"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain - "

Hamlet is showing at the State Theatre!? Of course I went.

But I was skeptical to learn the performance was actually a broadcast from London, and then my eyes widened as the players emerged on screen... in business suits.

A lavish executive office amidst the mansion walls, and there's Claudius... loosening his tie as he props his sleek dress shoes atop his desk pouring himself a brandy: "Time be thine, And thy best graces spend it at thy will. - "

A modern setting with every classic line intact, and to my own surprise it worked! But, I mean you can't go wrong with an ingenious plot like Hamlet.

Ah yes, Hamlet. Never could I have dreamed of seeing young Prince Hamlet with a receding hairline. Yet there he is - lacing up his Puma's and pausing amidst a mesmeric soliloquy to take a drag of his cigarette.

And Ophelia, your girl-next-door teenager, lounges on a couch in leggings and a sweatshirt in an off-the-shoulder '80's look next to a stuffed Babar the elephant. Then her bad ass brother Laertes bursts into the scene with his semi-automatic looking as if he stepped right out of a cover of GQ.

It all seems so wrong, but I became so engaged with the characters I nearly forgot it was a tragedy after Laertes challenges Hamlet to a duel in - that's right ladies and gentlemen - fencing.

Although lame and kind of a ripoff to watch a filmed play, I can't help but give it two thumbs up. Hamlet is just that damn good.

Bravo!