Writers' Theatre announces casting for Hamlet
Writers' Theatre opens its 21st Season with William Shakespeare's Hamlet, directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam, and featuring Scott Parkinson (Hamlet), Shannon Cochran (Gertrude), Michael Canavan (Claudius), Timothy Edward Kane (Laertes), Larry Yando (Ghost and As Cast), Ross Lehman (Polonius), Kareem Bandealy (Horatio), Liesel Matthews (Ophelia), Julian Parker (Rosencrantz), Witold Huzior (Fortinbras) and Billy Fenderson (Guildenstern). The production runs September 4 - November 11, 2012 at Writers' Theatre, 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe. The press opening is September 13, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
The king is dead-murdered by his own brother, who has claimed the throne and the widowed queen. And the world goes on...but the Prince cannot. Shakespeare's greatest tragedy is equal parts ghost story, political intrigue, doomed romance and murder mystery, driven by one of literature's most intriguing, enigmatic and controversial characters.
Artistic Director Michael Halberstam stages this masterwork of literature on the most intimate of stages, exploring the tortured genius of Prince Hamlet in a theatrical experience that is not to be missed.
"The impetus for staging any of Shakespeare's masterworks must initiate with the casting. The desire to bring Scott Parkinson's Dane to the stage has proved to be a formidable rallying point and Writers' Theatre has subsequently assembled an ensemble of actors that truly articulates the full breadth and sophistication of the Chicago acting community. From fresh voices to experienced veterans, this cast commands respect, demands attention and inspires the imagination," says director Michael Halberstam.