The grave digger (Darryl Croft) presents Yorick’s skull to Hamlet (Jesse Thibert) in a scene from Hamlet.
Lethbridge Shakespeare Performance Society staged Hamlet to an appreciative audience Saturday at the Empress Theatre.
The society condensed William Shakespeare’s most-performed play into a 90-minute show that captivated the audience.
Director Shelley Scott and producer Kate Connolly trimmed the play from its full length, which can run to 3 1/2 hours.
Connolly said in an interview it was important to keep the performance to a more manageable timeframe, particularly since many audiences will be viewing it outdoors.
“It still has all Shakespearian language in it, it has all the most important characters of course, and all the interactions,” Connolly said. “Just a lot of the speeches are cut down a lot. Audiences still recognize many of the phrases.”
Written by Shakespeare between 1599 and 1601, Hamlet is set in Denmark and depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet’s father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet’s mother.
Jesse Thibert starred as Hamlet, with Darrell Croft playing both the ghost and grave digger, John Poulsen as King Claudius, Emily Laidlaw as Queen Gertrude, and Ben McLuskey as Horatio.
David Burton was Polonius, Cole Fetting was Laertes, Avery Raine was Ophelia, Ginny Bergsma was Rosencrantz, and Stephanie Wickham was Guildenstern.
Jessica Nguyen filled the roles of Marcellus, Player Poisoner and priest, Lucas Kramps played Bernardo and Player King and Autumn Adrian was Voltimand, Player Queen and Osrie.
The Lethbridge Shakespeare Performance Society planned to stage 17 performances of Hamlet at venues such as Galt Gardens, Legacy Park, Casa Plaza, Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens, the Coutts Centre near Nanton, High River and the Empress Theatre.
The final performance is 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19 at Galt Gardens.
