In truth, the more I am myself on stage, the more Hamlet-ish I feel.

Samuel Henzerling (Laertes) 13, HOMESCHOOLED

I am most excited about portraying how Laertes falls to Claudius’ manipulation of him and his emotional duel with Hamlet at the end of the play. For me, the scariest and most difficult parts about portraying Laertes are conveying a slowly growing sense of hatred towards Hamlet and portraying the intense emotions he feels after the deaths of Polonius and Ophelia. The biggest challenge in connecting with Laertes’ character is having to understand the pain he is going through and figuring out how to act it out in a realistic way. Studying the character and learning to comprehend the context of the text have helped me overcome this challenge.

Rylie Philpot (Hamlet) 15, THE MASTERS PROGRAM

After performing in over 20 different productions, for about half my life, I cannot say there is anything scary about playing a character even if that character is potentially suicidal and insane. I find acting interesting, and I enjoy exploring myself through every character I play. My favorite part of the acting process is breaking down my character’s psychology. After almost a year of finding motivation from the text and drawing what I don’t know from others and my own experience, I feel like I know Hamlet. In truth, the more I am myself on stage, the more Hamlet-ish I feel. I understand his thought processes even if I disagree with them at times. I resonate with a lot of his thoughts, ideas, and ideals. All and all, I’d say Hamlet is human. That’s why playing him will be so exciting, difficult, and incredible.

Itai Rosen (Hamlet) 17, HOMESCHOOLED

Over the last year I have discovered not how I am different from Hamlet but how shockingly and sometimes frighteningly similar I am to him. The tragedy of Hamlet lies in his distinctly human level of indecisiveness and his lack of perspective. In the wake of his depression and insanity he leaves death and chaos. This is a character who has been portrayed so many times by many different people with different perspectives, all who have brought this theatrical legend to life. I now have the opportunity to do it myself, and it is daunting, exciting, and horrifying all at the same time. To put all I have done in the last year into three hours of text and blocking is a challenge and a blessing that I will take with me through the rest of my life. ◀