Photos: HAMLET at Ensemble Theatre Company

Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara is bringing to the stage a new look at HAMLET by William Shakespeare, adapted and directed by Margaret Shigeko Starbuck. HAMLET, the third production of ETC’s 2024/2025 season, will perform Wednesday, February 5 through Sunday, February 23, 2025 (with a press opening on Saturday, February 8 at 8:00pm) at The New Vic Theatre, 33 W. Victoria Street. Check out photos below!

Get ready for HAMLET as you’ve never seen before—where power, betrayal, and family dysfunction meet, cutting wit and existential angst. This modern, 21st century reimagining of Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy catapults you into a high-stakes world where anxiety and ambition collide. When Hamlet, the reluctant heir, returns home from college, he’s greeted by the news that his father is dead, his mother has married his uncle and the power structure he thought he knew is unraveling around him. As if that wasn’t enough, his father’s ghost shows up with a not-so-casual request: avenge me. What follows is a twisted ride of secrets, manipulation, and shattered trust that will test Hamlet’s loyalty, identity, and grip on reality. Darkly funny, emotionally raw, and deliciously self-aware, this HAMLET reinvents the classic for a new generation, pulling you into a world where the personal is political, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

ETC has assembled an extraordinary group of Shakesperean actors for this production: Will Block (The Thanksgiving Play and The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley at ETC) as “Hamlet,” Jono Eiland (As You Like It at Santa Cruz Shakespeare and The Inheritance at the Geffen Playhouse) as “Horatio,” Matt Foyer (The Comedy of Errors at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Once at the Rubicon Theatre) as “Polonius/Captain/Gravedigger,” Rafael Goldstein (Julius Caesar, Henry V & A Resident Artist at A Noise Within ) as “Laertes/First Player/Barnardo,” Sammy Linkowski  (Ring of Fire at ETC, The Secret Garden at the Ahmanson and Little Shop of Horrors at 5-Star Theatricals) as “Marcellus/Orsic/Guildenstern/Priest,” Corey Jones (The Book of Mormon on Broadway and A Few Good Men at La Mirada Theatre) as “Claudius/Ghost,” Paige Lindsey White (Fallen Angels and Christmas at Pemberley at ETC) as “Gertrude,” and Ana Nicolle Chavez (Sanctuary City at Pasadena Playhouse and Under a Baseball Sky at The Old Globe) as “Ophelia/Francisco.”

The production’s design team includes scenic design by Yuki Izumihara, lighting design by Michael Rathbun, sound design by John Zalewski, costume design by Denitsa Bliznakova, properties design by Jenna Scordino and dramaturgy by Ward LeHardy. Casting is by Michael Donovan Casting: Michael Donovan, CSA and Richie Ferris, CSA. The production stage manager is Kristal Georgopoulos.

Producers for HAMLET are Frederic and Nancy Golden. Associate Producers are Scott and Edie DeVine.  Supporting Producers are Simon and Euzetta Williams and Joan Rutowski.  Dana White is ETC’s Visionary Producer for the season.

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