HAMLET
New York City, New York | Theatre
Drama, Experimental
Death, consciousness and a ghost. HAMLET gathers eight actors from around the world to put their Shakespearean expertise to the test. The collaborative rehearsal process will culminate in two free public performances in New York City: August 27 + 28 @ 8pm.
HAMLET
New York City, New York | Theatre
Drama, Experimental
2 Campaigns | Massachusetts, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $11,558 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
149 supporters | followers
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Death, consciousness and a ghost. HAMLET gathers eight actors from around the world to put their Shakespearean expertise to the test. The collaborative rehearsal process will culminate in two free public performances in New York City: August 27 + 28 @ 8pm.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
HAMLET
August 27 + 28, 2022 @ 8pm
LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE CLUB
66 East 4th St. NY NY 10003
FREE ADMISSION
I fell in love with Shakespeare while we rang in the New Year January 1, 2018. As our winter break came to a close, my conservatory class got word that we had an assignment due. We were to learn the most rambling, nonsensical, pages-long monologue of bibble babble: Hamlet's "Advice to the Players."
And be ready to perform it in four days.
I'm not sure why or how it happened, but four days later I was standing in front of my class, becoming Hamlet. The words flowed out of me. I surprised myself. It made sense.
The next year and a half, I chipped away at the role. I brought each soliloquy to a new class; begged peers to play Horatio, Gertrude, Rosencrantz in scene study; enrolled in Shakespeare workshops outside of school; and studied the play at the high-top table before my serving shift began.
In 2019, I met Mac MacDaniel at a Shakespeare & Company Workshop in NYC. We immediately hit it off and I divulged to him that I wanted to play Hamlet, but was afraid I wouldn't get the opportunity. He expressed that he had wanted to start a Shakespeare company, but just needed a partner-in-crime. Two months later we launched Elsewhere Shakespeare, and two months after that, we were performing Hamlet with a cast of seven after a week of rehearsal in front of 150 people in downtown Richmond, VA.
I remember saying to the audience after our bows, my mom and one of my best friends (Leo Ribeiro) in the front row: "Shakespeare is alchemical." Something changed for me in that room that night.
Fast forward to last fall (after so much loss, nebulous grief, existential crisis, isolation, nearly giving up), when I decided the only way to keep going was to put on a show. I independently produced Macbeth in Northampton, MA to give myself and seven other actors a paid opportunity to perform Shakespeare, and to provide it to my Western MA community for free. I crowdfunded $10,000 *here!*, which was, in itself, a massive personal achievement.
"Let it come down!" The murderer (Justin Viz) leaping to stab Banquo with Fleance dangerously close.
"Give me the dagger." Lady Macbeth goes to frame the sleeping grooms and smear them with blood.
"Answer me!" Macbeth admonishes the three weird sisters.
A little curtain speech.
I've spent much of my time the last few years also considering how my role as a theatre-maker can invite change. Politically. How could Shakespeare possibly play a part in this movement to find an alternative to capitalism, to reject authoritarianism, white supremacy and patriarchy, to make universal all the basic rights we deserve as humans, to fight *for the love of goddess* this obsession with guns?
My partner, Dan, and I talk a lot about how all of these frightening trends share a common characteristic: the tendency to be anti-social. Could the answer really be that we just need to extend a hand toward each other and invite and forge community?
I believe there is power in poetry. Acting epic poetry allows me to show you all of the iterations and facets of myself that exist. I can show you the limits of my body, my voice and my emotional being. I want to show this to you. I want you to see that this is who I am and that it’s okay for YOU to explore those parts of you, too. Maybe through poetry. Or paint. Or voice class. Not through guns or expressions of hate or selfishness. We must feel more things together in a safe space. We can hand each other our pain, because the more people there are to hear and hold it, the less we have to manage it ourselves, and the faster it begins to dissipate. We must not fear each other.
Also - truthfully - I don't want to wait any longer to contribute to the NYC theatre scene in the biggest way I am able. I am so excited for this.
I must acknowledge that Hamlet is a tragedy. And why would I want to bring such tragic material into the world right now, again, this exhaustively sad play during an exhaustively sad time. Here is my offering: that the poetry itself is so beautiful, it transcends categorization. The text of Hamlet offers such stunningly complete lines that, they, themselves, echo in our collective consciousness, separate from the play, and have for 400 years. There is so much to experience in this one piece. I will never tire of hearing or speaking these words.
