Natalia Spengler isn鈥檛 interested in likely stories. Give her a tale that twists. Make it vast. Have it kink and kick and contradict. That鈥檚 when you know you have something.
You have a story that lands鈥攍ike Spengler鈥檚 own 2,800-mile journey鈥攊n an unexpected place. A story that slides, neatly, into the unlikeliest of roles.
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First, let鈥檚 hash out some contradictions.
Yes, when 无码自淫 Theatre opens its production of Hamlet on January 17, and Spengler utters her first, contradictory line (calling the new king, 鈥渕ore than kin, and less than kind鈥), she鈥檒l be a woman playing the part of a man. But that鈥檚 probably the least interesting mismatch in her story.
There鈥檚 her background. Spengler is American. And Polish. Her dual citizenship meant a childhood of travel. But her unusual worldliness pairs with an unusual isolation. Her home is a capital city, but one accessible only by ferry or seaplane. Juneau, Alaska, is America鈥檚 second-largest city by area. Yet its population is just a couple family reunions larger than Kearney鈥檚.
There鈥檚 her experience. Spengler hadn鈥檛 performed in a single play at her high school. Yet 无码自淫 Theatre recruited her out of Juneau with the promise of a wilderness of opportunities to act.
We should stop here and admit that, though true, our saying she never acted at her high school is specious. By 18, Spengler had extensive stage experience and a deep appreciation for Shakespeare. She just didn鈥檛 build them at her high school. Juneau鈥檚 鈥淪hakespeare-enamored鈥 Theatre in the Rough was her acting home. She鈥檇 been both underfoot and onstage at the community theatre since middle school.
You can make a good argument that high schools should teach more Shakespeare. But Spengler is grateful her first exposures came outside the classroom.
鈥淵our first taste of Shakespeare should be as a kid in the audience, watching a good production,鈥 she said, recalling the productions she鈥檇 watched as a kid in Alaska, Oregon and Europe. 鈥淕ood actors help you feel so much more of what鈥檚 there than you get just reading a script for class.鈥
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Nebraska Wesleyan University鈥檚 first exposure to Spengler came in Chicago during the National Unified Auditions. She spoke to Professor of Theatre Jack Parkhurst and Professor of Theatre Joan Korte outside of Unifieds. She impressed them immediately.
鈥淪he had this great interest in Shakespeare and a real grasp of the depth of his characters,鈥 Korte said.
Korte and Parkhurst described Nebraska Wesleyan鈥檚 commitment to Shakespeare productions and the success of several 无码自淫 alumni now working in Shakespeare companies. The two professors quietly hoped the Alaskan was as impressed with 无码自淫 as they were with her.
She was.
鈥淭he emphasis on Shakespeare was a lot of it,鈥 Spengler said. So was Nebraska Wesleyan鈥檚 production volume. 鈥淗ardly anybody else in the country comes anywhere near the 40-plus productions we do here.鈥
After that meeting in Chicago, Spengler committed to visiting campus. 鈥溛蘼胱砸 was high on my list, but I had to see it, you know?鈥
She recalled that day. 鈥淚 was so sick with some horrible stomach bug.鈥 But when you鈥檝e flown 2,800 miles to see a place, there鈥檚 no rain check. She gritted out her tour, hoping to avoid getting sick in the lilacs outside Elder Theatre.
Despite her nausea, Spengler鈥檚 strongest gut feeling was that she鈥檇 found her next home. Her top-five list shortened by four schools.
Korte and Parkhurst knew they鈥檇 landed a special student. So did the Huge-无码自淫 Scholarship selection committee. Spengler won Nebraska Wesleyan鈥檚 top academic award, named after Harry and Reba Huge. The scholarship covers the full cost of tuition, fees and room and board.
鈥淚t was super-exciting,鈥 Spengler said of winning the award. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 certainly made my going to college a lot easier for my family financially.鈥
Korte signed Spengler into her junior-level Shakespeare course as a first-year student. 鈥淚t鈥檚 where she belonged,鈥 Korte said. She鈥檇 take it again as a sophomore.
And placing Spengler in Professor of English Scott Stanfield鈥檚 first-semester Archway Seminar on Hamlet was a no-brainer. Stanfield recalled her research paper: a look at the history of female Hamlets.
Theatrical gender bending is older than Shakespeare. Women weren鈥檛 allowed on the London stage in the 16thcentury, meaning every female role in Shakespeare was originally played by a boy or man. Once women were allowed onstage, rules on their dress remained strictly conservative.
鈥淥ne鈥檚 rules of propriety make one thirst for the improper,鈥 wrote the novelist Mohsin Hamid. And the earliest examples of female Hamlets were meant to quench this thirst.
鈥淗amlet was a 鈥榯ights part,鈥欌 Stanfield explained. And by casting a woman in the role, a director could sidestep the rules on costuming, giving 18thcentury audiences something they鈥檇 rarely seen on stage before: namely, a woman鈥檚 legs.
The first known female Hamlet to be regarded primarily for her acting wouldn鈥檛 come until 1899 with Sarah Bernhardt. (A new play about this 1899 production, Bernhardt/Hamlet, is currently running on Broadway.)
