(This story is sponsored by Bard on the Beach)

No play by Shakespeare has more meaningfully captivated us than Hamlet. A young prince returns home to mourn the death of his father only to uncover a dark secret he can’t ignore. His struggle to move forward with purpose awakens deep questions about life, existence, and if it’s better “To be or not to be.” As he attempts to make sense of a world that has shifted beneath him, we are invited to see ourselves in Hamlet and to consider the blurry lines around loyalty, self, and all the things that are in heaven and earth.

Stephen Drover’s masterful new adaptation is “emotionally accessible without sacrificing the classic’s enduring impact” (Stir). “The result is a fresh, dynamic version of arguably the greatest drama ever written. Drover has cut Shakespeare’s longest play into a digestible two hours without losing any of its essentials” (Vancouver Sun).

As Drover told the Straight, “I think that’s really exciting. Adaptations, or new interpretations, are never aimed to improve upon the source. It’s more like, ‘Why don’t we turn this a few degrees on its axis, and see if we can’t think about our own contribution to this ongoing work as something that might spur new conversations? What are the conversations that people have in the car on the way home?’ The biggest compliment I think I can get is people driving home and going, ‘I’m going to go home and read Hamlet.’ ”

Hamlet stars Nadeem Phillip Umar Khitab in the title role, other cast members include Kate Besworth, Ivy Charles, Evelyn Chew, Jennifer Clement, Aidan Correia, Matthew Ip Shaw, Nathan Kay, Camille Legg, Anton Lipovetsky, Chirag Naik, Christine Quintana, Munish Sharma, Nadeem Phillip Umar Khitab, Andrew Wheeler, and Marcus Youssef.

Set Designer Pam Johnson has crafted a stage reminiscent of a Danish modern library. Costume Designer Barbara Clayden has constructed a contemporary costume collection reflecting the looks worn in today’s world. Additional members of Hamlet’s production team include Mary Jane Coomber (Sound Designer), Gerald King (Lighting Designer), Jonathan Hawley Purvis (Choreographer/Fight Director), Lisa Goebel (Choreographer/Intimacy Director).