FOR THE KIDS : Borrowing From Bard for Bucks : Actor Jason Narvy will direct Newbury High students in an abridged version of ‘Hamlet.’ The group hopes to raise $50,000 for a new campus theater.

When actor Jason Narvy was a senior at Newbury Park High School, he did Shakespeare. Well, sort of. He starred in the spoof, “Hamlet II.”

Now he is doing the real thing. Narvy, 20, is directing a production of “Hamlet” at the school to help raise money to build a $2.3-million theater on the campus.

With Newbury Park senior Justin Lees-Smith starring as Hamlet, Narvy has brought together an eclectic cast of students, professionals and community actors. They call themselves The Exiled Players.

The play, produced by the school’s drama teacher, Kristi Colell, opens Friday and runs for two weekends on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights in the school’s intimate theater.

Narvy is familiar with the small venue. As a student, he directed “Arsenic and Old Lace” there. He also wrote, directed and appeared in a student production he called “Shoot Out at the Dead Cow Saloon.”

After high school graduation two years ago, Narvy landed a part in the afternoon kids’ TV show, “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.” His character, Skull, and sidekick, Bulk, are buffoonish school bullies who poke fun at the Rangers’ outlandish missions and their robotic dinosaurs.

Narvy still lives in Newbury Park, where he performs in local productions. In January, he starred in the Conejo Players production of “The Overcoat,” adapted from a 19th-Century Russian story.

Now comes “Hamlet,” something he admits he always wanted to do. So had Colell and Lees-Smith, who has starred in a number of school and community productions.

“A lot of people wanted to do it,” Narvy said. “People came out of the woodwork.”

But it wasn’t an easy production to stage. The play, Shakespeare’s longest, usually runs 3 hours 45 minutes. So Narvy tackled the job of editing the master’s prose.

It was a painful process. One scene took Narvy a week to edit. “I was working with a scalpel, cutting little words,” he said. “People might say I’ve bastardized the script.”

But Narvy thinks the end result--a running time of more than two hours--”brings out the greater flavor” and gives the play a quicker pace, something audiences will appreciate. As Shakespeare said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Narvy said he hasn’t altered the plot and all the famous lines are still in.

The tragedy “Hamlet” is arguably the most famous of Shakespeare’s plays. In a nutshell, it’s about the inner turmoil the prince of Denmark suffers after his father, the king, dies and his mother marries the king’s brother, Claudius, who assumes the throne. The king’s ghost appears to Hamlet, accusing Claudius of murdering him, and Hamlet seeks revenge.

Many of the characters die by their own hand, by the sword or by poison. The cast received some professional help on sword handling from Joe Nassi, who has choreographed many fight scenes for the entertainment industry.

Narvy also plays the part of Laertes, the brother of Ophelia, who loves Hamlet. Jessica Emerling, a student at Agoura High School, plays Ophelia. In the role of Claudius is Paul Schrier II, who plays Bulk on the Power Rangers.

Other cast members are Seth Allen, an independent studies student from Thousand Oaks High School, in the role of Horatio, Hamlet’s friend; local actors Thyra Gustafson and Aaron Van Etten, both of Thousand Oaks, play Queen Gertrude and Polonius, Ophelia’s father.

“It’s a real community effort,” said Colell, who added that the goal of this and other productions is to raise $50,000 for the theater.

The theater, which seats about 180 on tiered platforms around the stage, adds to the community atmosphere and intimacy, said Narvy.

“When Hamlet dies, he’s two feet away from you.”

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A group of actor-musicians who call themselves J.P. Nightingale will close out the entertainment season for the Conejo Valley Children’s Concert Series with performances Friday.

The group, which dabbles in classical fairy tales and contemporary stories and songs, will perform at 10 and 11:30 a.m. at the Conejo Valley Adult School Auditorium, 1025 Old Farm Road, Thousand Oaks. Tickets are $6 at the door. For more information, call 493-4348.

Details

* WHAT: Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet.”

* WHERE: Newbury Park High School, 456 N. Reino Road, Newbury Park. The theater is located at the back of the school near the basketball courts.

* WHEN: Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., and Sunday, 7:30 p.m.; June 3 and 4, 8 p.m., and June 5, 7:30 p.m.

* COST: Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for students. Friday’s opening night performance includes a buffet, and tickets are $10.

* ETC.: Call 498-3676.