Full Cast Announced For All Female Production Of HAMLET At Watermill Theatre

This spring, the acclaimed Watermill Ensemble presents a bold, innovative all-female production of Shakespeare's timeless tragedy, Hamlet. Underscored with live music, played by the cast, The Watermill's resident company applying their collaborative style to Shakespeare's most enduring play.

The King is dead. Absorbed with grief, Hamlet sees a ghostly figure who speaks of treachery and insists upon revenge. Hamlet's mother Gertrude has hastily remarried, Ophelia is rebelling, and the new king Claudius is controlling proceedings from the shadows. As tensions mount and Hamlet's personal turmoil increasingly conflicts with public duty, the lines between order and chaos in Elsinore begin to blur.

The all-female cast of this daring adaptation comprises - Emma McDonald (recent Watermill Ensemble credits include: Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream (UK tour, Wilton's Music Hall, The Watermill Theatre); The Sweet Science of Bruising (Wilton's Music Hall) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Watermill Theatre) as Hamlet. Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter; Disco Pigs (Trafalgar Studios) and Houdini (UK tour) as Ophelia. Leigh Quinn (Troilus and Cressida (RSC) as Polonius. Katherine Jack (An Inspector Calls (UK tour) as Claudius. Chanelle Modi (All About Eve (West End) as Gertrude. Nenda Neurer (Death of a Salesman (Young Vic and West End) as Laertes. Molly Chesworth (Call the Midwife) as Horatio. Lucy Keirl (Romeo and Juliet (The Watermill Theatre) as Guildenstern. Chioma Uma (Kiss Me, Kate (The Watermill Theatre) as Rosencrantz and Ami Okumura Jones (Eastenders, Midsomer Murders) as Ghost and Fortinbras.

Hamlet is directed by Paul Hart and Abigail Pickard Price with set design by Katie Lias. Lighting is designed by Tom White, sound designed by Annie May Fletcher and Chi-San Howard is movement director.

Director Paul Hart says - "Following our recent successful National Tours and run at Wilton's Music Hall with Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream, it is a real delight to be heading back into rehearsals and diving into this astonishing play with such a phenomenal cast. It's a bold new departure for the company and our aim is to create a production of Hamlet unlike anything seen here at The Watermill. Collaboration is at the heart of The Watermill Ensemble's process and I'm constantly astonished at the invention of the work. We're incredibly excited about our greatest challenge to date!"

Director Abigail Pickard Price says - "By presenting Hamlet as a woman we will tell Shakespeare's timeless tragedy through the female gaze, fusing music and text in a manner unique to The Watermill Ensemble. Our Hamlet is a woman lost in a man's world steeped in history and tradition, desperate to break the mould and fight the notion that frailty is personified by womanhood. I am incredibly excited to work with this fantastic all-female cast to unlock one of our world's most known plays, in an effort to find new meaning for today's audiences".

The Watermill Theatre aims to be a focal point for the local community and is proud to play a leading part in helping the careers of the theatre-makers of tomorrow. The Watermill's unique environment encourages a real sense of ensemble, and its intimate 200-seat auditorium also means that there is a particularly strong connection between the actors and audience. This combination makes The Watermill a very special place to visit.

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