New York Circus Project presents HAMLET at FringeArts Theater

Circus meets Shakespeare in cutting-edge production coming to Philadelphia

The New York Circus Project brings HAMLET, an innovative, circus-infused retelling of the Shakespearean classic to FringeArts for its premier touring season.

HAMLET upends what audiences expect of Shakespeare by blending theater with circus arts to arrive at a unique iteration of a well-known tragedy. The production’s fast-paced, abbreviated script is balanced with circus acts that change the story’s tempo and allow for deeper exploration of the internal, emotional conflict at hand. 

Hamlet’s delirium materializes in an explosive group acrobatic tableau, Ophelia’s life flashes before her eyes during a last-breath contortion performance in a water filled basin, and the ghost of Hamlet’s father’s famous monologue is reimagined as a solo aerial dance act.

By oscillating between scenes with dialogue and circus performance, the lines between realism and internal monologue blur. Comparable to the use of song to emphasize emotional or narrative beats in musical theater, this interdisciplinary approach fills Shakespeare’s Hamlet with new color and life.

HAMLET opens at FringeArts (140 N Christopher Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, 19106)  July 24^th until July 28^th. 

Tickets are on sale now!

Website: newyorkcircusproject.org/tickets

Performances are at 8pm Wednesday through Sunday, with additional 3pm shows on Saturday and Sunday.  

Tickets are general admission and priced at $49.

“ …dramatizing the inner conflict of the characters through dance and circus created a fundamentally different viewing experience than most productions of the play…utterly creative and original” (Columbia Bwog)

“Breaking the boundaries of art forms and time, ‘Hamlet’ ultimately traversed the lines of what a Shakespeare play should look like—revealing an undiscovered terrain within the arts world waiting for interdisciplinary talents to fill it with color.” (Columbia Spectator)

“…immensely effective in forwarding the tense, psychological themes at the heart of Hamlet”

(The Blue and White)

New York Circus Project is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to producing contemporary circus shows in New York City and the United States, using acrobatics as a medium for presenting classic texts in a visually striking and unique way. Additionally, New York Circus Project produces free-to-the-public, family friendly circus cabaret performances on the streets of New York City.