Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Laurie Woolery
Adapted by Reynaldo Piniella and Emily Lyon
Spanish translation by Christin Eve Cato
Booking and details
Dates Sun, Feb 02, 2025, 5pm
Tickets $20 (or $150 for an All-Access Pass)
This event is ASL Interpreted.
Please note: Children under the age of 4 are not permitted.
Hamlet is a Black, Latinx prince in this bilingual reimagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy, with text infused by the Spanish spoken in present-day New York City.
Post-show conversation
After the staged reading, join us for a conversation with the Hamlet creative team—director Laurie Woolery, adaptors Emily Lyon and Reynaldo Piniella, and translator Christin Eve Cato and actor Robert Ramirez, moderated by Executive Editor of DC Theater Arts Julian Oquendo.
How to attend the festival
Individual events – $20
Reading Room Festival All-Access Pass – $150
Access to all staged readings, panel discussions, workshops, and community celebrations included in the Festival.
Students – Free admission to readings and conversations
Admitted free one-half hour before event start time, with a valid student ID.
Creative team
Emily Lyon
Emily Lyon (Co-Adaptor) is a director, dramaturg, and artistic director that carves out the humor and authenticity in new and classic texts. She co-created, leads, and curates Expand the Canon––a call to action to include a wide range of historic women and gender-expansive writers in the canon of classics––as Artistic Director. As a freelance director, Lyon has directed nine world premieres, including Diana Ly’s Sex and the Abbey (The Brick), and has worked with the Folger Theatre, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theatre, The Old Globe, LaMaMa, Yale Rep, the Royal Shakespeare Company, University of Michigan, and others. As a dramaturg, she’s worked with writers on shaping over 25 new plays, including the world premiere of Kate Hamill’s Sense & Sensibility, and editing classical texts, including the Expand the Canon plays and The Tempest for Shakespeare in the Park. Find out more at EmilyALyon.com, and ExpandTheCanon.com.
Reynaldo Piniella
Reynaldo Piniella (Co-Adaptor, Hamlet) (he/him) is an actor, writer, activist and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. In 2021, he was in the acting company of two Broadway shows at the same time: Thoughts of a Colored Man and Trouble in Mind. His Off-Broadway acting credits include work at Signature Theatre Company, The Public Theater, the Working Theater, Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA), and Rattlestick Theater, regionally with Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Cleveland Play House, NY Stage and Film, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, and Actors Theatre of Louisville, and internationally with the Sundance Theatre Lab in Morocco and NEAP Fest in Rio de Janeiro. TV credits include Reservation Dogs, Sneaky Pete, Law & Order: SVU, The Carrie Diaries, Flesh & Bone, Blue Bloods, Greenleaf, Louie, NYC 22, Us & Them, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Film: Madeline’s Madeline (Sundance Film Fest, Showtime), Shadows (HBO Max) and Broken City (20th Century FOX). His co-created bilingual Spanish-English Hamlet has been developed at Folger Theatre, The Public Theater, the Classical Theatre of Harlem, and the Acting Company. He is an alum of New Victory Theater’s LabWorks, All for One Theater’s Solo Collective, the Civilians’ R&D Group, and a former Artist-in-Residence at Hi-ARTS, the cell theatre, Abingdon Theatre Company, and Culture Lab LIC. He has received fellowships from Theatre Communications Group, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, Weeksville Heritage Center, and the All Stars Project. @ReynaldoRey. www.reynaldopiniella.com
Christin Eve Cato
Christin Eve Cato, (Translator) an award-winning luminary playwright, dramaturg, poet, educator, lyricist, songwriter, and performing artist, emerges from the vibrant streets of the Bronx, bringing with her a profound artistic narrative steeped in the rich tapestry of her Puerto Rican and Jamaican roots. Armed with an MFA in playwriting from Indiana University and a BA in political science and philosophy from Fordham University, Cato’s voice is often distinguished for her ability to create universal stories grounded in culturally specific narratives. Cato’s artistic voice harmonizes with the rhythms of Caribbean culture and the Afro-Latinx diaspora. Her journey in song and lyric writing was ignited during her formative years at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and the Performing Arts, where she was classically trained in vocal music. Immersed in the pulsating heart of New York City’s theatrical landscape, Cato has become an indispensable thread in the cultural fabric. She holds esteemed positions such as ensemble member and former Resident Dramaturg at Pregones/PRTT, a founding UNIT 52 ensemble member at INTAR Theatre, and a playwright in the WP Theater 2022-2024 Pipeline Lab. Additionally, she is a former Core Apprentice and current educator at the Playwrights’ Center, a member and affiliated playwright of the LatinX Playwrights Circle, an associated artist with the Sol Project, and a seasonal roundtable dramaturg at the Musical Theatre Factory.
Laurie Woolery
Laurie Woolery (Director) is a theater director, playwright, and citizen artist. As a first-generation Latinx immigrant, Woolery works with regional theaters and communities to create theater and build sustainable art practices. She has developed and directed new works with populations ranging from incarcerated women to residents of a small Kansas town devastated by a tornado. She creates site-specific theater in locations such as a working sawmill in Eureka, CA, parking lots, prisons, and the banks of the Los Angeles River. She has worked at The Public Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, Cornerstone Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, and Los Angeles Philharmonic among others. She has directed world premieres of plays by Tanya Saracho, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Charise Castro Smith, Marisela Treviño Orta, Aditi Kapil, and more.
