"At long last, an essential adaption that elegantly resolves the gender imbalance in Shakespeare in the spirit of the text. Hamlet 50/50 is transformative; I can’t recommend it highly enough."
Professor Tiffany Stern,
The Shakespeare Institute.
The 50/50 Shakespeare Project™ does not claim to artistically improve Shakespeare’s plays. The project aims to advance gender equity in the workplace of Shakespeare practitioners.
We achieve this by responsibly adjusting the gender identification of certain characters, reallocating some text and action to achieve gender equity throughout the plays, and rebalancing the power dynamic imbedded in the text and structure of the plays that exists because of the standard business model of early modern English drama. Finally we consult leading academics to ensure our adaptations are authentically in the spirit of Shakespeare's work.
We also retain all his famous lines.
"Bold and brilliant, exhilarating and experimental, Hamlet 50/50 gives us a wholly new and thrilling approach to gender equity in Shakespeare productions, transforming both process and reception for actors and audiences alike"
Professor Peter Holland;
Chair, International Shakespeare Association.
Shakespeare’s plays are constructed for a 400 year-old business model. This business model is outdated, inequitable, and in most other industries would be considered unacceptable, if not illegal.
If it were not for the universal renown and veneration of this single English-language playwright the gender inequity rooted in the process of enacting his plays would long have been in question.
In collaboration with Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival the 50/50 Shakespeare Project™ offers producers of his plays an equitable alternative.
VANESSA MOROSCO
director | adapter
As a multi-hyphenate theatre practitioner, she has adapted and directed Shakespeare’s plays for universities, schools, and educational outreach, as well as using Shakespeare’s text to train professionals in leadership and cultural transformation both in business and Continuing Legal Education.
She has recently been named Executive Director of the American Shakespeare Center and has directed/performed in over 25 Shakespeare plays at the ASC's Blackfriars Playhouse: americanshakespearecenter.com
She is a member of SDC, the League of Professional Theatre Women and holds an M.A. in Ethics from Yale University.
PETER SIMON HILTON
writer | adapter
As a playwright & translator his plays have been produced in Europe and throughout the U.S. He has also designed, written and executed over 250 drama-based DEI training programs (in-person and virtual) for multinational companies, as well as business schools, from New York to Singapore, London to Tokyo - impactdrama.net
He is a member of Dramatists Guild of America, a past U.S. board member of Shakespeare’s Globe in London and has performed in over 40 productions of Shakespeare’s plays.
He holds a degree in Classics from University College London.