Olivier Award-winning director Robert Icke's contemporary adaptations of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Aeschylus' Oresteia will make their North American premieres at Park Avenue Armory with previews beginning June 1 for Hamlet and June 9 for Oresteia, with a run set to continue through August 13. Hamlet will open June 28 and Oresteia will open June 21.
Performed in repertory for the first time, the productions will star Alex Lawther as Hamlet and Lia Williams as Klytemnestra, the latter in a return to the role which earned Williams an Olivier nomination. She will also play the role of Gertrude in Hamlet. Joining Lawther and Williams in Hamlet will be Kirsty Rider as Ophelia.
The creative team behind the productions features director Icke, set and costume designer Hildegard Bechtler, lighting designer Natasha Chivers, and sound designer Tom Gibbons. Video is by Tal Yarden. Icke's interpretations of Hamlet and Oresteia both made their world premieres at London's Almeida Theatre.
"Icke’s directorial approach recontextualizes and democratizes classic texts that are often seen as inaccessible," says Armory Marina Kellen French Artistic Director Pierre Audi in a statement, "catapulting them into the modern world and upholding their relevance." Using video elements and stage design to look at the psychological impacts of grief and retribution, the two productions will alternate evenings.
Park Avenue Armory's 2022 season also includes Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) September 27-October 8, a new commission by musician and composer Tyshawn Sore, and the debut of an Armory-commissioned immersive film installation by German video and film artist Julian Rosefeldt titled Euphoria November 30-January 1, 2023.
For tickets and more information, visit ArmoryOnPark.org.