Jennifer Hardin
Jennifer Hardin (Assistant Stage Manager). Stage Manager: Keegan Theatre: #Charlottesville; NextStop Theatre Company: Shawshank Redemption; Little Theatre of Alexandria: Memphis, Murder on the Orient Express; Universe Players 2: Caretaker; Riverside Center for the Performing Arts Fredericksburg: 42nd Street, The Little Mermaid, Ragtime; Big Dawgs Production: Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, Misery; Clear Creek Theatre: Pink Panther, Love, Sex, and the I.R.S., Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue: On Stage, Importance of Being Earnest, Verdict, Lackland Performing Arts Group: Wham! Bam!, Arabian Nights, Steel Magnolias. Director: Little Theater of Alexandria: Jekyll & Hyde Musical; Clear Creek Theatre: Pink Panther Strikes Again, Love, Sex, and the I.R.S., Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue: On Stage, Importance of Being Earnest, Sweeney Todd; Lackland Performing Arts Group: Rumors, Wham! Bam!, Arabian Nights, Steel Magnolias. Actor: Clear Creek Theatre: Love From A Stranger, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, A Murder is Announced, Julia, Dashing Through the Snow, Dona Jo & Frankie.
Folger debut? [CK1]
Kelsey Jenkins
Kelsey Jenkins (Production Stage Manager) Folger Theatre: debut. Assistant Stage Manager: Theatre Alliance: Covenant. Production Stage Manager: Arena Stage: Chasing the Wind workshop; Stage Manager: Signature Theatre: Summertime: Awa Sal Secka Sings… Production Assistant: Signature Theatre: The Bridges of Madison County; Arena Stage: Step Afrika! Presents The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence.
Madalyn Oliver
Madalyn Oliver (Production Assistant) Folger Theatre: Romeo and Juliet, Metamorphoses; Education: Messiah University, BA. Instagram: @Maddy.Olivr
Julian Oquendo
Julian Oquendo (Moderator) Executive Director for DC Theater Arts. Writing: DC Theater Arts, DC Theatre Scene, The San Juan Star, Fordham University Lincoln Center’s The Observer; Automation development: DC Theater Arts; Data Science Educator: General Assembly DC, General Assembly Bahrain, AITRA AI. www.julianoquendo.com/
Robert Ramirez
Robert Ramirez is thrilled to be back in the woods at APT! He has worked as an actor, director, voice artist, and voice and speech coach at theaters across the country including the Guthrie Theater, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Playhouse, Hartford Stage, the Alley Theater, The NY Public Theater, American Players Theatre, as well as numerous Shakespeare festivals in every region. He has been a member of the Recorded Books repertory company in New York City for over 20 years and is a proud member of Actors Equity Association and the National Theatre Conference. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Los Angeles Theatre Academy at Los Angeles City College and earned his MFA at the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program. Robert is currently the Head of the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University.
Megan Wave
Megan Wave (Production Assistant) Folger Theatre: debut. NextStop Theatre Company: Substitute Stage Manager: The Shawshank Redemption; Assistant Stage Manager: POTUS (Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive).
Cast
Terrance Fleming
Terrance Fleming (Laertes)
Elizabeth Frances
Elizabeth Frances (Fortinbras) received a BFA from Cal Arts, and has worked with such notable theaters as The Public Theater, Center Theatre Group, La Jolla Playhouse, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Marin Theatre Company, Native Voices, Here and Now , the Kirk Douglas Theatre, and more. TV: NCIS (CBS), Emmy®-nominated Her Story; Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (EA); Love (Netflix); Mayans M.C. (FX); The Son (AMC), and more. Elizabethfrances.me
DeJeanette Horne
DeJeanette Horne (Claudius) Folger Theatre: Metamorphoses. Anacostia Playhouse: Sunset Baby; Chesapeake Shakespeare Company: Macbeth, Hamlet, Henry V, The Adventures of Pericles; The Keegan Theatre: SWEAT, Elegies: A Song Cycle, The Outsider (2022 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Ensemble), West by God, God of Carnage; Theater Alliance: This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing (2024 Helen Hayes Nominee, Best Supporting Performer, and Outstanding Ensemble in a Play); Unexpected Stage: Sophisticated New Ones; Perisphere Theater: Blue Door; Washington Stage Guild: My Children! My Africa!; 4615 Theatre Company: The Infinite Tales; Olney Theatre Center: The Brothers Paranormal; Valley Place Arts Collaborative: Morning After Grace. Voiceover: Graphic Audio: Box of Bones, Finder Chronicles 1: Finder; and more. @DeJeanetteHorne
Alina Collins Maldonado
Alina Collins Maldonado (Horatio) Folger Theatre: Romeo and Juliet, King John. Shakespeare Theatre Company: Everybody, Much Ado About Nothing; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: BLKS; GALA Hispanic Theatre: Native Gardens (Helen Hayes nomination), El Paso Blue, Mariela en el desierto, Los empeños de una casa; Ford’s Theater: Something Moving; The Kennedy Center: Where Words Once Were, Digging Up Dessa; 1st Stage: Secret Things, The Good Counselor; Imagination Stage: Smartest Girl in The World, Robin Hood; Forum Theater: How We Got On, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Artistic Residencies: Eaton DC 2024, The Clarice Smith Artist in Residence 2021-2022, NextLOOK Artist 2020. Alinacollinsmaldonado.com
