Local companies combine forces on bold, gender-bending Hamlet

Same Boat and Rook’s Theatre stage a radical new look at the Shakespeare classic in a North End historic gem.

Local indie companies Same Boat and Rook's Theatre have collaborated on an immersive, gender-bent production of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which will open for a limited run on Sept. 26. The play will be performed in Saint Luke's Mission, one of North End Hamilton's “historic and overlooked architectural gems,” as the press release puts it.

Under the direction of Aaron Joel Craig, the cast of both experienced and newer actors intends to offer a “bold new interpretation” of the storied Shakespearean tragedy within an “intimate” and “immersive atmosphere.” 

Leading the charge is Hamilton actor Stephanie Hope Lawlor, bringing a fresh approach to the title role. Rather than tackling Hamlet as a “breeches role,” in which a woman crossdresses to play a man, Lawlor will play Hamlet as a female character.

“Our production of Hamlet challenges traditional gender dynamics around how Hamlet has to navigate male-dominated structures of power in a world where she’s denied agency,” Lawlor explains. “It’s a traditionally male role set in a patriarchal court, and the production takes place in a church. Unpacking these layers has been complex, intense, and has shed a really different light on the play I thought I knew.”

Lawlor says audiences will find this Hamlet to be both familiar and radically new.

“This production offers a lot to be explored about how women are often doubted, dismissed, or restricted in male-dominated space. The idea of female emotion and rage being viewed as hysteria or ‘madness’ really leaps.”

As one of the most frequently quoted plays in the English language, Hamlet is well-known for exploring family, betrayal, revenge, and identity. As the collaborators of this production see it, reconfiguring the casting “unearths new dimensions of the well-loved play, opening up themes of misogyny, queer erasure, and mother-daughter relationships.”

“As you know, Hamlet is being played by a woman, as a woman, and it has really been interesting as an actor to look at how all of Hamlet's relationships change through that lens,” cast member Jennifer Walton says. 

“In playing Gertrude, I've focused on the mother-daughter relationship differently than a traditionally male Hamlet. Also, with Polonius being played by a woman, the mother-daughter relationship with Ophelia is completely different but really fascinating. Then there is Ophelia and Hamlet. When two women play it, ‘get thee to a nunnery’ means something completely different.”

“We've had so many great discussions as a cast about this non-traditional approach and it has been so fun to get to play in the space but still remain faithful to Shakespeare's intention,” Walton adds.

This enthusiasm extends throughout the cast. Rebekka Gondosch is eager to engage with audiences: “I can't wait to talk to audiences after the show to learn about what new discoveries they've made with this adaptation. I suppose what I'd like them to know is that this version of Hamlet is intimate and electric and anything is possible.” 

They are also excited to share their take on Ophelia as an “intelligent and passionate person … from a queer perspective.”

In addition, Stephen Near draws specific attention to the experience the venue itself will inspire for those who witness the production. “We're performing Hamlet inside Saint. Luke's Anglican Church. Built in 1898, the interior with stained glass and wooden pews feels like another world full of ritual and sacredness. It resonates with the themes of the play – of fate and tragedy – in a very powerful way. The whole of the cast performs the play all around the audience such that they'll feel like they are part of the story. It's very visceral and powerful.”

Near says that, just in time for Halloween, the production embraces the spookiness of the play. 

“Hamlet is a ghost story at its core. And the company is performing with the conceit that we're echoes and ghosts of a tragic tale long since past,” Near says. “The haunting use of sound and music and projections all resonating within the space just amplify the already powerful themes within the play.”

Walton agrees:  “It takes place (in a) church – not a traditional theatre space – and we have been intentional about trying to use the space instead of imposing theatre onto the space. It's very moody and spooky and dark in all the right ways.”

Lest anyone wonder whether Hamlet, as the Bard’s longest play, or this production’s ideological choices will cause performances to feel ponderous, Near says that nothing could be further from the truth. “There's a propulsion and a drive to the story that the cast, alongside (director) Aaron's cuts to the script, just make the events of the story much clearer and focused. It's going to be a wild ride for us as performers and for the audience.”

Walton concurs. “This is a very ‘rock and roll’ version of Hamlet. The script is trimmed and it really moves.”

With the involvement of notable local theatre talents, a unique venue, and a thought-provoking reinterpretation of the text, this Same Boat/Rook’s Theatre collaboration looks to be an experience not to be missed by local theatre lovers.

Hamlet stars Sophie Côté (Guildenstern, others), David DiFrancesco (Laertes), Rebekka Gondosch (Ophelia), Allison Hossack (Polonius), Stephanie Hope Lawlor (Hamlet), Stephen Near (King Claudius), Michael Rode (Horatio), Jennifer Walton (Gertrude), and Jay Watson (Rosencrantz).

NEED TO KNOW

HAMLET
Saint Luke’s Mission
454 John St. N., Hamilton
Sept. 26, 27 & 28 and Oct. 3, 4 & 5
All performances at 7:30 p.m.
General admission, starting at $20 and up
Tickets here