{"id":250895,"date":"2026-07-24T04:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T04:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/250895\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T04:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T04:47:22","slug":"everybody-is-hamlet-in-phillys-shakespeare-in-clark-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/250895\/","title":{"rendered":"Everybody is Hamlet in Philly\u2019s \u201cShakespeare in Clark Park\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Everybody is Hamlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like Hamlet, haven\u2019t some of us felt betrayed, perhaps estranged from our parents, tricked by people who were friends and neighbors? Is revenge the answer?<\/p>\n

Probably most of us have experienced at least some of those emotions, which is why Shamus McCarty<\/a> believes that Shakespeare in Clark Park\u2019s<\/a> \u201ceverybody is Hamlet\u201d approach to William Shakespeare\u2019s classic drama \u201cHamlet,\u201d<\/a> will resonate.<\/p>\n

These days, those same feelings of betrayal and revenge can easily move beyond the personal to the collective, says McCarty, Shakespeare in Clark Park\u2019s producing artistic director.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of outrage and grief for a lot of people in different ways,\u201d said McCarty, who is directing the reimagining of \u201cHamlet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

McCarty would like \u201cthe audience to see themselves reflected in it. An experience that feels universal to me is grief, and revenge and whether revenge is worth pursuing and the impacts of that on ourselves and others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The \u201cHamlet\u201d cast: (left to right) Paul Scheb, Kendall Arringon, Minou Pourshariati, Cassandra Alexander, Dawn McCall, Brittany Onukwugha, Christina M. Segarra, Katie Frazer. (photo by Samuel Vargas)<\/p>\n

Staged in late July in three locations, two suburban and, one, of course, in the bowl of Clark Park<\/a>, the show, co-produced with Revolution Shakespeare,<\/a> takes the idea of \u201ceverybody is Hamlet,\u201d very literally. Four different actors play Hamlet \u2013 all in the same production. Besides that, five other people, a community chorus of sorts, give voice to Hamlet\u2019s inner thoughts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Each actor takes on multiple characters. Besides Hamlet, the four main actors switch off playing all the other main characters including Hamlet\u2019s uncle King Claudius, his mother Gertrude, his friend Horatio, and Ophelia, whom Hamlet loves. The community chorus covers the other roles \u2013 courtiers, soldiers, gravediggers, and a troupe of actors that Hamlet hires in order to uncover the truth about his uncle, the king.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McCarty admits it might be a bit confusing. But he has confidence in the audiences who assemble at Clark Park and the other locations. From experience, they know to come prepared to grasp whatever interesting twist they\u2019re served on a Shakespeare classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cShakespeare in Clark Park has always taken big swings [on the bard\u2019s plays] and the audience has always followed us,\u201d McCarty said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Hamlets: (from top to bottom) Dawn McCall, Minou Pourshariati, Cassandra Alexander & Brittany Onukwugha. (photo by Samuel Vargas)<\/p>\n

So how might this Hamlet-heavy twist work?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the start of one of the most famous Hamlet monologues \u2013 the one that begins \u201cTo be or not to be.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the four main Hamlets will start intoning \u201cTo Be,\u201d but the next phrase, \u201cor not to be,\u201d \u2014 a dark rumination weighing suicide \u2014 comes from a community chorus member portraying one of Hamlet\u2019s inner thoughts. By the end of the monologue, the first Hamlet will have been replaced by another.<\/p>\n

As for the role-switching among the other actors, McCarty advises the audience to look for clues. Whoever plays King Claudius, for example, will always have a crown, and in rehearsals, the actors are practicing so they can duplicate Claudius\u2019s same kingly walk.<\/p>\n

There are more twists \u2013 the majority of cast members are women or non-gender specific, including the four main Hamlets.<\/p>\n

Yes, McCarty said, both Shakespeare in Clark Park and Revolution Shakespeare want to move away from the idea that Shakespeare requires primarily male actors. But that wasn\u2019t the point here. It was more coincidental.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were matching roles to actors,\u201d McCarty said. The four Hamlets are Cassandra Alexander,<\/a> Brittany Onukwugha<\/a>, Minou Pourshariati,<\/a> and Dawn McCall.<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the first time Shakespeare in Clark Park has partnered with another theater group. Besides audience sharing, McCarty said he wants to elevate Philly\u2019s vibrant theater scene by helping other groups gain exposure to Shakespeare in Clark Park\u2019s audiences, which, he said, can number close to 6,000 by the closing show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This partnership comes with practical advantages. Like Shakespeare in the Park, Revolution Shakespeare works on twists to the standard fare. In December, for example, the group, led by artistic director Tai Verley,<\/a> added an interactive exhibit to Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cMeasure for Measure.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, RevShakes, as it is also known, staged its version of \u201cHamlet\u201d with Verley playing the lead. The role of Hamlet\u2019s friend, Horatio, was performed by Alexander, a key collaborator, along with Verley, in this summer\u2019s production in Clark Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As director, McCarty is able to control, or at least influence, the course of the play. But he has no power over the weather \u2013 the single biggest stressor for him and the crew with the summer season\u2019s volatile swings between heat, thunder and torrential downpours.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always terrified,\u201d he said. Even though he knows it\u2019s totally useless, he obsessively checks the weather on his phone, all day long, weeks and days ahead of time. A desperate optimist, he\u2019ll hold off until the very, very last minute before cancelling a performance. Last year, a downpour of epic proportions lifted just 30 minutes before the show\u2019s start.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re down to put your blanket on vaguely wet grass, we\u2019re down to perform the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are no specific rain dates built into the scheduling and this year and there\u2019s no alternative indoor space. (Penn had provided some in years past).<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s McCarty\u2019s foul weather strategy?<\/p>\n

\u201cPrayer,\u201d he laughed, \u201cand the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHamlet,\u201d Shakespeare in Clark Park<\/a> and Revolution Shakespeare,<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

July 24-Aug. 2. Valley Creek Park,<\/a> 361 N. Morehall Rd., Malvern, 7 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

July 24; West Goshen Community Park,<\/a> 1023 Fern Hill Rd., West Chester, 7 p.m. July 25<\/p>\n

The Bowl at Clark Park,<\/a> 1101 S. 45th St., Phila. 7 p.m. July 29, 30, 31, Aug. 1 and 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. Everybody is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2402,4877,71656,69,71,70,101043,34341,14896],"class_list":["post-250895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-acting","tag-arts","tag-clark-park","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-revolution-shakespeare","tag-shakespeare","tag-west-philly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}