Hamlet 2026

The fifth Shakespeare in the Litchfield Hills is an immersive community event culminating this time in five free family-friendly outdoor “Shakespeare in the Park” presentations of Hamlet, produced by Shakesperience Productions, Inc. and featuring professional Equity actors.

Wednesday-Sunday, August 5-9

Picnicking: 7:00 pm

Performance: 7:30 pm

Free Admission

River Walk Pavilion, 11 School Street, Washington Depot, CT

Volunteer

The ensemble includes you. Volunteer to join the Publicity Team, Education Interns, Backstage Crew, Ushers, Wardrobe Crew, Scenic Painters & Carpenters. in us to build and paint scenery at River Walk Pavilion:

July 28-August 1, 8am-6pm,

or help us take it down:

Monday, August 11, 8am-6pm

Hand out brochures to promote the event or program books at the event:

May - August,

Help us prepare and maintain 20+ costumes, join the running crew, and more!

Host a Company Member

We are looking for many hosts in area towns willing to house one or more Shakesperience company members. A fully background-checked member of the Shakesperience family could be bunking at your house! Please volunteer your spare bedroom, boat house, pool house, or apartment during:

our rehearsal dates from mid-July - August 2

our dress rehearsal & production from August 2-10

To help us match hosts and company members, please complete and submit this questionnaire. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to hospitality@shakesperienceproductions.org

Conversations

Find out about the concepts, designs, and backstage happenings around Hamlet. Attend one of Director Emily Mattina’s Hamlet discussions in the community. Times TBD.

Sponsor & Support

SPONSOR the effort of the Friends of Shakesperience in the Litchfield Hills to present Shakespeare in the Park, 2025. Join our growing list of supporters, including these from the past 4 productions:

Aspetuck Animal Hospital ● Byrde & the b ● County Wine & Spirits ● Dawn Hill Antiques ● Dobson Pools ● DK Schulman Design ● Ericson Insurance Advisors ● Fairbrairn Brothers Builders ● Freedom Fence ● Hickory Stick Bookshop ● Hollister House Garden ● J.McLauglin ● James G. Kelly Law Offices ● Klemm Real Estate ● Litchfield Bancorp ● Litchfield Distillery ● Mettabee Farm & Arts ● National Iron Bank ● Pergola Home ● PJN Realty Management ● Spring Hill Vineyards ● The Owl ● The Pantry ● Town of Washington ● Valley Spirit Health & Wellness ● Warren Town Center ● Washington Food Market ● Washington Supply Company ● William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty ● Wright Electrical ● The Connecticut Office of Arts (DECD)

DONATE directly for Shakespeare in the Litchfield Hills. Shakesperience will invest these proceeds in the director, actors, musicians, lighting, audio, and other costs of the summer production for 2026: Hamlet

Perform the Show

Shakesperience is always on the lookout for talent! We frequently offer opportunities for actors, singers, musicians, and crew of all ages. Like us on Facebook and join our mailing list for the latest information on auditions, classes, and other ways to get involved.

Summer Shakespeare

Shakespeare in the Park

Artistic Director Emily Mattina directs family-friendly adaptations of Shakespeare for summertime enjoyment. Ranging from ninety-minute to two-hour productions, they frequently feature a chorus of talented students alongside the professional cast, an Elizabethan feel to the costumes, a metaphorical setting, and an original music design to underscore and enhance the performance for a modern audience.

Shakesperience Summer Shakespeare History:

Shakespeare in Library Park (Waterbury), 2005-2014

Festival!Stratford (Stratford), 2009-2011

Vintage Shakesperience, (on the CT wine trail), 2010-2015

Shakespeare on the Shoreline (Guilford), 2012-2017

Shakespeare in Hollow Park (Woodbury), 2016 & 2017

Shakespeare in the Litchfield Hills (Washington Depot), 2019-

A Midsummer Night's Dream (2022)

Our designing and performing artists weave a tale replete with live music, fantasy, dreams, and love to create Emily Mattina's A Midsummer Night’s Dream as you've never seen it before. The Mechanicals set the scene as Puck prevails over this inspired world, fairly coaxing, dancing, and forcing us through it, highlighting the pulse of life, the joy and trials of living, and the conflicts between head and heart.

