Guild Festival Theatre: Heratio. World premiere; Director, Helen Juvonen, Playwright Genevieve Adam, with Janelle Hanna, Philippa Domville, Jack Davidson, Siobhan Richardson, Rashaana Cumberbatch, Tyler J. Seguin. August 17, 2025, Guild Park Theatre. Continues until August 24; tickets [HERE].
What happens after the events of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in that bloodstained castle hall in Elsinore?
That’s where playwright Genevieve Adam’s clever Heratio begins — quite literally, with two servants scrubbing the blood from the floor, and bodies littering the floor hither and yon.
It may not seem like a fruitful scenario for comedy, but Adams’ script upends the narrative to hand the proverbial microphone to the women and other peripheral voices of the story, including Violet the servant (played with presence by Siobhan Richardson), King Fortinbras (played by Jack Davidson), and Columbine, (played by Rashaana Cumberbatch), sister to Guildenstern.
When a cast member dropped out at the last minute due to a medical situation, and with a few hours of rehearsal. Co-Artistic Director Tyler J. Seguin ably stepped into the role of Rue, another servant — or is he? Like Horatio, Rue is one of several (all?) characters who have a secret or two, and more than a little unfinished business, up their sleeves.
The Story
That unfinished business largely drives the plot — or plots, as it were. Columbine wants revenge on Hamlet, whose ruse involving switching identities in England resulted in the death of her brother. King Fortinbras, who, in Shakespeare’s play, merely arrives at the end to take over the now empty throne and give Hamlet his funeral, emerges as a character with their own axe to grind.
There’s Horatio/Heratio, who’s looking to find out who did what, and, as it happens, has motives that he… er… they haven’t exactly been forthright about either.
What’s Rue really doing in the palace, and where does Violet fit into the picture?
And… are we sure everyone is really dead?
Adams’ script creates a tangled web where humour and revelations abound. Was there ever really a ghost? And just who really did what? The ending casts doubt on the conclusions of the original story.
Performances
The characters are varied, and approach the comedy and narrative of the play differently. Some, like Davidson’s Fortinbras and Rue, are played for laughs virtually the whole time they’re on stage. The actors have to fully invest in their over the top personas.
“It’s not that kind of regime change,” Fortinbras assures everyone with a smarmy smile. Disguising ulterior motives with a smiling face is perhaps a nod to the times.
On the other end of the scale is Rashaana Cumberbatch’s Columbine, who adds a solid gravitas to her role that balances out the craziness. She projects her righteous anger and wish for vengeance with a persuasive fire. Janelle Hanna’s Horatio has to strike a balance between convincingly portraying the character’s driving emotions and comedy as they piece the mystery together, and serves as the audience’s bridge into the story.
The script likewise flips back and forth between The Bard’s (and Bard-ish) poetry and contemporary vernacular.
The switches in modes and moods are seamless, and speak to the cast’s talent as well as a well thought out script, including bits of physical comedy that went over well with the audience.
Set & Costumes
The Guildwood Park’s natural amphitheatre creates a versatile space, with entrances at either side, and an archway framing the centre, where characters can wander off stage, hide from other characters, and such.
With the addition of a couple of tables, and a throne to one side, it made for a credible castle hallway.
The costumes by Nancy Anne Perrin had a nice attention to detail that evoked the quasi-medieval timeline of the story.
Composer/sound designer Sean Meldrum adds a soundtrack of Renaissance-adjacent music with a contemporary edge that suits the story to perfection.
Theatre In Transit
The adventure can begin even earlier than the performance if you get a ride with Theatre in Transit. They’ll pick you up at either Kennedy TTC or Guildwood GO Station, and ferry you to the park with a little comedy and play prep along the way. Monk/host Chris Leveille, an award-winning actor whose specialty is improv, is genial and full of information for potential professional funeral mourners (part of the joke!)
Find more information about Theatre in Transit [HERE].
Final Thoughts
There was a nicely inter-generational and diverse, almost soldout crowd on the Sunday afternoon I attended, and other than a few bugs in the grass, the experience was enjoyed by all. There were peanut chocolate brownies and other goodies to buy, merch, and even blankets to rent if the wind grew too chill.
In short, Guild Festival Theatre has thought of everything to make the audience experience a stellar one, and the attention to detail was appreciated.
As Co-Artistic Director, and play director, Helen Juvonen explained before the performance began, Heratio was the first fully original play GFT had ever presented. It resulted from the In Conversations with Classics Workshop, and took about three years in total to develop.
With the success of Heratio, it is to be hoped that more original works will come from this interesting company.
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