July 29-30—BRANDON—Shakespeare on Main Street will present its summer production of “Hamlet: 2017” in Brandon and Woodstock.
If extraterrestrials were to visit Earth, we’d probably put a copy of “Hamlet” in their welcome basket. It’s that good. Well over 400 years after William Shakespeare wrote the play between 1599 and 1601, readers and audiences are still connecting with it. The play tells the story of Prince Hamlet, but he’s no party-boy prince. When the action begins, we discover that his dad (the King of Denmark) has been murdered by his own brother, and Hamlet’s uncle Claudius. Ouch. Talk about sibling rivalry. And it gets worse: not too long after the murder, Claudius married Hamlet’s mom, Gertrude.
Hamlet is having a teenage crisis. He’s got a crush on a girl who might be cheating on him; he doesn’t like the guy his mom remarried; and he feels a lot of pressure to live up to his dad’s expectations. In other words, Hamlet is just like us. Sure, he’s got bigger problems. (And ghosts.) But his mysterious inner life, his roller coaster of emotions, his struggle to figure out what to do with his life, his conflicted feelings about his parents — this is the stuff that every coming-of-age novel (and movie) is made of.
Shakespeare on Main Street sets the play in modern day, drawing the audience to explore how Shakespeare’s words are relevant today. The key themes behind “Hamlet” are the price of vengeance, effects of deception, madness and the consequences of corruption. The themes that Shakespeare expresses in “Hamlet” are just as relevant to today’s society, perhaps even more so.
Come join Shakespeare on Main Street this summer for an exploration of the human spirit and what happens when it is challenged.
Show dates and times are:
Saturday, July 29 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, July 30 at 2 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall Theatre, One Conant Square, Brandon; and Saturday, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Little Theater, 54 River Street, Woodstock.
Tickets are $18 for adults, and $12 for ages 18 and under, for each show.
For more information, visit shakespeareonmainstreet.org.
