Hamlet
Great River Shakespeare Festival
Winona, MN
Director: Doug Scholz-Carlson
Scenic Design: Leah Ramillano
Costume Design: John Merritt
Lighting Design: Avery Reagan
This was the start of the show where the audience was taken into an immediate blackout, with the power outage sound. The actors came on stage with flashlights as the Ghost appears to start the story. There were hanging lights that flickered with the ghost, which you will hear throughout the sequence. The director, Doug Scholz-Carlson wanted to tell Hamlet as a ghost story and the jump scare moments highlight that storytelling.
This moment is when Hamlet is communicating with the Ghost and learns about how his father was murdered and how Hamlet will plot his revenge.
This was a rehearsal shot showing one of the Ghost sequences. This video showcases the lights and sound and how the hanging lights interacted with the Ghost. The breathing sound was from a recording of the actor manipulated in reverb to achieve the ghostly sound and was placed where the actor was on stage using panLab and QLab.
This moment is the sound of Ophelia's song as we learn about her death. The voice came from all around the audience, including underneath the seats as we watched her walk across upstage.
This is the end sequence with the fight of Hamlet and Laertes. When the poisoned blade stabs someone we hear the high pitched squeal from the ghost sequence earlier in the show. The death toll continues until we are left with nothing but Hamlet dying as the wind fades out into the boom with the blackout.