David Heron - File

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Jamaican David Heron breathes new life into Shakespeare's Hamlet. Award winning playwright and actor, Heron made his Shakespearean debut in an off Broadway production of Hamlet, which opened on April 13 at Manhattan's Workshop Theatre.

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most well known and moving tragedies of all time. Filled with themes of revenge, madness and death,the dramatic tale of Hamlet the Prince of Denmark has gripped audiences for centuries. Heron is set to play one of the major roles, that of Laertes, a young man of noble birth who in the process of defending his family's honour is killed by Hamlet in a dramatic sword fight.

Heron joins a cast of some of New York's most respected classically trained actors of colour in a production which according to Sure Thing Productions, agents for Heron, has already sold out several performances in its limited run. The cast includes popular daytime TV star Timothy D. Stickney as Hamlet, award winning actress Petronia Paley as Hamlet's mother Queen Gertrude. They are among countless other actors as well as director Elizabeth Swain.

Hectic schedule

For Heron this staging was among a hectic twelve month schedule that has included stage roles in the world premiere of Robinson Crusoe with The Orlando Shakespeare Festival, and in the off Broadway production of his own play Love and Marriage and New York City; a leading role in the independent feature film Zora's Dream, and his television series debut in the new TV drama Ya Ma Afrika, scheduled to premiere on the Dish Network in the next few months.

Pivotal moment

Despite his active career, Shakespeare is a pivotal moment for the young actor. He says "Thank God for my English teachers at Wolmer's and the University of The West Indies, because they were instrumental in developing my understanding of, and appreciation for Shakespeare's language. That has proven extremely helpful, since I've never acted Shakespeare before. The interesting thing was that at the audition the director had no idea this was my first time, she just assumed I had done it all before, because of how well I communicated through all that verse, that's really my solid Jamaican education revealing itself."

Heron and Timothy Stickney have also been undergoing several rigorous hours of stage combat and sword fighting training with acclaimed fight choreographer Ron Piretti, in preparation for their dramatic duel at the play's conclusion. "The sword fighting is definitely one of the most exciting things about my involvement in this production, because again it's totally new to me and it presented an opportunity to learn a new skill.

My character is supposed to be an expert at it, and up to four weeks ago I'd never even held a sword, so I'm hoping with Timmy's help we can make it all believable," he said.

Heron is grateful for such an opportunity as he says "For me, doing Shakespeare for the first time with artistes of this calibre is just the very best training there is ... I mean what a way to begin."