Ashley Directs I Hate Hamlet at Theatre Tallahassee

Jun 15

2 min read

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” — Albert Schweitzer

I included this quote in my director’s notes for I Hate Hamlet and think that it perfectly sums up both the question at the heart of the show and the experience that I had not just over the six weeks of rehearsals and three weeks of performances, but the past year I have spent preparing and working on this story. There is so much that I could say and write but I am going to try and keep it brief (not my strong suit) by saying this: the world needs more laughter. Life is difficult. Sometimes unnecessarily so. So how tremendously lucky I am to have had nine weeks with these people to laugh and give others the opportunity to do so themselves.

I love Shakespeare. I love the theatre. But that is not what our show was about. Our show was about reminding people to make sure that they have the opportunity to do things in their lives that bring them joy and leave them feeling personally fulfilled. Stability is important, yes. But having something that you wake up going “I am so excited to do [insert name of activity here] today,” in your life is not only a blessing, but, in my experience, essential. And directing is one of the things that fills in that blank for me.

Thank you Paul Rudnick for writing a show that made me, the cast, crew, and our eleven audiences all laugh while reminding us to do things that bring us joy and happiness.

Thank you Theatre Tallahassee for trusting me to close out your 76th season with this Barrymore sized production.

Thank you to everyone who came out to see the show and spend some time with us (hopefully we did, in fact, make you laugh at least once).

Thank you to my cast for trusting me throughout this process and for making me laugh harder than I had in a while.

Thank you to my crew for not only tolerating my many requests but for helping make them happen.

And a special thank you to my incredible SM Madison for being my rock throughout this entire process.

Here's one final “Goodbye Hamlet, and goodnight Barrymore!”

To view our virtual program:

To view some "behind the scenes" photos: