The Heart of My Mystery: The Hamlet Project

The Hamlet Project places Shakespeare’s play along side the critical response it has inspired. Shakespeare’s tragedy finds itself in dialogue with Samuel Johnson, Voltaire, Goethe, Harold Bloom, and others. Ideas about the mystery of the central character take on the nature of theater itself. The result is an irreverent yet scholarly study of the classic drama. “I am far from justifying the tragedy of Hamlet,” wrote Voltaire in 1749. “It is a gross and barbarous piece, and would never be borne by the lowest of the rabble in France or Italy.” Two hundred years later, Sir Laurence Olivier said, “I could see it and read it forever. Yes, the best play in the world.” Why does Hamlet provoke such varied responses over the centuries? This theater piece theatrically answers the question.

Appropriate for all ages.