Interview: Wesley Whitson of HAMLET at 4TH WALL THEATRE COMPANY

4TH Wall Theatre Company is opening its staging of HAMLET, which is based on the off-Broadway company Bedlam’s recent production. It’s a stripped-down version where four actors play over thirty different roles. But one man in the center only plays the titular HAMLET. Wesley Whitson is a Houston native who graduated from the University of Houston. He was a member of Catherine G. McGovern's College of the Arts, 1st graduating class! He also went to HSPVA back when it was in Montrose. The actor has become one of Houston’s most exciting thespians to watch. Wesley has been on stage in so many Shakespeare shows, musicals, dramas - you name it. He got to play Princess Cordelia in King Lear. He was Cornelius, the doctor in Cymbeline. He was on stage at the Alley in 12th Night. He was seen as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream staged in Miller Outdoor Theater. Now, Wesley is poised to face his biggest challenge yet, and Broadway World writer Brett Cullum gets to talk with him as he prepares for the role of a lifetime that will take him through May 24th. 

Brett Cullum: Okay, HAMLET! Tell me about this particular adaptation because it has a slightly different pedigree than what you would usually associate with this classic from William Shakespeare.  

Wesley Whitson: So this production is from New York City. It's from a theater company called the Bedlam Theatre Company. They're very interested in the relationship between the actor and the audience. They try to dissolve that fourth wall as much as possible, which works particularly well for Shakespeare because so much of Shakespeare’s text directly addresses and brings the audience in. This production is unique because only four actors will be playing all of the parts in Hamlet.

Brett Cullum: Does this scare you? I mean, HAMLET? It's iconic! Almost everyone graduating from high school can recite at least a few lines from this one. It’s regarded as the world’s greatest play written by the best playwright ever. And every HUGE actor has stamped this role! You have zero pressure here - best play, best part of all time. 

Wesley Whitson: Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'd be a fool if I said it didn't scare me a little bit. It scares me a lot. There's a lot of room to mess it up, and there's room to fail. That's one side of it, the other side of it that I'm trying to hang on to is that there's a long line of people who've done it before me, and they've done it well, and they've done it successfully. I stand on their shoulders. And it's such a popular play that there's so much media and literature about it. I've never felt alone working on this process. I've had a lot of handholding from the greats who've come before me. 

Brett Cullum: Well, it's crazy when you look at the pedigree of all the actors that have done this before, and if you do it uncut, the show is four hours long. It's Shakespeare's longest play and the longest play in Western literature! How are you guys approaching the length of this one? How long is it gonna be in total? 

Wesley Whitson: We're doing most of the play, which is awesome. There are a few cuts here and there, but this is as close to the full play as possible. Our running time is going to be around three hours with two intermissions. 

Brett Cullum: Well, Wesley Whitson, you seem to gravitate towards Shakespeare more than any young actor I know. Shakespeare scares me, and it scares a lot of actors, cause it's raw, rough, iambic pentameter, and A LOT of lines. What is it about Shakespeare that you love?  

Wesley Whitson: I think he says things the best. He cuts right to the core of what he wants to say. He gets to the nub of it in as few words as possible. I had an English teacher who used to say, “Use brilliant brevity,” and Shakespeare is a great example of that. He writes with iambic pentameter, which is the language of the heart, and there's something about that that has always really resonated with me. And besides, it's just some of the most beautiful poetry ever written. He's not only one of the greatest playwrights ever. He's also one of the greatest poets ever, and I think that's a beautiful combination. I feel really at home in it.

Brett Cullum: Everybody can quote Hamlet at least a tiny part of it.

Wesley Whitson: Oh, yeah, that's another part of the anxiety going into it. It's so well known that when you start “to be or not to be,” the audience will be going along with you in their heads for at least the first couple of lines.

Brett Cullum: Yeah. It could easily turn into a ROCKY HORROR speak-along or something! How do you make it your own? That's the thing that I'm always afraid of, if I do a show that I've known some iconic people have done. I get so worried because I don't want to copy them. I want to make it mine. So, how do you make Hamlet the Wesley Whitson version? What are you doing differently?

