Sarah Schulman's The Lady Hamlet, a gender-defying comedy about two women, both born to play Hamlet, will make its world premiere June 27-July 21 at The Provincetown Theater in Massachusetts.
Directed by Artistic Director David Drake, the cast will feature Jennifer Van Dyck (Two Shakespearean Actors, Hedda Gabler), Kate Levy (Bernhardt/Hamlet), John Shuman (La Cage aux Folles), Anne Stott (Don't Look Up), Laura Scribner (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), and Brandon Cordeiro (The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me).
Set in 1920s New York City, The Lady Hamlet watches a duel of divas in a battle to see who will be the first—and best—female Hamlet on Broadway. But which lady will win the offstage hand of the fair Ophelia?
“I am thrilled beyond measure for The Lady Hamlet to finally reach her audience. I emerged as a playwright into a world of all-male, all-white seasons selected by mostly male artistic directors when the few women writers who could squeeze through had to confront a wall of all-male critics who knew nothing about women's lives,” says playwright Schulman. “The new inclusion, fought for by women and people of color in the American theatre, includes lesbian protagonists, women writers over 50, and a reconsideration of serious/funny writers whose works were discarded in the blizzard of male sameness that dominated in repetition. David Drake asked himself the question that all artistic directors must ask, ‘Where are the lesbian plays? Who are the women writers who have been overlooked?’ The answer gives this fun and funny Lady Hamlet the life she has long deserved.”
The production will also have set design by production manager Ellen Rousseau, lighting design by Stephen Petrilli, costume design by Carol Sherry, technical direction by Thomas Cover, props design by Thomas Markee, stage management by Will Oxtoby, and assistant stage management by Peter Toto.
Visit ProvincetownTheater.org.
