Hamlet and the Ghost Speak ASL

The main event today was seeing Dan Donohue in the role of Hamlet. Upon entering the theatre I was struck by the action already taking place on stage. Hamlet sat along amongst rows and rows of chairs before a casket as if lingering after his father’s funeral. As the audience entered the space everything was slowly cleared around him, until finally he stood up and left the space. Thus the play began.

Stone walls moved in and out of the A-symmetrical space, in the modern world created for this timeless play.

The ghosts appeared, played by the deaf actor Howie Seago, who used ASL to sign his lines to his distressed son. Hamlet repeated many of the lines back to him, althoughthe meaning was clear even to those who are unfamilar with ASL.

Armed with a pair of scissors, which cut at his clothing and ultimately brought and end to Polonius, Hamlet feigned madness to plot the revenge murder of his Uncle.

This production is littered with wonderful tid-bits and is an absolute must see.