Reading "Hamlet" with Lesley Hazleton

Take love, politics, murder, and revenge. Add a hint of incest, and a ghost for good measure. Mix well, then use it all to explore questions of guilt and innocence, being and consciousness, the roles we play and the masks we assume.

This most iconic, most intriguing, and most enigmatic of Shakespeare's plays is told in five acts, so we'll read it over five weeks (one act per week). We'll read it in the way Shakespeare intended — not as dry text, but out loud together, alive in the mouth and the ear. 

As we go, we'll discuss it, playing with ideas of who knows what when, who does what why, and what makes it all so extraordinarily relevant, so powerful — and so heart-breaking.

Volunteers are welcome to place dibs on role and scene, though the part of audience is always an option. We will meet for 1.5 to 2 hours per session, depending on how lively the discussion gets.

Meetings will be led by Lesley Hazleton, the award-winning author, biographer, and journalist. If you have always wanted help demystifying Shakespeare, and a group of smart and friendly people to talk about it as you go, this is the club for you.

If you miss any sessions, no problem: A recording of each meeting will be sent to all ticket-holders automatically.

HOW TO PREPARE

• Get a copy of Hamlet. This Folger edition has the text on the right-hand side and brief notes and explanations on the left, so you aren't stuck puzzling at this or that word or phrase. You’ll also get the outrageous puns. Best of all, it's a mass-market paperback. You can read it on the bus or in the bath, you can spill wine or ragu sauce on it, and with any luck, by the end of the fifth act, it'll be coming apart in your hands from being so well-read — all for $6.99. 
• If you can, do a quick read-through of Act I before our first session.
• Learn more about the host of this club here.