Lit Moon's ‘Hamlet’ Takes Top Prize in Montreal

Santa Barbara-based Lit Moon Theatre Company’s production of “Hamlet,” directed by Westmont Professor John Blondell, received the top award for drama at the 13th Montreal Fringe Festival in June.

Called the Centaur Award, the honor is accompanied by an invitation to play at the Centaur Theater, Montreal’s major English-language theater, in October.

“The Centaur Award was an exciting and unexpected finale to a terrific two weeks in Montreal,” Blondell said. “We're honored that the selection committee chose us, and we look forward to bringing the piece to the Centaur later this fall.”

Lit Moon’s performances, June 12-22, won rave reviews and drew overflow audiences.

“I hope to see another show as original and fully realized as this ‘Hamlet’ at this year's Fringe, but I am not betting on it,” critic Matt Radz of the Montreal Gazette wrote June 16.

In his theater column June 21, Radz called the show “just plain brilliant.”
The company features a cast of Andy Cuk (Hamlet), Peter John Duda
(Polonious, Laertes and a gravedigger), Victoria Finlayson (Gertrude and Ophelia), Stanley Hoffman (Ghost of Old Hamlet, Claudius and a gravedigger), and composer/musician Jim Connolly (electric bass, whistles, and a trash can).

Scenic design was provided by Prague-based designer Milon Kalis, whose collaboration began with the company in 2001 and will continue when Lit Moon's production of “Tartuffe” premieres at the 2003 Lit Moon World Theater Festival Oct. 2-13 at Center Stage Theatre.

Michael Pearce provided the lighting design, Lesley Finlayson the masks, and Westmont student Jonathan Hicks was the stage manager.

The production can be seen during the Lit Moon World Theater Festival in the fall.

In addition to Blondell and Hicks, other members of the cast associated with Westmont are instructors Victoria Finlayson and Pearce, and Duda, who is an alumnus.

Also featured at this year's festival will be theater artists and companies from Los Angeles, Quebec, Poland, the Czech Republic, and South Africa, in both classical and contemporary theatre.

For more information, contact Blondell at (805) 565-6778, or blondell@westmont.edu.