HAMLET With Amaka Umeh Now Available On Stratfest@Home For Streaming Worldwide

The Stratford Festival's filmed performance of Hamlet is now available on Stratfest@Home for streaming worldwide.

Amaka Umeh as Hamlet is joined by Graham Abbey as the King of Denmark, Hamlet's uncle, Claudius; Maev Beaty as the Queen, Hamlet's mother, Gertrude; Austin Eckert as Laertes; Jakob Ehman as Horatio; Ijeoma Emesowum as Guildenstern; Andrea Rankin as Ophelia; Michael Spencer-Davis as Polonius; and Norman Yeung as Rosencrantz; with Hilary Adams, Bola Aiyeola, Celia Aloma, isi bhakhomen, Laura Condlln, Rachel Jones, Matthew Kabwe, John Kirkpatrick, Kevin Kruchkywich, Josue Laboucane, Ngabo Nabea, Anthony Santiago and Tyrone Savage.

Amaka Umeh is the first Black actor to play Hamlet at the Stratford Festival. The filmed performance of Hamlet joins a collection of works curated for Black History Month. Additional titles in this collection include:

• Death and the King's Horseman - Stratford Festival
• Voice - Prairie Theatre Exchange
• Unarmed Verses - National Film Board
• Black Soul - National Film Board
• Meet Chloe - Carousel Players, written by Cameron Grant
• House Notes with Old Heads (podcast) - E.B. Smith and Addae Moon
• From Our Point of View (series) - Robert Ball, hosted by Hollywood Jade
• Whose Lives Matter (panel discussion) - Stratford Festival, The Meighen Forum

This fast-paced production, which presents Shakespeare's play as a modern day mystery-thriller, follows Prince Hamlet, who is placed in a moral quandary by the apparition of his father's ghost. This spectre claims to have been murdered by the brother who now wears his crown - and who, having married the widowed queen, is now not only Hamlet's uncle but also his stepfather.

Directed for the stage by Peter Pasyk and for the screen by Nicholas Shields, the production was captured live on October 19, 2022.

This month, explore Hamlet and the entire Black History Month collection on Stratfest@Home. Hamlet joins All's Well That Ends Well and Death and the King's Horseman as the third release from the Stratford Festival's 70th season. Stay tuned for the upcoming releases of The Miser, Richard III and 1939.

For more information, visit stratfordfestival.ca.

Subscribe to Stratfest@Home for just $10 a month and gain access to the best in Canadian digital theatrical productions, including the Stratford Festival's acclaimed Shakespeare films, selected productions from the 2021 and 2022 seasons, original digital content and selected events from the Festival's Meighen Forum, along with documentaries and original content from around the world.

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