Hamlet 50/50
In August 2023, the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival premiered Hamlet 50/50, a new adaptation of Hamlet which seeks to advance gender equity in the workplace of Shakespeare practitioners. The longest and most famous of Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet, has only two female characters, who are responsible for only 8.5% of its 4,000+ lines. Because of this, the play often poses a challenge to theatre companies wanting to produce this famous tragedy while also upholding a gender equitable workplace environment. Hamlet 50/50 provides a bold new solution by reallocating lines (i.e 50% of lines spoken by female characters and 50% by male) and rebalancing the play’s embedded power dynamics while remaining faithful to the text, its author, and its world. Enjoy this opportunity to learn more about the possibility of gender equitable Shakespeare performance.
Experience the Episode
Thursday, May 9, 2024 12:00 pm
In August 2023, the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival premiered Hamlet 50/50, a new adaptation of Hamlet which seeks to advance gender equity in the workplace of Shakespeare practitioners. The longest and most famous of Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet, has only two female characters, who are responsible for only 8.5% of its 4,000+ lines. Because of this, the play often poses a challenge to theatre companies wanting to produce this famous tragedy while also upholding a gender equitable workplace environment. Hamlet 50/50 provides a bold new solution by reallocating lines (i.e 50% of lines spoken by female characters and 50% by male) and rebalancing the play’s embedded power dynamics while remaining faithful to the text, its author, and its world.
This Shakespeare and Possibility offering features Peter Holland, McMeel Family Chair of Shakespeare Studies, and Vanessa Morosco, co-adaptor and director of Hamlet 50/50 in a conversation moderated by Jennifer Birkett ’23 Ph.D., Shakespeare at Notre Dame’s postdoctoral research fellow and includes an audience Q&A. Please enjoy this opportunity to learn more about the possibility of gender equitable Shakespeare performance.
Meet the Moderator: Jennifer Thorup Birkett '23 Ph.D.
Jennifer Birkett ’23 Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Fellow with Shakespeare at Notre Dame. She researches early modern drama with a specific interest in terms of endearment and the relationship between text and performance. Her scholarship characteristically magnifies quirky details and contradictions in order to arrive at new affordances. She is deeply committed to empowering female voices within dramatic narratives and combatting gender inequality by championing mutuality and solidarity.
While a graduate student at Notre Dame, Jennifer worked as a managing editor for the Religion & Literature journal, co-directed the Early Modern Circle, and served as Social and Professionalization chairs for EGSA. She has taught multiple sections of Writing and Rhetoric, Shakespeare and Performance, and Intro to Film and Television.
Meet the Faculty: Peter Holland
Peter Holland was educated at Cambridge and, when he left in 1997, was Judith E. Wilson Reader in Drama and Theatre in the Faculty of English. He then served as Director of the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon and Professor in Shakespeare Studies at the University of Birmingham before coming to Notre Dame in 2002 as the first holder of the McMeel Family Chair in Shakespeare Studies, probably the only named chair in Shakespeare anywhere in the world that is not in an English or Literature department.
He was editor of Shakespeare Survey, the UK’s leading academic Shakespeare journal for 19 years, co-General Editor, with Stanley Wells and Lena Orlin, of Oxford Shakespeare Topics (Oxford University Press, over 30 volumes to date); with Adrian Poole, of the 18-volume series Great Shakespeareans (Bloomsbury Academic, 2009-13; with Farah Karim-Cooper and Stephen Purcell of a monograph series, Shakespeare in the Theatre (Bloomsbury Academic, 15 volumes to date); and, with Zachary Leader and Tiffany Stern, of the Arden Shakespeare 4th series. He has also edited many Shakespeare plays.
In 2007, Holland completed publication of a five-volume series of collections on Rethinking British Theatre History. He is the author of more than 140 articles on a wide range of topics in Shakespeare studies as well as on David Garrick, English pantomime, Chekhov, farce, Peter Brook, and many other aspects of drama and performance.
In 2007–08, he served as President of the Shakespeare Association of America. He is Chair of the International Shakespeare Association. He was elected an honorary fellow of the Shakespeare Institute and of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. In 2012 he received the Sheedy Award at Notre Dame.
Meet the Speaker: Vanessa Morosco
Bringing more than two decades of dedicated service to the American Shakespeare Center, Vanessa Morosco has been a cornerstone of the Center’s growth. Her diverse contributions include directing productions for resident and touring troupes, founding educational programs for community members of all ages, and establishing leadership training sessions for both international executives and Continuing Legal Education. Vanessa’s journey with the ASC began as a performer in over 25 productions on the Blackfriars Playhouse stage, dating back to our inaugural season in 2002.
Beyond the ASC, Vanessa is recognized globally for her expertise in drama-based training and development. She has worked with multinational corporations and business schools worldwide, addressing crucial topics such as Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, Unconscious Bias, and Change Management through her organization, Impact Drama (impactdrama.net). Vanessa is also the co-founder of the 50/50 Shakespeare Project™, dedicated to advancing gender equity in the workplace of Shakespeare’s plays (5050shakespeare.com). A proud member of Actors Equity Association and Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, Vanessa holds an M.A. in Ethics from Yale University.