Along The Watchtower


Rosaura Di Giuseppe, Emanuele Landi, Saverio Desiderato, Matteo Cotugno, and Fabio Gaccioli in Along The Watchtower photos courtesy of Teatro del Naville, Italy

Synopsis:

Along The Watchtower is a political farce that draws on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead as it re-examines the first scene of Hamlet. Bernado, Marcellus and Horatio see the ghost of Hamlet's father, and must decide whether to tell King Claudius or save the news for the currently absent Prince. They choose the latter, of course, which is an act of treason. The rest, as they say, is history, but for these instrumental minor characters what matters is wrestling with their own culpability.

Character List:

6 men, 2 women, ages as would be appropriate for Hamlet

Hamlet
Gertrude
Claudius
Bernado
Marcellus
Francesco / Laertes
Horatio
Ophelia
The ghost is only ever heard from off and can be recorded, or read live over a hidden mike.

Jason Davis as Bernado and Bryan Goski as Francesco, atop the tower in the Three Wise Monkeys Production

Set & Requirements:

This play runs about 25 minutes and requires some sound effects, props, and lighting cues. Well suited to colleges and festivals.

Production History:

May 1998: First produced as part of the playwright's debut showcase Ophelia's Hamlet and Other Plays, at Studio One, the black box at the University of NSW, Sydney.

June 2000: Winner; Panelists' Choice Award at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska, where it received a staged reading.

Feb 2003 Produced by Three Wise Monkeys Theatre Company (directed by Stephanie Gaultney) for the second annual BOA Festvial, San Francisco. The text of the play is published in the BOA anthology, which is available from Three Wise Monkeys website.

Rebecca Jee & Heath Wilder as Feelya and Ham in the '98 production

May 2005. Along the Watchtower has its Italian premiere at Teatro del Naville.

Sample Dialogue:

CLAUDIUS: Gertrude?

GERTRUDE: Yes, darling?

CLAUDIUS: I think they are keeping secrets from me.

GERTRUDE:Who is 'they,' darling?

CLAUDIUS: The guards, that fellow Marcellus for one. Never liked him much. And our son and his friend what's-his-name...Horatio, and/

GERTRUDE: Darling, you are quite paranoid.

CLAUDIUS: No, I can tell. There is definitely something fishy going on.

OPHELIA: There is, I think, something touching the good lord Hamlet, and I can tell you it isn't me. He has been quite strange of late. If he were female, we'd be writing it off to PMS but, he's a fellow...so I suppose we should take it seriously.

CLAUDIUS: Indeed, Ophelia. Your father says Hamlet is giving him a very hard time. Making fun of him, trying to bamboozle him.

OPHELIA: Can't imagine that would be too difficult.

CLAUDIUS: Gertrude?

GERTRUDE: Yes, my darling?

CLAUDIUS: (Starting to pace).What with those other fellows behaving so suspiciously, and Hamlet acting up and so on...well, I think we should do something about it. This is a castle at war, not a bloody circus/

OPHELIA: Appearances are so deceptive, aren't they?

CLAUDIUS: See Gertrude? Even Ophelia's noticed this deception I'm talking about. And she's just a girl.

GERTRUDE: Your point?

CLAUDIUS: I will not tolerate insubordination, I will not abide any lack of loyalty or honesty.The penalty for treason is death. And besides all that, I just will not put up with our son, wandering around, talking in riddles, reading books back to front and going unannounced into women's bedrooms.We must get someone to find out what's up with Hamlet and then report in order that we put a stop to it at once.

GERTRUDE: Very well, who do you suggest?

CLAUDIUS: Those two fellows, what are their names?

GERTRUDE: No, I quite forbid that--they are absolutely useless. Besides which if you hand this sort of important job over to your pawns, you might be giving them more power than you want to. If you want to keep control of the people you will have to do it yourself.

CLAUDIUS: Rubbish Gertrude, no self-respecting King does his own dirty work.

GERTRUDE: Very well then, Why don't you get Ophelia to have a go?


The cast of the BOA production in the Eureka dressingroom	The final scene, Teatro Neville