Local theatre organization, Piedmont Shakespeare Company, has begun its inaugural season, performing “Hamlet” across 6 locations throughout the Triad.
Piedmont Shakespeare Company is a Shakespeare company that runs in the summer. The company was founded by two Elon University professors — Kim Shively and David McGraw — and a University of North Carolina School of the Arts professor, Carl Forsman. The company aims to bring performances of Shakespeare’s works to communities all over the Piedmont Triad for free. In February 2025, the company announced Hamlet as its first play to be performed in June 2025.
The company has already performed three shows, opening the season on June 13 at Scott Studios at Elon University. Additionally, the company performed another show at Scott Studios June 14 and a show June 17 at Arts 1 Theatre 202 in Lexington, NC.
Forsman said the goal behind the company’s productions is to create a community-engaged environment while making Shakespeare more understandable and accessible.
“This summer we're just dipping the toe into the full vision of what it would mean to really be a place where people really gathered and had experiences together and interface with their communities,” Forsman said.
In order to make the shows as accessible as possible, all of the Piedmont Shakespeare Company's shows are free. Lead electrician and Elon alum Matthew Bobzien ‘24 said the company is doing a job of getting rid of the various barriers normally associated with Shakespeare.
“The mission of the company being to meet local audiences where they're at, especially in a lot of rural locations, and say it's completely free access, even if you're just walking in the park and you don't know the show's happening,” Bobzien said. ”That's one breaking down so many barriers, two breaking the stigma and saying, ‘Oh, it's not that high brown, I can connect to this.’”
Co-artistic director Kim Shively who also plays Queen Gertrude in “Hamlet” said that part of breaking down barriers also included performing many locations most in rural areas to increase access.
“I think that we forget about the communities in agricultural areas and rural areas as being worthy and deserving of having access to high-quality art,” Shively said. “It was really wonderful to be able to do that.”
In addition to breaking down financial and locational barriers, Forsman said a lot of work was done during the production’s month of rehearsals to make the performance as understandable as possible.
“The play is really clear, and is not gussied up at all,” Forsman said. “There's no heavy duty concepts on top of it, there's no big interpretive swing, there's some directorial flourish, but it is not a very heavy-handed take on Hamlet. It is really trying to let the play live and breathe on its own terms, and hold the mystery in the text that Shakespeare wrote.”
Shively said the entire company has cared deeply about making the language of the show understandable for all ages from the beginning of the rehearsal process.
“We are all committed to accessibility,” Shively said. “My 10-year-old came to see the show, and he understood all of it. Another supporter’s 7 or 8-year-old daughter came and watched the whole thing and loved it. So I think we're making an impact.”
Additionally, the company’s performance on June 25 in Greensboro will feature American Sign Language interpretation for further accessibility.
On the community interaction aspect of the company’s mission, audience engagement intern and Elon alum Grace Minton ‘25 said she and other interns have been spending the past month out in the community getting the word out about the show.
Minton said this included creating community partnerships for the show, including two bookstores the company is hosting profit shares with. Piedmont Shakespeare Company hosted a discussion focused on the arts in colleges geared towards high school students on June 7 at Persnickety Books in Burlington, NC. Additionally, the company hosted a Shakespeare and “Hamlet” trivia night at The Bookhouse in Winston-Salem, NC June 18.
Beyond partnerships, Minton said each show will have community events set up before the show begins, including local vendors, door prizes, and at the Oak Ridge show, pool noodle fencing.
Minton said she has seen all the work Piedmont Shakespeare Company has put into accessibility show true in conversations with audience members.
“The original Hamlet is like four hours long, and this is a two hour cut,” Minton said. “All of the audience members that we've talked to have said that they understand exactly what's going on, and they were afraid that they wouldn't, so that's good.”
Bobzien said the focus on community has extended beyond community for audiences and holds true within the community as well. The majority of the cast is made up of current students or recent graduates of Elon, UNC School of the Arts and University of North Carolina Greensboro.
“It's really been a community-centered environment where we've gotten to connect with each other and grow with each other,” Bobzien said.
Reservations for any of Piedmont Shakespeare Company’s shows can be made for free on the company’s website.