Oscar Isaac Plays Title Role in HAMLET, Beginning Tonight at The Public Theater

The Public Theater presents Hamlet as part of its downtown summer season, featuring Golden Globe Award winner Oscar Isaac as the tormented Danish Prince. Directed by Tony Award winner Sam Gold, Hamlet begins previews tonight, June 20, and runs through Sunday, September 3 in the Anspacher Theater, with an official press opening on Thursday, July 13.

The cast of Hamlet features Roberta Colindrez (Rosencrantz); Peter Friedman (Polonius); Oscar Isaac (Hamlet); Keegan-Michael Key (Horatio); Gayle Rankin (Ophelia, Second Gravedigger); Matthew Saldívar (Guildenstern); and Anatol Yusef (Laertes).

"Oscar Isaac starred in the first show I produced at the Delacorte, Two Gents in the summer of 2005. His Romeo two years later was more proof of his brilliance," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "Sam Gold's production of Fun Home was one of the most extraordinary directorial feats I've ever produced. The prospect of the two of them collaborating on what is arguably the greatest play ever written is joyous."

Oscar Isaac returns to The Public in this electrifyingly intimate new production of Shakespeare's eternal drama. Isaac is the prince caught between thought and action, anger and anguish as his uncle assumes the throne left vacant by his murdered father. As the dead king calls to him from the grave, demanding to be avenged, Hamlet is forced to choose between bearing the oppressor's wrong or taking arms against a sea of troubles. Tony Award winner Sam Gold directs theater's most powerful tragedy about life and death, madness and conscience, and corruption-of the state and of the soul.

HAMLET features scenic design by David Zinn; costume design by Kaye Voyce; lighting design by Mark Barton; sound design by Bray Poor; and musical direction, composition, and performance by cellist Ernst Reijseger.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Sam Gold (Director) directed Fun Home for The Public, as well as the Broadway transfer, earning him a Tony Award. Fun Home is currently on its national tour. His recent credits include Othello (NYTW); The Flick (Barrow Street, Playwrights Horizons, Royal National Theater London, Lortel nomination); The Glass Menagerie (Toneelgroepe Amsterdam); John (Signature Theater; Obie Award, Drama Desk Nomination); The Mystery of Love & Sex (Lincoln Center Theater); The Village Bike (MCC); The Realistic Joneses (Broadway, Yale Rep, CT Critics Circle Award); Uncle Vanya (Soho Rep, Drama Desk nomination); Cradle Will Rock (Encores! Off-Center); Kin (Playwrights Horizons); The Big Meal (Playwrights Horizons, Lortel Award); Look Back in Anger (Roundabout, Lortel nomination); Seminar (Broadway, Ahmanson LA); Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons; Drama Desk nomination, Obie Award); The Aliens(Rattlestick, Obie Award). He is a resident director at Roundabout Theatre Company. Training: Juilliard.

Roberta Colindrez (Rosencrantz) recently appeared at The Public in Fun Home, as well as on Broadway, in the Public Lab production, and at the Sundance Lab. Her theater credits include Mala Hierba at Second Stage Uptown; and she is a writer, performer, and director for New York Neo-Futurists. Her film and television credits include Birdman, Devon in "I Love Dick" on Amazon, Tako in "Girls," "Boardwalk Empire," and "Gotham."

Peter Friedman (Polonius). His New York Theater credits include Her Requiem, The Nether, Jacuzzi, Fly By Night, The Open House, The Hatmaker's Wife, End Days, Circle Mirror Transformation, Body Awareness, Uncle Vanya, The Shaggs, After the Revolution, The Great God Pan, The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, The Heidi Chronicles, Ragtime, The Common Pursuit, A Soldier's Play, and a Nightingale Sang..., The Loman Family Picnic, Twelve Angry Men. His film and television credits include The Savages, Safe, Single White Female, The Messenger, Breaking Upwards, Love and Other Drugs, "The Muppet Show," "Brooklyn Bridge," "The Affair," "High Maintenance," and "The Path."

