1 Hamlet – From the Script
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. — Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your own grinning?
Hamlet, 5.1.
2 Hamlet – At the Festival
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, was part of the Shakespeare Festival’s vey first season, way back in 1962. All three plays presented in the inaugural season were directed by legendary Festival co-founder, Fred Adams. Opening on Monday, July 2 with Taming of the Shrew, followed by Hamlet on Tuesday and then Merchant of Venice on Wednesday the three performed in repertory for two weeks. The pattern of three Shakespeare shows a summer continued for 27 consecutive years, until the completion of the Randall Jones Theatre in 1989 when three additional shows were added to the Festival’s summer offerings. With the many changes to the festival over the years, Hamlet remains its most produced play, reflecting its place of prominence world-wide. In fact, it has been estimated that William Shakespeare’s masterpiece is so popular that on any given day around the world, there is always some version of Hamlet in production.
3 Hamlet – Artist: Stanley J. Watts
After studying fine arts at Utah State University, Stanley J. Watts continued his training under the tutelage of noted Salt Lake City sculptor, Dr. Avard Fairbanks. Now a noted sculptor, Watts is best known for his bronze sculptures celebrating famous figures in American history including one of George Washington located near the revolutionary encampment at Valley Forge and one of Abraham Lincoln near the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This sculpture of Hamlet, was created based on an original concept outlined by A. Clayton Robbins
If you would like to see an additional sculpture created by Watts and Robbins, the whimsical statue of Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream is just a short walk away, standing at the west entrance to the Randall L Jones Theatre.