SAXTONS RIVER — Wild Goose Players continues its first season with John Hadden's production of Hamlet.
Having just completed a successful run of Into The Woods at the Bellows Falls Opera House, Wild Goose Players will be partnering with Main Street Arts in Saxtons River, where the play will be performed. Performance dates are Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., June 25 through July 10; Friday, July 15 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, July 16 at 2 p.m.
This production of one of Shakespeare's classic plays is set in the “Mad Men” era of the early '60s, a time of corporate giants and rebellious Beats, and staged in a black-box setting that offers some café-table seating for audience members who don't mind becoming confidants of Hamlet and his inner demons.
The cast-David Zucker, Devin Rondeau, Alli Lubin, David Regan, Charlotte Roberts, Eliza Klein, Audrey Kiely, Alex Hacker, Jack Boggan, Henry Minicucci, and Jim Nutter as Hamlet - have been meeting regularly for the last six months to “let the play seep into their bones,” organizers say.
Sean Roberts and Kimm Johnson, who lead MSA's following production, The Books of Alice, will appear as the Players.
“The performers include a wide range of age and experience, bringing depth and freshness to this most famous of plays,” according to a news release. “This approach combined with gender-neutral casting deepens familiar roles. Nutter (appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Assn.) and New York Times -lauded Hadden are long-time comrades from Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass.
Costumes are by WG/MSA/NEYT veterans Sandy Klein and Liz Guzynski, and Wild Goose director David Stern is designing the lights.
The script has been shortened and edited by Hadden to focus on the split-second errors and miscalculations we all recognize that make such a mess of things. The production clocks in at about two hours.
Covid protocols are guided by Sean Roberts, a certified theater Covid safety monitor. Masks will be required of audience members, and all actors and staff are up-to-date on tests and vaccines.
Tickets are $25 at mainstreetarts.org, and there are discounts, group rates, and free ticket opportunities available. For these, call 802-869-2960 for further information.
Wild Goose Players (wildgooseplayers.com) and Main Street Arts say they are proud to continue developing their highly acclaimed work in the region, and mark this as their first collaborative venture.