Sparta HS alum brings play to town

SPARTA — The Sparta Schools Booster Club, Inc./Sparta High School Musical Theatre Patrons and GlassBox Theatre will present “H+T in P (Hamlet and Tusenbach in Purgatory)” on Aug. 4 and 5 at 7 p.m. in the Sparta High School Auditorium. Admission is $15 and all proceeds benefit the Jeff Syberg Memorial Scholarship.
Written by James Costello, this tragicomedy in one Act takes you on an exploration of the liminal space between heaven and earth, life and death, dreaming and remembering.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Chekhov’s Tusenbach help each other reach the other side by letting go of their past and reconnecting with their former loves. The play gives the audience a chance to see these classical characters in a different light through philosophical discussions, humor, and dance.
Costello, Sparta High School 2008 alumnus, will perform alongside fellow Sparta High School 2011 alumnus, Anna Gundersen, and colleagues Josiah Laubenstein and Rachel Kuhnle.
Costello says he was inspired to write the play after playing Hamlet himself at the University of South Carolina in April of 2014.
“Months after the show closed I found myself still thinking about the play,” he said.. “About what it means 'to be,' what it means to take action. Hamlet's final line, ‘The rest is silence’ made me question, what was 'the rest?’ Is it indeed silence, or is there something more? So I started writing about what life after death may have been like for
Hamlet.”
Since graduating with an MFA in Theatre from the University of South Carolina, Costello has been active with The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, taking roles on and off stage and as part of the theatre’s educational touring company.