Ophelia by Jeff Wanshel

"For too long, doomed Ophelia has been a bit part, a mere plot device in Hamlet's tragedy. Wanshel's excellent script goes beyond a mere exploration of Ophelia's life... his Ophelia is a major player in the life of those around her."

"Ophelia takes a revisionist view of Hamlet. And while it came as a surprise to hear a woman say, "To be or not to be," it was quite fitting in context. Wanshel's script turns the play about 270 degrees -- the language is Shakespeare's, but there's a little slang here and there, and all his humor, plus a little extra, comes through beautifully ... a splendid display of theatrical imagination."

"Wanshel borrows a lot of Shakespeare's words -- not all of them from Hamlet and not always assigned to the character Shakespeare wrote them for. It's part of the fun. Ophelia struggles to cut the rottenness out of Denmark, but her struggle is not so much with whatever psychological hangups bedevil Shakespeare's Hamlet as with the constraints imposed by her society on a young, unmarried woman. Shakespeare's Ophelia is little more than love interest and pathetic victim. Wanshel makes her a full human being in her own right."

"A new twist. Ophelia as a strong decisive woman ... a co-conspirator in the action. Swashbuckling ingenuity and comedy ... imaginative, innovative, [and] enthralling!"