William Shakespeare’s
Hamlet
FREE Shakespeare in the Park 2024
Run Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission
Directed by Candice Handy
Scenic Design: Samantha Reno
Costume Design: Rainy Edwards
Sound & Lighting Design: Robert Carlton Stimmel
Properties Design: Kara Eble Trusty
Fight Director: Gina Cerimele-Mechley
Cast
Hamlet/Player: Beasley
Gertrude: Caisey Cole
Horatio: Adelyn Rae Helms
King Claudius/ Ghost: Montez O. Jenkins Copeland
Ophelia/ Bernardo/ 1st Gravedigger: Cassandra Reeves
Laertes/ Player/ Rosencrantz: Elexis Selmon
Marcellus/Guildenstern/Player/2nd Gravedigger/Polonius/Osric: Matthew Shanahan
Understudy/Swing: Elliet Malatesta
All other roles will be played by members of the ensemble.
Production Staff
Production Manager: Robert Carlton Stimmel
Wardrobe Supervisor: Savannah Brooks
A/V Technician: Valentine Molloy
Stage Manager: Jamie Ellen Ripperger
Beasley (they/them) 2 Seasons. Cincinnati: Much Ado About Nothing, The Amen Corner, Wrecking Ball, The Comedy of Errors (CSC); The Dancing Princesses, MLM is for Murder, Fiona: The Musical (Ensemble Theatre). Regional: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oklahoma Shakespeare). Alumnus of University of Oklahoma
Montez O. Jenkins Copeland (they/them) (Debut) Cincinnati: Girlfriend: The Musical, Lightchasers, Theatre A Love Story, Red Bike, Moby Dick (The Know Theatre); Kinky Boots (The Carnegie); A Snowy Day (Playhouse in the Park). Film: 13th and Republic, Miles Ahead. Education: Northern Kentucky University and Walnut Hills High School. Immense gratitude and love to the Junkyard crew and community.
Caisey Cole (Debut) Cincinnati: Hamlet (CSC). Regional: The Color Purple - Forthcoming (Actor’s Theater of Louisville); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Three Witches Shakespeare); The Snowy Day (Stage One Theatre); Sweat (Indiana University South). TV/Film: Wildcat (dir. by Ethan Hawke); David Makes Man. Education: Rollins College (BA).
Cassandra Reeves (she/her) Debut. Cincinnati: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (CSC), The Light Chasers (Know Theatre), Sally Salem and the Spooktacular Birthday Extravaganza (Cincinnati Fringe Festival), Frankenstein, A Dream Play (CCM) Regional: As You Like It (Richmond Shakespeare Festival). Fourth-year BFA Acting candidate at The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Adelyn Rae Helms (she/her) (Debut) Cincinnati: Off-The-Grid performances (Cincinnati Playhouse); Deadline (The Human Race Theatre Company); Misery, In The Green, Into The Woods, Something Rotten (TheatreLab Dayton); Regional: Charlotte’s Web (Missoula Children’s Theatre). Education: Ohio Northern University (BFA). She is grateful to her fiancé for his constant support & laughter. adelynhelms.com
Elexis Selmon (she/her) (Debut) Cincinnati: Fiona: The Musical, MLM for Murder, Dancing Princesses (Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati), Finding Nemo Jr., Spongebob: The Musical Jr. (The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati) Regional: School Girls; Or The African Mean Girls Play (The NOLA Project), The House That Will Not Stand (LePetit Theatre New Orleans). Education: Loyola University New Orleans (BA). Would like to thank God, her family, and friends for all of their support.
Matthew Shanahan (he/him) (2nd Season) Cincinnati: The Comedy of Errors (CSC) Regional: peerless (The Human Race Theatre Company), White Christmas (Short North Stage), Finding Christmas (Rand Productions & MGM). Education: Wright State University (BFA).
Elliet Malatesta (she/her) (Debut) Cincinnati: Much Ado about Mean Girls, Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado about Nothing, Cabaret, Spring Awakening (C.A.S.A), Cyrano on the Moon, Far Away From Home (Cincy Fringe), Narnia (The Children’s Theater of Cincinnati), Merry Wives of Windsor (Southbank Shakespeare). Regional: The (not so great) Kidnapping of Sir Francis Drake Stunt Show (Ohio Renaissance Festival). Education: Northern Kentucky University (BFA) and Cincinnati Actors Studio and Academy. Elliet enjoys sword fighting and rollerskating and sometimes she likes doing them at the same time. She also loves her family very much!
Samantha Reno (she/her) (4 Seasons) is excited to be heading into another season at CSC! Her favorite designs include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Comedy of Errors, and The Living Dead. In the last year, she has also enjoyed working with the Cincinnati Opera (Fierce), the Cincinnati Ballet (Bold Moves Festival), Northern Kentucky University (Noises Off), and B Street Theatre in Sacramento, California. The most gratitude and joy to her wonderful, supportive husband and two amazing kids!
