Photo Flash: Adirondack Shakespeare Company's HAMLET with Sean Lounsbury

One year ago the members of the Adirondack Shakespeare Company were scattered in the emergency room at Glens Falls Hospital, at Albany Medical Center, on a remote hillside in North River frantically calling family members and friends of five people who were in a terrible car crash. It was the day the cast was arriving; and instead of having pizza and an introductory Welcome-to-the-Adirondacks meeting, they were reeling with shock and fear, and wondering if everyone was going to be alright.

In the hours that followed, four of the actors were released from the hospital to come home where the rest of the company quickly wrapped them in love and care. In the days that followed, the group travelled back and forth to Albany Medical Center to visit with and track the care ofSean Lounsbury, who was most severely injured in the crash, suffering a skull fracture. In the next week, they gathered together and screwed their courage to the sticking place to open both The Winter's Tale and Hamlet with only a single day's delay.

One year later, it feels like a miracle to have Sean Lounsbury back to perform in Hamlet. The full cast arrived safely in the Adirondacks, enjoyed a pizza party and company meeting, and began rehearsals - not taking a single of these things for granted. And on October 1, a year and one week after a near-fatal car crash, Sean will take the stage as Hamlet, Prince of Denmark at the Upper Jay Art Center in Hamlet and the following day as the same character in Tom Stoppard's inside-out take on the Bard, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead at The Bullhouse Restaurant in Chestertown. The Adirondack Shakespeare Company's directors are exceptionally delighted that Sean's performance as Hamlet coincides with the Company's 50th Production since its inception in December of 2009.

ADK Shakes will perform Songs of the Iroquois: Turtle Island, Hamlet, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead for students and for the public from September 27 through October 16. In addition to these performances, the Company is also hosting a conference on Hamlet and Mental Health at Pendragon Theatre in Saranac Lake October 14-16.

Additional venues include the Saratoga City Music Hall, Saratoga Arts Center, Tannery Pond Community Center, Charles R. Wood Theater, Seagle Music Colony, and Whallonsburg Grange Hall. More details can be found on the Company's website: www.adkshakes.org. Email the company for more information at info@adkshakes.org. Tickets are available through presenting venues, or online atadkshakes.ticketleap.com.