In conversation, the actor Dean Linnard often looks downward with great intent, as if searching for a very specific seed he’s planted. But then, when he casts his pale blue eyes at you, he unsheaths one of Bay Area theater’s great weapons.
A theatergoing friend of mine has referred to the 35-year-old, Oakland-born, Berkeley-bred performer as “the guy with the eyes.” But Linnard, who’s now bicoastal, is no one-trick pony. His blazing performances in Oakland Theater Project’s “Angels in America” and Aurora Theatre Company’s “Born With Teeth” have been full-body whirls of expression, feasts of surprising beat-by-beat choices. More recently that same friend asked me, “Is there a way to get a Dean Linnard event alert?”
Now, such an alert would be popping off, with Linnard about to take on the most famous stage character of all time. Even for those well-versed in “Hamlet,” Linnard’s performance in the title role makes Oakland Theater Project’s production of the tragedy, beginning performances Friday, Sept. 5, required viewing.
The roots of his artistic trajectory relate to the copy of Shakespeare’s script he was using in a recent rehearsal — a slim, well-worn edition owned by his father, pianist and composer Loren Linnard, who died in 2016…