Pitt Repertory Theatre Launches 2012-13 Season With Her Hamlet, Oct. 4-13

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh-based Pitt Repertory Theatre launches its 2012-13 season with Her Hamlet in the Henry Heymann Theatre in Pitt’s Stephen Foster Memorial, Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard, Oakland. The world-premiere production, described as a radical reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s classic Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, will run from Oct. 4 through Oct. 13. Performances are at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. For tickets or for more information, call 412-624-PLAY (7529) or visit www.play.pitt.edu.

Devised by Lisa Jackson-Schebetta, assistant professor of theatre arts at Pitt, and Theo Allyn, a teaching artist-in-residence, Her Hamlet is the story of Judith, William Shakespeare’s youngest daughter, who is haunted by the ghosts of her father’s famous characters. Accompanied by her faithful sidekick, Yorick, Judith seeks to uncover the hidden threads connecting her to the women of her father’s works. On the way, she discovers lovers, warriors, dreamers, and artists, and perhaps a startling truth about herself.

Allyn, who has performed with Bricolage, City Theatre, and the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, plays Judith. Pianist, conductor, and tenor Robert Frankenberry, who composed and will perform the original music for Her Hamlet, plays Yorick. Frankenberry’s credits include performances in Pittsburgh, New York, and Chicago as a music director, vocal recitalist, assistant conductor, and pianist.

Jackson-Schebetta, who directed last year’s Pitt Rep smash hit Sweeney Todd, also directs this production. She has directed and devised works for the American Globe Theatre and The Women’s Project and Productions, among others.

Pitt undergraduate and graduate students also are involved, serving as assistant directors, movement directors, and lighting and set designers. Talkback sessions with the actors will occur after every performance, as will a postshow reception in the Stephen Foster Memorial’s Fred Kelly Lobby.

Following the October run of Her Hamlet, the production will become part of the repertoire of Pitt’s Shakespeare in the Schools, the touring outreach program of the Department of Theatre Arts in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.

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