Previews: LET ME HAMLET at Taproot Theatre

LET ME HAMLET is a window in the world of artistic struggle and yearning. The show illuminates the highs and lows and in betweens that make up the life of an actor. In this sisyphean journey to play Hamlet, the actor must find the beauty of the pursuit before the task burns away his passion.

The show began as the thesis project in the University of Washington MFA Actor's program for Koo Park. As Park searched for his own personal artistic statement, his own why for choosing and pursuing acting, he returned again and again to Shakespeare and Hamlet. He found in Hamlet a subject that has both ignited actors' passions and extinguished their hopes. In his one-man show, Park shows how the pursuit of Hamlet can be the fire that keeps an actor going and a burden that causes them to question everything. It is this juxtaposition of burning desire against possible burn out that intrigues Park. In walking the line between the two, Park seeks to show us how to find beauty in the process and not just the outcome.

Hamlet provides bountiful inspiration for any actor. Park considers Hamlet as one of the most complete characters. Hamlet's rich explorations of relationships with his mother, his father, Ophelia, and even his friend Horatio offer the actor infinite opportunities to explore human nature. Park describes Hamlet as a "thinking" play and thus one that can entangle an actor trapping them in their heads. LET ME HAMLET highlights an actor's relationship with the famous Hamlet soliloquy and how that relationship changes over time. The approaches vary from bold to fragile, from commanding to thoughtful, and resolve with a painfully honest and raw version.

The staging of the show is simple and austere. The audience is directed to focus on the words, the meanings, on all that is said and unsaid. Lighting and sound design by Marty Sisk provides the layers that enhance the tone and experience of the show. Together with Park's words and performance, they weave a story of delicacy and power.

While the show focuses on the story of an actor, Park hopes that the message is universal and will resonate with all audience members. What is the value of pursuing a dream? Can there be joy and beauty without reaching the goal? How do you make a dream provide focus but not let it drive you to madness? After the opening line of Hamlet's silioquy, there is a pause, a sense of air, a breath that holds all the potential that is fascinating and beautiful. If we can live in that moment, we will have found our answer to Hamlet's great question.

Tickets are free, you can reserve your spot here: https://forms.gle/Cn7b22uHa8SFGVXg6