Rainy Edwards (she/her) (6 Seasons) is from Llano, Texas, and received her MFA in Costume Design at Florida State University. She has been with the company since 2018. Rainy has had the pleasure of designing many shows here including, The Winter’s Tale, Titus Andronicus, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and All The Way, to name a few. Her work has been seen at Utah Shakespeare Festival, The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Triad Stage, and Lexington Children’s Theatre. Rainey is excited to be back and making art with her colleagues and friends. She is forever thankful for the support of Chris and their dog Obi.
Robert Carlton Stimmel (he/him) (6 Seasons) is a Cincinnati area native, hailing from Fairfield, Ohio. After receiving his BA in Theatre at Miami University, he has worked with various theatre including Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Alliance Theatre, Short North Stage, and Tantrum Theatre. In addition to his technician and design work, he is also a performer and producer and is always looking to expand his artistic abilities! Robert is the Artistic Director of Impaired Vision Productions, a local theatre organization that produces new works. He would like to thank his wife Kayla for her constant support of his artistic aspirations and her unconditional love.
Kara Eble Trusty (she/her) (4 Seasons) is a Cincinnati native. She saw her first CSC production at 12 and is amazed that she gets to collaborate with some of the same people that inspired her love of theatre and art at a young age. Kara has worked locally with the Know Theatre of Cincinnati, The Carnegie, and the Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. She would like to thank her friends and family, especially her parents Bob and Sue, for their love, support, and encouragement as she continues down this incredible and irrational artistic path.
Gina Cerimele-Mechley (she/her) (29 Seasons), a Cincinnati native, has been involved with CSC as a performer and fight director since its inception as Fahrenheit Theatre Company. Gina is a 32-year member and one of the few female Fight Directors with the Society of American Fight Directors. She has done fight direction for Cincinnati Opera and Ballet, Ensemble Theatre, Playhouse in the Park, and Human Race Theatre in Dayton. Gina runs the nationally recognized Cincinnati Actor’s Studio & Academy, and she was the first recipient of the CAA’s Arts Educator Award. Some of her favorite regional credits outside of Cincinnati include Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center Theatre Company, Opera Theatre St. Louis, and Alaska Cabin Nite Dinner Theatre.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. In Elsinore Castle, Prince Hamlet mourns his father's untimely death. His despair deepens when his mother, Queen Gertrude, remarries his uncle Claudius, who now claims the throne.
In another part of the castle, Polonius, the king’s advisor, warns his daughter Ophelia to guard her heart against Hamlet. Her sister Laertes, equally wary, advises the same.
Soon after, the Ghost of Hamlet’s father appears to Hamlet and his best friend, Horatio, revealing a dark secret to his son: Claudius is his murderer. To expose Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet feigns madness, shocking the court and breaking Ophelia’s heart. Polonius spies on Hamlet, while Claudius enlists Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to probe his behavior.
A troupe of actors arrives, and Hamlet devises a scheme. He directs them to perform a play mirroring his father’s murder. Claudius’s guilty reaction confirms his crime to Hamlet.
In the aftermath, Hamlet confronts his mother. Polonius, eavesdropping behind a curtain, is mistaken for the king and slain by Hamlet. In response, Claudius sends Hamlet away to England and secretly orders his death.
Hamlet returns to Denmark and happens upon some gravediggers, who reveal that a grief-stricken Ophelia has gone mad and drowned herself.
Burning for revenge, Ophelia’s sister, Laertes, arranges a deadly duel between herself and Hamlet. Claudius conspires with Laertes, ensuring Hamlet’s end through either a poisoned sword or wine. During the duel, Gertrude drinks the poisoned wine and dies. Both Laertes and Hamlet are mortally wounded by the poisoned blade. Laertes reveals Claudius’s treachery with his dying breath. Enraged, Hamlet kills Claudius, fulfilling his vow of vengeance.
FREE! Shakespeare in the Park
July 14 - September 3, 2023
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s FREE Shakespeare in the Park tour is the only professional outdoor theatre opportunity of its kind in Cincinnati each summer, attracting more than 10,000 patrons to over 40 area parks during the summer months. CSC’s FREE Shakespeare in the Park Tour enhances the vibrancy of neighborhoods throughout the region by creating traveling arts programs that increase the affordability, availability, and accessibility of the arts outside the downtown core.
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Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s FREE Shakespeare in the Park tour is the only professional outdoor theatre opportunity in Cincinnati each summer. CSC’s FREE Shakespeare in the Park Tour enhances the vibrancy of neighborhoods throughout the region by creating traveling arts programs that increase the affordability, availability, and accessibility of the arts outside the downtown core.
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