Looking for Hamlet, 1603

Written By Tamara Mahadin
 
January 15, 2021
YouTube
 

Covid-19 has put a damper on Lord Denney’s Players’ ability to perform live, but it hasn’t dampened their enthusiasm for exploring Shakespeare’s textual curiosities. Looking for Hamlet, 1603, the company’s seventh production, is a full-length documentary film about the earliest text of Shakespeare’s most well-known play, where Hamlet utters not, “To be or not to be, that is the question,” but “To be or not to be – ay, there’s the point.” Scholars find so many significant differences in this early text when they compare it to its later versions that they have long challenged its authenticity. How did such a curious version of Hamlet come to be, and what should we make of it?  

The film, produced by students in the Autumn 2020 semester of ENGL 4520.02: Special Topics in Shakespeare, premiered on the Department of English’s YouTube channel on Friday, January 15, 2021. After the show, viewers were invited to a Zoom talkback with the cast and crew. 

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“Working on this documentary as part of the LDP class was both daunting and exhilarating. The chance to synthesize the extensive material we tackled as a class into a visual format was the thing that drew me to this class, and while challenging at times, the intellectually curious and collaborative environment we worked in made for a very rewarding experience. With respect to my role in the play, acting during a pandemic was very different, given that our faces were almost entirely covered, but I think we addressed the challenges of our pandemic performance extremely well. I think everyone displayed great adaptability, and this format actually opened up a lot of avenues for out-of-the-box thinking. This documentary was the creative outlet that we needed during this Covid-dominated semester.”

- Renna Pappalardo (Marcellus).

Looking for Hamlet, 1603↓

Documentary Film: Looking for Hamlet, 1603

Promotional video: Looking for Hamlet, 1603

Looking for Ofelia ↓

Documentary Film: Looking for Ofelia

Written and edited by LDP alumna Liz Hardy as an independent study project, Looking for Ofelia, a short documentary film, picks up where Looking for Hamlet, 1603 left off. Looking for Ofelia explores the differences in the characterization of Shakespeare's heroine between the Q1 and later texts of Shakespeare's famous play, which often see Ophelia as a troubled and victimized figure. But as Hardy argues, using film footage from Looking for Hamlet, 1603 as well as new interviews with scholars, the Q1 version of Hamlet provides actors and directors with the dramaturgical opportunity to create a more outspoken - and more interesting - Ofelia.

Cast and Crew↓

CAST

Narrator / John Heminges | Mya Brown, , Assistant Professor of Theatre, UNC-Greensboro

The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke (1603)

  • Hamlet | Lior Livshits, Junior, majoring in Economics
  • Gertred | Elizabeth Falter, Staff, Department of English
  • King | Ryan Heitkamp, Staff, Department of Theatre
  • Corambis | Antony Shuttleworth, Faculty, Department of English
  • Ofelia | Joci Scott, Senior, majoring in Psychology (new member)
  • Leartes| Joelle Odoguardi, Junior, majoring in Theatre & French(new member)
  • Horatio | Morgan Bumgarner, Sophomore, majoring in Psychology
  • Marcellus | Renna Pappalardo, Junior, majoring in English & History
  • Barnardo | Jenny Morrison, Junior, majoring in English & Theatre
  • First Sentinel| Joey Hoffmann, Senior, majoring in English
  • Ghost | Abbi Voda, Staff, Veterinary Medical Center
  • Fortenbrasse | Amita Kharabe, Junior, majoring in Microbiology & German
  • Voltemar | Sarah Schwalbe, Junior, majoring in English (new member)
  • Montano | Liz Hardy, Sophomore, majoring in English & Speech and Hearing Sciences (new member)
  • Braggart Gentleman | Swea Kumlien, Sophomore, majoring in English (new member)

The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke (1604/5)

  • Ophelia, Ham. 1604 | Nicole Neifert, Junior, majoring in Neuroscience
  • Hamlet, Ham. 1604 | Devon Mushalko, Alumna of English

Interviewees

Featuring

  • Jennifer Carver
  • Madison Good
  • Jacob Jensen
  • Cole Karam
  • Garrett Kiefer
  • Beck Kotalac
  • Sarah McCord
  • Cameron Reinbolt
  • Daniel Ruffing
  • Mackenzie Waxler

CREW

  • Director | Sarah Neville , Assistant Professor of English, Ohio State University

  • Producers: Corambis, or Polonius | Ryan Heitkamp, Gary Josephson, Madeline Malynn, Matthew Skapura
  • Producers: The Queen | Hannah Carver, Mackenzie Chesrown, Marvin Meza, Jenny Morrison, Lucy Ndive, Kassie Rice
  • Producers: To be or not to be | Joey Belsan, Lexie Czerwonka, Liz Hardy, Yewande Ogoji, Matthew Schwamberger, Evan Wilker
  • Producers: Stage Directions | Jack Eddy, Taylor Leach, Renna Pappalardo, Soomin Um, Mara Vavaroutsos

  • Assistant Director, rehearsal | Manuel Jacquez ,PhD Candidate, Ohio State University

  • Music Director / Composer | Mary Grace D’Cunha, Alumna, Ohio State University
  • Trailer and Poster Design | Sunmeet Gill, Senior, majoring in English and Law
  • Fight Choreography Consultant | Visiting Assistant Professor of Drama, University of Oklahoma
  • Studio Manager | Doug Dangler, ASC Tech, Ohio State University
  • Video Editing and Graphics| Scott Sprague, ASC Tech, Ohio State University

Paratexts↓

 
Tamara Mahadin
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