Reynaldo Piniella
Reynaldo Piniella (Co-Adaptor, Hamlet) (he/him) is an actor, writer, activist and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. In 2021, he was in the acting company of two Broadway shows at the same time: Thoughts of a Colored Man and Trouble in Mind. His Off-Broadway acting credits include work at Signature Theatre Company, The Public Theater, the Working Theater, Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA), and Rattlestick Theater, regionally with Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Cleveland Play House, NY Stage and Film, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, and Actors Theatre of Louisville, and internationally with the Sundance Theatre Lab in Morocco and NEAP Fest in Rio de Janeiro. TV credits include Reservation Dogs, Sneaky Pete, Law & Order: SVU, The Carrie Diaries, Flesh & Bone, Blue Bloods, Greenleaf, Louie, NYC 22, Us & Them, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Film: Madeline’s Madeline (Sundance Film Fest, Showtime), Shadows (HBO Max) and Broken City (20th Century FOX). His co-created bilingual Spanish-English Hamlet has been developed at Folger Theatre, The Public Theater, the Classical Theatre of Harlem, and the Acting Company. He is an alum of New Victory Theater’s LabWorks, All for One Theater’s Solo Collective, the Civilians’ R&D Group, and a former Artist-in-Residence at Hi-ARTS, the cell theatre, Abingdon Theatre Company, and Culture Lab LIC. He has received fellowships from Theatre Communications Group, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, Weeksville Heritage Center, and the All Stars Project. @ReynaldoRey. www.reynaldopiniella.com
Robert Ramirez
Robert Ramirez is thrilled to be back in the woods at APT! He has worked as an actor, director, voice artist, and voice and speech coach at theaters across the country including the Guthrie Theater, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Playhouse, Hartford Stage, the Alley Theater, The NY Public Theater, American Players Theatre, as well as numerous Shakespeare festivals in every region. He has been a member of the Recorded Books repertory company in New York City for over 20 years and is a proud member of Actors Equity Association and the National Theatre Conference. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Los Angeles Theatre Academy at Los Angeles City College and earned his MFA at the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program. Robert is currently the Head of the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University.
Deidra LaWan Starnes
Deidra LaWan Starnes (Polonia) Folger Theatre: Romeo and Juliet, Amadeus, Julius Caesar, King Lear. Shakespeare Theatre Company: The Amen Corner, Much Ado About Nothing (Free for All); 1st Stage: Postcards from Ihatov, Shutter Sisters, Mlima’s Tale, The Mamalogues, The Member of the Wedding; Studio Theatre: Radio Golf, Passing Strange, In the Red and Brown Water, The Old Setter, Seven Guitars; Olney Theatre Center: Stuff Happens, Doubt (Helen Hayes nomination), A Raisin in the Sun; African Continuum Theatre: Intimate Apparel (Helen Hayes Award), Gingham Dog, Spunk (Helen Hayes nomination). Regional: Huntington Theatre Company: The Invisible Man. Off-Broadway: for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf. Film: Nocturnal Agony, Ladder 49.
Fran Tapia
Fran Tapia (Gertrude) Folger Theatre: Romeo and Juliet. GALA Theater: On Your Feet! (Helen Hayes and BWW Awards), Revoltosa (Helen Hayes Award), Mummy in the Closet, Evita’s Return, In the Heights. Broadway National Tour: On Your Feet! International credits include productions in her home country of Chile: Cats, Tirana; Germany: Emergenz; Germany, France, Netherlands, Chile: Rite of Spring. @franciscatl
Renee Elizabeth Wilson
Renee Elizabeth Wilson (Ophelia) Folger Theatre: Romeo and Juliet, Metamorphoses, Nell Gwynn, The Reading Room: Julius X; Mosaic Theater Company: Monumental Travesties (World Premiere), Native Son, Milk Like Sugar; Theater J: Intimate Apparel; Round House Theatre: Radio Golf, Nollywood Dreams; Constellation Theatre Company: Moon Man Walk; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: Ain’t No Mo’; Imagination Stage: The Hula Hoopin Queen (World Premiere); Studio Theatre: Skeleton Crew, Doubt, White Noise; Arena Stage: Tempestuous Elements (World Premiere), Seven Guitars. Regional: Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse: Miss Maybelline’s Nocturnal Flights of Fancy (World Premiere); International: Red Shoes (World Premiere). Film: Smoke Out, Veracity. @actpoetic88
Related
Q&A with Reynaldo Piniella
Hamlet co-adaptor Reynaldo Piniella, who also plays the titular role, reflects on how the play has evolved, how the bilingualism fosters a sense of intimacy and connection, and hopes for the play’s future.