The Dane as Dame
Molly Hood plays the lead role in the 17th annual Richmond Shakespeare Festival's modern-dress production of "Hamlet." (Photo by: Chris Smith)
Molly Hood was cast in a traditionally male role 11 years ago as Solanio, a secondary character in The Merchant of Venice. “But the girl playing Nerissa had to pull out of the show,” she deadpans, “and I went on as a girl, instead.”
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Molly Hood as Hamlet, Thomas Cunningham as Horatio and Patricia Alli as Marcellus (Photo by: Aaron Sutten)
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Jonathan Conyers as Rosencrantz, Molly Hood as Hamlet and Laurel Maughan as Guildenstern (Photo by: Aaron Sutten)
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Molly Hood as Hamlet and Alex Wiles as Ophelia (Photo by: Aaron Sutten)
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Molly Hood as Hamlet and Shirley Kagan as Gertrude (Photo by: Aaron Sutten)
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Molly Hood as Hamlet and Jeff Clevenger as the Gravedigger (Photo by: Aaron Sutten)
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Jeremy Morris as Laertes and Molly Hood as Hamlet (Photo by: Aaron Sutten)
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Molly Hood as Hamlet and Jeremy Morris as Laertes (Photo by: Aaron Sutten)
In the 17th annual Richmond Shakespeare Festival’s modern-dress production of Hamlet at Agecroft Hall (July 9 to Aug. 2), Hood will play the melancholy Dane. She’s participated in reverse-gender roles in staged readings, “But Hamlet is the first delicious meaty male Shakespeare role I’ll have taken on.”
Director Jan Powell says, “In auditions, my two strongest Hamlets were both female. I thought: Let’s see where that takes us.” Sure, it’s different, but the play’s the thing, and the humanity within is what matters. “She’s a real person,” Hood says of inhabiting the role, “not just this huge, epic male character.”
Her Ophelia is Alex Wiles and the cast features Foster Solomon, Claudius; Shirley Kagan, Gertrude; Jeff Clevenger, Polonius and everybody’s favorite Gravedigger; Katrinah Carol Lewis, the Player Queen; and Jonathan Conyers and Laurel Maughan, respectively, as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. 7:30 p.m., $30. 340-0115 or agecrofthall.tix.com.
