‘Hamlet’ Opens This Weekend


by Bailey Basham, Messenger Staff Writer

Lovers of Shakespeare are in for a treat this weekend as the University’s Department of Theatre and Dance presents “Hamlet.”

The performance is directed by James Crawford, associate professor of theatre, and will feature senior theatre major Dakota Collins in the role of Hamlet. Also involved with the production are professor Dan Backlund, who designed the set; professor Jennifer Matthews, who designed the costumes; guest artist David Wilkerson, who choreographed the climactic sword fight; and professor emeritus David Landon, who worked with the cast on Shakespeare’s language.

Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” follows the Prince of Denmark as he attempts to carry out his recently deceased father’s orders of avenging his death at the hand of his brother and successor, Claudius.

Crawford described the show as one of the greatest plays ever written — and for the department eager to perform under less restrictive COVID protocols than last year, something great perfectly fit the bill.

“‘Hamlet’ is moving, it’s funny, and it’s a thriller...and it’s one of those great shape-shifting plays that continues to reveal more as you move through your life, always new angles to explore. I think this is a particularly great play to work on with young actors as it’s a play about a young adult who’s forced to grow up fast when life throws him a difficult curve ball. A lot of people on campus can relate to that,” Crawford said. “Dakota Collins is taking on one of the most challenging roles ever written, and he’s throwing himself at it full force. He’s had a passion for Shakespeare long before he arrived at Sewanee, he’s got a work ethic that just won’t quit, and he’s a pleasure to work with. Everyone acting with him wants to live up to the high standard he sets for himself. Having him at the heart of the show has made my job much easier.”

Dakota Collins is a senior theatre major and has been acting since he was 15, spending summers with the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s Apprentice Company program.

He said it is his hope in playing the role of Hamlet to emphasize the humanity of the character, who at his core, is a young man grappling with the recent loss of his father.

“‘Hamlet’ is many things, and in the scheme of all this beautiful language, there’s so much Shakespeare has given an actor to grapple with. But I think, if one was to strip away all the nuance and murder plots and betrayals, at his core, Hamlet is [dealing with the] unimaginable. Grief like that, I think, would turn any man into a little boy — no matter how old or how young, no matter the quality of the relationship, in that moment of losing a father, you are a little boy again. So, to me, that’s what Hamlet is, at his heart. He’s just a little boy, and all the things that go along with it: the brutal honesty, the curiosity, the skinned knees, the hopefulness,” Collins said.

Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” opens on the University stage at 7:30 p.m., tonight, Friday, Oct. 22, in the Proctor Hill Theatre at the Tennessee Williams Center. Additional show times are 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct 23; 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 24; 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28-30; and 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 31. Masks will be required.

The performances on opening weekend will be preceded by an Arts Amplified vocal performance in the lobby of the Tennessee Williams Center at 7 p.m., Oct. 22 and 23, and at 1:30 p.m., Oct. 24.

For tickets, visit <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/h...;.

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