Hamlet

About the Production

The Fichandler Stage is a theater in the round, and Hamlet in that configuration becomes something different from any proscenium production. There is no fourth wall, no privileged angle of observation. The court of Denmark watches Hamlet from all sides—and so does the audience. The surveillance is mutual.

This staging stripped the play to its essentials: a dirt floor, a throne, and eight weeks of rehearsal. The design's central gesture was that nothing could be hidden. Every conversation is overheard. Every performance of grief or madness is witnessed.

Directorial Approach

We began with a question: what does Hamlet know, and when does he know it? The Ghost's appearance is often staged as supernatural certainty. We chose ambiguity. In our production, only Hamlet sees the Ghost in the final scene. For the court—and briefly for the audience—his mother's reaction calls everything into question.

The "To be or not to be" soliloquy was staged in the house, Hamlet moving through seated audience members. The speech became an address to actual people rather than a meditation in isolation.

Creative Team

• Set Design: Arnulfo Maldonado
• Costume Design: Dede Ayite
• Lighting Design: Pablo Santiago
• Sound Design: Sinan Refik Zafar
• Hamlet: Joshua Boone
• Gertrude: Harriet Walter
• Claudius: Colm Feore
• Ophelia: Gabrielle Bacon