If one Shakespeare is good, two will be wonderful!
Monmouth College’s winter, 2008 theatre production features one act versions of two of Shakespeare’s best known plays; OTHELLO and HAMLET. OTHELLO will be directed by senior Michelle Anstett, HAMLET by Dr. Bill Wallace.
Discussions of the production began last year with Ms. Anstett creating an Independent Study application to direct OTHELLO. Further conversations within the theatre area resulted in a unique opportunity for audiences to see two of Shakespeare’s most challenging works.
“Often, an educational theatre program is ‘measured’ by its success in doing the classics, “ notes HAMLET director Wallace, “this gives us the chance to offer more opportunities for student actors as well as the challenge of making both shows fit in an evening of theatre.”
Both Anstett and Wallace have spent many hours adapting the scripts to allow for the intent of the plays to be realized while creating pieces that will each run approximately one hour.
“Sometimes it is very daunting to tackle Shakespeare because you know so much has already been written and created,”, notes Wallace, “yet I think it is valuable to try and articulate certain ideas, themes to a new audience with new performers taking on the famous roles. I hope that our production will provide insight as well as enjoyment – certainly I have discovered new interpretations and staging ideas, and I think the production will be of value both for audiences new to the Bard as well as those who have seen many Shakespearean productions.”
HAMLET is often viewed as a revenge play and/or as a study in the failure to act. One of the advantages in this version is the incredible speed of activity and chance; in other words, young Hamlet is responding so quickly to the death of his father, his mother’s remarriage, his breakup with Ophelia (and her death), that he is forced to react rather than reflect…in Act Five, Scene Two Hamlet says to his friend Horatio, “We defy augury…The readiness is now.” We do the best we can with the situations we face; we move forward because we must. And so it is with us.