And, there’s a lton of humor. These characters are hilarious. Fittingly. The only way to persist through tragedy is to laugh.
I have hired seven other actors, a covid compliance and pre-production partner and a stage manager to put on this production of Hamlet. We are rehearsing and performing at LA MAMA Experimental Theatre Club in New York City for one week at the end of August.
My total budget is just under $30,000. Not only is producing in NYC a bit more expensive than in Massachusetts, I also want the best experience for my actors and crew.
I'm sourcing 2/3 of my budget from generous private donors. This handful of larger donations will cover my company's stipends (and a cushion for unforeseen expenses). It is extremely important to me that, over everything else, my company gets paid. I am not relying on ticket sales or tips (or even a crowd-funding campaign!) to be able to pay this team! Any tips we collect at our performances will be extra renumeration split evenly amongst the company. *This said, if you are interested in making a larger, tax-deductible donation, please email me: [email protected]!
However, I love crowdfunding and I believe it builds momentum and a support network for an artistic endeavor. This campaign will cover rental fees at LA MAMA, insurance, marketing and Covid safety costs, and company reimbursements. This is where you come in!
If you feel moved to support Hamlet, make a contribution to receive a specific incentive, or help fund one of our Wishlist items (where you get a better idea of how the money will be allocated). Seed&Spark green lights a project when it has reached 80% of its fundraising goal - otherwise, the money goes back to the supporters. So LET'S DO THIS!
You can also support by following this campaign and our instagram page (@hamlet_nyc) and helping us get the word out on social media. Save these images and captions and repost them on your own instagram and facebook pages!
The process is the thing!
Support this reinvestigation of Hamlet on @seedandspark and on instagram @hamlet_nyc.
www.seedandspark.com/fund/hamletnyc
[OR]
Join me and support this group of artists bringing Hamlet to life this summer!
Contribute @seedandspark and spread the word. <3
www.seedandspark.com/fund/hamletnyc
Help @hilarygdennis bring her @hamlet_nyc dream to life! Join her team on @seedandspark.
www.seedandspark.com/fund/hamletnyc
I hope you are moved to support, and can come to see, Hamlet this summer. I hope you come to share what I love. And I hope it inspires you to put more of your loving self out in the world, too.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Unforeseen Expenses
Costs $1,000
Because I'm new at this...
LA MAMA
Costs $6,500
We have the theater for a whole week! Help us cover the rental fee.
Covid Safety
Costs $150
We want to keep our team healthy and safe! Help us purchase rapid tests, sanitizer and KN95s.
Marketing
Costs $400
We're gettin' the word out! This will cover posters, press releases, and postcards.
Fees/Reimbursements
Costs $670
Help us cover our company's travel and costume stipends!
Insurance
Costs $827
Maybe the most important of all! Help us cover our insurance costs.
Fire + Tech
Costs $1,680
We're hiring a technical director and a fireguard to help our performances run smoothly!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Meet the Hamlet Team!
I'd like to say a few (or a many) things about this cast and crew - whose gorgeous pictures are below (their official bios are forthcoming).
Update: Our incredible Julian got cast in a career-launching production in LA and has had to leave us! We wish Julian the best and hope we will cross paths with him again soon.
Julian and Isaiah are both 2022 graduates of the MFA program at Columbia University. Vaughn Pole (who played Macbeth in my production last fall in Massachusetts) referred Isaiah, who in turn referred Julian. You can view their graduating showcase scenes on the Columbia MFA instagram page (@columbiamfaacting) - and I encourage you to do so. Isaiah made the four-hour trek to support Vaughn in Macbeth - talk about true dedication to your friends - and when I officially extending this opportunity to him, he immediately responded with "I'm in, see you at our first rehearsal." Julian and I met over Zoom, and he graciously thanked me for the opportunity. What life is this where I am thanked by fellow actors for work. :)
When Julian shared the news with me that he needed to leave the production, he graciously referred me to a current student in the Columbia MFA acting program, Walé Adebiyi. Walé and I met over Zoom, and despite the fact that he was heading into his last week of performances in The Dutchman at American Stage in Petersburg, FL, he was already brainstorming ways to contribute to this production. He and I will have the privilege of meeting with Meron to start training and choreographing our Hamlet/Laertes duel before we join the rest of the team. I'm so excited to meet him in person.