Wesley Whitson: I'm just trying to find where I am in the play. I'm trying to find where Wesley exists inside of Hamlet, drawing those connections and trying to bridge the gap between him and me. As actors, one of our big superpowers is that we are individuals. There's only one of me, and I'm trying to bring that sense of individuality to Hamlet, who is such an individual to begin with! He's a brilliant, brilliant young man, and a Renaissance Prince.

Brett Cullum: And you forgot, he’s super good-looking! Let's take it back a little bit further. You grew up here in Houston. Is that correct? How did you get involved in theater? What was little Wesley's entrance into the theatrical arts?

Wesley Whitson: I was doing sports for a while, and it wasn't working. I was playing t-ball and picking clovers in the outfield, and my mom was like, “We need to try something different.” So she put me in a community theater. It's the Country Playhouse then, and now it's Queensbury Theater, out in West Houston. I met a woman named Barbara Lasater, and she became one of my first mentors. And she helped me to find my way as a young actor. She saw something in me and pushed me to go for it!

Brett Cullum: And you went to HSPVA, too. It was in the old location in Montrose, now they're downtown. I haven't even seen the new one yet!

Wesley Whitson: Yes. And that new building is gorgeous, state-of-the-art! 

Brett Cullum: What is your process when you do a character? Do you separate yourself, are you conscious of bringing yourself to it? 

Wesley Whitson: I'm always conscious of bringing myself to it. Some people are outside in, and I think I'm more inside out.

Brett Cullum: That makes so much sense! Every time I see you onstage, I feel like I get to know you. In the real world, Wesley Whitson is often just as fantastic as you are onstage. It makes watching you so exciting! 

I've noticed you regularly perform at Michael's Outpost (a bar on Richmond that has shows every night of the week!) as part of the Broad’s Way group, which has a rotating cast performing there on Monday nights. It's all Theatre Kids, almost like the gang from GLEE took over a nightclub. How did you hook up with them? Are you guys all like a tight group? 

Wesley Whitson: We're a tight friend group. I met Regina [Dubois], the show's host, in college, and she competed in a local drag competition called Dessie's Drag Race, which used to take place at Michael's Outpost. She won the competition, and the prize for winning the contest was a show. The finale was presenting your idea for a drag show, and her idea was the Broad’s Way, and I think the Broad’s Way is Houston's only Broadway Review. She cornered the market there. The eighth anniversary is coming up. 

Brett Cullum: Oh, my God! Michael’s Outpost is on Richmond, and Monday at 9 pm is the usual time for the Broad’s Way review. It’s some of Houston’s best talent! So, tell me about what some of your dream roles are? What's next for you after Hamlet? Where are you going? Or what do you want to do?

Wesley Whitson: Where do I want to go? I obviously would love to do more Shakespeare. I'm interested in spreading my wings in terms of Shakespeare companies across the country and seeing what can happen there. In terms of roles, I really, really want to play Richard the Second, but I don't know if or when that'll happen in Houston. I don't know if a lot of history plays get produced here in town. But I love that play! 

Brett Cullum: We'll talk to Classical Theatre Company. We'll slip them a little bribe for next year and see what we can do.

Wesley Whitson: I've always thought it would be really good as a one-man show. But I would need to sit down and figure that out.

Brett Cullum: I'm so excited to see what you do. I've already reserved my tickets for Hamlet. But you’ve made me nervous because you're talking about breaking that fourth wall, and I'm sitting so close! But just a reminder that 4th Wall Theatre’s adaptation of Hamlet runs at their location in the Spring Street studios from May 2nd through May 24th. You’re the star of it, but you’ll be surrounded by three other people who will take on all the other roles. But you just play Hamlet, because that's too much of a line load for anything else in the play. So break legs. You're such a great actor, Wesley Whitson. I've enjoyed watching you, and this is such a legendary role. I couldn't be more thrilled or proud that you will take this on. 

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