Hamlet character uncovered

In the fifth grade, William Warren landed his first acting gig. He starred as the Big Bad Wolf in a play called “The Granny Awards,” and there his love for theater was born. 

Throughout his life, Warren has continued acting in plays and is currently playing the part of Laertes in the Department of Theatre’s production of “Hamlet.”

Warren, a sophomore theater major, remembers his early acting career. “‘The Granny Awards’ was a children’s play about all these nursery rhyme characters being musicians and the ‘Granny Awards’ being like the Grammy Awards,” Warren said. “It was a lot of fun, and I continued to do plays all throughout middle school, high school and now college.”

Kendyl Wade

Sophomore theatre major William Warren as Laertes uses the last moments of life to tell Hamlet of his uncle’s plot to murder him at the end of the play.

“I guess the moment it hit me that this was something I could pursue was freshman orientation,” Warren said. “When all the incoming freshmen were being divided among their majors, I figured I already knew what the people at ‘undeclared’ were going to talk about, so I went with the theater majors.

Warren explained that a specific theater professor encouraged him to pursue theater as his major during that freshman orientation.

“There, Professor Beate Czogalla, one of our professors, somehow managed to sell both my mother and I on the idea that I could pursue theater. So, after her speech, I asked her if it was possible to declare theater as my major then and there,” Warren said.

Prior the landing the part of Laertes in “Hamlet,” some of the roles that Warren has played include Enjolras from “Les Miserables,” his favorite role in high school; Heck Tate in “To Kill a Mockingbird;” Princeton in Steven Holbert’s staged reading of “Classy;” and Biff Baker in “The 1940s Radio Hour.”

Additionally, Warren has also appeared in four directing scenes.

Junior theater major, John Underwood, plays King Claudius in “Hamlet.” He met Warren at the “To Kill a Mockingbird” auditions, and the two were also castmates in “Classy.”

Underwood admires Warren as an actor.

“Will is a very passionate actor who excels in portraying aggressive traits in characters,” Underwood said.

When Warren was a high school student at St. Pius X , which is located in Atlanta, he read “Hamlet” for the first time. After reading the play, Warren also watched Kenneth Branagh’s version of the play. “Hamlet” quickly became Warren’s favorite piece of work by Shakespeare, and one of his favorite works in general. When GC announced auditions for the production of “Hamlet,” Warren was very excited.

“I began preparing my audition piece two months in advance. Working on this play has been really amazing, and every member of the cast is undeniably talented. Evan Fields, our Hamlet, is spell-binding, and no matter how hard one may try, I can’t see a single weak link in the cast,” Warren said. “Evan and I both had to learn fight choreography for our duel at the end which included a lot of fencing technique. Learning how to do staged swordplay was probably one of my favorite things I have gotten to do.”

The director of the Department of Theatre and director of “Hamlet,” Karen Berman, has enjoyed watching Warren in “Hamlet.”

“Will is fantastic and physical as an actor, and I love him in the sword fight. He plays the overprotective older brother to Ophelia and also the rugged fighter who storms in to avenge his father’s murder. He’s exactly the right actor for the job,” Berman said.

Not only does Warren have a part in his favorite play, he also landed the role of his favorite character.

“He’s so complex, even though he is absent for most of the play,” Wareen said. “Laertes is a good guy who just happens to be on the wrong side, and I find that especially interesting. He is loyal to his family, intelligent, loving to his sister and is extremely passionate, but these seemingly positive traits are what leads him to his demise.”

When casting, Berman believed that Warren was perfect for the part of Laertes.

“In many ways the role of Laertes mirrors the character of Hamlet, except that Laertes is a man of action while Hamlet fails to act,” Berman said. “This role requires a charismatic actor who runs on impulses, and Will totally fit the bill.”

After the production of “Hamlet” wraps up, Warren says he plans to continue to pursue theater.

“Auditions for ‘The Wedding Singer,’ our musical next semester, are happening the Sunday after ‘Hamlet” ends, and then auditions will be held for ‘Doubt’ and ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged’ next semester. I’ll be auditioning for all of these, but there’s no telling what the future holds,” Warren said.

Posted by Brennan Meagher on Nov 17 2011. Filed under Features, Lead stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.