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Women Playing Hamlet

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  4w plus ensemble

William Missouri Downs

Hamlet‘s a challenge for any actor, but when Jessica is cast as the titular character in a New York production, it sends her into an existential tailspin.

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Women Playing Hamlet

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    4w plus ensemble
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Adaptation (Shakespeare)
  • Suggested Use
    • Competition or Audition Material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary

Hamlet‘s a challenge for any actor, but when Jessica is cast as the titular character in a New York production, it sends her into an existential tailspin. It doesn't help that her acting coach is borderline abusive, or that every Starbucks barista with an MFA tells her she‘s too young for the role. Or that she‘s somehow managed to make Sir Patrick Stewart her nemesis. Not to mention the fact that she‘s a woman. How can Jessica figure out “to be or not to be,” when she can’t even figure out herself? Featuring an all-female cast performing multiple roles, Women Playing Hamlet is rip-roaring fun for Shakespeare fans and haters alike.

History

Women Playing Hamlet premiered as a Rolling World Premiere at the Unicorn Theater (Missouri), Harrisburg Shakespeare Theatre (Pennsylvania) and New Theatre (Florida). 

Keywords
Performing Groups

JESSICA – Late 20s – an actress, attractive, quirky, smart

Actress #1
GWEN – Female, an acting coach
HUMANITIES PROFESSOR – Male, overconfident
GHOST – Male, Hamlet’s father

Actress #2
STARBUCKS ACTRESS – Female, works at Starbucks
PRIEST – Male, Catholic, celibate
BICYCLE MESSENGER – Male, streetwise and hip
EMILY OSTERGAARD – Female, Jessica’s computer-geek niece
BARFLY – Female, alcoholic
HOME SHOPPING NETWORK MODEL – Female, bubbly
ROSY – Female, a young soap-opera starlet

Actress #3
LORD DERBY – Male, English Shakespeare scholar
MINNESOTA MOTHER – Female, Jessica’s mother
MALE PSYCHIATRIST – Male, a Jewish Freudian psychiatrist
BARTENDER – Male, rough, tough, and tattooed
HOME SHOPPING NETWORK HOSTESS – Female, bubbly
GILDA – Female, grande dame soap-opera star and stroke victim
GRAVEDIGGER – Male, a Cockney pun-master
STAGE MANAGER – Female

This play can be staged with as few as four women or as many as nineteen (or any number in between) but women must play all the male roles. Men played all the women’s roles in Shakespeare’s day – here is a chance for a little revenge.

This play can be staged with as few as four women or as many as nineteen (or any number in between) but women must play all the male roles. Men played all the women’s roles in Shakespeare’s day – here is a chance for a little revenge.

  • Time Period Present Day
  • Setting

    New York City. The present.

  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
  • Duration 90 minutes

Media

“A rollicking satire jabbing shallow pop culture.” – Florida Theatre On Stage

“This wickedly clever new play from William Missouri Downs, dubbed 'a comedy about a tragedy,' uses an all-woman cast to explore questions of courage and conscience in a modern setting, managing to both spoof Shakespeare and pay homage to him in a two-hour show that moves like lightning.” – The Patriot News Harrisburg

“With the colorful script and vivid characters Women Playing Hamlet is a slam dunk.” – Kansas City Examiner

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £55 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Authors

William Missouri Downs

William Missouri Downs

William Missouri Downs has written everything from NBC sitcoms to Kabuki tragedies. He's had well over 300 productions of his plays and musicals from the Kennedy Center to the San Diego Rep. He's been produced in Spain, Canada, South Africa, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Switz ...

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