Beyond Hamlet — the life of Ophelia unveiled.
Meet Ophelia. At the opening of this creative new play she is a feisty young girl about to embark on a relationship with young Hamlet. Based partly in the modern day, the play’s first act ends where Shakespeare’s play begins, with the death of Old Hamlet.
The second act includes all those scenes of Shakespeare’s play that feature Ophelia, but the fate of this Ophelia is unexpected.
David Taylor has been a pioneering teacher of Drama in Australia, having first begun to teach it in 1968. Creating a performance was part of the Year 12 requirement for the Victorian Certificate of Education subject, Theatre Studies. After directing Hamlet with one of his classes, David came to the conclusion that there was more to the story of Ophelia than is told in Shakespeare’s play.
“An original, well-formed off-shoot of Hamlet, with some creative story-telling.”
John Bell, Bell Shakespeare Company Founder
