HAMLET Comes to Orlando Shakes

William Shakespeare's Hamlet produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF runs from February 6 - March 24, 2019. Hamlet will play in repertory with the world premiere of Gertrude and Claudius by Mark St. Germain. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." While mourning his father's sudden death, Prince Hamlet returns home to discover his mother hastily remarried and his despised uncle assuming the throne. When an apparition of the late king accuses the uncle of murder, Hamlet, pushed to the brink of madness, is driven to avenge a crime that could be the product of his own imagining. Torn between thought and action, the manic prince is left questioning what is real and what he alone has dreamed up. The cornerstone of Shakespeare's genius, Hamlet walks the line between spiralling insanity and the truth.

Orlando Shakes' Hamlet features:

Junior Nyong'o as Hamlet. Nyong'o is an actor from Nairobi, Kenya. Orlando Shakes credits: Man of La Mancha, Showtime with Shakespeare: A Magic Tree House Adventure, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Twelfth Night, Shakespeare in Love and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. He is a recent Theatre Arts graduate from Stetson University. Nyong'o was heavily involved in Stetson's plays during his time there, both on and off stage. Acting credits at Stetson include Phillip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread and Mint Juleps in 2013's Student-Directed One Act Play Festival.

Susan Maris* as Ophelia. Maris returns to Orlando Shakes after being seen as Viola in Shakespeare in Love. NYC: The Merry Wives of Windsor, The House of Bernarda Alba, and The Book of the Dun Cow (Prospect Theatre Company), Henry V, King Lear, and The Edwin Booth Company Presents, This Prison Where I Live (Titan Theatre). Regional: Blithe Spirit, Love's Labour's Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, The Learned Ladies, Othello, The Servant of Two Masters, A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, and The Grapes of Wrath with The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Happy, Struck, Halftime with Don and The Substance of Bliss with New Jersey Repertory Company, Cymbeline with Theatreworks Colorado. Film/TV: Limitless, She Gave Me Water, The Blood Painting, Discovery, College Humor.

Paige Lindsey White* as Gertrude. Stage: Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (Pasadena Playhouse); Macon Hill in Abundance and Lauren in Kings (South Coast Rep); Brooke Wyeth in Other Desert Cities (Arizona Theatre Company & Indiana Rep); Ann in At Home at The Zoo (Wallis Annenberg); Titania in Mendelssohn's Midsummer (Disney Concert Hall); Georgie in Heisenberg (u/s) (Mark Taper Forum); Fallen Angels & Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Ensemble Theatre Santa Barbara); Rapture Blister Burn (San Diego Rep); Love's Labour's Lost & Romeo and Juliet (Santa Cruz Shakespeare); Trying, Ghost-Writer, and The Heir Apparent (International City Theatre); The Children, R II & With Love and A Major Organ (Theatre @ Boston Court); Walking the Tightrope (24TH ST Theatre), Ivo van Hove's A View From the Bridge (Ahmanson & Kennedy Center, u/s). International Tour: Trial of the Catonsville Nine (The Actors' Gang). TV: Shameless, American Woman, Corporate, Days of Our Lives, TV Funhouse. LA Drama Critics' Circle Award Lead Performance Winner, 3 Ovation Nominations www. paigelindseywhite.com

Gene Gillette* as Claudius. Broadway National Tours: Ed Boone in The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night Time, Ted Narracot in War Horse both for The National Theatre of Great Britain. Regional and Off Broadway: Macbeth with Frances McDormand at Berkeley Rep, the title role in Hamlet at the Denver Civic, Pale in Burn This at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Thurio in Two Gentlemen of Verona for The Shakespeare Theatre, Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire (Ovation Award) Theatreworks, Padraic in Lieutenant of Inishmore (Ovation Award) and Bobby Reyburn in Coyote on a Fence (Ovation Award) both with Curious Theatre. Television: Quantico, Elementary, The Good Wife, Person of Interest, Law and Order SVU. MFA: The Shakespeare Theatre's Academy for Classical Acting

The cast also features Greg Thornton* as Player King/Gravedigger 1, Dan Kremer* as Polonius, Adam Reilly as Laertes, Kenny Babel as Ghost/Ensemble, Rudy Roushdi* as Horatio, Mandi Lee as Herda/Player Queen, Amanda Anne Dayton as Bernardo/Guildenstern, Carlos Pereyo as Cornelius/Player-Lucianus/Fortinbras, Andy Hansen as Marcellus/Player/Osric, Terence Lee as Francisco/Rosencrantz, Daniel Romano as Voltemand/Player-Prologue/Captain/English Ambassador, and Daniel James Roth as Reynaldo/Player-Queen/Messenger/Gravedigger 2.

Director Brian Vaughn previously directed Othello and The Merry Wives of Windsor at Orlando Shakes. He is currently the Artistic Director of The Utah Shakespeare Festival where he has directed and performed in over 50 productions including title roles in Hamlet, Henry V, Cyrano de Bergerac, and recently Iago in Othello, The Poet in An Iliad and Brad in the World Premiere of Neil LaBute's How to Fight Loneliness. Regional credits include The Milwaukee Repertory Theatre (Resident Company Member - 13 seasons), Arizona Theatre Company, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre, PCPA Theatrefest, Skylight Music Theatre. Recent directing credits include Henry IV pt. 1 & 2, Henry V, and the regional premiers of Peter and the Starcatcher and Shakespeare in Love.

The artistic team also includes Scenic Designer Jim Hunter**, Lighting Designer Bert Scott**, Costume Designer Jack Smith, Sound Designer Britt Sandusky, and Fight Choreographer Tony Simotes.

*Member of Actors' Equity Association

**Member of United Scenic Artists

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