Twelfth Night (2021)

A chorus of dopplegangers guides you through this imaginative comedy filled with love and joy. Emily Mattina unleashes this production on a cathedral-inspired setting, with original music to which the cast sings the text.

The Comedy of Errors (2019)

Ms. Mattina revised her original production from 2015 for the inaugural Shakespeare in the Litchfield Hills. More than an encore, this immersive production featured actors who were students, members of the community, professionals, and members of the Actors' Equity Association.

The Tempest (2017)

Dr. David Richman returns to Shakesperience as Prospero! Featuring original music under the direction of Emily Mattina, Prospero lures his enemies to the island to which they exiled him. Replete with magic, romance, and hostile intentions, this last of Shakespeare's solo plays concludes with redemption and forgiveness.

Two Gentlemen of Verona (2016)

Two gentlemen, best friends since youth, part ways in Verona as one leaves for Milan. In time, both fall in love with the same girl in Milan, leaving a jilted girlfriend from Verona to follow them in disguise. Music, unrequited love, requited love, friendship, fools, and dogs, this Shakespeare classic comedy has it all!

The Comedy of Errors (2015)

Twin boys are separated from their father for 25 years. Each has a servant, who is twin a twin to the other servant of the same name. They all converge on the same town, where their father has also arrived, condemned to death and determined to find his long-lost family before the end. It’s a common situation. Emily Mattina directs this wild confusion to its neat and happy conclusion.

King Lear (2014)

Mattina's King Lear investigates the choices we make for our children and family as well as the overall welfare of children: physically, emotionally, and educationally. Explore the essence of blindness, both literally and figuratively, to our own actions, consequences and blessings.

Dr. David Richman, published author, actor, director, and professor at The University of New Hampshire, stars as King Lear. Dr. Richman’s real-life blindness gives a literal portrayal of the "blindness" in his character.

Much Ado About Nothing (2013)

Benedick & Beatrice. Claudio & Hero. Follow the romantic entanglements of Don Pedro’s friends on his visit to the house of Leonato. Shakesperience Artistic Director Emily Mattina directed the comedy classic for Summer 2013.

Richard III (2012)

Witness the two most famous warring families in history battle for the crown. Travel with the larger–than-life Richard III, Shakespeare’s villain king, as he plots his way to the crown against the backdrop of the Tower of London. Emily Mattina directs Richard III to feature actors from community to support her resident company of veteran professional resident artists and wraps a larger than life deck of playing cards into the costume and set designs.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (2011)

Our designing and performing artists weave a tale replete with live music, fantasy, dreams, and love to create Emily Mattina's A Midsummer Night’s Dream as you've never seen it before. The Mechanicals set the scene as Puck prevails over this Arabian Nights inspired world, fairly coaxing, dancing, and forcing us through it, highlighting the pulse of life, the joy and trials of living, and the conflicts between head and heart.

Henry V (2010)

Witness Henry's epic journey as he and his army bring neighboring France to its knees. Emily Mattina directs this production set amidst the complexity of a larger-than-life chess set, complete with pieces in a variety of scales.

Twelfth Night (2009)

A chorus of angels and demons will guide you through this imaginative comedy filled with love and joy. Emily Mattina sets this production in the Garden of Eden, with original music to which the cast sings the text.

Hamlet (2008)

Directed by Emily Mattina, Hamlet is presented as a 1920s black and white movie written and directed by the title character and happening in his mind, complete with flashbacks, flash-forwards, and a sense of drama heightened by music. Like the mind that created him, Hamlet has an uncanny ability to manipulate and entice an audience, incite an actor, and motivate a director through language. As the tragic hero of our play and the director and author of the movie, Hamlet exhibits an unearthly sense of poetry, an imagination past compare, a delicious yet acerbic sense of wit and word play, and a deep melancholy coupled with an intrinsic knowledge and delight in the existence of the universe. Who better to represent the author than his own hero?