The Dane’s a dame

The melancholy Dane gets slapped with Road Warrior post-apocalyptic imagery in the Alternative Arts Collective’s adaptation of Hamlet. An intense and detailed stage provides the setting for this production’s theme, where all characters are slathered in bombastic gothic makeup and wearing clothes appropriate for a Sex Pistols concert to illustrate the downward spiral Elsinore has taken. Working from an odd patchwork script, a female Hamlet (Lindsay Grimes) gives an impassioned performance to bring Claudius (Joel Ellinwood) to justice. Denver Vaughn brings a kind lilt to Ophelia’s madness, and also adds a layer to her relationship with the prince—er, princess. The biggest issue with the production is that many times actors are speaking upstage, turning away from the audience or just plain unlit.

Hamlet, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday, May 8. $12. The Alternative Arts Collective at the Royer Arts Center, 190 Park Drive in Roseville; (916) 572-5831; www.taactheatre.com. Through May 14.