You know it's going to be a fun ride upon learning that the muse of this artistic love-hate story is the ghost of legendary actor John Barrymore. In the play, the famous swashbuckler haunts Andrew Rally, an indecisive TV actor who has come to New York to prove his acting "chops" by appearing in a prestigious production of Hamlet—and yes, he hates it. He calls it "algebra on stage." But Andrew has rented an apartment once occupied by the hard-drinking, hard-living Barrymore, and little did he know his new digs would come with a spectral acting coach—one eminently qualified to advise him, since Barrymore was famed for his portrayal of Hamlet.

"I think this play has a little bit of everything in it," says Bay Area actor Kevin Blackton, who plays the spirit of John Barrymore. "It's just a great piece of entertainment. It's got everything. Some of the best one-liners ever, I think—just choice one-liners. It's just fun. Plus it's got a great sword fight—what actor doesn't love that?"

Blackton says he's used a variety of inspirations to help him prepare to play such an acting legend. "My first thought was the best that I could do would be to capture his charm, his wit, the way he moved, his vocal qualities, to incorporate that into it and just give the audience some idea of what he was like. I've prepared by reading, by listening to tapes—plus the script is foolproof. I've watched Grand Hotel and several of his other movies, read some stuff on him, what he was like offstage, the Errol Flynn accounts, the David Niven accounts of him," says Blackton. "Just listening to his tapes, I can imagine the raw intensity that he brought to Hamlet."

But even though I Hate Hamlet plays Barrymore's famously flamboyant persona for laughs, Blackton is aware of the unique challenge of portraying a larger-than-life, real-life person, who was, after all, just that: a person.

"The play gives you an insight into him. What I've tried to find are one or two insightful moments in this play, which are provided." Blackton says, citing a scene in the play where Barrymore recounts for Andrew a painful incident. "He just talks about the day on the set—and this actually happened—when he couldn't remember a line, and he was stone-sober, and he realized he could never go back on the stage again. It's a very touching moment. You see this grand façade just go bye-bye. He went through the wringer like everybody else. But rarely did he show that. From what I've read, and from what I can just hear in his voice, I don't think you'd ever get a straight answer out of the guy, unless he really knew you. Everybody wanted something from him."

In showing the real side of such a star, I Hate Hamlet offers a loving appreciation of the art of which Barrymore was once one of the greatest icons. "It's about just the joy of doing theater. The quirkiness of actors, the quirkiness of theater—how outlandish it really is. And the fact that we get paid to do it," Blackton laughs. "And the true joy of it, the true joy of getting out onstage and acting, and believing in what you say and having an audience respond to it, and enjoy it, believe in what you're doing, and applaud at the end, and everybody goes home happy. Theater is a great human communication. I mean, you don't get that in film or television."

So what of the Bard's role in all of this? Blackton himself confesses to not being overly fond of Shakespeare, but even if one shares the sentiments of the play's title, he says, "What's great about this play, even if you've never seen Shakespeare, never read Shakespeare, are the snippets of Hamlet that Rudnick uses in this play. They're snippets, they're kind of pieced together, but they're pieced together in a way where you understand every word of it. It's clear and it's entertaining. And it's not frightening, It's not 'algebra on stage' in this."

"I Hate Hamlet" plays at San Jose Stage Company June 4­29 at the Stage Theater in downtown San Jose. Tickets are $16­$36. For more information, call 408.283.7142.