New York Shakespeare Exchange, the company that popularizes Shakespeare with innovative programs like The Sonnet Project and the ShakesBEER Pub Crawls, presents a boldly inclusive "Hamlet." Running from Wednesday March 23 through Saturday April 9, at the Flamboyán Theater, 107 Suffolk Street, Shakespeare Exchange's "Hamlet10" will be brought to life by uniquely diverse ensemble of just 10 actors who will play all the roles in the play, including, by turns, the role of the tragic Danish prince. These ten faces of Hamlet (five female and five male) will stress how aspects of Hamlet reside in us all.
Directed by New York Shakespeare Exchange artistic director
Ross Williams, "Hamlet10" plays 4 previews before opening on Monday March 28 at 7:30pm. The three-week engagement comes to an abrupt halt on Saturday April 9 at 7:30pm.
With ten actors representing a spectrum of ages, ethnicities and gender orientations playing the Danish Prince (as well as all the other roles), "Hamlet10" is not just open to a multiple textual, moral and psychological possibilities, it is willing to look at these simultaneously, forming a rare composite overlay of who Hamlet is. The staging, appropriately enough, is in the round.
Arguably the most extensively performed and interpreted play of all time, "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" tells its complicated story of revenge and desire with brutal subtlety. What will Hamlet do to his uncle Claudius who has usurped the throne by murdering his brother (Hamlet's father) and marrying his brother's wife (Hamlet's mother, of course)? What will he/she do? How will acquiescence, loyalty, revenge, and self-assertion metastasize at once?
Spanning ages from early 20s to middleage, and playing facets of Hamlet from a teen-aged girl to a middle-aged woman, the cast of ten includes:
Harry Barandes* ("The Grapes of Wrath" on Bway; "Richard III" at The Public); Kevin Brewer ("King John" with NY Shakespeare Exchange -- NYSX);
Nathaniel P. Claridad* ("Here Lies Love," "Awesome '80s Prom," "Titus Andronicus" with NYSX); Julie Delaurier*; Sean Hinckle ("Titus Andronicus" with NYSX);
Rebeca Miller*;
Elizabeth Neptune ("Island" with NYSX); JC Vasquez ("King John" with NYSX); Sarin Monae West, and
Julia Watt* ("Pericles" with NYSX).
Set in a contemporary world, and costumed accordingly, the actors will each discover their unique personal connection to their roles, while staying true to Shakespeare's original language. The production design team is the same group responsible for the bloody-well-received "Titus Andronicus" at Here last year -- scenic design by
Jason Lajka; costumes by Elivia Bovenzi, and lighting by Drew Florida. Alicia Rodis returns as the fight choreographer.
With its The Sonnet Project, New York Shakespeare Exchange continues to produce short films based on all 154 Shakespeare sonnets, shot in every nook and cranny of New York City. The internationally acclaimed project, with a mobile app to access the remarkable library of films (now numbering 110), will announce a global initiative in the summer. Also this Summer (TBA) the popular ShakesBEER, NYC's Original Shakespearean Pub Crawls, in which audiences soak up live Shakespeare in a succession of bars, will launch a special expanded edition called ShakesQUEER to kick off Gay Pride in June. New York Shakespeare Exchange's mission is to pioneer new and timely ways to introduce diverse, contemporary audiences to the wonders of
William Shakespeare.
Performances from March 23 to April 9 are Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sat at 7:30pm and Sun at 3pm, except Sat March 26 at 3pm; no show on Sun March 27 (Easter), and added shows on Mon March 28 at 7:30pm (opening), and Tues April 5 at 7:30pm. Tickets to "Hamlet10" which are $18, are available by phone by calling
917/428-0065, or online at
www.shakespeareexchange.org.