Langston and I were in Rude Grooms' production of The Winter's Tale in February of this year. I immediately admired his presence in the room and felt drawn to the way he worked, investigated the text and asked collaborative questions. He never pretended to know something when he was uncertain. One evening, we mutually lamented about the difficulties of the industry and getting work, and even how planning to get headshots retaken is an emotional haul, and I think a little seed sprouted in my brain. Here we are, creating together again.
Olivia is a conservatory peer of mine and was also in the first Shakespeare class I ever TA'd. There aren't many people I am confident could accurately take on and embody every role in a Shakespeare play, but Olivia is one of them. I watched her grow as a Shakespearean actor through scene study and text work, and I am honored she is assuming the incredibly challenging (and extremely important) role of Swing.
Justin has been a fierce supporter and friend during nearly the entirety of my young Shakespeare career. After spending two years in my online text group (and coming to every study session I held while TA-ing that same conservatory class), he acted in Macbeth and put to the test everything he had learned - and thrived. He also slept on the cold floor in our living room for a week. I'm grateful he wants to continue making messy, imperfect, wildly risky art together.
Callie was the stage manager for that same production of The Winter's Tale with Rude Grooms and I fell *in love* with her professionalism, respectfulness, and no-bullshit attitude. She was the backbone of that production and made everyone in the room feel taken care of. I knew immediately that I needed her presence for Hamlet. She is also the first stage manager I have ever hired. This is a HUGE STEP IN SO MANY WAYS. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE CALLIE AGH.
Amy and I met four years ago at an Othello Weekend Workshop taught by Chukwudi Iwuji at Red Bull Theater in NYC. We were fortuitously paired together for scene work and immediately bonded. Despite the fact that we've only seen each other a handful of times over the last few years, something happened in that room and we're forever tied. Luckily, when I asked Amy to play Gertrude, she said, "I would happily play Gertrude for the rest of my life." I look for actors who cultivate lifelong relationships with characters. And to have such an experienced Shakespeare actor and practitioner agree to a project I am foggily producing is pretty unreal.
Leo graduated with Olivia and Justin from conservatory, and also came to every Shakespeare study session I led. We immediately fell into friendship working on scenes for class while I was still a student, and together performed a scene we later found out no one had ever attempted at our school before. We share a similar blind passion and heart-centered ambition for art, Shakespeare and our careers - across the Atlantic from each other. He has started a similar project in Portugal - Teatro Soco - where he gathers a group of actors to rehearse Shakespeare in one week without a director. He is speaking Shakespeare in English in Lisbon and has performed the roles of Hamlet, Macbeth, Malvolio, Oberon, and now we'll be reunited for the first time since June of 2020 - as Horatio and Hamlet.
Meron was my brilliant theatre history professor at conservatory. He lectured every week for hours without notes. As he got to know us, he started peppering in the history of fight choreography and we soon realized that's where his passion truly lived. Meron was the first person in the professional theatre world to call me a "colleague" and I will never forget it. He is always one of the first supporters of my projects - and for so many of my peers. He has offered his skills to our production out of love for the craft and admiration for this team. He will also be moderating talkbacks after both of our performances. One of the coolest and most generous people I know. His skill, shall like a star in the darkest night, stick fiery off indeed.
Costanza feels like my sister and we've only known each other for five months. She was our covid compliance officer for The Winter's Tale (yes, I poached a lot of people from that production, thank you Rude Grooms) and, like Callie, had a warmth and graciousness, but was present at every rehearsal keeping us in line with a firm hand. I also noticed that she drew incredible and hilarious doodles while we worked and is quite the artist. I had a feeling I needed her by my side at the beginning stages of production for Hamlet. I asked her if she'd like to help, and when we met for coffee she said, "I'm just telling you the truth - I'm not a marketing person," and then a few weeks later, produced an extremely comprehensive social media calendar, had already read and taken notes on Hamlet, and expressed more eloquently than I ever could why this is important now. "Hamlet seems to be paralyzed by all the words, just like we are today with the barage of bad news and social media," she processed, while nonchalantly unpeeling a rapid test for me to take.
And finally, to act in a production alongside Emma is kind of the reason I'm doing this. We grew as performers together - she, the Guildenstern to my Rosencrantz and the original Horatio to my Hamlet. Countless hours, bags of chocolate, subway rides, classes partnered together and sitting shoulder to shoulder - it's this friendship that makes me believe I may have a chance at being an actor. When I am down, she lifts me up. You need people like this when you choose a creative life. It is the most important part. And the wildest bit? She lives in Montreal and we've seen each other only twice in person since May 2019. Thank Goddess for technology, love and commitment. To be speaking these words in her presence in August will evoke something that can only be felt in the room. Electric maybe.
