Beacon Charter to perform ‘Hamlet’
Shakespeare production this Thursday through Sunday at the black box theater
WOONSOCKET — Beacon Charter School’s Thespian Troupe 7444 was looking for a challenge in its last production of the school year, and they picked a doozy: Shakespeare’s masterpiece, “Hamlet.”
But Theater Director Jason Robert Leclair says the crew is up for it, and audiences won’t be disappointed.
“This year we really have a crew that can handle it,’ he says. “They’ve accepted the challenge and they’ve dived in so fervently.”
This is Troupe 7444’s first foray into Hamlet, but Leclair’s third. Leclair rewrote the script to make Shakespeare’s English sound more modern and easier to understand. And what’s normally a four-hour play has been distilled into about two hours’ worth of intimate drama in the 120-seat black box theater on the third floor of the 320 Main St. charter school for the visual, theater and culinary arts.
Audiences, he said, can expect “a cathartic experience, something that gives them the ability to feel the extraordinary circumstances” of Shakespeare’s heroes, villains and collateral victims.
Students have been rehearsing the show since March, said Leclair. Students from all three of the school’s study concentrations are involved in the production – not just theater students.
“It’s actually a big deal for the school because this is an afterschool program,” he said. “We actually have members of all three majors working on the production.”
The play will be performed daily Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday at 2 p.m. General admission tickets are $10, students $8. Leclair said if there are any available seats, tickets will be sold at the door, otherwise reservations are available by logging onto beacon.booktix.com.
“With revenge in the air, hatred, love, and some of the most meaningful words ever set down, these thespians bring forth this profound work in an intimate and stunning visual performance that is sure to have you on the edge of your seat,” says Leclair. “It’s a perfect way to end a stellar season.”