In association with the Rexburg Community Theater, Rexburg's Shakespeare in the Park will be performing "Hamlet" at Porter Park from July 9-11 and July 13-18.

Admission is free, and performances start at 7:30 p.m. each night. Weather may push back start times.

The show's director, J. Adam Taylor, a BYU-Idaho Theater Performance alumnus, said he selected "Hamlet" for this year's performances because he believes it's an exciting show that audience members will enjoy. He added that this rendition of the play will be an hour and a half long, unlike the 'typical four-hour classroom Shakespeare.'

"This is so much more than we're gonna stand around in tights and cry for a couple of hours," Taylor said. "There's some real action happening up here, so come out and enjoy what is essentially a backyard action movie 'Hamlet.'"

This year will include closed captioning, which Taylor believes will help audience members new to or intimidated by Shakespeare be better able to comprehend what is being said.

"Shakespeare can be understood," Taylor said. "We will have closed caption subtitles as well, so it'll be easy to follow along. We have microphones. We've had several people come and test our project for us, including those who are not interested in Shakespeare, and they told us that they can follow along, no problem. So if Shakespeare seems intimidating, don't let it be that way."

Lucas Buchanan, portraying Laertes and the First Player, added that this show will also be in a new location at Porter Park.

"This is our first year performing not at the Beehive Pavilion, but on our own stage that we built ourselves, and it's modular," Buchanan said. "We take it down every night. It's made to accommodate multiple styles, and so it's our first year doing that. So we're really excited about that. We're excited for people to be able to see it. And [audience members] won't be facing the sun this year."

The show's Hamlet and BYUI Theater Education Alumnus, David Higginbotham, said "Hamlet" was a show about revenge that can make viewers think about forgiveness.

"Every story out there, from movies to books to plays, teaches us how to become better, or worse, human beings," Higginbotham said. "And thankfully, this version is not three hours long. Actually, four. It's an hour and a half, but it tells the story of a young man who, unfortunately, chooses revenge. Hopefully, it teaches us as human beings not to take revenge, but grace and forgiveness."

Ashley Allen, portraying Ophelia, said her four daughters, who are ages four to 10 years old, have helped her with line memorization. Allen said it has been a positive experience for them as reading Shakespeare has been 'extremely educational' and audience members can have benifite in attending the show too.

"When you see Shakespeare actually performed, you realize just how many different ways of telling a story there are, especially with Shakespeare," Allen said. "You can go to the same Shakespeare and see a completely different take on it over and over and over again. This production's "Hamlet" is very different from any that's been done before in many different ways. It's a pretty ambitious production, and I think it tells an incredible story."

Cast members added that one of the production's many ambitious elements includes the stage literally breaking down as Hamlet descends into madness.