Rose City Stage Company Presents
HAMLET
A Lab Production in Collaboration with Central City Concern
May 1–24, 2026 | The Starlight | Old Town, Portland

Portland, OR — This May, Rose City Stage Company presents a stripped-down Lab Production of Hamlet in Old Town, created in collaboration with Central City Concern during Mental Health Awareness Month.

In this intimate staging, Hamlet arrives raw and exposed. A young heir stands at the center of a crumbling court, drowning in grief and cornered by expectation. With minimal staging and nowhere to hide, the production presses on the fault lines where identity cracks, power poisons, and the mind begins to break.

In a time when many young people feel overwhelmed by instability and inherited pressure, Hamlet’s unraveling feels immediate and uncomfortably close…

Conceived as a Lab Production, the play features a small cast and a tightly cut script. With the design intentionally pared back, the focus remains on the actors and the language, allowing the emotional volatility of the story to unfold with clarity and force. Fresh casting invites audiences to encounter a character they thought they knew through new eyes, deepening the play’s exploration of power dynamics, grief, and psychological strain.

Select performances will include post-show talkbacks with mental health professional, Vana O’Brien and the artists involved with bringing this story to life in this raw and vulnerable way.

Presented in Old Town, this production places Shakespeare’s tragedy in direct dialogue with the neighborhood surrounding it… reinforcing Rose City Stage Company’s belief that space is not a backdrop, but part of the meaning.

Performances run:
May 1–24, 2026
Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2:00pm

Special Post-Show Talkbacks on Sunday May 3rd and Sunday May 24th

The Starlight, 365 NW 6th Ave, Old Town (Venue Entrance Located on NW Flanders)