Immediate Release January 23, 2017

A Season of Firsts: An Exciting Experiment in Classical Theatre:
Theatre Erindale Presents William Shakespeare’s HAMLET!

Theatre and Drama Studies “Studio Series” is designed to give our students an experience of breaking into the theatre world. They participate in projects that will mirror this journey and develop skills that they will likely need as they move forward. In the fall, they wrote and performed their own work – “The Wo/Man” - A devised theatre piece under the guidance of Director Rachel Blair. Now they move on to experimental classical theatre!

Director David Matheson says “It is vital for young actors to come to grips with heightened language and classical texts. That being said many of these plays are heavily dominated by male parts. That is a big challenge from a training perspective because our classes are majority female.” What Matheson has done is switch the genders of some of the roles rather than ask the women to strap on beards and play men.

This Hamlet is something truly unique. In fact, each performance will be a new experience! The cast is going to change from performance to performance. Matheson has “double cast” the show – meaning that each role is given to two actors in the company and every performance some of the parts shift. The role of Hamlet herself/himself has both a female and male actor playing the role! This opens up new and exciting possibilities between the characters. This production tests as many iterations as we can! The more times you see the show the better – as nuances open up when the casts shift. See both shows on the same Saturday (2:00 and 7:30) and you will see everybody play their main part!

This production will tour as well! Part of our student’s training includes taking their work on the road and adapting to a fresh space. The first week of performances take place in our brand-new studios in Deerfield Hall at the University of Toronto Mississauga Campus. The following week we travel to Sheridan College, Trafalgar Campus, room H113. Tickets can be reserved at each venue at the emails and numbers below and then purchased at the door.

David Matheson began his training with a BA from Acadia University and later attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in England. He holds a MFA (Directing) from York University. Directing work includes eight productions as Artistic Director of Exodus Theatre, including a critically acclaimed Julius Caesar, and many premieres of new work. Under his Artistic Direction, Wordsmyth Theatre has garnered six Dora Nominations including a win for Set Design. David’s directorial work in the Fringe circuit regularly wins awards and accolades – the most recent being Rachel Blair’s hit “A Man Walks Into a Bar” which played to sell out audiences in three festivals. In the summer of 2012, David Matheson became full time faculty at Sheridan College, and in the spring of 2016 he became the Coordinator of Theatre and Drama Studies. For Theatre Erindale directing credits include Macbeth (2013), A Stitch in Time (2014), Occupy Verona/Alms for O (2015) and Comedy of Errors (2016).