“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” “Brevity is the soul of wit.” “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.” “To be, or not to be: that is the question.” Arguably the most quoted play of all time, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, now playing the Wolf Theatre through Oct 6, is jam-packed with […]
In a workshop on playwriting some years ago, Michael Shayan was instructed by the leader, noted dramatist Luis Alfaro, to put a hand over his heart, to feel the heartbeat of a character – and to “just listen.” The voice he heard was one Shayan had known all his life. It was that of his […]
We humans are very fond of our tender bodies and our clever brains, which explains a lot about our fears of Death and Madness. And that statement doesn’t apply only to modern humans, coddled by our sanitized lives and our careful culture. We’ve had those fears since always. Shakespeare’s King Richard II exclaims this, in […]
When immersed in a live performance it’s easy to get swept away in the story and characters, forgetting sometimes you’re watching actors on a stage at all. It’s okay to be transported, but on the casting side, it took a lot of work to get there. Every single show produced at the Denver Center for […]
Without the benefit of SparkNotes during a Shakespearean play, audience members can understandably struggle to engage with forgotten language. More than 400 years stand between Hamlet’s soliloquies and our modern hearing. Interestingly, in Hamlet, much of the language is very similar to what we use today with the odd exception. Those exceptions are usually solved […]
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a story of love and revenge among family members — like today’s soap operas and drama series. Hamlet — playing at the Wolf Theatre September 13 through October 6 and directed by Denver Center Theatre Company Artistic Director Chris Coleman — features plenty of scenes with sword fights and combat. Feeling […]
Honor and vengeance take center stage in the final act of Shakespeare’s Hamlet — and there’s no shortage of swashbuckling in the play’s thrilling conclusion. Get a look inside the rehearsal room with these sneak peek photos as Ty Fanning (Hamlet), Ðavid Lee Huýnh (Laertes), and Seth Andrew Bridges (Horatio) learn the fight choreography of Rick […]
The name William Shakespeare is nearly synonymous with that of his greatest play, Hamlet. But did you ever stop to consider that the essence of the story wasn’t really his? Instead, according to the Folger Shakespeare Library, ol’ Will, along with many predecessors, borrowed it from ancient Norse legend. The tale of a son avenging […]
The Denver Center Theatre Company is excited to announce the Tony and Emmy Award-winning cast and creative team for the Olney Theatre Center’s production of Avaaz, written and performed by Emmy Award-nominee Michael Shayan. Directed by Tony Award-nominee Moritz von Stuelpngael, Avaaz will run Oct 4 – Nov 17, 2024, in the Singleton Theatre. Critics […]
Chris Coleman never aspired to direct Hamlet. The artistic director of the DCPA never saw himself in that role. He had played the title character onstage twice — senior year in college at Baylor University and again at Actor’s Express, a theater company he founded in Atlanta — and “literally never wanted to direct it […]