Driftwood Theatre Group Bringing HAMLET to Toronto

Driftwood Theatre Group is proud to present HAMLET, the world's most famous play, like it's never seen it before. Driftwood's summer tour will feature a thrilling new adaptation of HAMLET by Toby Malone which is unpredictable, unsettling and downright dangerous.

From July 9 - August 16, The Bard's Bus Tour will bring this electrifying revenge-thriller to 27 locations across Ontario in 39 days. The Bard's Bus Tour has brought professional Pay-What-You-Can performances of classic plays to outdoor locations in small towns and city neighbourhoods across the province for 21 years.

Between July 9 and 26, HAMLET will play in various locations in the GTA including Todmorden Mills and Withrow Park in Toronto and Benares Historic House in Mississauga.

HAMLET is directed by D. Jeremy Smith, founder and Artistic Director of Driftwood Theatre Group; is adapted by Toby Malone, PhD using the structure of the rarely-performed First ("Bad") Quarto (1603) and the textual content of the iconic First Folio (1623); and stars Soulpepper Theatre company member and Dora Award winner Paolo Santalucia as Hamlet; National Theatre School Graduate, Natasha Mumba as Ophelia; Stratford Festival's Jon de Leon as Claudius; poet, playwright and actor Nehassaiu deGannes as Gertrude; founding member of Driftwood Theatre Group Steven Burley as Guildenstern; Dora Award-winning Richard Alan Campbell as Polonius; four-time Rideau Award nominee Sarah Finn as Horatio, and for his sixth season with Driftwood, Christopher Darroch as Laertes.

HAMLET is the ultimate tragedy framed in a world dominated by the politics of fear. Newcomers to HAMLET and Shakespearean aficionados will delight in this version; a perfect match for Driftwood's inventive theatrical style and magical outdoor settings. This is HAMLET with the brakes off!

Founded in 1995, Driftwood Theatre Group is Ontario's first and longest-running outdoor touring theatre tradition. Working with the best emerging and established artists today, the annual Bard's Bus Tour travels to parks and heritage sites across the province, focusing on communities with little or no access to professional theatre. Believing that great theatre is only of value if an audience has access to it, Driftwood Theatre Group's annual Bard's Bus Tour is always Pay-What-You-Can admission.