‘Hamlet: The Bad Quarto’: A different interpretation of a classic

For David Nackman, a fourth-grade Purim spiel pointed the way to his future.

Portraying Haman provided Nackman with what he calls his first “serious acting gig.”

“There was an audience and I got a response,” he said.

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It was the Jewish standard “Fiddler on the Roof,” in ninth grade, that cemented his decision to become an actor.
“I was playing Motel and I got a huge laugh,” he remembered. “At that point, I was a miserable kid and that experience of being able to not only get a laugh but control it, meant a lot. So I’ve been trying to replicate it ever since.”

Nackman brings that love of acting to the Richard E. Rauh Studio Theatre at the University of Pittsburgh June 19-28 in a new production of William Shakespeare’s classic, “Hamlet: The Bad Quarto.”

“It’s the earliest version of ‘Hamlet’,” director Jeremy Seghers explained. “It’s from 1603 but wasn’t discovered until the 1800s, so there’s a lot of history around it, why it exists, how it exists, who actually wrote it, who transcribed it.”

While it’s still the story of Hamlet, Seghers said there are scenes, dialogue and character names than differ from the most familiar version of the tale.

“It toured at universities. That’s one of the reasons I thought it would be cool to do at Pitt, even though it’s not directly affiliated with the university,” he said.

Segher’s take is a little different than what one might expect for a Shakespearean work. His interpretation involves a crime family because, he said, “people no longer have a reference” for the original.

Nackman is excited about “Hamlet” and working with Seghers. He has a passion for community theater. He’s performed in the one-person work “Karloff,” playing Boris Karloff, and has performed at the Theatre Factory in Trafford and Little Lake Theatre in Canonsburg.

In 2022 he was in Prime Stage Theatre’s production of “The White Rose,” presented in conjunction with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. In 2024 he performed in the Prime Stage production of “Perseverance,” about a Holocaust survivor who moves to Squirrel Hill.

In “Hamlet,” Nackman plays multiple roles — Ghost and Grave Digger I — and shares the stage with Joanna Lowe.

Like Nackman, Lowe said her love of theater was immediate.

“As soon as I stepped on stage, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m doing this forever,’” she remembered.

Her passion for the art has led her to founding her own theater company, Cup-A-Jo Productions, with a goal of furthering “new and established works in an effort to focus on the artist by tackling a variety of subjects, exploring non-traditional venues and styles, and mixing theatre with film, dance, music and poetry.”

Because she is busy with her own company, Lowe only auditions for roles that excite her.

“So, doing ‘Hamlet’ with Jeremy is an exception,” she said. “I have a weak spot for ‘Hamlet’ and Gertred [whom she portrays in the production] has been on my bucket list. As soon as Jeremy said ‘Hamlet’ and Gertred, I was in.”

And while Nackman grew up in a traditional Conservative Jewish home, Lowe’s Jewish journey was different.

Her father is a retired Reformed Presbyterian minister but, she says, her ancestors are from the tribe of Levi.
The household incorporated Jewish food and cultural elements into everyday life, including gefilte fish, matzo balls and pickled herring. Yiddish phrases were liberally mixed in conversation. The family even traveled to Israel.

After retiring, her father taught courses on the Old Testament and Hebrew.

“I thanked him at one point when I realized how much of our whole life was infused in heritage,” she said.

For Nackman, getting to work in “Hamlet” is a passion he’s happy to revisit whenever the opportunity presents itself. In fact, he’s played Ghost before, so this is a reprise of the role, albeit differently framed. Working with Segher has been a great experience, he said, adding that the director’s delight in the stage shines through.

“I love it when people take the work seriously,” he said. “I like when they invest everything; that’s what I do. There’s a kindred spirit here. It’s really rewarding.”

Lowe, too, has an affinity for the production.

“I love the challenge of making Shakespeare exciting enough that people want to see it,” she said.
And she appreciates working with Segher on the production.

“He’s made it complex and nuanced, and it runs the gamut of human emotion. It’s profoundly powerful and universal,” she said.

Tickets are available to be purchased for “Hamlet: The Bad Quarto.” PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org