In our re-exploration of William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', the character of Hamlet is female. Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaTheaterYup, we’re taking on the big one!
Our rather unorthodox production of the Bard’s masterpiece will re-imagine Hamlet as a young female royal in a modern world.
Hamlet will be female played by a female actor.
Staying true to the original dialogue, the intention is that our contemporary take will not skew the heart of this iconic tale, but rather help awaken and refresh the character dynamics, struggles, and poetry that have made this piece the timeless classic it is today.

So shall you hear of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, of accidental judgements, casual slaughters, of deaths put on by cunning and forc'd cause, and in this upshot, purposes mistook fall'n on th'inventors' heads.
All this can we truly deliver.
What kind of a world would a popular young Prince grow up in today?
A key force that drives our new interpretation of the play will be the influence of fame. The power that our royalty have, the power that Claudius kills for, is the power that comes from fame or celebrity status (think an amped up version of Will & Kate). We will flash newspaper articles, magazine covers, and twitter updates to give the audience additional information about the world the characters are living in and how they are viewed by the public. Hamlet has been in this place of fame since birth. Everything she does is scrutinized. When she puts on an “antic disposition”, or plays mad, she will be clearly playing this to the public.

Right out of the gate Hamlet brings into question the difference between what “is” and what “seems”. In our modern western culture, a culture obsessed with beauty and power, we are often encouraged to believe that what is seen on the surface is what matters most. Hamlet challenges this idea of superficial reality and digs to discover the truth.

Check out the Gallery for our cast bios :)
An obvious change from the classic play is that our Hamlet will be… a woman. We believe this keeps integrity with the original message and plot of the play. It will inevitably charge the character relationships with a different kind of energy and context allowing the audience to experience the character, and the characters around her, in a fresh light.
In addition to changing Hamlet’s gender, we will also be gender swapping Laertes, Rosencrantz and Marcello (now Marcella).
We are fiercely committed as a company to expanding and exploring the voices of females in the arts and in our society. We feel that allowing the audience to view a woman navigating Hamlet’s famous struggle will not only be an enjoyable and exciting experience to witness, but will be ultimately be a positive and valuable exercise for all involved.
In order to realize this ambitious production, we need to raise $20 000. This will go into the cost of supplies for set construction, wardrobe, makeup (and makeup artist), props, lighting (and lighting technician), sound design (and sound mixer), projection equipment, video production costs, printing of scripts and posters, and cast/crew honorariums. This is our estimation for a low budget production. If we exceed this goal, there are many items we left out of our budget that we would be able to include.

We will be working with a co-op agreement between all the cast and crew. Each person will keep track of their hours and we’ll divide any profit depending on hours put in. If we exceed our goal we will be able to better compensate our talented team! This is one of the reasons your contribution would be so greatly appreciated!

If you are unable to donate money, here are other great ways in which you can support our production:
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Twitter: @KaileySpear @SamSSpear

Thank you so much!! Any support will be hugely appreciated!

Wednesday October 29 - preview 7pm
Thursday October 30 - 7pm
Friday October 31 - Halloween special :) 7pm
Saturday November 1 - 7pm
Sunday November 2 - Matinee 2pm (for Bowen crowd)
 Thursday November 6th - 7pm
Friday November 7th - 7pm
Saturday November 8th - 7pm
Sunday November 9th - 7pm
From 2008-2012, we went to SFU and completed degrees in film (both receiving honours). We work together as directors on our films. Although our careers are pointed in the film direction, we are taking this time to go back to our roots and direct a stage production. In the future, we hope to complete a film adaptation of Hamlet as well.

Raised in a household where his plays were used as bedtime stories, we have grown up to be strong believers in Shakespeare’s ability to timelessly explore the delicacies of the human condition. From age five (when we first allowed our dad to read us A Midsummer Night’s Dream because there were fairies in it) we have been fans of Shakespeare. We started acting in Grade 2 and attended Tir-na-nOg Theatre School on Bowen Island for many years. It was at that school when we got our first introduction to Hamlet. Amazingly, at thirteen, we and other students in Grade 8/9 were given the opportunity to perform the entire play. Being exposed to the play at a young age made us realize that Shakespeare’s Hamlet is not meant to be placed on a pedestal to be kept out of reach. The themes it addresses and the situations the characters are faced with are universal.

The more time we spend with this play the more we are taken by it’s profound contemporary relevance. Hamlet is a young person, isolated by fame and responsibility, seeking the best possible path to justice and redemption while grappling with themes of love, family, loyalty, good and evil, revenge, death, and well… everything that makes life such a crazy trip.

For years now we have been nurturing and developing our dream to mount a version of Hamlet in Vancouver. We are so excited that our dream has now been set in motion!

Thank You Bill. We endeavour to make you proud.

And thank you all for your support! Our gratitude is beyond words.

-Kailey and Sam Spear, Directors
& Libby Osler, Hamlet