Nottingham’s Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall is to create a People's Theatre Company to present a production of Hamlet to be performed at the venue in April 2025.
This shortened new version of Shakespeare's longest play, Hamlet: The Rest is Silence will be performed on the Royal Concert Hall stage. Directed by the venue’s heritage and learning partnerships manager Rebecca Morris, it is part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Shakespeare Nation project.
Shakespeare Nation is a community participation programme run by the RSC and its partner theatres. It collaborates with people who have little or no experience of Shakespeare to explore his plays and make theatre that reflects and celebrates who we are as a nation.
Local people are being invited to fill all the stage roles as well as forming the backstage production team responsible for stage management, lighting, special effects and sound.
A full professional training programme will be provided by the venue’s technical staff and visiting practitioners from the RSC. Anyone interested in joining the technical team should fill out an expression-of-interest form by Monday 10 June. No previous experience is necessary. Participants must be over 18.
Casting workshops to fill all stage roles will be held on Monday 8 July (evening) and Saturday 20 July (day). Those who would like to express an interest are invited to sign up by Friday 21 June.
Morris said, “being part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Shakespeare Nation throws open all kinds of incredible opportunities and this one is unique. To get a chance to join a new community theatre company in partnership with two such prestigious organisations to work on an exciting new version of Hamlet and perform on the Royal Concert Hall stage really is the stuff that dreams are made of.
“Shakespeare is a particular passion of mine and bringing a new take on Hamlet to the Royal Concert Hall’s stage is very special. This is part of a two-year programme of work that TRCH is undertaking with the RSC, so watch this space for more opportunities to get involved over the coming months.”
Rehearsals will take place between September 2024 and April 2025, primarily on evenings and weekends.