Actors from the London Stage bring all-new "Hamlet" to San Jose

Hammer Theatre Center presents Actors from the London Stage in Hamlet, a fast-paced, gender-bending performance of Shakespeare’s drama with five accomplished performers filling all the roles. The cast includes stars of London’s top theatres such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, and Shakespeare’s Globe, performing in the intimate Hammer 4 black box space. One of the oldest touring Shakespeare theatre companies in the world, Actors from the London Stage is acclaimed for staging masterful performances of Shakespearean dramas. These performances will culminate a week-long intensive residency program for San Jose State University students and faculty featuring in-depth workshops taught by these leading actors, offering an interactive gateway to experience the richness of Shakespeare’s writing. Hamlet will be performed by the AFTLS cast 7:30pm, October 5, and 2:00pm, October 6. For more information and tickets ($33-41), the public may visit www.hammertheatre.com or call (408) 924-8501.

One of Shakespeare’s greatest works, Hamlet continues to resonate with audiences some 400 years after it was written. Set in times of murder and scandal, Hamlet tells the tragic story of young Prince Hamlet, who returns home to Denmark for his father’s funeral and mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle. He has a supernatural experience which leads him to believe his uncle is responsible for his father’s murder, which begs the questions: Can he trust the ghostly apparition? Can he seek revenge for his father’s murder without compromising his own morality? And, conversely, how could he not?

Actors from the London Stage was founded in 1975 by Sir Patrick Stewart of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Dr. Homer Swander, a distinguished professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Stewart believed that actors have a personal and distinctive connection with dramatic texts, which led to the creation of AFTLS in hopes of “giving the actor a unique platform from which to explore with professors and students what he or she does and why it is done.” Presenting at 16-18 universities a year, AFTLS is committed to engaging students in collaborative environment where actors and guidance are completely accessible.

The Hammer Theatre Center is a distinctive, state-of-the-art performance venue in the heart of downtown San José. Owned by the City of San José and operated by San José State University (SJSU), the Hammer Theatre’s mission is to serve the community through artistically and educationally excellent programming that is expressive of the unique characteristics and diverse cultures that comprise Silicon Valley. The broader vision of the Hammer includes arts, innovation, and technology programming on the Paseo de San Antonio, creating a vibrant pathway between SJSU and the Tech Museum and bridging the urban spaces from Saint James Park down to the South of First (SOFA) cultural district. The Hammer also aims to connect SJSU’s more than 37,000 faculty, students, and staff with the downtown cultural and economic corridors.