

Directed by KJ Gilmer
An all-female production of Shakespeare’s masterpiece
Weekends, September 4-26
for PSiP’s 17th Season
Saturday and Sunday afternoons at Frick Park, North Park Boat House, and Highland Park
Special Friday night events in Schenley Plaza, Oakland
Production design by Lisa Leibering
The play’s the thing! Shakespeare’s compelling classic with a modern twist, Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Park’s HAMLET features an all-female cast. Directed by KJ Gilmer, the story of a grieving prince and a crumbling kingdom.
17th Season Production
Jennifer Tober, founder & artistic director
11 performances in city parks in September 2021
Admission is free with donation online requested. Only checks and cash can be accepted at parks.
Blankets, chairs, picnics and dogs welcome.
Audience members are asked to social distance by seating themselves at 6 feet apart from other groups, please. Masks are at the discretion of audience members, but not required in our outdoor setting.
Weather: Notifications and weather updates will appear on this web site and in social media on performance days.
Check out our program! Web version or Print version available.
Kids’ Guide: Educational PDF guide to the play (for all ages!) (14 MB PDF)
Please click here to take the survey
Featuring:
Melissa Franklin | Hamlet/Ophelia |
Angela Hsu | Ophelia/Hamlet |
Irene Alby | Gertrude |
Zanny Laird* | Claudius / King Hamlet’s Ghost |
Jenny Hoppes | Horatio / Player Queen |
Harper York | Laertes / Player King |
Joanna Getting | Polonius / Gravedigger / Barnardo |
Rachelmae Pulliam | Guildenstern / Gravedigger / Osric |
Ella Mizera | Rosencrantz / Marcellus |
Choreography by Tomé Cousin and Tonya Lynn
Choreography Assistants: Shana Simmons, Gretchen Breslawski
Stage Management by Jason Via and Quinn Murphy
Photos by Catherine Aceto
The Tragedy of Hamlet
Saturday, Sept 4 (1:50 PM pre-show) and Sunday, Sept. 5th | Frick Park (click for directions), 2 PM |
Friday, September 10th | Schenley Plaza, 6 PM |
Saturday Sept. 11th and Sunday, Sept. 12th (1:50 PM pre-show) | Highland Park, 2 PM |
Saturday, September 11th (two-show day) | Schenley Plaza, 6 PM |
Friday, September 17th | Schenley Plaza, 6 PM |
Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 18th-19th (1:45 PM pre-shows) | North Park Boathouse, 2 PM |
Saturday and Sunday, September 25th-26th | Frick Park, 2 PM |
As always, admission is free and donations requested to keep Shakespeare’s plays in our beautiful Pittsburgh parks.
Pre-shows – Arrive early with your picnic to enjoy these special pre-show events.
Saturday, September 4 and Sunday, September 12, 1:50 PM
Storyteller Alan Irvine returns with Hamlet: The Quick Version to warm up audiences as “the play’s the thing”.
Saturday and Sunday, September 18 and 19, 1:45 PM
Charles David “Stoney” Richards as Globe Theatre player Jon Sincler from his solo show Friended by Shakespeare, a personal take on working with Will. Has an all-female production always been in the cards?
Learn more about HAMLET in these media previews:
WQED-FM Voice of the Arts podcast with Jennifer Tober and Anna Singer
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: An All-Female Hamlet in the Parks
Pitt News: Shakespeare in the Parks presents all-female Hamlet
Tribweb.com: Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks all-female ‘Hamlet’ takes on stereotypes
Pittsburgh in the Round: Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks joins the ranks of theatres presenting all-female Shakespeare to the masses.
Director’s note by KJ Gilmer
Written between 1599 and 1601, Hamlet is the most produced, loved, and complicated of Shakespeare’s plays, and is on the bucket lists of many actors and directors. I am fortunate to have this opportunity to take this journey and direct this play. My personal journey with William Shakespeare began in Boston in 1993 when I designed costumes for several Shakespeare productions presented by Lesley University’s Oxford Street Players (OSP), founded by Annie Pluto and Lisa “Riz” Risley. Ms. Risley serves as dramaturg for this production.
Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks is dedicated to bringing FREE Shakespeare plays to Pittsburgh audiences in our beautiful city parks since 2005. Our outdoor company has performed 15 plays in parks and public spaces to a total of over 15,000 audience members. PSIP believes that access to excellent, free theater is a right that all citizens should have. Thank you for supporting our mission of free theatre for all!

Do you like what we do? Want to see us do a specific show? Let us know!…on Facebook or via email at info@pittsburghshakespeare.com.
“Like” our page on Facebook: Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks.
SUBSCRIBE to the PSIP YouTube channel.
Read our blog: Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks.
Bringing free Shakespeare to the Steel City since 2005.
Bring a blanket, a loved one, and a thermos.
Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks’ productions are supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Production Sponsors

The Chocolate Moose

Dan Frankel, Pennsylvania State Representative

Additional support from:
- The Fine Foundation
- PNC Charitable Trust
- PA Partners (Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council)
- Arts Equity Reimagined/Covid-19 Arts Working Group
Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks celebrates 17 seasons of bringing FREE Shakespeare plays to the Steel City!
#seeyouinSeptember
*Member, Actors’ Equity Association