I'm not sure I have done these relationships justice - which is why I so often elect Shakespeare to do the linguistic construction for me - but this isn't just another company or another show.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
HAMLET
August 27 + 28, 2022 @ 8pm
LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE CLUB
66 East 4th St. NY NY 10003
FREE ADMISSION
I fell in love with Shakespeare while we rang in the New Year January 1, 2018. As our winter break came to a close, my conservatory class got word that we had an assignment due. We were to learn the most rambling, nonsensical, pages-long monologue of bibble babble: Hamlet's "Advice to the Players."
And be ready to perform it in four days.
I'm not sure why or how it happened, but four days later I was standing in front of my class, becoming Hamlet. The words flowed out of me. I surprised myself. It made sense.
The next year and a half, I chipped away at the role. I brought each soliloquy to a new class; begged peers to play Horatio, Gertrude, Rosencrantz in scene study; enrolled in Shakespeare workshops outside of school; and studied the play at the high-top table before my serving shift began.
In 2019, I met Mac MacDaniel at a Shakespeare & Company Workshop in NYC. We immediately hit it off and I divulged to him that I wanted to play Hamlet, but was afraid I wouldn't get the opportunity. He expressed that he had wanted to start a Shakespeare company, but just needed a partner-in-crime. Two months later we launched Elsewhere Shakespeare, and two months after that, we were performing Hamlet with a cast of seven after a week of rehearsal in front of 150 people in downtown Richmond, VA.
I remember saying to the audience after our bows, my mom and one of my best friends (Leo Ribeiro) in the front row: "Shakespeare is alchemical." Something changed for me in that room that night.
Fast forward to last fall (after so much loss, nebulous grief, existential crisis, isolation, nearly giving up), when I decided the only way to keep going was to put on a show. I independently produced Macbeth in Northampton, MA to give myself and seven other actors a paid opportunity to perform Shakespeare, and to provide it to my Western MA community for free. I crowdfunded $10,000 *here!*, which was, in itself, a massive personal achievement.
"Let it come down!" The murderer (Justin Viz) leaping to stab Banquo with Fleance dangerously close.
"Give me the dagger." Lady Macbeth goes to frame the sleeping grooms and smear them with blood.
"Answer me!" Macbeth admonishes the three weird sisters.
A little curtain speech.
I've spent much of my time the last few years also considering how my role as a theatre-maker can invite change. Politically. How could Shakespeare possibly play a part in this movement to find an alternative to capitalism, to reject authoritarianism, white supremacy and patriarchy, to make universal all the basic rights we deserve as humans, to fight *for the love of goddess* this obsession with guns?
My partner, Dan, and I talk a lot about how all of these frightening trends share a common characteristic: the tendency to be anti-social. Could the answer really be that we just need to extend a hand toward each other and invite and forge community?
I believe there is power in poetry. Acting epic poetry allows me to show you all of the iterations and facets of myself that exist. I can show you the limits of my body, my voice and my emotional being. I want to show this to you. I want you to see that this is who I am and that it’s okay for YOU to explore those parts of you, too. Maybe through poetry. Or paint. Or voice class. Not through guns or expressions of hate or selfishness. We must feel more things together in a safe space. We can hand each other our pain, because the more people there are to hear and hold it, the less we have to manage it ourselves, and the faster it begins to dissipate. We must not fear each other.
Also - truthfully - I don't want to wait any longer to contribute to the NYC theatre scene in the biggest way I am able. I am so excited for this.
I must acknowledge that Hamlet is a tragedy. And why would I want to bring such tragic material into the world right now, again, this exhaustively sad play during an exhaustively sad time. Here is my offering: that the poetry itself is so beautiful, it transcends categorization. The text of Hamlet offers such stunningly complete lines that, they, themselves, echo in our collective consciousness, separate from the play, and have for 400 years. There is so much to experience in this one piece. I will never tire of hearing or speaking these words.
And, there’s a lton of humor. These characters are hilarious. Fittingly. The only way to persist through tragedy is to laugh.
I have hired seven other actors, a covid compliance and pre-production partner and a stage manager to put on this production of Hamlet. We are rehearsing and performing at LA MAMA Experimental Theatre Club in New York City for one week at the end of August.
