Theater Reconstruction Ensemble's HOW TO HAMLET, OR HAMLETING HAMLET Headed to HERE

In Theater Reconstruction Ensemble's How to Hamlet, or Hamleting Hamlet four actors are tasked with staging-you guessed it-Hamlet.

But will they shed new light on the most well known story in the English language? Can they escape the historical weight such a canonical play carries? Are they prepared to take on such a monumental challenge? As they confront their own artistic and academic anxieties their conversation transforms into a sort of séance, giving way to an unexpected conjuring of the ghosts of Hamlet past. As each actor transforms into the stock characters of Shakespeare's classic-a ghost, a scholar, a king, and a grave-digging clown-they fall deeper down the rabbit hole of theatrical history. Shakespeare's words swirl around them, but are never quite within their grasp.

Ultimately, their struggle to insert a piece of themselves into Shakespeare's masterpiece becomes the story of How to Hamlet, or Hamleting Hamlet, and the action of Theater Reconstruction Ensemble's meta-theatrical meditation on the Bard's most famous work.

How to Hamlet, or Hamleting Hamlet features Nathaniel Basch-Gould, Sam Corbin, Joshua William Gelb, Emily Marro. How to Hamlet, or Hamleting Hamlet is created and performed by Theater Reconstruction Ensemble, written by John Kurzynowski and Jon Riddleberger after William Shakespeare, and conceived and directed by John Kurzynowski with associate direction by Lauren Swan-Potras, sound design by Alex Hawthorn and Kate Marvin, production design by Marika Kent, production management by Markus Paminger, and stage management by Julia Levine.

This production is a part of SubletSeries@HERE: a curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical support.

Performance Schedule:
Thursday March 30 at 7pm *preview
Friday March 31 at 7pm *preview
Saturday April 1 at 2pm *matinee
Saturday April 1 at 7pm *opening
Sunday April 2 at 2pm *matinee
Tuesday April 4 at 7pm
Wednesday April 5 at 7pm
Thursday April 6 at 7pm
Friday April 7 at 7pm
Saturday April 8 at 2pm *matinee
Saturday April 8 at 7pm
Sunday April 9 at 2pm *matinee
Tuesday April 11 at 7pm
Wednesday April 12 at 7pm
Thursday April 13 at 7pm
Friday April 14 at 7pm

All performances of How to Hamlet, or Hamleting Hamlet are performed at HERE, which is located at 145 6 Ave. (enter on Dominick Street one block south of Spring). More information at here.org or call 212-352-3101. Tickets: $18. Running time is 70 minutes.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

JOHN KURZYNOWSKI (writer / director)
John Kurzynowski is the founder and Artistic Director of Theater Reconstruction Ensemble, for which he has conceived and directed each mainstage production and developmental program. He has also collaborated with Target Margin Theater, The Talking Band, Tugboat Collective, Little Lord, and artists Jaclyn Backhaus, David Herskovits, and David Greenspan, among others. His process of creative collaboration has been taught at Abrons Arts Center through The School of Making Thinking. He recently served as the Producer of OBIE and Drama Desk Award-winning Ma-Yi Theater Company.

Jon Riddleberger (writer)
Jon Riddleberger has been working with TRE since its inception and has performed in five mainstage productions with the company. Jon is an actor, puppeteer, and teaching artist in NYC. He toured for two and a half years as a puppeteer with War Horse in North America and Japan. Currently he is developing new work with Dead Puppet Society and teaching puppetry around NYC.

Theater Reconstruction Ensemble is an evolving collective of theater artists striving to reconstruct both classical and canonical forms of theatricality through the playful development of works over time. Committed to a collaborative approach to theater making, TRE functions as a project-based ensemble of artists working under the artistic leadership of director John Kurzynowski, collectively examining each element of a theatrical text or tradition and creating new works that reflect the ensemble's personal connection to the materiel being explored. Prior works include Rhinbecca, NY, You On The Moors Now, Salesmen: a meditation on masculinity and the American REAL!, Set in the Living Room of a Small Town American Play, and The Three Seagulls, or MASHAMASHAMASHA!, among others.

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