An Indiana native is getting ready for his debut on the stage in Pittsburgh.
Matthew Amendt, a member of Indiana High School’s class of 2000, will start a run at the O’Reilly Theater in Pittsburgh as part of the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s production of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. Amendt will play the title character, the prince of Denmark who is trying to avenge the death of his father by his uncle.
Amendt was involved in theater since childhood, and has a lot of experience playing Shakespearian characters. He was a two time winner of the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest while in high school, and also had roles as Claudio in an off-Broadway production of “Much Ado About Nothing” and the role of Aufidius in Corelanus at the Red Bull theater in New York. Amendt said he got his love of Shakespeare from his mother, who was an English teacher at the Indiana Senior High School, and directed a number of the school’s productions. He said that Shakespeare’s plays were around the house and he got interested in reading them from that. He also said it was good that he wasn’t “forced” into Shakespeare and that he discovered it for himself, which allowed his appreciation to grow naturally.
Amendt also talks about the pressure that comes with playing one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters. He said one thing he will do in this production is to be very specific as to how he plays Hamlet and he hopes to showcase his talent to the many people he respected in Pittsburgh.
Amendt’s run as Hamlet starts this Thursday. The show runs to May 20th.
