Crafton Hills College brings murder, mystery to campus with performance of Hamlet

Publish Date: July 22, 2024

Breaking News: Something’s rotten in Demark.

While the world begins to heal at the end of World War II, the country of Denmark mourns the loss of its king, Hamlet. Plagued by grief, his only son and namesake must navigate the emotions of a new reality, one filled with mystery and the paranormal, one that drives him to the brink of insanity.

The Crafton Hills College Theatre Program staged William Shakespeare’s Hamlet on July 19, 20, and 21, bringing to life a modern-ish take on the much-celebrated play in the Finkelstein Performing Arts Center.

Performing Arts Professor Paul Jacques and Ashley DeHart directed the production, composed of Roadrunners and performers from neighboring high schools and colleges, including lead Roe McCarty, a Redlands resident and theatre arts major from San Bernardino Valley College. 

“Before I ever knew I was transgender, I used to always think to myself, ‘I would love to play Hamlet one day. That would be so cool.’ And then I would always be like, ‘No, I’m a girl -- that’s so weird,” shared McCarty. “But as soon as I realized I was trans, I accepted that part, and being able to play Hamlet has been a massive ride for me.”

Prior to its staging, Jacques promised theater goers a new look at Shakespeare’s history-making production, written around 1600. Set in 1940s Denmark, Crafton’s production kicked off with a vintage-style news reel bringing context to our story. Behind-the-scenes production specialists provided a noir atmosphere to the play. Frederick Brashear III and Kat Jacques created sound. Kyle A. Skousen developed the lighting scheme. Olivia Jacques designed the settings. Sophie Ball created costumes, and Naomi Gonzales helped amplify the production’s noir-style feel. 

Olivia Jacques, Ball, and Gonzales also stepped on to the stage in roles for the production, as characters Rosencrantz, Ophelia, and Queen Gertrude, respectively. 

“When you look at the story of Hamlet, it fit perfectly into this time period,” said Gonzales, a 33-year-old Crafton English and theatre arts major. “It took a lot of research and immersing myself into film noir, and that helped a lot to dig my hands in and put as much thought into [acting and back-stage support] as I could.”

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays and features a revenge tragedy twist. The title character is plagued with balancing a new normal while being haunted by the desire of revenge for the murder of his father as revealed by his father’s ghost.

Rounding out Crafton’s cast were Tristan Clift as Laertes, Al Cline as Polonius, Pierre Van Der Westhuizen as Claudious, William Merrigan as Horatios, Elijah Lozano as Guildenstern, C.J. Rivera as Voltamond, Kelly Thompson as Player King, Victoria Van Stee and Ariel Martinez as the gravediggers, Ivan Goward as Reynaldo, Monty Muse as Marcellious, Michelle Marpaung as Cornelius, Hadi Natour as Osric, and Jonathan Black as Ghost Hamlet.

Crafton’s Theatre Department has scheduled the rest of its productions for the 2024-205 season with the following shows:

• Lair of Dracula: Oct. 18-20
• The Great Gatsby: Dec. 6-8
• New Works (TBA): Feb. 21-23, 2025
• The Lightning Thief: April 25-27

To learn more and to purchase tickets, go to craftonhills.edu/theatrearts.