There are several obvious reasons for Richmond Shakespeare to open their season with a production of “Hamlet.” It’s the 25th anniversary of the first Richmond Shakespeare festival. It’s been a while since the company staged the tale of the mopey prince; actress Molly Hood last inhabited the role in a 2015 production.
But the answer director James Ricks gives for “why Hamlet now?” is unexpected.
“It’s Halloween and this is a ghost story,” he says. “I don’t know if anybody else will make that connection, but I do.”
Richmond Shakespeare has also never staged “Hamlet” indoors before. “I wanted it to be one of the shows we do indoors so we can pull some stagecraft,” Ricks continues. “With the ghost, you can never really accomplish that out at Agecroft, [the outdoor venue where the summer festival is held].”
With this high-profile production, Ricks has also taken the opportunity to cast actors who may not be familiar to local audiences. “It’s a pretty exciting and diverse cast of actors,” he says. “A lot of people that I’ve never worked with and a lot of new faces.”
Most prominent among those faces is Joshua Carter in the lead role. The 2015 Liberty University graduate moved to the area last year and was promptly cast in “A Soldier’s Story” at Swift Creek Mill Theatre this past spring. His move here was part of a recommitment to acting.
“I was an elementary school teacher for some time,” Carter says. “But I was really ready to see if I could commit fully to being a full-time actor. I was wondering where to go and something said ‘check out Colonial Williamsburg.’”
“Lo and behold, they were looking for me and I didn’t even know,” he says. Carter now works as an historical interpreter and actor in Williamsburg five days a week.
Though still a young man, Carter has life experience that has helped him gain perspective on the tragic life of his character. “The past five years have been difficult,” he says. “My mother had an aneurysm that led to a stroke. It flipped my life upside down.”
In retrospect, he realizes that any interaction with his mom could have been his last. “This whole play deals with the fact that [Hamlet’s] father died while he was in college and he wasn’t around for it,” Carter says. “One thing that I have learned not only through this play but through big life moments is, ‘watch yourself.’ Because even a prince can be brought to his knees.”
The actor credits Ricks for leading the company through the sometimes weighty material. “James is a collaborator and one thing that he’s very good about is using the instruments he has,” Carter says.
“So if I’m a saxophone, the last thing he will require me to be is a trombone. He’s been very good about adapting and working in the moment.”
Carter channels Ricks’ ‘in the moment’ attitude when asked about joining the ranks of other legendary actors who have taken on “Hamlet.”
“I recognize the honor but I have not thought about it,” he says. “I am an actor in an ensemble and I’m doing this play at this moment with these people. Sometimes thinking too much can get you in trouble.”
Another element of the production that hasn’t been over-thought is Carter’s race. “The cool thing about this rehearsal process is that my Blackness has not been the focal point of interpreting this piece,” he explains. (A Black actor has played “Hamlet” in Richmond before, when Foster Solomon was cast in the company’s 2000 production.)
“When I say that James trusts the instrument, he doesn’t have to over-explain Hamlet’s life [with a focus] on his skin being Black,” Carter says. “It never comes up. The only color that we talk about is the color of the ghosts.”
“Hamlet” will run at Dominion Energy Center’s Gottwald Playhouse, 600 East Grace St., from Oct. 19 to Nov. 12. Tickets available at https://richmondshakespeare.org/hamlet.
