"Keen's edgy cast rip through Elizabethan iambic pentameter as though it were their native tongue… At last Hamlet is revealed as a riveting story about corruption, revenge, conscience, and bloodlust. Rock on." Highly Recommended --Chicago Reader

"…Polarity’s take on Hamlet as disturbed rock aficionado is appropriate, and the show is chockablock with capable singers and musicians…Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, has lost his beloved father; his mother Gertrude (the original MILF) quickly marries his uncle. His father’s ghost appears and details his murder, Hamlet swears vengeance, and the rest, friends, is tears… Ophelia’s mental chaos accompanied by a sinister hooded musician, a satisfying hit. Jason Epperson’s set is a basic black-box rock club, Smart Bar circa 1986; Kendell Johnstone’s costumes are appropriately heavy on the leather and denim. Darrel Hager stands out as the Gravedigger. (Singing Guns N’ Roses’ lyric “I used to love her but I had to kill her” while digging Ophelia’s grave? Priceless.) Lukasiewicz’s Laertes has solid poetic fluency… His final duel with Hamlet rocked…” --Time Out Chicago

“The Polarity Ensemble Theatre, under the direction of Ann Keen, have dared to challenge everything we’ve come to expect out of a production of Hamlet... Mason Hill, handsome as a young Bruce Springsteen, is Hamlet, the tortured Dane who is betrayed by everyone in his court…Polarity’s Hamlet is a good play, with a surprisingly innovative and memorable modernization of an ancient tale…” --SteadStyleChicago.com

Our Audience Responds:

"I just want to say the Hamlet was GREAT!!!! I've given your postcards out to several people here and hope you have full houses!! Really well done - captivating to the end!! Claudius, Hamlet and his mother - BRAVO especially!! Loved the rock concert scene! And the last knife-fight, poison ending - WOW!!! Kudos to all!!" --Barb Andree, via email

“We just returned from seeing Polarity Ensemble's interpretation of Hamlet... I have seen a few productions of Shakespeare's...but was never able to get past the language and get into the stories. But this production has turned that around. It's fantastic! Everyone go! I walked away just wowed.” --Rachel Sobel, 8th Ward QuickTopic Online Discussion Space

Hamlet closed June 15, 2008.

Pictured above: Alex Reimers as Rosencrantz, Mason Hill as Hamlet and Abigail Trabue as Ophelia. Photo credit: Thomas Marlow