The Met Live Theatre Company consists of a group very talented young actors who are exploring the acting possibilities available to them on the newly renovated concert stage at Metropolitan.
Their first production, Shakespeare's King Lear, was presented in February of 2024. This production took place on the concert stage, which we call the Metropolitan Main Stage. The show was a tremendous success and now we are back to present Hamlet.
Last June we also presented Fred Carmichael's Any Number Can Die. An hilarious takeoff on the murder mystery plays of the late 20s complete with secret panels, robed figures, and wills being read at midnight!
Story of Hamlet
The play centres around the main character, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. When Hamlet's father dies, Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, marries his mother and takes the throne for himself. Hamlet's father appears to the young prince as a ghost, telling his son that he was murdered by Claudius, and he wants Hamlet to kill Claudius to avenge his death.
Hamlet feels he needs proof before taking any drastic action, and he pretends to be mentally ill while he investigates the claims made by his father's ghost. However, he genuinely becomes deeply affected mentally by the situation, and ends up accidentally killing another man, Polonius, believing him to be Claudius. Polonius was the father of Hamlet's girlfriend Ophelia, and, on hearing the news, she kills herself by drowning.
The story culminates in a sword fight between Hamlet and Laertes, Ophelia's brother. Laertes has dipped his sword in poison, which he has also added to some wine. This results in the deaths of Hamlet, his mother Gertrude, and Claudius at the end of the play.
The Cast
HAMLET
James Scurr is a high school student at H.B Beal Secondary School and a graduate of Lester B. Pearson School for the Arts. He has taken part in other shows with Mr. Carins, including King Lear as Edgar (Poor Tom), an original Pearson show, Derailed as Elliot, and Any Number can Die as Carter Forstman. James is currently directing an original play that he also wrote called, 'Death is the Theme of the Day' in his Beal drama class. Outside of school He enjoys playing hockey, creating art, hanging out with friends, and listing to music from his CD collection.
KING CLAUDIUS
Chloe Kadour is 15 years old and currently attends South Collegiate Institute. She acted in as well as contributed to the set in many shows throughout grades 4 to 8 at her elementary school Lester B Pearson, including two final productions in grade 8, Derailed and King Lear. Chloe is now a part of the Theatre Company MetLive and played the part of Gloucester in another performance of King Lear as part of the company. Chloe is currently working on the production Hamlet in which she plays the part of King Claudus. Outside of theatre. Chloe enjoys volleyball and plays trumpet in her school band.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Lara Manocchi (16) is an enthusiastic and passionate actor and grade 10 student, currently attending London Central Secondary School. She has been a member of the MetLive Theatre Company since the beginning, performing in "King Lear" and "Any Number Can Die". Lara started her acting journey at Lester B. Pearson School, most notably performing in their grade 8 shows including "King Lear", and "Derailed", an original production. Outside of theatre Lara is also a dedicated musician, playing the tenor saxophone, and piano, as well as singing. She loves being a part of Central's jazz band and plans on taking music classes throughout her years in high school.
POLONIUS
Charlie Zhu - a 15 year old student who plays the part of Polonius in Hamlet. He currently attends London Central Secondary school and has had experiences of acting by attending past MET productions. His hobbies include piano, games, reading and philosophy.
OPHELIA
Minh Le - A 15-year-old, Grade 10 student portraying the character of Ophelia. Minh is currently attending Central Secondary School and is a part of its school Parliament. She has participated in one MetLive production before this and looks forward to doing more in the future. Minh's hobbies and interests include art, the violin, and singing.
LAERTES
David Weber - David is a student currently attending H.B Beal secondary school and is portraying the role of Laertes. David has been in theatre for a while and has been in many performances in Dance, Drama and music. He has many interests including dancing, Magic the Gathering, and playing the piano and the saxophone, and is looking forward to other performances in the future.
HORATIO
Bennett Boisvert - A 15-year-old, Grade 10 student portraying the character of Horatio. Bennett is currently attending Central Secondary School. He has participated in one MetLive production before this and looks forward to doing more in the future. Bennett's hobbies and interests include piano, cello, trumpet, 3D printing, reading, and spending time with friends.
ROSENCRATZ
Nala Grant - A 15-year-old, Grade 10 student portraying the character of Rosencrantz. Nala is currently attending Central Secondary School. She has participated in one MetLive production before this and looks forward to doing more in the future. Nala's hobbies and interests include singing, art, fashion, and spending time with friends and family.
GUILDENSTERN
Bryan Xie is a 15 year old Grade 10 student at London Central playing Guildenstern in "Hamlet". He has been involved with many shows before, most notably from his old school Lester B. Pearson School for the Arts, including "King Lear" and was involved in the creation and acted in an original play called "Derailed". Outside of theatre, Bryan enjoys blasting out some trombone, dominating soccer games and eating cheese.
OLD HAMLET / GRAVEDIGGER
Tony Bristow has been in numerous productions on the Isle of Wight in England at The Apollo Theatre, including Shakespeare, Pinter, modern comedies and murder mysteries. Two summer seasons at Shanklin Theatre on Isle of Wight with Deathtrap, Noel Coward's Present Laughter, and a run of Ayckbourn's trilogy of 'The Norman Conquests'. In Canada at University of Waterloo, Phil in Jitters, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, the weird guy in Zoo Story, the lead in The Madness of Lady Bright, Tiresiasus in the Bacchae, plus a few others that I can't recall titles at the moment. He has had a lot of fun working with the talented youngsters of the Cairns project.
BERNARDO
Benjamin Zhang, a 15-year-old, Grade 10 student at London Central portraying the role of Bernardo. He has participated in one MetLive production besides Hamlet and looks forward to more in the future. Apart from theatre, Benjamin enjoys other forms of art, including music and visual arts. His hobbies also include reading, writing, and spending time with friends.
FRANCISCO
Jacob Zhang (15) is a student in grade 10 at London Central Secondary school. He has participated in both grade 8 shows at Lester B. Pearson and played "King of France" in the MetLive production of "King Lear". His hobbies include rock climbing, reading and playing music.
MARCELLUS
Rachel Chen is a 15 year old student in Grade 10 attending London Central. She plays Marcellus and is a set designer in "Hamlet". This is her first time performing with MetLive. Outside of school, Rachel enjoys playing the cello with the youth symphony, as well as playing piano, flute, and violin.
THE PLAYERS
Phoebe Gould, Emily Hillis, Hannah Reid, & Avery Wakem are all currently grade 8 students at Lester be Pearson School for the Arts. All four are not only involved with acting, but also singing and dance. In addition to performing in hamlet as both the players, and seen extras, they are all busily preparing for Pearson's production of High School Musical at the end of January, 2025.
STAGE MANAGER
Alexis McKenzie (14) is a grade 9 student at London Central Secondary School. She plays "Sally VanViller" in the show "Any Number Can Die". She has been in both grade 8 shows at Lester B. Pearson, and "Joseph and The Technicolor Dreamcoat" outside of school. She loves the arts and plays the cello, as well as sings in the Amabile choir.
STAGE DESIGN
Avery Audette (15) is a grade 10 student at London Central Secondary School. She is a set designer in "Hamlet" and also in MetLive's first production, "King Lear". Outside of this production, Avery spends her time playing piano, cello, and painting.
Rachel Chen - Bio Above
Jacob Zhang - Bio above
Favourite Hamlet Joke
Ophelia: Babe, come over!
Hamlet: I can't, I'm hiding a body.
Ophelia: My dad's not home!!
Hamlet: I know.
