If extraterrestrials were to visit Earth, we’d probably put a copy of “Hamlet” in their welcome basket. It’s that good. Well over 400 years after William Shakespeare wrote the play (between 1599 and 1601), readers and audiences are still connecting with it.
The play tells the story of Prince Hamlet, but he’s no party-boy prince. When the action begins, we discover that his dad (the King of Denmark) has been murdered by his own brother and Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. Ouch. Talk about sibling rivalry. And it gets worse: not too long after the murder, Claudius married Hamlet’s mom, Gertrude.
Hamlet is having a teenage crisis. Okay, so he doesn’t dye his hair and plaster pictures of Fall Out Boy all over his walls, but he does start wearing all black and talking to himself a lot — the 16th century equivalent of keeping a video diary. He’s got a crush on a girl who might be cheating on him; he doesn’t like the guy his mom remarried; and he feels a lot of pressure to live up to his dad’s expectations.
In other words, Hamlet is just like us. Sure, he’s got bigger problems. (And ghosts.) But his mysterious inner life, his roller coaster of emotions, his struggle to figure out what to do with his life, his conflicted feelings about his parents — this is the stuff that every coming-of-age novel (and movie) is made of.
Shakespeare on Main Street sets the play in modern day, drawing the audience to explore how Shakespeare’s words are relevant to today. The key themes behind “Hamlet” are the price of vengeance, effects of deception, madness and the consequences of corruption. The themes that Shakespeare expresses in Hamlet are just as relevant to today’s society, perhaps even more so.
Come explore the human spirit and what happens when it is challenged. The play comes to the Brandon Town Hall Theater on Saturday, July 29, 7 p.m., and Sunday, July 30, 2 p.m.
Tickets are $18 for adults, and $12 for ages 18 and under.  For more info visit ShakespeareOnMainStreet.org or call (802) 282-2581.