‘Hamlet’ in Spring Green

Jun. 19, 2013

4:55 p.m.

As programming choices go, Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarkis either one of the easiest or most difficult to make. On the one hand, Hamlet has instant recognition. Everyoneread it in high school. On the other hand, Hamlethas instant recognition. Everyone read it in high school. Its strengths areits weaknesses. It's probably the single most recognizable drama ever written.So why see it again? And why bother drive all the way to Spring Green and thenclimb up a hill to see it? These are precisely the sorts of questions that theAmerican Player's Theatre has identified to some degree simply in casting.

Your Hamlet for the production is MattSchwader—a blond, square-jawed type of guy who looks good in a male lead andalso happens to have the kind of talent and experience to look really good failing to deliver the"to be or not to be" speech—which is way too well-written for anyactor to deliver well. And then there are the people more commonly associatedwith the Milwaukee Rep. James Pickering plays a few roles including a ghost anda gravedigger. Deborah Staples plays Queen Gertrude.

Normally at an APT show, one might hopeto see Jonathan Smoots as a king. Here we get APT legend Jim DeVita in therole, which should work quite nicely. There are other highly recognizable namesseen on Milwaukee stages in the recent past, including the relatively youngtalents of Travis A. Knight as Bernardo and the equally talented CristinaPanfilio as Ophelia.

The American Players Theatre's productionof Hamlet runs June 21-October 4 at the Up-the-Hill Theatre in SpringGreen. For reservations, call the APT box office at 608-588-2361 or visitamericanplayers.org.

TheatreHappenings

Shakespeare makes it to another end of the state next month when Door Shakespeare opens Love's Labours Lost and Macbeth at Björklunden Estate in BaileysHarbor, Wis. Both shows run July 5-Aug. 17. For ticket reservations, call920-839-1500.

A little further into next month,experimental playwright Peter J. Woods presents another summer show—TheAstronaut Sestina and Other Plays at the Underground Collaborative Theatre, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave., July11-20. Tickets are $12 at the door. Call 614-205-9862 for moreinformation.