Hamlet (Waterwell)

Opening Night: May 21, 2017
Closing: June 3, 2017
Theater: The Sheen Center

In this climate, it is urgent to create art that asserts community, cross-cultural communication common humanity. To that end, Waterwell is setting its production of Hamlet 100 years ago in what was then Persia (now Iran) on the eve of WWI. It was a time of tremendous tension: a traditional way of life threatened by an evolving modern world, and the land itself threatened by encroaching western interests. In this telling, Hamlet finds himself uprooted and torn between opposing values and codes, reflecting an all-too-prevalent experience of refugees and immigrants. By situating this story in a culture largely misunderstood in the west, we hope to extend the play’s tremendous power and empathy to even more diverse audiences and foster compassion across cultures. With a cast of primarily Persian, Arab and South Asian actors, and combining Shakespeare’s English with its most accurate Farsi translation – Hamlet’s central dilemma (and ours) is made manifest: how to reconcile the differences between and within ourselves.