Hamlet
GableStage enthusiastically partners with Florida International University (FIU) to continue to bring the Shakespeare in the Schools program, now in its 12th season, to upwards of 20 Miami-Dade public schools. Thanks to the generous support of GableStage’s educational sponsors and donors, Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, will tour from February 18 to March 20, 2025.
Directed by FIU Associate Professor of Theatre and playwright Michael Yawney, and starring a cast of FIU Alum, the Shakespeare in the Schools program provides these alumni with their first professional, paid theater opportunity. While serving Miami’s diverse population by visiting schools in all districts, this touring program aims to enhance Shakespearean curriculum from page to stage by illuminating the human experience through the timeless topics explored in Shakespeare’s cannon.
Public performances will be held at Florida International University (FIU) on February 15th at 2 pm in DM 150 and a public performance at GableStage on February 24th at 7:30 pm.
Teachers and activity coordinators may sign up their school here:
Shakespeare in the Schools: Hamlet
A cast of six will tour local high schools playing a one-hour adaptation of Hamlet. In this adaptation, a group of young people meet to enact the classic play, but discover that Hamlet tells the story of their own lives. Using everyday items that can be found in any school and costumes that can be found in any teenager’s closet, they transform the play to speak about their experience.
The Program
Objectives
To expose high school students to classic text that is animated from the page; Shakespeare is meant to be played rather than read and many young people will never have the opportunity to experience complicated, metaphorical verse, brought to life with depth, vibrancy and meaning.
To engender a life-long love of Shakespeare by amplifying the overarching themes that exist in Shakespearean plays, such as appearance vs reality; change; order and disorder; and conflict and how these themes are relevant today
To provide actors and stage managers, who have recently graduated from college, their first professional opportunity. By providing an experienced director, dramaturg and production team and mentorship from GableStage stage managers and staff, early career actors gain confidence and experience in their craft
Michael Yawney
Director/Playwright
Michael Yawney is a Miami-based director/playwright. His gloss on Kid Ends Play will appear in the next issue of Imagined Theatre. Last season, he directed a double bill of Brecht/Weill’s Lindberg’s Flight and Blitzstein’s Airborne Symphony for Orchestra Miami. He directed Rudi Goblen’s FITO for the Live Arts Bard Biennial and PET at Miami Light Project, YoungArts, and #305ONEFEST. Yawney’s production of Heather Woodbury’s 12-hour stand-up novel As the Globe Warms was seen at Austin’s Vortex Rep and L.A.’s Redcat. With Brandon Urutia, he co-created the streaming production Intimate/Internet for GableStage. Yawney wrote and directed Exile Jesus Starbucks for Miami Light Project’s Here & Now. He also adapted and directed the Bulgarian play, The Spider for Alternative Theater Festival. His play 1,000 Homosexuals premiered at the Arsht Center. His gloss on Kid Ends Play will appear in the next issue of Imagined Theatre.
Yawney founded Florida International University’s play development program The Greenhouse. He has a BFA from the Experimental Theater Wing of New York University and an MFA in Directing from Columbia University.
About The Play
Hamlet is not the tragedy of one young man, it is the tragedy of two families. As Hamlet and Ophelia grow up, they learn that not everything their parents have said was true. They discover the reality of what has held their families together.
This adaptation focuses on the struggle of a young generation trying to set the world right.
Hamlet is unhappy that after his father’s death, his mother has married his uncle. When his father’s ghost charges him with avenging his death, Hamlet must choose what to do. Ophelia’s father dictates her choices, but she discovers that father does not always know best.
SPONSORS:
Arts Midwest
Coral Gables Community Foundation Grant
Theatre Works!
Anthony R. Abraham Foundation