Theatre Program Presents William Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Thursday, October 26, 2006, 07:30 PM

CSU Theatre Program Presents William Shakespeare’s Hamlet - "I could a tale unfold whose lightest word / Would harrow up thy soul. . . ." 

The Colorado State University School of the Arts Theatre Department is pleased to present William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This production promises to be an exciting and memorable theatre experience staged in an unusually intimate setting in the Studio Theatre at the University Center for the Arts at 1400 Remington Street.

(Pictured at right:  Rehearsal with students Kristen Mudge playing Hamlet and Dan Tschirhart playing Horatio)

It opens October 26 and runs October 27 and 28, and November 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 at 7:30 pm and November 5 at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $6 for students, $10 for seniors and $14 for the general public, plus a small campus box office service charge. Tickets can be purchased by calling 970-491-4TIX or at http://www.csutix.com.

Performances are popular, and with limited seating, advance purchase is highly recommended.

Of all Shakespeare’s plays, many consider The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke to be the best known.  It is judged by scholars to be, in the entire world of literature, the single work most written about and commented upon.

In over 400 years since the play was written, it has never stopped being performed. It continues to exert a fascination and a spell over readers and audiences to this day.  In Colorado State University’s first production of this major work, the play will be an authentic staging of Shakespeare’s text, drawing on the ‘good’ second Quarto and the Folio editions, with no changes of scene order or post-modernistic revisions. This is not to say, however, that it will not have some contemporary spin and imaginative treatment to make the production surprising, vital and accessible to a 21st century audience.

One special feature, in a play with 26 performers, will be the portrayal of Hamlet by a woman:  Kristen Mudge, an actor with professional experience on the off-Broadway theatre stage who is currently a graduate student in occupational therapy.

Hamlet will be directed by Eric Prince, Professor of Theatre and Director of the Center for Studies in Beckett and Contemporary Theatre Practice. Dr. Prince draws on his British origins and theatre experience and his own studies with the Royal Shakespeare Company to lend this production of Hamlet a strong distinctive voice.

The production is designed by Susan Crabtree, a visiting guest artist who made a strong impression earlier in the year with her work on The Laramie Project, and sound design will be by Walt Jones, the program’s new theatre director.

The School of the Arts at Colorado State University comprises the Departments of Art, Music, Theatre, and Dance. For more information on School of the Arts performances and exhibitions, please contact Jeanna Nixon at (970) 491-1584 or jeanna.nixon@colostate.edu.