“I Loved Ophelia:” The Heart of Kentucky Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Kentucky Shakespeare’s Hamlet, set in 1964 and directed by Amy Attaway, gave me a completely new take on what’s possible with this play. Get ready for a lot of “I’m used to ____, but _____ happened instead and I love it.”
Once again, the KY Shakes company is astounding. The ensemble brings much-needed hilarity through the players (Greg Maupin, Justin Jackson, Kate Drury, Logan Lee Edwards, Neill Robertson, Mary Baunjoko), the gravediggers (Greg Maupin, Mary Baunjoko), Osric (Justin Jackson), and the charmingly awkward Rosencrantz (Abigail Maupin) and Guildenstern (Mylon Joseph). Greg Maupin is arresting as the player who embodies the Death of Priam speech—and I mean fully embodies. I’ve never seen an actor actually take us on the journey, but I could see the scene that Maupin imagined, even though it was just him speaking the words over some (very effective) percussion accompaniment.
Tai Rosenblatt brings such a warmth to Horatio. A genuine friend grappling with baffling circumstances, Tai is our anchor to just how extreme things get by the end of the play. When Hamlet tells their friend that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, Horatio’s shocked, soft “What a king is this?” could be directed at Hamlet or Claudius. Or both.
Kyle Ware is everything you want in a Polonious: making this self-important spy just entertaining enough to have the audience groaning almost every time he entered.
Crystian Wiltshire plays the most fun Laertes I’ve ever seen, starting as a goofball brother teasing Ophelia and genuinely caring for her before bringing us to tears as he grapples with the death of his family.
And Ophelia: here’s no wilting flower. Sasha Cifuentes brings so much steel to this role. From the get-go, it’s clear this Ophelia knows what she wants, and pushes the boundaries between her strong will and the constricting rules that keep her caged. Sasha’s Ophelia is the first portrayal where I believed Ophelia is as clever and dangerous as Hamlet; she overhears Claudius sending Hamlet to England, and her madness scenes read very much like Hamlet’s: not a breakdown of her mind, but a conscious choice to break expectations. She’s finally had it, and she lets Claudius have it in the flowers scene: never have I heard such power behind “we know what we are” and “you must wear your rue with a difference.” Her final “God be with you” feels like a fully conscious goodbye; she’ll miss Laertes, but she’s done with this world.
Jennifer Pennington brings a motherly care to Gertrude, especially after Polonius’s death when she swears to protect Hamlet from Claudius.
Jon Huffman is a fantastic Claudius. I’m used to seeing Claudius break down with guilt and grief in the prayer scene, but Huffman takes a different (and quite realistic) tack: his Claudius puts himself above the cross, choosing his coup over repentance with spite and pride.
Tom Luce and Mollie Murk are a powerful Ghost Hamlet/Hamlet duo. Tom jumpscared me at least three times and I don’t think I breathed the entire time the ghost was onstage. Luce brings the right amount of urgency and gravitas, and Mollie brings so much grief and heart and sweetness to Hamlet.
Mollie Murk is spellbinding as Hamlet. I don’t think I breathed the entire first half. Or much of the second half, either. Murk takes this role stacked with well-known speeches and makes them fresh, discovering the words with us for the first time as they go. From the jump, they have us in their pocket. They swear not just Horatio and Marcellus to secrecy about the ghost, but the entire audience too.
As a non-binary actor myself, it’s wonderful to see how the team (including editor Greg Maupin) worked through the gendered language around Hamlet. Depending on who’s talking, Hamlet is referred to with masculine titles like “prince,” feminine titles like “daughter” and “my lady,” and Hamlet refers to themself with gender-neutral language (“your tardy child to chide”). Seeing such beautifully fluid language for a Shakespeare lead made my trans heart so happy.
Mollie brings a kindness to Hamlet that I don’t often see. The nunnery scene is heartbreaking: clearly, neither Ophelia nor Hamlet want this separation to happen. But Hamlet tries to salvage the situation, urging Ophelia to escape while she can. When Hamlet finally gears up the nerve to stab their dagger through the arras, they bolt away the second it’s done, afraid to look. I’ve never seen a Hamlet scared of actually killing someone before, and it works so well.
Yet Hamlet is definitely dangerous. Their words carry more and more veiled threats as the play goes on. When Hamlet tells Claudius to go to hell, the entire audience applauded.
Still, it’s the heart at the center of Murk’s Hamlet that wins us over. Their cry, “I loved Ophelia” at Ophelia’s grave made me weep for these two people who were just trying to love each other until society and their families tore them apart.
Kentucky Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a must-watch for anyone who can get to Louisville this summer (calendar here). It will surprise and enthrall you in the best way.
