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'Hamlet' Actors Will Wear 16th-Century-Style Masks

By Mathew Katz | July 11, 2014 5:31pm | Updated on July 14, 2014 8:52am
 Ophelia's mask in "Hamlet (...Unmasked)" represents the Inamorata from commedia dell'arte-style productions.
Ophelia's mask in "Hamlet (...Unmasked)" represents the Inamorata from commedia dell'arte-style productions.
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HELL'S KITCHEN — Medieval reenactors putting on an off-off-Broadway production of "Hamlet" will add a twist to the classic show by donning 16th-century-style masks.

All the characters in the production, dubbed "Hamlet (...Unmasked)" will wear commedia dell'arte-style masks — except for Hamlet himself.

The play, which will run from July 24 to 26 at the John De Sotelle Studio Theater at 300 W. 43rd St., is being put on by members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group of medieval enthusiasts who dress, dine and craft like people in the Middle Ages.

"Each of the masks will be made in the way they would have made them in the 16th century," said producer Hannah Edwards.

The masked style of commedia dell'arte first gained notoriety in 16th-century Italy, she said, and would have been easily recognizable in Shakespeare's day.

Some masks will be made of painted paper mache, while more elaborate ones will be made by boiling leather and stretching it over plaster, a process called "cuir boulli."

Each character — except Hamlet — wears a mask because the audience is seeing the story from Hamlet's point of view, so every character has a specific meaning to him, organizers said.

"This is 'Hamlet' through Hamlet's eyes," said Michael Cramer, who will play the title character. "It's Hamlet's vision of what everything looks like, and in fact we'll never know if this is really happening or if it's Hamlet's fantasy."

Each of the masks represents a different staple character of commedia dell'arte. Ophelia wears the mask of the Inamorata, a young female ingenue, and the Gravedigger wears the monstrous face of Arlechino, a knavish servant.

Characters that don't have as much of a relationship with Hamlet — like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern — will wear much smaller, simpler masks that only cover the eyes. 

Cramer and Edwards raised $4,521 of the play's $6,170 budget on the crowdfunding site Hatchfund, and plan to make up the rest of the budget in ticket sales. 

Tickets for the show are $20 and are available online