A sword in each hand, Libby Amato is ready to be 'Hamlet'

"To be or not to be" was a question with only one answer for Libby Amato.

Of course she was willing to suffer the slings and arrows of being the melancholy Dane.

But Amato is not only playing Hamlet, she's playing "Hamlet" — about 20 different characters in a one-actor adaptation of Shakespeare's drama that Optimist Theatre is staging as a free show this summer in Milwaukee parks. Her first performances are at 5 p.m. June 29, Humboldt Park, 3000 S. Howell Ave.; and 5:30 p.m. June 30, Forest Home Cemetery and Arboretum, 2405 W. Forest Home Ave.

"I'm thrilled, also terrified, still in a place of … blind terror that I'm actually going to do this, but thrilled that as an actor I get to say those words," Amato said.

She is performing an adaptation that boils "Hamlet" down to about 90 minutes. It concentrates on the family story. "So you get the greatest hits still, you know, the soliloquies that everybody wants to hear," she said.

In playing multiple characters, her challenges in this "Hamlet" include sword fighting with herself. If your reaction is What?, Amato understands. Ryan Schabach, who performed this one-actor adaptation at Door Shakespeare in 2021, taught her the stage combat, for which she is grateful.

"They gave me swords, a sword in both hands. It's really cool. So, yes, I will be fighting myself."

She's practiced with sticks in her backyard, amused at what her neighbors must think.

While Amato has performed in two-actor productions before, this is her first solo show. That's affected her dynamic with director Michael Stebbins.

In rehearsals, "I rely on Michael as a director, but also as I would another actor," she said. Sometimes, he steps in as a silent scene partner as she works out a moment of acting.

Amato is far from the first woman to play Hamlet; her predecessors include the legendary Sarah Bernhardt and Diane Venora (who has the notable career hat trick of having played Ophelia, Gertrude and Hamlet). From the Milwaukee community, Deborah Staples played the role in a 2016 Illinois Shakespeare Festival production.

"We haven't changed any of the pronouns," Amato said. "So I'm not thinking of the character as specifically a man or specifically a woman. This is just a person going through this experience. So in that way, it hasn't felt strange or unusual at all."

While there are moments when Hamlet has to rise forcefully to an occasion, "he's not macho … he's not your tough guy," she said.

Performing outdoors does affect her approach. "You have to be louder," she said, noting that background sounds in a park can include children playing, cars racing by, and other noise. Amato will wear a microphone, which she doesn't love, but she understands the need here.

Performing outdoors in summer "is going to be really hot, it's going to be noisy, and that's part of the fun of it," she said.

As she has worked on the show, is there a character in "Hamlet" she has grown to appreciate more?

"I have completely fallen in love with Horatio," she said. "I just love him, and I love the relationship that the two of them (Hamlet and Horatio) have. It's so supportive and such an intimate, deep friendship."

Pondering the many filmed versions of "Hamlet," Amato said she really enjoyed the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2008 production with David Tennant. Onstage, she loved American Players Theatre's 2022 version starring Nate Burger.

Climbing ladder to a top role at Next Act Theatre

Since graduating from Carroll University in 2002, Amato has been a presence in Milwaukee theater on and off stage, acting in productions by Next Act Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, First Stage and other groups, and working behind the scenes and in administrative roles.

At Next Act, she's held a bevy of roles, including house manager, ticket office attendant, deck captain, business manager and, as of August, managing director. In that role, she's in charge of fundraising, contracts, finance, accounting, human relations and other business functions, partnering with artistic director Cody Estle.

"It wasn't really planned," she said of her ascension to the top business role. But Amato said "I really like the administrative side of theater. I'm still in it, I'm still making it, but it's a different challenge, and there's a little bit more stability."

She thinks about the late Charles Kakuk, the former managing director who hired her long ago to work at Next Act, "best boss I ever had." Kakuk died in 2014. Sitting in what was his office still feels a little strange to her.

"I like to think he would be happy with this, and proud," she said.

With the hours left over (insert laughter here) from her full-time Next Act job and rehearsing and performing a one-actor play, Amato tends to the business she started shortly after graduation. As Abbondanza Soap Co. (a titular nod to her Sicilian heritage), she makes olive-oil based soaps, as well as lip balms and candles. Where possible, she uses organic ingredients. She loves the tactility of making soap.

"Theater is so ephemeral, so I get something I can do with my hands."

If you go

Optimist Theatre presents "Hamlet" with Libby Amato in multiple Milwaukee parks and outdoor spaces from June 29 through July 21. Admission is free, though Optimist encourages reservations. For info and reservations, visit optimisttheatre.org/2024season.html.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Libby Amato is 'Hamlet' in Optimist Theatre's free summer production