Women Playing Hamlet (2026)

Women Playing Hamlet

Written By William Missouri Downs

Hamlet‘s a challenge for any actor, but when Jessica is cast as the titular character in a New York production, it sends her into an existential tailspin. It doesn’t help that her acting coach is borderline abusive, or that every Starbucks barista with an MFA tells her she‘s too young for the role. Or that she‘s somehow managed to make Sir Patrick Stewart her nemesis. Not to mention the fact that she‘s a woman. How can Jessica figure out “to be or not to be,” when she can’t even figure out herself? Featuring an all-female cast performing multiple roles, Woman Playing Hamlet is rip-roaring fun for Shakespeare fans and haters alike.

Licensed by: Concord Theatricals  
Director: Charles Hickinbotham

Auditions: Wednesday, April 29th & Thurs, April 30th, 2026.

Run Dates:

July 17, 18, 24, 25, 31, & August 1 (Friday & Saturday Evenings @ 7pm)
July 19 & 26 (Sunday Matinees @ 2pm)
July 29 (Wednesday Evening @ 7pm)
(9 performances)

Cast:

  • JESSICA – Late 20s – an actress, attractive, quirky, smart
  • GWEN – Female, an acting coach
  • HUMANITIES PROFESSOR – Male, overconfident
  • GHOST – Male, Hamlet’s father
  • STARBUCKS ACTRESS – Female, works at Starbucks
  • PRIEST – Male, Catholic, celibate
  • BICYCLE MESSENGER – Male, streetwise and hip
  • EMILY OSTERGAARD – Female, Jessica’s computer-geek niece
  • BARFLY – Female, alcoholic
  • HOME SHOPPING NETWORK MODEL – Female, bubbly
  • ROSY – Female, a young soap-opera starlet
  • LORD DERBY – Male, English Shakespeare scholar
  • MINNESOTA MOTHER – Female, Jessica’s mother
  • MALE PSYCHIATRIST – Male, a Jewish Freudian psychiatrist
  • BARTENDER – Male, rough, tough, and tattooed
  • HOME SHOPPING NETWORK HOSTESS – Female, bubbly
  • GILDA – Female, grande dame soap-opera star and stroke victim
  • GRAVEDIGGER – Male, a Cockney pun-master
  • STAGE MANAGER – Female

This play can be staged with as few as four women or as many as nineteen (or any number in between) but women must play all the male roles. Men played all the women’s roles in Shakespeare’s day – here is a chance for a little revenge.

Production:

  • Stage Managers –
  • Lights and Sound –
  • Choreography –
  • Set Construction –
  • Set Decor –
  • Costumes –
  • Signage –

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