My total budget is just under $30,000. Not only is producing in NYC a bit more expensive than in Massachusetts, I also want the best experience for my actors and crew.
I'm sourcing 2/3 of my budget from generous private donors. This handful of larger donations will cover my company's stipends (and a cushion for unforeseen expenses). It is extremely important to me that, over everything else, my company gets paid. I am not relying on ticket sales or tips (or even a crowd-funding campaign!) to be able to pay this team! Any tips we collect at our performances will be extra renumeration split evenly amongst the company. *This said, if you are interested in making a larger, tax-deductible donation, please email me: [email protected]!
However, I love crowdfunding and I believe it builds momentum and a support network for an artistic endeavor. This campaign will cover rental fees at LA MAMA, insurance, marketing and Covid safety costs, and company reimbursements. This is where you come in!
If you feel moved to support Hamlet, make a contribution to receive a specific incentive, or help fund one of our Wishlist items (where you get a better idea of how the money will be allocated). Seed&Spark green lights a project when it has reached 80% of its fundraising goal - otherwise, the money goes back to the supporters. So LET'S DO THIS!
You can also support by following this campaign and our instagram page (@hamlet_nyc) and helping us get the word out on social media. Save these images and captions and repost them on your own instagram and facebook pages!
The process is the thing!
Support this reinvestigation of Hamlet on @seedandspark and on instagram @hamlet_nyc.
www.seedandspark.com/fund/hamletnyc
[OR]
Join me and support this group of artists bringing Hamlet to life this summer!
Contribute @seedandspark and spread the word. <3
www.seedandspark.com/fund/hamletnyc
Help @hilarygdennis bring her @hamlet_nyc dream to life! Join her team on @seedandspark.
www.seedandspark.com/fund/hamletnyc
I hope you are moved to support, and can come to see, Hamlet this summer. I hope you come to share what I love. And I hope it inspires you to put more of your loving self out in the world, too.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Unforeseen Expenses
Costs $1,000
Because I'm new at this...
LA MAMA
Costs $6,500
We have the theater for a whole week! Help us cover the rental fee.
Covid Safety
Costs $150
We want to keep our team healthy and safe! Help us purchase rapid tests, sanitizer and KN95s.
Marketing
Costs $400
We're gettin' the word out! This will cover posters, press releases, and postcards.
Fees/Reimbursements
Costs $670
Help us cover our company's travel and costume stipends!
Insurance
Costs $827
Maybe the most important of all! Help us cover our insurance costs.
Fire + Tech
Costs $1,680
We're hiring a technical director and a fireguard to help our performances run smoothly!
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Meet the Hamlet Team!
I'd like to say a few (or a many) things about this cast and crew - whose gorgeous pictures are below (their official bios are forthcoming).
Update: Our incredible Julian got cast in a career-launching production in LA and has had to leave us! We wish Julian the best and hope we will cross paths with him again soon.
Julian and Isaiah are both 2022 graduates of the MFA program at Columbia University. Vaughn Pole (who played Macbeth in my production last fall in Massachusetts) referred Isaiah, who in turn referred Julian. You can view their graduating showcase scenes on the Columbia MFA instagram page (@columbiamfaacting) - and I encourage you to do so. Isaiah made the four-hour trek to support Vaughn in Macbeth - talk about true dedication to your friends - and when I officially extending this opportunity to him, he immediately responded with "I'm in, see you at our first rehearsal." Julian and I met over Zoom, and he graciously thanked me for the opportunity. What life is this where I am thanked by fellow actors for work. :)
When Julian shared the news with me that he needed to leave the production, he graciously referred me to a current student in the Columbia MFA acting program, Walé Adebiyi. Walé and I met over Zoom, and despite the fact that he was heading into his last week of performances in The Dutchman at American Stage in Petersburg, FL, he was already brainstorming ways to contribute to this production. He and I will have the privilege of meeting with Meron to start training and choreographing our Hamlet/Laertes duel before we join the rest of the team. I'm so excited to meet him in person.
Langston and I were in Rude Grooms' production of The Winter's Tale in February of this year. I immediately admired his presence in the room and felt drawn to the way he worked, investigated the text and asked collaborative questions. He never pretended to know something when he was uncertain. One evening, we mutually lamented about the difficulties of the industry and getting work, and even how planning to get headshots retaken is an emotional haul, and I think a little seed sprouted in my brain. Here we are, creating together again.