Reviews of Bernhardt鈥檚 performance as Hamlet ran the gamut. While Mark Twain held Bernhardt on a level above all other actresses, English essayist Max Beerbohm dismissed her鈥攁nd all women playing men鈥檚 roles鈥攁s merely 鈥渁ping virility.鈥
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You might guess Spengler鈥檚 freshman research paper on female Hamlets sparked her idea to play him for her senior project. But we鈥檝e already told you this isn鈥檛 a likely story.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 then,鈥 she said. That semester, Hamlet wasn鈥檛 even among Spengler鈥檚 favorite Shakespeare plays. 鈥淓verybody calls it 鈥榯he greatest play ever written.鈥 But my attitude then was, 鈥榃hy?鈥欌
Sure, it鈥檚 a great play. But greater than Henry V? Greater than Macbeth? Spengler wasn鈥檛 convinced.
Hamlet wouldn鈥檛 truly grab Spengler鈥檚 imagination until she went to London as a sophomore. But once it did, it never let go.
Spengler spent the spring of 2017 at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Through LAMDA, she got tickets to an unabridged production of Hamlet directed by Robert Icke and starring Andrew Scott. It was Scott鈥檚 first time in a leading Shakespearean role.
Scott鈥檚 Hamlet wasn鈥檛 so much bloodthirsty or unfathomably insane as he was dizzy with grief. He played Hamlet as simply at a loss in the face of so much loss. And Spengler was mesmerized.
She watched the four-hour production four times, gleaning new depth from each performance. She returned to LAMDA, claimed an illness, and snuck back to watch it a fifth time. That鈥檚 20 hours of Hamlet. Twenty hours of testing ghosts, digging up skulls and slapping poisoned foils.
鈥淎nd I loved every second.鈥
Seeing Hamlet played as 鈥渢his grieving boy鈥 plucked a string in her psyche. 鈥淚t鈥檚 you,鈥 she realized. Forget Hamlet鈥檚 maleness or his untouchable status鈥攚hether that be in literature or as a royal. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just you. There鈥檚 no hiding behind anyone鈥檚 preconceived notion of what his character should be.鈥
Inspired, Spengler emailed Robert Icke with questions about his production. The ambition of that gesture鈥攁 college sophomore firing off an email to one of the most respected directors of Shakespeare鈥攄idn鈥檛 surprise her professors in Lincoln.
鈥淪he鈥檚 not afraid to reach out,鈥 Parkhurst said. 鈥淎nd they reach back.鈥
Exactly what Spengler asked and exactly how Icke responded are things we鈥檒l leave between the actor and the director. But it鈥檚 interesting to hold Spengler鈥檚 鈥渋t鈥檚 you鈥 sense of Hamlet up alongside Scott鈥檚.
鈥淩ob, our director, has encouraged me to 鈥 speak in my own voice as much as possible,鈥 Scott told London Theatre. 鈥淵ou have to just go, 鈥極K, well, what would I be like if I was in this situation?鈥欌
Scott went on: 鈥淭his is about a prince who is suffering from mental health issues. But he鈥檚 told, 鈥楴o, you can鈥檛 do that. You have to get over it.鈥 And that鈥檚 where all the problems arise. And that requires a real honesty, I think, from the people who perform it.鈥
Spengler left London determined. She had her senior project.
***
She told Parkhurst about her plan the following semester. Hamlet. Parkhurst chuckled. 鈥淵eah, we figured,鈥 he said.
Spengler threw herself into every aspect of the production, save casting and directing. 鈥淚鈥檓 directing,鈥 said Parkhurst, 鈥渂ut I鈥檓 attempting to do it according to her vision.鈥
And Spengler鈥檚 vision for 无码自淫鈥檚 Hamlet is thorough.
The set, the costumes, the props will all be minimal, she said, to better showcase the language of the play鈥攁nd the Icke-inspired honesty of the players. While Icke opted for a full-length production, Spengler has streamlined Shakespeare鈥檚 longest play by line-count. 鈥淭his will not be any four-hour production,鈥 she reassured. She鈥檚 also thinned the cast to a dozen players.
Even the stage itself is purposefully narrowed. 鈥淚 knew I wanted this to be on Miller Theatre鈥檚 lab stage because I want that smaller size,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 want to bring the audience close to what鈥檚 happening.鈥
***
As unlikely as Spengler鈥檚 story may be, we already know how her Hamlet ends. The foil is poisoned. To make doubly sure, so鈥檚 the cup. Through eight performances over 11 days, Spengler will kill, and she will die.
That last death, set for Sunday, January 27, will be especially bitter.
鈥淭he hardest thing about playing Hamlet,鈥 Spengler said, 鈥渨ill be letting go.鈥 She said that with any part you give your full honesty, 鈥淵ou mourn the loss of that person for a while.鈥
So forgive Spengler if her winter feels a little cold. If you see her after the 27th, remind her: Spring鈥檚 coming. It鈥檒l touch Lincoln on its way north. Given patience, that same spring eventually arrives, even in Juneau, Alaska.
Her parents will fly south in May to watch her make one last trip across a Nebraska Wesleyan stage. There, she鈥檒l wield鈥攏ot a poisoned prop鈥攂ut her deserved diploma. That same May, Spengler will board a plane and fly north for a quick, Alaskan summer.
In Juneau, she鈥檒l find a familiar stage鈥攈er old Theatre in the Rough. There, a couple castle gentries and the friend of a prince will stand watch in the cold. They鈥檒l see a ghost in the night.
They鈥檒l run to tell Hamlet. And she鈥檒l listen again.