The Collective Opens 2016-17 with THE HAMLET PROJECT - ROUND VII Tonight

The Collective, a new Chicago Theatre Company, opens its 2016-17 season with its seventh installment of THE HAMLET PROJECT, directed by Riley McIlveen and Assistant Directed by Omer Abbas Salem. The Collective is dedicated to gender-, color-, and age-blind casting.

THE HAMLET PROJECT - Round VII - Join your Hosts as they guide you through this interactive-gender bending-dark-hilarious DRINKING GAME adaption of Shakespeare's famous tragedy. A twisted and booze filled evening for bros and hos and all those down for Shakespeare's woes.

THE HAMLET PROJECT- Round VII runs approximately 90 minutes with one intermission. The show opens tonight, May 17, 2016, 7 p.m. and runs May 17-19 at 7 p.m. and May 24-26 at 7:00 PM. at Trace Bar, 3714 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60613. Addison Red line EL stop. Some street parking. No disability access to the upstairs space.

There is a $10/person suggested donation at the door. Reserve your ticket here.

CAST: Alex Fisher (Hamlet), Alex Stage (Ophelia), Angela Morris (Claudius, Ghost), Clare Cooney (Laertes), Emily Green (Host), Ryan Imhoff (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), Shelby Garrett (Host), Trey Wright (Horatio), Vinny Tangherlini (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), and Will Mobley (Gertrude).

STAFF: Riley McIlveen (Director), Omer Abbas Salem (Assistan Director), Cydney Asher (Stage Manager).

Beth Lopes (Playwright) is a freelance theater director and teacher, based in Los Angeles. Deeply committed to the retelling of classics, Beth is intent on making old stories relevant for new generations. She is particularly drawn to pieces, classical or otherwise, with heightened text, a sense of the fantastical, and a focus on community. Beth is a highly collaborative director who believes in the connective power of theater and its ability to alter our individual and collective futures.

Jesse Sharp (Playwright) is from the charming mountain town of Frazier Park, CA where he grew up focusing on BMX bike riding and tree fort construction before seguing into an illustrious community theatre carreer. He attended Bakersfield High School, Santa Barbara City College, studied Acting at the famed UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television, and most recently finished his MFA in Acting at UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts. He has been acting professionally since 2000 in Los Angeles and New York and has been lucky enough to work in Television, Film and Professional Theatre, including National and World Tours as well as top regional theatres.

We love classics and we love brand new work. We do both. Formerly under the moniker "The Hamlet Project Chicago," The Collective is broadening its horizons with new Chicago playwrights and still producing classics in a setting where we bring Shakespeare/Chekhov/Pinter/et cetera back to the people. For more about The Collective Theatre, visit thecollectivetheatre.org.

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