Sunday, November 5, 2023. Just after 2pm, the last few audience members enter the packed Loeb Experimental (Loeb Ex) Theater for an afternoon of dark humor and heightened emotions. Located in the back of the Loeb Drama Center, this smaller theater offers an intimate playgoing experience. With the student actors just an arm span away from the front row of the audience, no microphones are required in the Loeb Ex—viewers feel like they are spectating real life rather than a performance. The simple background of four gray-painted pillars is enough to transport onlookers to Elsinore, Denmark. It was the final run of Hyperion Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet, and few seats were left empty.
Many attendees might have first encountered the story of the Danish prince Hamlet in their high school English class. However, familiarity with the written play or even Shakespearean English was not required to enjoy this performance. Those who worry about understanding the language of Shakespeare can rest assured knowing that Hyperion’s cast conveyed the story with clarity by using clear, deliberate movements and responses accessible to Shakespeare fans (or critics) across a spectrum.
Harvard’s production of Hamlet’s unique emphasis on “the familial and psychological aspects and less on the political” was intentional, according to Lauren Xu ’24 who played Lucianus, an actor recruited by Hamlet to perform a play for his uncle and aunt. Viewers may have seen themselves in the depression of the Danish prince. The death of his beloved father transforms him from an easygoing student to an unrecognizable young man who fixates on death. He develops a morbid sense of humor, joking that the food served at his father’s funeral was the same as the food served at his mother’s wedding to his uncle, Claudius. Depression grows into righteous anger when the ghost of his father informs Hamlet that his uncle was the one who murdered him. Claudius then replaced Hamlet’s father as king and married Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude.
Audience members who had not seen or read Hamlet were comforted to hear well-known phrases such as “To be or not to be. That is the question,” “Brevity is the soul of wit,” “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t,” and my personal favorite, “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
Interactions between audience members and actors only added to the immersion of the play. Co-lighting designer Jada Pisani-Lee ’26 appreciated how the Loeb Ex space allowed the “audience to be on the [the same] level as the actors, allowing the actors to interact with the audience and pass around props and whisper messages to them during the show.”
Arjun Purohit ’25, who played the wicked King Claudius, noted that there is something “alluring about Shakespeare at his finest.” Alluring the show was—it was truly special to see friends and peers bring Shakespeare’s text to life and have fun while doing so. Purohit emphasized that there is “a camaraderie in stage acting that is easily overlooked,” but attendees of Harvard’s Hamlet could easily pick up on the dynamic relationships and trust built between the actors during their many months of preparation.
The sense of camaraderie in the Hamlet team was also felt by Production Assistant and Stage Manager, Carisma Wong ’26, who enjoyed “[being part of a group of] people of all different experience levels on the team where everybody was so welcoming. I learned a lot and made new friends. I got to see people in their element, both on and off stage, and I feel really lucky for that.” The comfort that actors and crew members had with each other was evident by how well they worked together on stage, contributing their own acting talents and giving others moments to shine.
While the focus of Hamlet was surely on its talented actors, it is critical to appreciate the skilled efforts of its crew. The lights selected for each scene perfectly complemented the emotions portrayed—this was especially true for the appearance of the ghost of the dead king. As he crept across the stage, it shone an eerie turquoise. Scene changes were seamless, ensuring audience members were never distracted from the onstage drama.
Besides its entertainment value and talented cast and crew, Harvard’s Hamlet highlighted topics that will forever be relevant to the undergraduate experience. Harvard students are well aware of the mental health challenges that many face during this critical period of life. Recent years on campus have renewed discussions on mental health, with advocates demanding accountability and change from the University—this is thus the perfect time to engage critically with Hamlet.
Assistant director Hailey Madison “Maddie” Sebastian ’24 identified the show’s ideal audience as, “Shakespeare nerds, Lion King fans, and anyone who has ever felt angry at the world.” Harvard’s Hamlet, then, was for practically everyone—and undoubtedly, all who attended are now anticipating Hyperion’s next brilliant production.
Adedoyin Adebayo ’26 (aadebayo@college.harvard.edu) wonders if “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”