The production features Jolly Abraham, Robin Leslie Brown, Bradford Cover, Dominic Cuskern, Jimmy Davis, TJ Edwards, R.J. Foster, Robert Hock, Regi Huc, Kenneth Lee, Sean McNall (as the Melancholy Dane), Eduardo Placer, David Sedgwick, Christopher Thornton and David L. Towsend.
Sean McNall has been a member of Pearl's resident acting company since 2003, appearing in 17 productions, among them The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure.
Opening is Sept. 23 at the Pearl's 160-seat home on St. Mark's Place in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The production runs through Sept. 28.
According to the troupe, known for staging "classics" rather than new plays, "Before it was hailed as the greatest play in the English language, before its incandescent poetry was smothered by the cumulative weight of four centuries of critical response, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1601) was first a story of shattering loss. A son reels from the death of his murdered father. Racked by rage, despair, and guilt, he recoils from his newly remarried mother, mistrusts his oldest friends, and rejects his beloved, abandoning — and feeling abandoned by — everyone who has shaped his life. Hamlet is not a story of epic deeds or philosophical conceits, but a poignant, painful rendering of the loyalties — to both the living and the dead — that bind, divide, and destroy a family."
The Hamlet creative team includes Lisa Ledwich (stage manager), Harry Feiner (scenic design), Devon Painter (costume design), Stephen Petrilli (lighting design) and Sara Bader (sound design). The Pearl Theatre Company is located at 80 St. Marks Place. For more information, call (212) 598-9802 or visit www.pearltheatre.org.
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"Classical theatre, especially when played by a troupe with the skills and shared experience that open these wonderful plays ever deeper and wider, is an active and invigorating exploration of what it is to be human," according to the company.
The 2007-08 Pearl Theatre Company season also includes:
Pearl's mission statement reads this way: "Two commitments especially distinguish The Pearl Theatre Company. We are a resident company, and we produce a full range repertory strongly rooted in the classics.
"A resident company format mandates the ongoing development of a troupe individually and collectively capable of great range in style, period and character. The Pearl seeks and develops actors with the technical abilities and the artistic inclination to create a character rather than to recreate a type, and to approach each play on the playwright’s terms, so that style is a vehicle, rather than a substitute, for honesty.
"A full-range repertory strongly rooted in the classics offers to the company, and demands of the company, scope, resonance, and variety. A partnership with the great playwrights of all periods challenges our company and our audience constantly to expand their horizons. It is essential to the health of the theatre and to the craft and souls of theatre artists to keep vital our rich tradition.
"In specific application, The Pearl puts its money where its people are. A living wage for artistic personnel, tasteful modesty in production elements, and sound fiscal management are administrative priorities. Our goal is to set a standard for classical theatre in America by nourishing and challenging a resident acting company."
