Ophelia Thinks Harder by Jean Betts

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, and Ophelia knows it.

Fed up with her character being sidelined from the stage of the one of the bard’s best-known plays, Ophelia steals the spotlight from mad Prince Hamlet in a crackling comedy by Wellington playwright Jean Betts with a little help from Bill Shakespeare to ensure that …

Ophelia Thinks Harder directed by John Marwick.

First staged more than 15 years ago, this bare-faced farce which pilfers and plays with some of Shakespeare’s best works, is bound to appeal to anyone who’s ever wanted to be seen not just as a woman, or a man, but as a someone for all seasons.

Cast members play multiple roles, cross dress and even cross centuries, in a thoroughly modern performance which takes in many settings from medieval castles, to Depression-era gangster land, as Hamlet the play and not just Ophelia’s mind, is turned on its head.

As royal intrigue swirls about her, and fanned by a ghostly presence and even a witches brew, Ophelia learns the true meaning of virginity – and how to regain it!

She gets all the best lines, soon finds out Hamlet is anything but a sensitive and confused young man and finally rejects her mother’s advice, “Don’t think too much, dear. Just smile.”

So, whether or not you thought you knew poor Yorick well, by the end of this uproarious play you will know Ophelia and her ragbag of not-so-royal miscreants even better!

Wednesday 28 October – Saturday 31 October 2009 at 8pm
Sunday 1 November matinee at 4pm
Tuesday 2 November – Saturday 7 November 2009 at 8pm

Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee St
Tickets $22 waged, $18 unwaged

Bookings phone 479 3393

www.wellingtonrepertory.org.nz

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