Although mostly kept offstage, the major players of Shakespeare’s Hamlet do sweep into Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead from time to time.  These include Hamlet, his uncle Claudius (who has murdered the prince’s father and married his mother), Hamlet’s mother Queen Gertrude, the King’s trusted advisor, Polonius, and Polonius’s daughter, Ophelia.

John Hoogenakker will be playing the formerly central role of Hamlet, a role he has played previously in Michael Halberstam’s production of Hamlet at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival.  John performed on the Books on Vernon stage in The Puppetmaster of Lodz.  In addition to his many Chicago and regional theatre credits, John is also a very successful voiceover actor.

Appearing as the murderous and power hungry Claudius will be Terry Hamilton, this being his Writers’ Theatre debut.  Terry is an Associate Artist at TimeLine Theatre and currently can be seen in their acclaimed production of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys.

Karen Janes Woditsch, who has appeared at Writers’ Theatre almost every season since the theatre began, will apperr opposite Terry as Gertrude.  Karen was last seen at Writers’ Theatre playing Aemilia in Othello.  She also read the stage directions at our July public reading of Keith Huff’s new play, The Detective’s Wife.

Fredric Stone will appear at Writers’ Theatre for the first time as Polonius, Claudius’s advisor and Ophelia’s father.  Fred has been featured in numerous productions at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in addition to work at many other New York, Chicago and regional theatre companies.  He was also part of the acting company at this summer’s Utah Shakespearean Festival.

Laura Coover joins the cast as Ophelia, a young girl whose life is upended by Hamlet’s quest for revenge.  Laura played Alais in Writers’ Theatre’s production of A Lion in Winter, and she just finished a Jeff award-winning performance in Rebecca Gilman’s Blue Surge at Eclipse Theatre.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard will be directed by Writers’ Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam.  Performances begin September 29, 2009 at 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe.

Writers’ Theatre’s first musical revue, Oh Coward!, will feature the extraordinary talents of three of our favorite performers, including two from our current production of A Minister’s Wife.

Kate Fry is currently delighting Glencoe audiences with her starring turn as Candida in A Minister’s Wife. Kate has extensive credits with both Court Theatre and Chicago Shakespeare Theater, in addition to working at The Mark Taper Forum, McCarter Theatre Center, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Apple Tree Theatre, and Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. She is also the mother of two children with her husband, Tim Kane, who will be playing Guildenstern in our production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead next season.

Also featured in A Minister’s Wife is John Sanders, who plays the curate Lexy Mill. John also appeared on the Writers’ Theatre stage in Evan Smith’s The Uneasy Chair. He has worked all over Chicago in a myriad of different roles, performing at theatres such as Drury Lane Oakbrook, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, American Theater Company, and Stage Left Theatre. However, his greatest triumph recently was getting married to his lovely wife, Jocelyn, and his brother-in-law was just in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor.

Rob Lindley was last seen at Writers’ Theatre in Bach at Leipzig, playing the German pianist and composer Georg Lenck. You may also have seen him in productions at Court Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Marriott Lincolnshire, and Light Opera Works. He is a graduate of The Second City Training Center Conservatory and now teaches Musical Improv for them. Rob’s partner, Doug Peck, is the musical director of Oh Coward!, and they last worked together on the musical Caroline, or Change at Court Theatre.

Oh Coward! is a musical revue with words and music by Noel Coward, and devised by Roderick Cook. The production will be directed by Jim Corti, with musical direction by Doug Peck. Performances begin November 17, 2009 at 664 Vernon Avenue in Glencoe.