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Shakespeare & Beyond

Utah Shakespeare Festival re-examines Hamlet and Ophelia

Hamlet and Ophelia embrace in the Utah Shakespeare Festival production of Hamlet.
Hamlet and Ophelia embrace in the Utah Shakespeare Festival production of Hamlet.

Quinn Mattfeld has played Hamlet twice before, but the production he’s in now at the Utah Shakespeare Festival (through October 13) is special. “This is the third one that I’ve done,” Mattfeld says, “and this feels the like the one that I’ve been waiting for and building up to.” What is it that makes this Hamlet so meaningful?

Comments

Sounds like there should be some mention of that recent movie, “Ophelia”. I didn’t see it, but apparently it was based on giving Ophelia lots more agency, and putting her on a more equal level with Hamlet, and lines like “Get thee to a nunnery” take on new meanings. Seems like an interpretation whose time has come.

John Bergstrom — October 7, 2019