Victims, enablers, or survivors? Lauren Gunderson’s new play, A Room in the Castle, at the Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C., gives voice to the women of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and offers a powerful message about autonomy, agency, and hope. This world premiere, directed by Kaja Dunnin in collaboration with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, takes place in the margins of the original work and largely within Ophelia’s bedroom. The play is alternatingly intimate and epic, claustrophobic and expansive.

Gunderson is an award-winning, incredibly prolific playwright with over twenty full works. She’s been recognized by American Theatre as one of the most produced living playwrights, topping their list on three occasions. And she’s barely over 40. Gunderson’s work is intellectual, thoughtful, and ambitious: she specializes in giving voice to women in history, science, and literary works. A Room in the Castle was part of the Folger Reading Room Festival in 2023.

It’s unnecessary to be familiar with Shakespeare’s play, though it helps. Even if you don’t know Hamlet well, you’ll conjure an image of Ophelia drowning, covered in flowers. The girl who loves Hamlet but goes mad as the titular hero’s grief, madness, and indecisiveness wreak chaos and destruction on the castle. You may recall Hamlet’s mother, Queen Gertrude, who married his uncle immediately after his father’s mysterious death. These are the only female characters in the play. They are meaty, pivotal characters, but while we have ample time to understand the workings of Hamlet’s mind, we get little insight into the women’s thoughts and feelings, perhaps viewing them as victims or enablers of a story dominated by men’s choices. Gunderson creates a window into their minds by allowing her female characters to occupy the stage when no men are around.

Gunderson sets up a deceptively simple scenario with only three characters. Ophelia (Sabrina Lynn Sawyer) and Gertrude (played by Oneika Phillips) challenge each other and serve as foils for each other in myriad ways, representing, among other things, innocence and experience. To give Ophelia a confidante and Gertrude both pushback and community, Gunderson wrote an original character, Ophelia’s handmaid Anna (played by Burgess Byrd). This is ultimately a story of women in community and an urgent reminder of our power when we help each other and find our voices by challenging each other’s actions, opinions, and assumptions.

Though race is never mentioned, it’s notable that the cast is made up of Black women, particularly as politicians are now waging war against diversity, equity, and inclusion. The three actors are flawless, complementing each other and forming a tight ensemble. They’re a kinetic force, propelling the action and keeping us glued to our seats. In the beginning, it’s a surprisingly funny play. The actors’ delivery and physicality filled the auditorium with laughter. Later, when the walls begin to close in, Phillips’ Gertrude is regal, prickly, and full of contradictions. Byrd’s Anna is warm, motherly, and mellow until she has to be fierce. Sawyer stands out as Ophelia. Believable as an ordinary teenage girl, and a madwoman, and a force for change and hope—she has so much range.

Ophelia’s bedroom takes up much of the stage, Gertrude’s dressing room is on a balcony, visible when the lower stage is dark, and there are no set changes. Scenic designer Samantha Reno juxtaposes medieval with modern as we see Ophelia lounging on a bean bag with stone walls in the backdrop. Costuming by Nicole Jescinth Smith complements the grounded feel. The production opens with Ophelia lost in a private, beautifully teenage moment, playing her guitar and singing a love song she wrote for Hamlet. Sawyer’s voice is heavenly, but there’s nothing Hollywood or too perfect. Soon, Anna interrupts her, and then Gertrude interrupts them. With this and so many simple yet profound scenes, the play creates a reality for the women we barely get to know in the original. Their rooms are safe spaces. And yet they can also be prisons.

The play interacts with Hamlet briefly, and credit goes to lighting design, sound design, and projections design by Max Doolittle, Sarah O’Halloran, and Robert Carlton Stimmel, respectively, for the seamless integration. Characters speak to others off stage (who talk back though we can’t hear). When the women are fighting against the established narrative and trying to create their own story, all production elements work together in a complete dance to give the effect of characters fighting the narrative flow like people caught in a river’s current.
Metafiction always has some inherent challenges, but this production largely succeeds. There were moments when the narrative styles felt disjointed, and certain metafictional elements seemed underdeveloped. I wondered if this choice compromised the play's power, especially for those unfamiliar with the original text. Still, the production's emotional core and character-driven moments largely redeemed these inconsistencies.

A feminist, intellectual wonder of a play, at its heart, A Room in the Castle is a story about fundamental human agency. Women’s stories are human stories, after all. Can we choose our endings? Or are we doomed to rot inside the castle?

A Room in the Castle plays at The Folger Theatre through April 6 at 201 East Capitol Street SE, Washington DC, 20003. The Runtime is 85 minutes with no intermission. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 202-544-7027 or online.

Norah Vawter is an independent journalist, editor, and fiction writer (represented by Victress Literary). She lives in Northern Virginia with her family. Follow her on Instagram, Threads, and Substack @norahvawter.

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