HAMLETHAMLETHAMLET: The 72-Hour Hamlet Cycle
Notwithstanding centuries of critical analysis, the curious events of Hamlet continue to confound its audiences. We replay each scene over and over in our minds, wondering if they might have had a different outcome. They never do. Or do they? HAMLETHAMLETHAMLET: The 72-Hour Hamlet Cycle is a three-day continuous production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. When it ends, it begins again. And again. And so on, and so forth. Come and stay as long as you like. Get the answers you think you need. Rest assured: It will go on without you.
Hamlet (Without Hamlet)
The Bard’s most famous play of all time has come to be revered for the depth of self-awareness in its titular character. But…what if he wasn’t there? Friends, this is indeed Shakespeare’s Hamlet; I’ve merely removed the everyman who sets events into motion. Actors will still address “Hamlet,” but—in a nod to the noxious erosion of human communication in the digital age—receive only deafening silence in return. Can Hamlet’s father still be avenged? Can Ophelia still fall in love? And who will duel Laertes to the death? I hope these truths are self-evident.
Hamlet. Just Hamlet.
By dint of sheer notoriety, Shakespeare’s Hamlet has suffered generations of Frankensteinian stagings and avant-garde experimentation. But what value do we derive from watching Hamlet set in the Third Reich, or by having Ophelia played by an actual woman? Why attempt to leech additional meaning from a play whose original perfection is what carried it to prominence? This production is Hamlet as it was always meant to be played on the theatrical stage: with real fight choreography, underwritten female roles played by men, and various British accents. Thank you.
SYLVIA PLATH // HAMLET '90s MIXTAPE
Hamlet is depressed. Hamlet is in love. Hamlet is occasionally suicidal. Basically, Hamlet is the '90s. This is Shakespeare’s Hamlet as you’ve never seen it before, set to the actual alt-rock songs we’re told Kurt Cobain listened to before he ended his life. I’ve interspersed the original script with excerpts from Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis and the poetry of Sylvia Plath. If you don’t walk out of this theater tonight re-examining whether life is even worth living, you weren’t watching. Please be aware, this production uses strobe lighting.
hamlet: the physical score
Hamlet is, fundamentally, a caveman. Primitive instincts govern his every move, but so many productions of Shakespeare’s famous play ignore this truth and attempt to elevate Hamlet to his alleged “class.” Since my theater company is all about raw process, I wanted to see what might happen when the character’s societal façade is stripped away. Tonight’s physical score (you might say underscore) represents the Id behind one of the most complex, and yet neanderthalian, characters that Shakespeare has ever brought to life. You’ll find crayons and pieces of paper under your seats tonight; please draw at your leisure as the score begins to speak to you, and leave them with an usher on your way out. We’ll use these “cave paintings” to inform our next play.
ALL-LADY HAMLET
Shakespeare was a straight white man. Need I say more? This is Shakespeare’s Hamlet, played entirely by women. Everyone. Is. A. Woman. Yeah, that changes things. And if you call yourself a feminist but don’t like this play, then that’s your own internalized misogyny, sorry. Actually, I’m not sorry. This is 2019 and I’m done being sorry. Enjoy the show. Or don’t. Whatever, honestly.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
This may look and sound like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but ultimately, it is simply Shakespeare’s Hamlet.