school skit.

Director Cynthia Levin evidently saw value in this play, which the Unicorn is producing under the National New Play Network banner, but asking talented performers to commit themselves to material this thin borders on cruel and unusual punishment.

Playwright William Missouri Downs seems to want to say something relevant about women in the theater. Or about William Shakespeare. Or maybe about academic theorists.

But he never really settles on a persuasive argument about any of the themes he toys with. Eventually the play dissipates like cigarette smoke through an open car window.

Clearly he wants to be funny. There’s just one problem: He isn’t.

To be fair, I laughed out loud three or four times during the Sunday matinee. But the handful of moments of effective comedy had little to do with the script and almost everything to do with the quality of the four actors assigned to bring this material to life.

Katie Karel is calculatedly inexpressive as Jessica, a young actress cast as Hamlet, and her deadpan monologues to the audience work up to a point. But early on the role’s potential humor simply plays out. Think of a miner panning for gold and coming up with nothing but gravel.

Playing a range of other roles are Cathy Barnett, who chooses to go over the top as a diva acting teacher and a lecherous male humanities professor. Meredith Wolfe makes the most of her opportunities playing Jessica’s teenage cousin, a home-shopping hostess and a soap opera actress.

Kathleen Warfel, who plays more roles than anyone else, elicits the most honest laughter.

Warfel appears as Jessica’s mother, a batty academic, a talky bartender and the Gravedigger from “Hamlet,” among other roles, and makes a vivid impression with each one. For years Warfel was shackled by the perception of her as an oh-so serious dramatic actress, but her gift for comedy speaks for itself in this questionable show.

The technical aspects of this production are just fine.

Georgianna Londre Buchanan’s imaginative and amusing costumes make a big contribution, and Ian Crawford’s simple but effective scenic design makes the most of the intimate space in the Jerome Stage.

The Unicorn Theatre is a vital part of this town’s dynamic theater scene, but you can only shake your head when you see a respected nonprofit company devote its resources to such insubstantial material.