Not To Be

The ultimate bummer:  Finding out about a unique take on Hamlet being done locally...after the show has closed.  That's the position in which I find myself for this post.  The School of the Arts, a public high school in Rochester, NY, recently staged a production of Hamlet.  I discovered this too late to be able to attend the show.  It's another one of life's little disappointments.

In communications with staff members at the school about their production, I learned about their take on Shakespeare's original.  The play was set in 1929, during the Prohibition Era.  According to their press release, it explored "the similarities between 17th century Danish royalty and the 'perceived' aura of 'royalty' inherent among organized criminals in the 1920s."  According to the director, Edward Meyers,

"Staging the production in another century points out the timelessness of Shakespeare's work and just how well his ideas have transcended time, geographical location and cultures.  Shakespeare's strong characters and complex plot elements are universally appealing even when put in the historical context of gangsters and organized crime."

If only I had been able to see it live....