Alumnus Marc Atkinson '16 Associate Directed ‘Hamlet’ at St. Ann’s Warehouse

Directing Alumnus Marc Atkinson '16 associate directed Hamlet at St. Ann’s Warehouse alongside Director Yaël Farber. The production transferred to St. Ann’s and screened earlier this month, following a critically acclaimed run at The Gate Theatre in Dublin, in the fall of 2018.

In this production, Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga starred in her American theatrical debut in a passionate, critically acclaimed portrayal of Hamlet the prince of Denmark. The sold out production featured a full cast of Irish actors. With Farber’s direction, the focus moves from Hamlet’s anguish and identity to the power of resistance against treachery and the raw usurpation of power.

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the title character, a Danish prince, discovers that his uncle Claudius murdered his father and took the throne; Hamlet's mother has married the usurper. If life is so fleeting, and people can do such things, Hamlet wonders, why are we born at all? Shakespeare's masterpiece play is often cited as the greatest in the English language.

Atkinson’s recent work includes the critically-acclaimed Beginning at the Gate Theatre, Little Gem by Elaine Murphy at the Irish Repertory Theatre, Outlying Islands at the Connelly Theater and the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Dublin, and Last Night in Inwood at the Signature Theater Studio. Atkinson co-founded the company Sugarglass Theatre in Dublin. Atkinson has collaborated with Professor Anne Bogart at SITI Company, Daniel Fish at BAM and COIL Festival, and Tony Winner Ivo van Hove at Toneelgroep Amsterdam. Atkinson was recently awarded the Irish Arts Council’s Theatre Bursary Award. 

Hamlet began performances on February 1st and closed on March 8th.