After a three-month tour, Brigham Young University's Young Company’s production of “Hamlet and Zombies” closed at the West Campus Studio Theatre.
The show merged Shakespearean language with modern-day slang and introduced a new element to the original plot: zombies.
“The thing that stuck out to me the most is the fact that random characters would just get killed off on stage and turn into zombies. That really threw me for a loop,” Jacob Day, a BYU student, said.
BYU Young Company produces many family-friendly shows throughout the year. The company tours to local elementary schools to introduce young audiences to theater, then concludes its run on the BYU campus.
“When we were starting, we were nervous, of course. Here we have this big Shakespeare play. How are we expecting these young kids to get it?” Amber Sibbet, the show’s stage manager, said. “It’s pretty incredible what they pick up. I remember our first tour was one of our youngest audiences, and they picked it up so well.”
According to Sibbet, the youngest audience members on tour were in third grade, with ages ranging up to eighth or ninth grade.
“When the zombies are offstage, they often join audience members, and there have been some really funny, scared reactions from the kids when they realize the zombie is right behind them,” Sibbet said.
Although “Hamlet and Zombies” is aimed at young audiences, many BYU students say they enjoyed the show as well.
“‘Hamlet and Zombies’ was genuinely an experience that anyone could get behind. I was really invested in the show. It was such a fun adaptation, and I was intrigued by where it was going the entire time,” Day said.
Sophie Briggs, a junior in the BFA acting program, shared her experience balancing the comedic aspects of the show with the Shakespearean elements.
“If we don’t take ourselves seriously as our characters within the play, I just feel like the comedy falls flat. It has to be like full throttle commitment,” Briggs said.
Zombies and other characters in the show wear masks as a theatrical tool. During rehearsals, the cast focused on using physicality to bring their characters to life, even with their faces hidden.
Briggs said she drew on skills from “Character Mask,” an acting class that emphasizes this type of performance, to develop her role.
“We followed a process similar to what I had done in Character Mask, standing in front of a mirror and going from the outside in. How do they walk? How do they turn their head? How do they move their arms? And trying to develop that as specifically as possible,” Briggs said.
The show gave the cast a hands-on opportunity to explore physicality, comedy and Shakespeare, while giving children in the community the opportunity to engage with theater at local schools.