A.D. Amorosi writes in Philly:
More hereWhen it comes to women and Hamlet - Shakespeare's take on dead patriarchs, lustful queens, and avenging scions - the Bard isn't exactly kind. While that quote starts with the young Hamlet disgusted at his mother's haste in jumping from bed (or rather her husband's grave) to bed (with Hamlet's uncle), it ends with an assault on all womankind, including poor Ophelia.
"If thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them," he tells her.
How, then, would Shakespeare feel about Wilma Theater artistic director Blanka Zizka casting a woman - Zainab Jah, last seen in the Wilma's 2013 The Convert - in the title role? (Zizka follows Hamlet with Tom Stoppard's rudely funny Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, using many of the same actors.)
"I think Shakespeare would be used to women playing the part by now," she says. "Since the mid-18th century, there's been at least 200 productions with a female Hamlet."
