PortFringe to Present POP-UP HAMLET, 3/4-5

Get ready for POP-UP HAMLET, PortFringe's celebration of William Shakespeare and the Fringe theater spirit.

On March 4 and 5, 2016 twenty theater companies from across Maine and beyond will tackle Shakespeare's classic tragedy, creating the ultimate Hamlet mash-up!

Portland, Maine is among the U.S. cities selected to host a national traveling exhibition of the Shakespeare First Folio, one of the world's most treasured books. When the First Folio arrives at the Portland Public Library, its pages will be opened to the Bard's most quoted line: "To be or not to be," from Hamlet. As one of the state's premier theater events, PortFringe had to get in on this once-in-a-lifetime action... in our own fringetastic way, of course!

Here's what's happening: Twenty theater companies have been randomly assigned 20 scenes from Hamlet. The artists are free to present their assigned scene however they want -- puppets! dance! music! multimedia! -- as long as they stick to a 10-minute time limit, and incorporate at least one line of original Folio text.

Audiences will have several opportunities to see Pop-Up Hamlet in action:

1) Friday, March 4 @ 6-7:30 pm | FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK | Free | In true Pop-Up fashion, see 20 individual scenes played out in outdoor/indoor locations around the Arts District. Audience members may travel from scene to scene in whatever order they wish using their Pop-Up Hamlet passport as a guide.

2) Friday, March 4 @ 8:30 + Saturday, March 5 @ 2 & 8:30 pm | EMPIRE | $10 in advance; $12 at door | The whole enchilada! See all 20 scenes performed in order, rapid-fire, all in one sitting. The ultimate mash-up! We can't say for sure what will happen, but we can assure you, you've never seen Shakespeare like this before.

Learn more at http://portfringe.com/pop-up-hamlet/.