āTo be or not to be ā that is the question.ā Itās one of Shakespeareās most famous lines and begins Hamletās most-anticipated soliloquy in Act 3 of the play.
But, ās latest production is asking a new question: What if itās not Hamlet who makes that speech?
This week, the 91³Ō¹Ļ Shakespeare Festival Professional Company will debut āHamlet 50/50,ā a world-premiere adaptation of the play focused on creating a more gender-balanced and equitable production model. āHamlet 50/50ā will be performed in the Patricia George Decio Theatre in the Universityās DeBartolo Performing Arts Center from Aug. 17 to 27, with reduced-price preview performances on Tuesday (Aug. 15) and Wednesday (Aug. 16). Tickets are available or in person at the box office.
ĢżThe production ā adapted by Vanessa Morosco and Peter Simon Hilton, founders of the ā will have dialogue evenly shared between male and female characters, in contrast to the original script of āHamlet,ā in which only 8.5 percent of the lines are spoken by female characters.
ĢżMorosco and Hilton, who have spent 30 years as practitioners of Shakespeare, said the inequity theyāve encountered in Shakespeareās works made sense in his day because he didnāt live long enough to see a time where it was legal for women to perform on stage.
ĢżāHe wrote exclusively for male practitioners,ā said Morosco, who is also directing the production. āMost of his female characters were written for the young boys in his company. Today, that means that if we cast exclusively on gender-normative lines, women professionals are only permitted to play roles that are essentially written for what we would term an apprentice.
ĢżāThat makes it a really challenging workplace in which to find equity and to have equitable access to creativity. We thought we should be better than that.ā
Ģż, the McMeel Family Chair in Shakespeare Studies, who consulted on the adaptation of the script, acknowledges that some people may be concerned about changing such a classic work. However, he emphasized that the arc of the action is the same, and the great speeches are still there ā even if they may be spoken by a different character.
ĢżāThere are always people who think, āHow dare you do these things to the Bard?āā Holland said. āBut I say, if we donāt continue to remake Shakespeare, thereās no point in doing Shakespeare. The only Shakespeare I know I dislike is boring Shakespeare.
ĢżāIs this how the play should always be done? No. But is this an experiment worth trying? Absolutely. This says that if weāre really going to rethink what we mean by equity in the Shakespeare workplace, we canāt do it by just casting women in roles that are really menās roles. We need to think it through and make sure itās equitable for the cast, the crew, for everyone.ā
To adapt the text, Morosco and Hilton went line by line, considering what events are happening, who is moving the plot forward and what changes might result from giving female-identifying characters additional lines ā and, through that, additional agency.
ĢżThat included the famed āTo be or not to beā soliloquy, which will be performed by Ophelia.
ĢżāItās a speech that has been lauded among those who love and produce Shakespeare, and it has the reputation of being a universal speech that applies to all humanity,ā Morosco said. āSo we thought, well then, couldnāt more people than Hamlet say it? And as we thought about the course of the play and which character is asking really hard questions, particularly about existence and mental health ā itās Ophelia. Being able to give voice to that is really exciting.ā
ĢżIn some ways, the speech itself becomes more powerful through that change, Hilton said. āItās heartbreaking because when she says it, itās quite different from the philosophical musings of Hamlet. It means so much more.ā
Ģż91³Ō¹Ļ is an ideal place to be premiering this new work, Holland said, and to engage with the issues it addresses in an academic setting.
ĢżāBeing a part of a university means we can be experimental. We can use our scholarship. We can help people think about these things in a way that other theaters may not,ā he said. ā91³Ō¹Ļ is a place where we should confront change and difficult material, and we do that all the time. Itās a place where we can advance these issues ā and thatās what makes us better today.ā
To that end, Holland and , the Mary Irene Ryan Family Executive Director of Shakespeare at 91³Ō¹Ļ, hope to continue to engage with the audience ā and 91³Ō¹Ļ students, in particular ā about issues of equity and inclusion at a series of pre- and post-show discussions, as well as at other events throughout the upcoming academic year.
ĢżTwo post-show talkbacks featuring Q&As with the cast and crew will take place on and , and three pre-show āorientationā sessions with Holland and Morosco will be held on , and .
ĢżJackson said this production is also part of a larger vision at Shakespeare at 91³Ō¹Ļ to create an inclusive space where practitioners can work in partnership with Shakespeare and bring him into the 21st century.
ĢżāWe believe representation matters on stage,ā Jackson said. āAnd weāre very conscious of who is being given these opportunities and what that represents in terms of our core values. If we can work with a more diverse pool of actors that better represent our communities, we know they are going to tell the story from their own lived experiences, and thatās going to bring something vital and very contemporary to Shakespeare.
ĢżāFor me, itās all about helping the students and the audience to understand that Shakespeare is ours, and that itās OK to take risks with his work. The element of risk is what creates great art and what will foster deeper ongoing conversations. And thatās the best thing we can do to keep Shakespeare relevant.ā
Ģż