The Betsy Stage Extends HAMLET Through 11/22

Popular demand has The Betsy Stage extending their production of "Hamlet" through November 22 at 1133 S. Huron St. Denver, CO 80223. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. All performances are FREE, donations are accepted. Reservations are required by email: Hamlet@BetsyStage.com or by calling 720-328-5294. More info at www.betsystage.com "Hamlet" has been selling out every weekend and seating is limited.

Set in the summer in a pine forest in Eastern Europe, behind the circus tent sits the gypsy camp with its family of performers and musicians; the perfect place to tell our version of Hamlet.

Hamlet is in mourning. Hamlet is angry. Hamlet sees the ghost of a father wronged. But, in this version, everything else we know about Hamlet is uniquely different.

"Hamlet" brings the return of Patti Murtha (Hamlet), Michael Vasicek (Claudio), Gina Walker (Gertrude), Tim McGrath (Horatio), Mallory Vining (Laratess), Michal Meyer (Guilde Stern), Kaitlyn Althoff (Rosen Crantz) and Jaycee Sanchez (Marcellus). New to The Betsy Stage are Zach Brown (Ophelio), Dave Cuomo (Francisco), Liliana Franco (Cali), Chris Wells (Osrick) and Adwin Galo (Taloche).

As for the gypsies... they are a people cursed to roam yet caged when held in place, misunderstood, and under served in every possible way. The unacknowledged Johnny Appleseed of music, their journey across the globe (which began in Rajasthan, India) resulted in the cross pollination of sounds and styles from everywhere. The wailing oboe, the mournful violin, the passionate flamenco guitar, they all tell the story of the gypsies and it's the story and history of world music.

The [innovative] Betsy Stage 2013 production of "Juliet & Romeo: The Panopticon" took place in an Orwellian environment under the watchful eye of panopticon cameras that followed citizens' every movement. In November 2013, The Betsy Stage adapted Shakespeare's "King Lear" and put his three favorite "working girls" to the test as he divided his kingdom in "The Travesty of Lear." A nightmare journey that starts as a model of innocence descends into destruction and despair for the painter "Beth" in their April 2014, all female adaptation, of "Macbeth."

Photo Credit: Shannon McAndrews