Hamlet hovers over King Claudius, who — his father’s ghost has told him — has committed murder, together with his mother Queen Gertrude. He plots their demise. He drowns in grief. He faces a sense of his own psyche cracking. To be or not to be: the dichotomy in the immortal line, still more desperate than its status as a cliche can ever diminish, is given full staging by the fact that Hamlet is played, so ably, by two people at the same time.
That scene is part of Ice the Beef ’s and Elm Shakespeare ’s production of Hamlet, unveiled at a weekend run at Bregamos Community Theatre on Blatchley Avenue this Saturday and Sunday, the result of a four-month collaboration in which Ice the Beef President Chaz Carmon, Elm Shakespeare Director of Education Sarah Bowles, and student leaders came together to create a performance that was part social justice theater, part violence prevention program — and all heart.
The Bregamos run is the beginning of a series of shows, as Ice the Beef and Elm Shakespeare plan to take Hamlet to schools and other communities throughout the spring, then to the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in June, and then perhaps to an outdoor stage in the summer, according to Bowles. “The whole point is that we want as many young people to see it as possible,” she said. “It might make a difference.” Maybe, she said with humility, “someone might think of us before going out for revenge and creating more senseless violence in the community.”
READ MORE This article was originally posted to New Haven Independent