Shakespeare Hamlet

Directed by John Zuill

September 2012

Auditions will be held at the end of February for HAMLET (dates to be announced). Come audition for the most argued about, praised, vilified, hated, loved play ever. No one ever made this play anything but their own version. There is no definitive vision. Come and make yours in the biggest emotional and intellectual arena of the imagination. This is it. The big test. The best dance of the night. The longest strangest trip. The girl with the far away eyes. The guy last see departing the scene of the crime. The cream for the cat. The colours of the rainbow. The fat lady singing. This is why you're here. This is it. Give it a shot.

Characters

Hamlet: Young man, not that young though.

Claudius: Older man. But not all that old

Gertrude: Hamlet's mother. Around Claudius's age.

Polonius: About Claudius's age. Maybe older.

Ophelia: Polonius's daughter.

Laertes: Polonius's son.

And a host of other really good parts including one of the best small parts of all time: the grave digger.

So; young people and old people and in between. If that includes you come and audition. Want to know what the play is about?

You can read it here. Here's the plot and characters.

And here is a list of fairly good movie versions (watching and listening is always better than reading)

Hamlet (1996), directed by Kenneth Branagh - This is the complete version. Huge and a little cloying at times but Ken really gets going toward the end.

Hamlet (2000), directed by Michael Almereyda - Modern version set in Manhattan. Interesting but perhaps not as incisive as Branagh.

Hamlet, David Tennant playing Hamlet is available on Itunes. Patrick Stewart plays Claudius. Its the most fun I've had watching the play on the screen. For some reason you have to search for it as a TV show.

And yes, Hamlet is on youtube, with about 50,000 entries. Pick a part and search for "Hamlet" and "(the part you're interested in)" and you will be spoiled for choice.