In response to the killing of George Floyd, “We See You W.A.T,” and the on-going Race Reckoning that has dominated the dialogue in our Nation, we organized a Social Justice Think Tank to brainstorm means to put our Art into Activism. Unanimously we made the choice to revisit our Production of
“MERCURY HAMLET” — whose In-Person Process was interrupted in March by COVID-19.

In our adaptation of “Hamlet,” casting reflects our Mission of Inclusion and is executed by the “Law of the Draw” — each Player rehearses and prepares all 9 Roles and at each Performance, we pull cards at the top of the Show to determine who plays whom.

This experimental treatment of the Play gives access to our Artists to delve into the lives and psychologies of Great Classical Characters — like Queen Gertrude, King Claudius, Horatio, and even Hamlet himself/themselves — for which they customarily would not be considered under traditional casting practices.

For this Inaugural Performance of our Zoom Reading Series, to further our mission of Diversity and Inclusion in Theatre Arts, our Social Justice Think tank proposed an all BIPOC Ensemble.
The Ensemble then elected to donate 100% of the proceeds for this public digital performance to Brave Space Alliance, an Advocacy Organization focused on providing Mental Health adjacent services to BIPOC Communities.

Audience can start tuning in at 5:50pm CST. Throughout the reading, we will invite audience members to participate in the Live Chat, and to donate to Quicksilver Shakespeare Company’s PayPal via [email protected].
Please add “BIPOCMH” to the notes of you contribution.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Marcellus Burt — Project Captain, at marcellus.bur[email protected] or to AC Rakotoniaina — Project Co-Captain at [email protected].

We look forward to seeing you all there!