Daniel Gurskis, Dean, College of the Arts
Kathleen Kelley, Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance
PEAK Performances presents
RSC
Script-in-Hand
Hamlet
Fri., September 25, 2026, 3:00pm
ALEXANDER KASSER THEATER
Directed by Aaron Parsons
This program is supported by the generosity of Holly and Robert Gregory.
About the Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a leading global theater company that sparks local, national, and international conversations that build connections, create opportunities, and bring joy.
They passionately believe that great storytelling can change the world, and that theater offers its own unique form of storytelling: it’s live and shared, and transforms a group of strangers into audiences who, together, experience a story come to life in front of their eyes.
RSC collaborates with the most exciting artists to tell the stories of our time, and through a range of programs they nurture the talent of the future.
They perform on three stages in their home in Stratford-upon-Avon, in London, and in communities and schools across the UK and around the world.
RSC’s transformative Creative Learning and Engagement programs reach over half a million young people each year, and in September 2026 the company celebrates 20 years of working in partnerships with schools.
Things aren’t quite as they seem in the state of Denmark.
The king is dead, but his brother steps in to take his crown, his wife, and become a father to his son. Can everyone move on and show a united front from the external threat of war? Or is war already brewing in the castle?
Context
Why this play now?
Hamlet, a play said to be named after his own son, Hamnet, who tragically died too young, feels like an outpouring of Shakespeare’s own grief in a moment in his life when he had to find a way to carry on.
When the worst possible thing happens, how do you find the strength and resolve to keep moving forward? Can we ultimately carry that pain with us and still live?
The play, in my opinion, finds a way to articulate what grief can do to an individual, as well as how it can corrode a family.
Helpfully, Shakespeare creates a framework where there is someone accountable. Someone to blame. Someone who is driven by a need to take control of a nation, and whose absolute determination to do so sees him committing unthinkable acts, not only to take the crown, but also to try and stay in power.
It is exactly those two things that feel important in our exploration of this play. How can one person’s greed cause so much suffering, without leading to them ultimately being satisfied with what they have taken? And how that greed ultimately changes our ability to trust, and believe in each other. Ideas I think we can all agree feel very present in our world today. Where one person’s actions impact individuals, families, and an entire nation. All leading to I think Shakespeare’s ultimate question: what would you do, if you were in this situation? Or more importantly, what do we learn about ourselves and the world from experiencing this story?
—Aaron Parsons, Director
Program Notes
Scan to explore the full 2026–27 Theatre & Dance season and see what’s coming up next.
PEAK Performances
Peg Schuler-Armstrong | General Manager
Hannah Walker | Interim Marketing Manager
Taliyah Bethea | Marketing Assistant
Susan Case | Program Book Coordinator
Patrick Flood | Graphic Designer, Art Director
Martin Halo | Website Development
Social Sidekick | Public Relations
Jacob Stepansky | Company Manager
College of the Arts
Daniel Gurskis | Dean
Ronald L. Sharps | Associate Dean
Christine Lemesianou | Associate Dean
Amanda Gonzalez Carcione | Assistant Dean
Zacrah S. Battle | College Administrator
Nicole Archer | Chairperson, Department of Art and Design
Shea Scruggs | Director, John J. Cali School of Music
Kathleen Kelley | Chairperson, Department of Theatre and Dance
Hillery Makatura | Director, Performance Operations
Patricia Piroh | Director, Broadcast and Media Operations
Megan C. Austin | Director, University Galleries
Staff Credits
College of the Arts
Performance Operations
Hillery Makatura | Director
Cubby Terry | Facilities and Events Manager
Colin Van Horn | Technical Director
Kevin Johnson | Senior Production Engineer
Jason Flamos | Lighting Supervisor
Marlene Hamm | CPO Production Manager
Jade Thomas | Patron Services Manager
Jeff Lambert Wingfield | Box Office Manager
Rayne Collins | Front of House Coordinator
Laurel Brolly | Business Manager
Charlotte Caplan, Ava Defabbo, Abigail Drueding, Hendryana Nelson, Tori Opitz | Lead Ushers, Season 2026–27
Andrea Armando, Ityaina Bush-Patterson, Aboubacar Cisse, Audrick Franco, Shantel Maysonett, Ashley Sabina Pajares, Aiden Park, Ben Renfrow | Box Office Lead Associates, Season 2026–27
Department of Theatre and Dance
Faculty and Staff
Kathleen Kelley | Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance
Heather Benton | Professor and Head of Acting
Jessica Brater | Associate Professor and Head of Theatre Studies
Nick Kolin | Assistant Professor and Head of Design, Technology, and Management
Ryan Kasprzak | Assistant Professor and Head of Musical Theatre
Peter Flynn | Professor and Musical Theatre RSC Coordinator
Kaitlin Stillwell | Theatre Studies RSC Coordinator
Amanda Edore | Program Assistant
Randy Mugleston | Professor and Residency Founding Chair
Rick Sordelet | Fight Coordinator
Christopher Bailey | Director of Production
Jordan Conklin-Yousef | Interim Production Manager
Cyndi Kumor | Production Business Associate
Amanda Phillips | Marketing and Outreach Coordinator
Mysti Stay | Stage Management Coordinator
Donna Scro Samori | Wellness Coordinator
Erhard Rom | Professor and Scenic Coordinator
Ben Merrick | Technical Director
Soren Kodak | Scene Shop Supervisor
Theodore Hoelter | Carpenter
Hannah Polaski | Scene Shop Technician
Alison Merrick | Props Supervisor
Elizabeth Olson | Scenic Charge Artist
Jessica Jahn | Assistant Professor and Costumes Coordinator
Sarah Moench | Costume Shop Supervisor
Betsy Rugg-Hinds | Assistant Costume Shop Supervisor and Draper
Amanda Caswell | Draper and First Hand
Amara Copeland | Stitcher and First Hand
Julie Thiry-Couvillion | Wardrobe Supervisor
Osman Morales | Lighting Supervisor
Zachary Briewell | Lighting Technician
Sheldon Steiger | Assistant Teaching Professor and Sound Coordinator
Emma Wilk Solomon | Sound and Projections Supervisor
Coming Soon
We respectfully acknowledge that Montclair State University occupies land in Lenapehoking, the traditional and expropriated territory of the Lenape. As a state institution, we recognize and support the sovereignty of New Jersey’s three state-recognized tribes: the Ramapough Lenape, Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, and Powhatan Renape nations. We recognize the sovereign nations of the Lenape diaspora elsewhere in North America, as well as other Indigenous individuals and communities now residing in New Jersey. By offering this land acknowledgement, we commit to addressing the historical legacies of Indigenous dispossession and dismantling practices of erasure that persist today. We recognize the resilience and persistence of contemporary Indigenous communities and their role in educating all of us about justice, equity, and the stewardship of the land throughout the generations.
Programs in this season were made possible, in part, by the Alexander Kasser Theater Endowment Fund and PEAK Patrons.
PEAK Performances develops, presents, and produces a broad range of world-class dance, film, master classes, music, opera and music theater, talks, and theater in the Alexander Kasser Theater on the campus of Montclair State University for students, faculty, staff, and the general public. We are building community through live performance. PEAK Performances is a program of the university’s Arts + Cultural Programming Department.