Hamlet Set in 1930s, by MV Thespians Set in Roswell

Mount Vernon’s acting troupe, the MV Allstars, took their show on the road to make Mount Vernon history. Upper School thespians performed in their first ever, off-campus promenade-style production, A Night in Elsinore, a collision between Shakespeare and the silver screen in an adaptation of Hamlet.
Set at historic Naylor Hall in Roswell, the play required participation from the audience, who would walk with the cast from room to room. In moving the audience around throughout the performance, promenade-style theatre pushes boundaries of setting in a way that can’t be achieved in regular theatre. With no formal stage, the audience and actors occupy the same space.
Guests were transported to the 1930’s for this retelling of the Shakespearian classic, Hamlet. Surprise performers included The Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, and other actors from that era wielded pies and swords to entertain and delight the audience. Those who were unable to get tickets to the sold-out show, a recording will be available soon!
A letter from Clark Taylor, Director of Theatre Arts: 
We are so excited to welcome you to historic Naylor Hall for our season opener and our very first site-specific performance! Welcome to A Night in Elsinore–a collision course of comedy and tragedy, the old and the new, classical and modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s most revered and challenging play, Hamlet.

Hamlet may be, aside from A Christmas Carol, the play I have done the most. College was where I got the acting bug and where I performed in my first Shakespeare play and, yes, it was Hamlet and, yes, I got to take on the melancholy Dane. It really is a timeless classic.
What you will witness in tonight’s interpretation is what we do best at Mount Vernon: as makers, tinkerers, and artists, we thrive best when we get opportunities to take on challenges and say, “Hmm, now what if we…?” That is how we have wrangled, hammered, and molded into shape the production that you will experience tonight. The play’s the thing!
So, we’re pushing, pulling, and taking it one step further by putting you into the action tonight, into the world of the play as you travel with us and experience this madcap night of murder and merriment. I am so proud of our student thespians for their creativity during the process of this show, and so glad that you are here to bear witness to the fruition of their labor. You’re in for a treat!
A treat, and maybe a trick or two.
Thanks always for seeing live theatre and seeing theatre live!
Clark Taylor,
Director of Theatre Arts
Performing Arts Instructor
In the meantime, check out the photos from preview night!
password: mustangs