An All-Male Naked Version Of “Hamlet” Is Coming To Brooklyn

A new staging of Hamlet is set to debut in Brooklyn this summer and will feature an all-male cast who disrobes throughout the play.

The stripped-down version of the Shakespeare classic is being put on by Torn Out Theater, a company that made headlines last year for its all-female, nude production of The Tempest. Director Pitr Strait said he was inspired to swap out the ladies for men this year to address some “really tragic” responses he received from audience members.

“[They said things like] well, thank God they did it with women, no one wants to see a naked man,” Strait told DNAinfo. “I began to think there was a lot of pain and repression out there among men, especially about men’s bodies.”

So this year, the male form will be on full display with men assuming every role. Costumes will be used in the beginning, but Strait said they’ll slowly come off throughout the production to signify important emotional moments in the play.

“Hamlet is a play about who is being truthful and who is not, and deceit and false faces, and when you are completely revealed, being naked, you’re not hiding a whole lot,” explained actor Brendan Walsh, who will be portraying Hamlet’s mother Gertrude.

The play will go up at the Music Pagoda in Prospect Park at 5:30 pm on August 10, 11 and 12 and at 2 pm on August 13. The performance is free to the public. For more information, check out Torn Out Theater’s website.