ROCK SPRINGS —The Sweetwater Board of Cooperative Educational Services (SBOCES) is sponsoring an updated version of the William Shakespeare play “Hamlet” at the Western Wyoming Community College theater.
The play is scheduled for June 28 & 29, with performances at 7 p.m. both evenings. Admission is free.
The SBOCES summer theater program provides opportunities for young actors and actresses to hone and maintain their skills at a time when school is not in session. The 12 actors and actresses in “Hamlet” range in age from 13-23.
As some may already know, “Hamlet” is a Shakespearean tragedy. The plot revolves around the young adult Hamlet seeing an appearance of his father’s ghost telling him that he, his father, was murdered by his uncle, the new king who took the place of Hamlet’s father on the throne of the kingdom and married the widow of Hamlet’s father, Hamlet’s mother. Hamlet is torn by conflicting emotions as he endeavors to determine to what extent he will honor and fulfill his deceased father’s wishes.
Kaley Sikora is the student director for the play. She graduated from Western in May with a degree in musical theater, although she said the play is not a musical. Sikora is from Frenchtown, Colorado.
Kat Burnham is the stage manager. She is from Mountain View and has recently completed her first year at Western studying musical theater.
Western Assistant Professor Stephen Cramer, with a master’s degree in Fine Arts, is moderating and overseeing the “Hamlet” project.
As is often the case, the SBOCES play has taken some creative liberties with the original Shakespeare version of the play. The audience should be aware that the play will likely involve some “gender switching”.
“The characters will be played by whoever I think would be the best character for the part,” Sikora said.
In short, a male part could be played by a girl, or a female part could be played by a boy, depending upon who is giving the best rendition of a particular character. Gender switching is not unusual in theater, since the play depends upon who shows up to audition.
In addition to the character roles, students will handle stage duties such as choreographing and lighting.
Rehearsals have been taking place in the dance studio at Western, as the theater undergoes a few renovations. Sikora said she is hoping the theater will be ready by showtime, but if it is not, the play may have to be performed outside, as Western has sometimes done in the past.
There will be some twists in the “Hamlet” story, Sikora said. (Watch out for the Queen in this version.) “The play is set in the Victorian period to give it a modern accent,” Sikora said.
“There are some interesting twists, but it’s still the same ‘Hamlet’ story with the same characters.” Sikora added that there will be some different lighting effects as well.
The SBOCES version of “Hamlet” should be entertaining both for those who have seen the play before or read the book by William Shakespeare, and for those who are experiencing Shakespearean theater for the first time. The SBOCES actors and actresses will be putting their own unique stamp on the play.
The cast:
Hamlet………………………Lark Kropf
King Claudius…………….Quinten Loveland
Queen Gertrude…………..Lucy Lowell
Ghost…………………………Aurora Ainge
Horatio……………………….Molly Beard
Ophelia……………………….Valerie Sleight
Laertes………………………..Marquel Hawkins
Polonius/Priest……………..Jeremy Cain
Guildenstern/Player1…….Clayton Boren
Rosenkrantz/Gravedigger…………………Ian Anderson
Bernardo/Attendant………Leila Copenbarger
Osric/Player2/Messenger…………………..Brookelyn White
