Tennessee Shakespeare Company Presents HAMLET, 4/5- 14

Tennessee Shakespeare Company (TSC), the Mid-South's professional classical theatre, presents a special, limited engagement of William Shakespeare's Hamlet inside Dixon Gallery and Garden's Winegardner Auditorium from April 3-14 in Memphis.

The young Prince Hamlet returns home from college when his father is discovered dead at Elsinore Castle in Denmark. Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, has murdered King Hamlet and immediately married his widow, Queen Gertrude. The Ghost of King Hamlet asks his son to avenge his murder, a visitation which the Prince shares only with his closest friend, Horatio.

Casting off his love Ophelia and feigning public madness, Hamlet nevertheless is action-less regarding his father's demand. In considering his mortality, his father's, and that of his usurping uncle, Hamlet confronts his mother only to mistakenly murder Ophelia's father, Polonius. The King banishes Hamlet to England, with a mortal decree that ensures he will never return, during which time Ophelia goes mad and drowns by her own hand or another's.

In a matter of weeks, Hamlet has escaped and been saved by pirates on the sea. Upon his return, he is a decade older with a changed philosophy secretly watching Ophelia's graveside burial. Laertes, the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia, in murderous coordination with the King, challenges Hamlet to a sporting duel which turns into a bath of poison for all but Horatio and Hamlet's Norwegian counterpart, Fortinbras. The young, fatherless Prince ascends the Denmark throne, lamenting the loss of the man who would have been King.

General Admission tickets are on sale now, Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm at TSC's office located at 2260 West Street in Germantown or by calling 901-759-0604, or by going on-line to www.tnshakespeare.org.

Tickets for all performances are $25 in advance and $30 day-of-show. Tickets for the Wednesday, April 3 and Thursday, April 4 Preview performances are only $15, regardless of when purchased. Thursday, April 4 and Thursday, April 11 are Free Will Kids' Nights: Children 17 years and younger are admitted FREE when accompanied by a paying/attending guardian.

Public Performance Schedule at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens : April 5 at 7:30 pm- Opening Performance and Pre-Show Revels Party, Saturday, April 6 at 7:30 pm- Performance, Sunday, April 7 at 3:00 pm- Performance, Thursday, April 11 at 7:00 pm- Free Will Kids' Night, Friday, April 12 at 7:30 pm- Performance, Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 pm- Performance, Sunday, April 14 at 3:00 pm- Closing Performance.

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