Olivia is a conservatory peer of mine and was also in the first Shakespeare class I ever TA'd. There aren't many people I am confident could accurately take on and embody every role in a Shakespeare play, but Olivia is one of them. I watched her grow as a Shakespearean actor through scene study and text work, and I am honored she is assuming the incredibly challenging (and extremely important) role of Swing.
Justin has been a fierce supporter and friend during nearly the entirety of my young Shakespeare career. After spending two years in my online text group (and coming to every study session I held while TA-ing that same conservatory class), he acted in Macbeth and put to the test everything he had learned - and thrived. He also slept on the cold floor in our living room for a week. I'm grateful he wants to continue making messy, imperfect, wildly risky art together.
Callie was the stage manager for that same production of The Winter's Tale with Rude Grooms and I fell *in love* with her professionalism, respectfulness, and no-bullshit attitude. She was the backbone of that production and made everyone in the room feel taken care of. I knew immediately that I needed her presence for Hamlet. She is also the first stage manager I have ever hired. This is a HUGE STEP IN SO MANY WAYS. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE CALLIE AGH.
Amy and I met four years ago at an Othello Weekend Workshop taught by Chukwudi Iwuji at Red Bull Theater in NYC. We were fortuitously paired together for scene work and immediately bonded. Despite the fact that we've only seen each other a handful of times over the last few years, something happened in that room and we're forever tied. Luckily, when I asked Amy to play Gertrude, she said, "I would happily play Gertrude for the rest of my life." I look for actors who cultivate lifelong relationships with characters. And to have such an experienced Shakespeare actor and practitioner agree to a project I am foggily producing is pretty unreal.
Leo graduated with Olivia and Justin from conservatory, and also came to every Shakespeare study session I led. We immediately fell into friendship working on scenes for class while I was still a student, and together performed a scene we later found out no one had ever attempted at our school before. We share a similar blind passion and heart-centered ambition for art, Shakespeare and our careers - across the Atlantic from each other. He has started a similar project in Portugal - Teatro Soco - where he gathers a group of actors to rehearse Shakespeare in one week without a director. He is speaking Shakespeare in English in Lisbon and has performed the roles of Hamlet, Macbeth, Malvolio, Oberon, and now we'll be reunited for the first time since June of 2020 - as Horatio and Hamlet.
Meron was my brilliant theatre history professor at conservatory. He lectured every week for hours without notes. As he got to know us, he started peppering in the history of fight choreography and we soon realized that's where his passion truly lived. Meron was the first person in the professional theatre world to call me a "colleague" and I will never forget it. He is always one of the first supporters of my projects - and for so many of my peers. He has offered his skills to our production out of love for the craft and admiration for this team. He will also be moderating talkbacks after both of our performances. One of the coolest and most generous people I know. His skill, shall like a star in the darkest night, stick fiery off indeed.
Costanza feels like my sister and we've only known each other for five months. She was our covid compliance officer for The Winter's Tale (yes, I poached a lot of people from that production, thank you Rude Grooms) and, like Callie, had a warmth and graciousness, but was present at every rehearsal keeping us in line with a firm hand. I also noticed that she drew incredible and hilarious doodles while we worked and is quite the artist. I had a feeling I needed her by my side at the beginning stages of production for Hamlet. I asked her if she'd like to help, and when we met for coffee she said, "I'm just telling you the truth - I'm not a marketing person," and then a few weeks later, produced an extremely comprehensive social media calendar, had already read and taken notes on Hamlet, and expressed more eloquently than I ever could why this is important now. "Hamlet seems to be paralyzed by all the words, just like we are today with the barage of bad news and social media," she processed, while nonchalantly unpeeling a rapid test for me to take.
And finally, to act in a production alongside Emma is kind of the reason I'm doing this. We grew as performers together - she, the Guildenstern to my Rosencrantz and the original Horatio to my Hamlet. Countless hours, bags of chocolate, subway rides, classes partnered together and sitting shoulder to shoulder - it's this friendship that makes me believe I may have a chance at being an actor. When I am down, she lifts me up. You need people like this when you choose a creative life. It is the most important part. And the wildest bit? She lives in Montreal and we've seen each other only twice in person since May 2019. Thank Goddess for technology, love and commitment. To be speaking these words in her presence in August will evoke something that can only be felt in the room. Electric maybe.
I'm not sure I have done these relationships justice - which is why I so often elect Shakespeare to do the linguistic construction for me - but this isn't just another company or another show.