Photo Flash: First Look at HAMLET at The Old Globe

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for William Shakespeare's exhilarating tragedy Hamlet, one of the greatest plays ever written. The Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein returns to the outdoor festival stage, with a cast featuring some of the nation's finest classical actors, to bring Shakespeare's iconic play to life. Revenge thriller, ghost story, psychological drama, political epic, and family saga, all packed in one, with unforgettable characters, theatrical masterstrokes, and world-famous lines. The Prince of Denmark comes home from college to find his father dead, his mother remarried to his uncle, and a spine-chilling apparition roaming the palace grounds. Hamlet plays August 6 - September 10, 2017, in the outdooR Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Previews run August 6-11, with opening night on Saturday, August 12 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets start at $30 and are on sale now to the general public.

The cast of Hamlet will feature Grantham Coleman (The Public Theater's As You Like It and Buzzer, Hulu's 11.22.63) in the title role, with Opal Alladin (Hedda Gabler and On Golden Pond on Broadway, United 93)as Queen Gertrude; Michael Genet (Broadway's Wicked, Hamlet, A Few Good Men) as The Ghost, Player King, and Gravedigger; Patrick Kerr (Globe's King Richard II and Love's Labor's Lost,"Frasier") as Polonius; Ian Lassiter (Globe's King Richard II, Broadway's The Cherry Orchard and War Horse)as Horatio; Jonny Orsini (Love's Labor's Lost and Othello at the Globe, The Nance and Macbeth on Broadway) as Laertes; and Cornell Womack (Globe's The Winter's Tale, Broadway's On Golden Pond and Talk Radio)as King Claudius. The cast also includes students in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program: Amara James Aja as Marcellus and Sailor; Samuel Max Avishay as Voltemand; Nora Carroll as Guildenstern; Renardo Charles Jr. as Player Lucianus; Ajinkya Desai as Norwegian Captain and Player Prologue; Talley Beth Gale as Ophelia; Kevin Hafso-Koppman as Rosencrantz; Daniel Ian Joeck as Francisco and Doctor of Divinity; Lorenzo Landini as Barnardo and Fortinbras; Jose Martinez as Gentleman of King Claudius's Court; Christina A. Okolo as Player Queen; Larica Schnell as Osric; and Samantha Sutliff as Cornelia. The musicians are Chaz Cabrera and Gabriel Wolf.

The creative team includes Tim Mackabee (Scenic Design), Cait O'Connor (Costume Design), Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Design), Sten Severson (Sound Design), Curtis Moore (Original Music), Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum (Fight Director), David Huber (Voice Coach), Jim Carnahan, CSA (Casting), and Pamela Salling (Production Stage Manager).

"The privilege of directing Hamlet at The Old Globe is deeply meaningful to me, and I'm thrilled and honored to do it," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "The play is endlessly fascinating, puzzling, and rewarding, and experiencing it in the hands of brilliant actors is one of the great thrills that live theatre can deliver. The company assembled in San Diego this summer is simply breathtaking-full of talent, imagination, and power-and I cannot wait to share their work, and this magnificent play, with our audiences."

Barry Edelstein (Director, Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director) is a stage director, producer, author, and educator. Recognized as one of the leading American authorities on the works of Shakespeare, he has directed nearly half of the Bard's plays. His Globe directing credits include The Winter's Tale, Othello, The Twenty-seventh Man, the world premiere of Rain, and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. He also directed All's Well That Ends Well as the inaugural production of the Globe for All community tour. As Director of the Shakespeare Initiative at The Public Theater (2008-2012), Mr. Edelstein oversaw all of the company's Shakespearean productions as well as its educational, community outreach, and artist-training programs. At The Public, he staged the world premiere of The Twenty-seventh Man, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, Timon of Athens, and Steve Martin's WASP and Other Plays.He was also Associate Producer of The Public's Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino. From 1998 to 2003 he was Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company. Mr. Edelstein's other Shakespearean directorial credits include The Winter's Tale at Classic Stage Company; As You Like It starring Gwyneth Paltrow; and Richard III starring John Turturro. His additional credits include the Lucille Lortel Award-winning revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons; the world premiere of Steve Martin's The Underpants, which he commissioned; and Molière's The Misanthrope starring Uma Thurman in her stage debut. Mr. Edelstein has taught Shakespearean acting at The Juilliard School, New York University's Graduate Acting Program, and the University of Southern California. His book Thinking Shakespeare is the standard text on American Shakespearean acting. He is also the author of Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions. He is a graduate of Tufts University and the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

Hamlet is supported in part through gifts from Production Sponsors Karen and Donald Cohn, Ann Davies, Pam Farr and Buford Alexander, Joan and Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm, Jean and Gary Shekhter, Gillian and Tony Thornley, the Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Fund, and Vicki and Carl Zeiger, as well as Artist Sponsors Sue and Edward "Duff" Sanderson (for Jonny Orsini, playing Laertes), June Yoder (for Grantham Coleman, playing Hamlet), and an anonymous donor (for costume designer Cait O'Connor). Hamlet is also supported by the Jean and Gary Shekhter Fund for Classic Theatre.

Photos by Jim Cox.

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