Motor City Youth Theatre
Nancy Florkowski, Founder and Director
(313) 535-8962 or e-mail nancy@mcyt.org

Playwright turns Shakespeare's Hamlet tragedy into a comedy
BY LINDA ANN CHOMIN
STAFF WRITER

Melissa Zinn (center) as Ophelia, Marie Wyatt (left) and Carolyn Szatan (right) performed in the Motor City Youth Theatre production of Hamlet about two years ago.

Nancy Florkowski can't wait for Melissa Zinn to return to Livonia with her version of Shakespeare's Hamlet. The tragedy makes an about turn to tell the story from the character's point of view.

Zinn originally came up with the concept while playing Ophelia in the Motor City Youth Theatre's production of Hamlet in 2005. Florkowski founded MCYT to give budding young local actors and actresses a chance to perform. She brings Zinn's Nineteen Variations on Hamlet to the Grantland Street Playhouse in Livonia 8 p.m. Friday, April 6.

Tickets are $10. Call (313) 535-8962 or visit www.mcyt.org.

"It takes Shakespeare's language and combines it with Melissa's wittiness," said Nancy Florkowski, a retired Redford teacher. "It helps to know Hamlet but plays like this are enjoyable even if you don't know Hamlet inside out. What's hilarious is all the characters tell their side of the story. The king who was the evil character decides not to kill Hamlet and everybody lives happily ever after."

Not all of Zinn's ideas for Nineteen Variations occurred to her while playing in MCYT's Shakespeare in the Park in 2004 and 2005 in Redford and Livonia.

"I was watching Twin Peaks and saw similarities of agent Dale Cooper and Hamlet," said Melissa Zinn, the 31-year old Kalamazoo resident who wrote and directed the play being performed by Abstraction Theatre.

"It's a comedy. People think Hamlet tragic, dark, serious, fast paced. This is kind of Monty Python-esque and there is some audience participation."

Zinn wrote Hamlet over a period of about two years. Writing is something she's loved to do since revising the story of Alice in Wonderland at age 6. Her Perils of Prince Charming was performed on the Sterling Heights Public Library channel, her Garbo and Gable Show at Meadow Brook Hall. Zinn attended Oakland University in Rochester. She moved to Kalamazoo to be with her husband.

"I do miss the Detroit area and come back as often as I can," said Zinn. "We performed this the first two weekends in March in Kalamazoo. I thought I would like to take the show to other places and larger audiences and so I thought of bringing it to Livonia."

Grantland Street Playhouse is located at 27555 Grantland, Livonia.

lchomin@hometownlife.com (734) 953-2145