Oct. 22: “Hamlet” (Warehouse XI, Somerville)
The latest news is that there’s a “punk band masquerading as a theater company” in town. Elsewhere Shakespeare is taking their production of “Hamlet” on tour, and they’re stopping in Somerville this week. Except that it’s not exactly a normal staging of the Bard’s existential tragedy.
This show is director-less, cut down to a digestible 90 minutes, and it’ll be popping up in bars, breweries, and other unique spaces, including Warehouse XI. The project has been dubbed “Guilty Creatures,” and the seven actors will have rehearsed a total of about ten hours prior to the performance. The concept is that Elsewhere Shakespeare is making this version of the play as cheap and simple as possible, while delivering something utterly unexpected.
The sense of imperfection is important, and the artists hope audiences will be inspired to think that they might be able to grab a crew of friends and put on an ad-hoc theatrical work themselves. You’ll see Hamlet contemplate his state of being, Ophelia driven to madness, and vengeance enacted, and while this tour will strike five cities in the Northeast, the role of Hamlet will be filled by a different actor each night. See it for yourselves.
Oct. 23-25: “Asian American Playwright Collective Playfest 9” (The Foundry, Cambridge)
Come to Kendall Square to experience a unique compilation of plays, featuring works from members of the Asian American Playwright Collective. AAPC’s ninth festival has been organized around the theme “Building, Becoming, and Belonging,” and it showcases dramatic writing from 10 local artists.
The works include “Why Aren’t You Boycotting Too?” by Christina Chan, focusing on a narrative about school desegregation, assimilation, and racism during the 1970s. “Unwrapped,” by Michael Aguillon, is a story about the death of a parent, family, and the celebration of life. Meanwhile, “Sibling Rivalry,” by Jamie Lin, was previously featured in the Multicultural Arts Center’s “Lift Every Voice” festival, and it is a comedy about the dynamics that arise when two siblings participate in a shrimp skewering race. Other playwrights spotlighted in the festival are Diana Khong, Vivian Liu-Somers, and Greg Lam.
The AAPC is a group of Boston-based creatives who have “banded together to nurture, develop, and promote new work by Asian American playwrights.” Shows on October 23 and 24 take place at 8 p.m., while the October 25 event happens at 2 p.m.
