A not so traditional Shakespearean production will be making its way on to campus this week.

(Contributed / ETSU)

An all-female production of “Hamlet” will be performed from Nov. 28-30 at 7:30 p.m. all three days in Studio 205 located in the Campus Center Building.

The play is co-directed by Patrick Cronin, an ETSU professor and Danielle Byington, an ETSU English instructor and alumni. The two directors wanted to put a spin on this quintessential play and believed that this idea would be stand out.

“The choice of performing ‘Hamlet’ with an all-female cast began with professor Patrick Cronin’s interest in the concept,” Byington said. “He saw a production done similarly in California several years ago and wanted to bring that to the ETSU Theatre Department.”

While this production of “Hamlet” might boast an all-female cast, the play and its original storyline did not change. Both Cronin and Byington wanted to insert female actresses into male parts without altering the roles that they play because of gender norms and stereotypes.

“This is still Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ and its respective characters,” Byington said. “We are accomplishing performing this play without actually altering the characters’ genders or the actors’ gender identities.”

Byington wants the audience to recognize that by not conforming to gender norms when casting the play, this version of “Hamlet” can highlight the meaning of the play Shakespeare intended.

“[This version of ‘Hamlet’] will equivocate into something Shakespeare demonstrated in his work: We are all human,” Byington said.

Admission is free and open to the public. However seating is limited to only 52 audience members, so students, faculty and anyone else that may be interested in attending this production are encouraged to arrive early for seating.

For more information on the event, check out the Literature and Language at ETSU’s Facebook page.

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