Ophelia Thinks Harder

Ophelia Thinks Harder is a play by Jean Betts (1955-)[1].

The original text

The play is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, credited as being written by Jean Betts and William Shakespeare. It was created for the centennial of the 1993 woman's suffrage in New Zealand and was apparently developed as a TIE exercise, and then developed into a published play by Betts. It tells how Ophelia is reborn as a modern and free-thinking everywoman, one that experiences an awakening spiritually, philosophically, and sexually.

First performed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1993, and published in 1994 by The Women's Play Press.

South African productions

1995: Performed in thew H.B. Thom Theatre by students of the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department, directed by Shirley Johnston, with ****

See also Hamlet

Sources

Lorna Sage, Germaine Greer, Elaine Showalter. 1999. The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English: p.56[2]

http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsB/betts-jean.html

Photocopy of the published Betts text found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department's theatre archives and now held in the Performing Arts Research Collection (PARC) at the Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation, with offices at Pieter Okkers House, 7 Joubert Street, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

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