Oscar Isaac (Hamlet) appeared at The Public as Romeo in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet and as Proteus in Two Gentleman of Verona. Additionally, he has appeared on the stage in Grace at MCC, directed by Joe Hardy; Beauty of the Father at MTC, directed by Michael Greif; and We Live Here at MTC, directed by Sam Gold. He gained critical acclaim, a Golden Globe nomination, and an Independent Spirit Award for "Best Male Lead" for Inside Llewyn Davis. Isaac went on to receive a Golden Globe Award for "Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film" and a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for "Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries" for his role in HBO's "Show Me A Hero." Most recently he starred as Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and can be seen in the next episode, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. His additional recent credits include A Most Violent Year, for which he earned the National Board of Review Award for "Best Actor"; Ex Machina; X-Men: Apocalyse. He recently finished filming The Promise with Christian Bale and Annihilation with Natalie Portman.

Keegan-Michael Key (Horatio) is an Emmy and Peabody-Award winning actor, writer, and creator best known for his role as co-creator and co-star of Comedy Central's "Key and Peele." He is making his New York Theater debut with Hamlet at The Public. He was recently seen on film in Mike Birbiglia's Don't Think Twice and in 20th Century Fox's holiday comedy Why Him? opposite Bryan Cranston and James Franco. Key is currently in production on Shane Black's The Predator. He will next be seen in Joe Swanberg's film Win It All, premiering on Netflix on March 24. He has also lent his vocal talents to such films as Storks and Angry Birds and will be heard in the upcoming Sony Pictures Animation's The Star. His additional upcoming roles include Nick Stoller's Netflix series "Friends from College," and his other TV credits include six seasons on "MadTV," "Playing House," "Children's Hospital," "Parks and Recreation," and "Gary Unmarried." Key was named among Time Magazine's "Most Influential People of 2014" and Entertainment Weekly's "Entertainers of the Year of 2012." He is a veteran of Detroit and Chicago's The Second City Theater, and received his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Detroit-Mercy, and his Master of Fine Arts in Theater from Pennsylvania State University.

Gayle Rankin (Ophelia, Second Gravedigger) has previously appeared in The Public's Shakespeare in the Park production of The Taming of the Shrew directed by Phyllida Lloyd. She will soon be seen in the highly anticipated Netflix original series "Glow," created by Jenji Kohan of "Orange Is the New Black" and the Noah Baumbach film Yeh Din Ka Kissa. New York Theatre credits include Fraulein Cost in Cabaret on Broadway, directed by Sam Mendes; Tribes at the Barrow Street Theatre, directed by David Cromer; and The Mystery of Love & Sex at Lincoln Center Theater, directed by Sam Gold. Rankin is a graduate of Juilliard, Group 40.

MATTHEW SALDÍVAR (Guildenstern) is currently playing Tony Cavendish in Rachel Chavkin's production of The Royal Family. He played Hermes in Ms. Chavkin's production of Hadestown at New York Theater Workshop. Other recent credits include Daphne's Dive at Signature Theater directed by Thomas Kail and MTC's Important Hats of the 20th Century directed by Moritz Von Stulpnagel. Broadway credits include Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher, Act One, Honeymoon In Vegas, Streetcar..., Grease, and The Wedding Singer.

Anatol Yusef (Laertes). His stage work encompasses a range of productions both in the U.K. and U.S. Shakespeare roles include extensive work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet, and the titular role in Richard III. Best known for playing Meyer Lansky on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and the U.K.'s acclaimed Channel 4 mini-series "Southcliffe," Yusef most recently appeared on AMC's "Preacher" and the film Bastille Day. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

The Public Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. In over 10 years at The Public, Eustis has created new community-based initiatives designed to engage audiences like Public Lab, Public Studio, Public Forum, Public Works, and a remount of the Mobile Unit. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and by leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to Free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs. The Public's wide range of programming includes Free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company's dedication to making theater accessible to all; Public Works, an expanding initiative that is designed to cultivate new connections and new models of engagement with artists, audiences, and the community each year; and audience and artist development initiatives that range from the Emerging Writers Group to the Public Forum series. The Public's work is also seen on tour throughout the U.S. and internationally and in collaborations and co-productions with regional and international theaters. The Public is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In October 2012 the landmark building downtown at Astor Place was revitalized to physically manifest the Company's core mission of sparking new dialogues and increasing accessibility for artists and audiences, by dramatically opening up the building to the street and community, and transforming the lobby into a public piazza for artists, students, and audiences. The Public is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning acclaimed American musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda and in spring 2017, Lynn Nottage's acclaimed new play Sweat. The Public has received 59 Tony Awards, 168 Obie Awards, 53 Drama Desk Awards, 54 Lortel Awards, 32 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics Awards, and five Pulitzer Prizes. Visit www.publictheater.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride