HAMLET

Follow Us:

Hamlet counts among the small set of works that only become more relevant as the centuries pass. As young people struggle with the impact of COVID, the climate crisis, and the breakdown of democracy on their futures, the questions with which Hamlet grapples continue to be profound. To be or not to be? What is this quintessence of dust? What should such fellows as I do crawling between Earth and Heaven? Revenge, lust for power, familial love, romantic love, and platonic love, each rise and fall as reasons the play’s characters use to drive themselves onward. Within Hamlet, Shakespeare predates and surpasses the existentialist philosophy of Sartre, Kierkegaard, Camus, and de Beauvoir. He challenges Hamlet and the audience with the paralyzing vista of choice laid out by our free will, and the ruin that will result from denying our own agency through indecision in bad faith. 

Adrift as Hamlet in any world, no matter how good or bad, we can only act. When we dither and delay, the currents of our lives turn awry, and lose the name of action. 

We have transported this narrative to a raiders’ compound after social collapse in the near future. In the text, Hamlet is overwhelmed by a sense of loss, uncertainty about his place in the world, and a struggle to find a reason to go on. By taking his metaphorical wasteland and turning it into a literal wasteland, the play’s central questions are thrown into stark relief. I invite the audience to consider the universality of Hamlet’s experience. 

You are welcome to Elsinore.

- Logan Delavan-Hoover

Cast

Creative Team

Meet the Company

Kiefer Cure

Hamlet

does not, in fact, know a hawk from a handsaw. Past MDSP credits include Fight/Intimacy/Sound and Original Music for Romeo and Juliet, Fight/Intimacy for Twelfth Night, and Fight for King Lear. Selected outside credits include Touchstone in TDPS's As You Like it and Claudio in Baltimore City College's Much Ado About Nothing.

Liam O'Donoghue

King Claudius

is Senior Mechanical Engineering Major with a Minor in Project Management and the President of the Maryland Shakespeare Players. His MDSP credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Leonato), King Lear (Albany), Twelfth Night (Asst. Director/Fight Captain) and Romeo & Juliet (Co-Director). He has also appeared in TDPS's Book Club Play (u/s Male Pundit). After meticulous planning and with tenacity spanning decades of denial, Liam is glad to at last be King. Undisputed, respected, saluted, and seen for the wonder he is, the rightful King of Denmark asks you to be prepared for an excellent show.

Nathan Cavaliere

Polonius

Nathan is a Anthropology major currently in his 6th semester. As a member of the Shakespeare Players since 2021 he has acted in full stagings of "King Lear" and "Romeo and Juliet" and scenes from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and The Scottish Play. Outside of Shakespeare Nathan has also acted in a scene from "Waiting for Godot" for the Ghost-Light Company, two of The Muses' Original Works Project Showcases, and too many cursed high school theater performances.

Edith Corey

Ophelia

Edith is a sophomore psychology major. This is her second show with the Maryland Shakespeare Players. Her past roles with the company include Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet in the Spring 2023 Revue. She is so grateful for this experience and to get to work with this amazing cast, crew, and club. She hopes you enjoy the show!

Grace Levine

Horatio

Your name is Grace Levine and you are pretty sure that you are a senior in Electrical Engineering at The University of Maryland, but at the same time how can you be sure? This theater feels familiar, and so do the people in it. It's almost like you've been with this group, (club?) for three years now. It's slowly coming back to you. You are the current vice president of the Maryland Shakespeare Players and you have been in Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and are currently in the process of adding Hamlet to that list...Wait a minute. You're not Grace! She's on stage right now and I've been narrating the wrong person! Oh well, anyways she and I are really hoping that you enjoy the show!

Aidan Owens

Laertes

Aidan Owens is a junior economics major. This is his second show with MDSP, the first being Romeo and Juliet where he played Gregory.

Clare Reilly

Gertrude

Clare is a senior History and Art history double major, and this is her fifth show with MDSP! She was previously in Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, Twelfth Night, and Romeo and Juliet. She is excited to use this show as an opportunity to get extensions on the papers that she did not have time for this semester, and would like to thank the cast and crew for making this a wonderful semester and show!

Logan Garvin

Rosencrantz

Previously featured in Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet, Logan Garvin is very happy to act as arguably the most important character in Hamlet, Rosencrantz! He and his buddy Guildenstern are going to take the apocalypse by storm, and save Hamlet from... himself??? Logan would like to thank everyone on the cast, crew, and directors for an amazing semester, and a fantastic show. Enjoy!

Nicky Sremac-Saari

Guildenstern

Previously featured in Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet, Nicky Sremac-Saari is very happy to act as arguably the most important character in Hamlet, Guildenstern! He and his buddy Rosencrantz are going to take the apocalypse by storm, and save Hamlet from... himself??? Nicky would like to thank everyone on the cast, crew, and directors for an amazing semester, and a fantastic show. Enjoy!

Dylan Speiser

Ghost/Gravedigger

Dylan Speiser, who you might know from MDSP's Romeo & Juliet, or from one of his many box office hits, has sadly become a ghost and continues to haunt our rehearsals until this very day. Some of you might even experience audio-visual hallucinations of him walking and talking in this very room. In life, he used to love performing with his friends, making movies, and imitating fancy Italian restaurant dishes in his college apartment. Dylan, in his final wishes, asked us to thank his friends and family (hi Mom, Dad, and Ashley!) for being here today to celebrate his life and accomplishments.

Thomas Raff

First Player/Player King/Fransisco

Thomas is a freshman English/Theatre double major. This is his first full show with MDSP, and he’s so glad he was able to be a part of it. He’d like to thank the cast and crew for being both supportive and deeply, deeply chaotic. Here’s to many more- hope you enjoy the show!

Kaelyn Roney

Bernardo/Player Queen/Priest

Kaelyn Roney (Bernardo/Player Queen/Priest): is a junior government and politics major and sustainability minor. This is her first show with MDSP but you can catch her performing with and directing the sketch comedy group Maryland Night Live and performing stand-up comedy with The Hysterics.

Victor Ley

Marcellus/Osric

Victor wishes he joined MDSP sooner, because this is his final semester here! He has served as tech crew on Romeo and Juliet and played "Egg" Macduff Jr. in Spring 2023's Revue. He thanks Liam O'Donoghue for introducing him to MDSP while they were stuck in MechE drill hell. Did you know the DeWalt DCD701 12V MAX 3/8-Inch Cordless Drill/Driver is compact and performance packed for professional grade projects?

Ema Rajala

Lucianus/Gentleman/Servant

As a third-year architecture student, it's strange that this is Ema's third production with MDSP. As valedictorian of both Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet, they are excited to outshine everyone in Hamlet as well! Along with MDSP, they are double dipping into Ghostlight's production, Dead Man's Cell Phone, where they intend to steal the spotlight too. Better watch out, this rat doesn't just bite!

Nate Hollingsworth

Prologue/Sailor

Nate is a Junior, double major computer science and physics. This is their 3rd main stage performance.

Logan Delavan-Hoover

Director

Logan, who is actually 5040 beetles in a trench coat and is not a senior Economics major, is proud to have directed Hamlet. He has previously performed with the Maryland Shakespeare Players in Twelfth Night, King Lear, and Much Ado About Nothing. He would like to thank Hieronymus Bosch for his personal advice on show design.

Rina Haimson

Assistant Director

Rina is a sophomore history and sociology double major. This is her third show with MDSP, as she was previously in Twelfth Night (Sir Andrew) and Romeo and Juliet (Balthazar/Fight Captain). She would like to thank her sister, Asha, for assisting her with the fight choreography. Now, she is excited to be stepping into the role of Assistant Director and Fight Choreographer, and she hopes you enjoy the show!

Alana Isaac

Co-Stage Manager/Intimacy Director

Alana Isaac is a third-year Theatre & Government major and a Creative & Performing Arts Scholar. Previously, she was the Stage Manager & Lighting Designer of MDSP's Twelfth Night. Other UMD Credits include: The Prom (Assistant Stage Manager), The Late Wedding (Assistant Stage Manager), FMFA Dance Thesis 2022 (Assistant Stage Manager). She'd like to extend a special thank you to Logan and Rina for bringing her onto this production and to everyone graduating this year who has made her experience with MDSP so special. You have changed her life and she will be eternally grateful.

Ryan Lindner

Co-Stage Manager

Adam Hawley

Sound Designer

Adam Hawley (Sound Designer) Junior theatre major. Creative and Performing Arts Scholar. He is glad to be back for his second production with the Maryland Shakespeare Players. Recent Credits: Fall MFA Dance Thesis (UMD, Stage Manager), Props Carpentry Apprentice (Santa Fe Opera 2023), The Book Club Play (UMD, Assistant Stage Manager), Romeo and Juliet (MDSP, Stage Manager) As You Like It (UMD, Assistant Stage Manager)

Erin Sanders

Lighting Designer

Erin is only here because of Alana :)

Silmarien Grinath

Costume Designer

Silmarien Grinath is excited to present her first work with MDSP. Her costumes have been made months of work, and crafted with literal blood, sweat, and tears, mostly hers. She would like to thank Alex for making sure she still ate while working on this show and also for putting up with her. She is also grateful for the patience and diligent work from the actors and the production team and is excited to work on many shows to come.

Vivian Jiang

Scenic Designer

Oliver O'Brien

Props Designer

Oliver is a sophomore pursuing a dual degree in Astronomy and Anthropology and a minor in Planetary Science. This is their first show with MDSP, and they’re so excited! They would like to thank the cast, crew, and the family and friends that had to put up with them buying props off of sketchy websites, breaking their glasses at rehearsal, and sticky-noting the hell out of their script binder that’s falling apart. They hope everyone enjoys the show!

Rachel Heney

Assistant Stage Manager

Alex Bryan-Taff

Assistant Costume Designer/Broadcast Operator

Alex is very grateful to have been assigned a crew position that finally allows him to sit in the dark and hit buttons, like the little goblin he truly is. He has previously worked as crew with MDSP on Much Ado, King Lear, Twelfth Night, and Romeo & Juliet, as well as working as a Lighting Tech at the Clarice. He is proud to have contributed to the costumes, though he is slightly worried, as several actors have expressed interest in stealing his clothes.

Acknowledgements

The SEE Funding Board

STAMP Event Services

Sam Crawford

Peter Pringle

Broadway News

	Photos: Only Make Believe Hosts 2026 Gala With Jim Parsons, Ali Louis Bourzgui, and More
	Wake Up With BroadwayWorld November 12, 2026- GALILEO Begins Previews and More
	Video: Bradley Whitford Honors Veterans at A FEW GOOD MEN Curtain Call
	Liza Minnelli Memoir KIDS, WAIT TIL YOU HEAR THIS! Screen Adaptation in Development
	Photos: Christopher Fitzgerald Stars in THE GOOD THIEF at Irish Repertory Theatre
	Jessica Chastain, Michael Urie & Corey Stoll Will Lead LOST LEAR on Broadway
	Photos: Inside Opening Night of HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES on Broadway
	Exclusive Photos: Crystal Lucas-Perry Behind the Scenes of THE RIPPLE
	Hannah Solow to Host BROADWAY: STANDING BY at New Amsterdam Theatre
	Video: See Broadway Under the Stars This Holiday Season at the Shops at Columbus Circle