About

Hamlet: Prince of Denmark is an adaptation of Hamlet co-created by Cary Sasso and Ryan Dukes. The adaptation imagines the titular prince as a ftm transgender teenager. Lost in a demeaning world that tramples on his sense of self and still reeling from the death of his father, Hamlet latches onto the classic play as a framework through which to understand his world. As the story spirals out of control and Hamlet begins to lose his grip on sanity, the world of Hamlet melds with reality until the two are indistinguishable, leaving Hamlet stranded with his purple hoodie and his paper crown in a world of genuine lords, kings, and queens.

This adaptation was a project of changing as little of the text as possible. Ryan and I found many natural parallels between the character of Hamlet and the transgender experience. Hamlet has always been a quasi-icon to transgender teenagers. He gives voice to the isolation of growing up trans in an unnaccepting environment; however, he likewise embodies the courage, charisma, and dose of irreverence it takes to be and openly queer young person. Hamlet as a text likewise deals in-depth with suicidal ideation and self-harm, both epidemics that plague the transgender community. We did little to change the text, mostly cutting for length and swapping pronouns so that all the characters (except Horatio) misgender Hamlet, trusting these thematic parallels to emerge with just these subtle brushstrokes.