LET'S BAN HAMLET
A One-Act Play
Let's Ban Hamlet
By Maggie Smith
Let's Ban Hamlet
Let's Ban Hamlet follows a group of queer teenagers in a midwestern Catholic high school, who have dubbed themselves the Underground Queer Alliance. While prepared for a normal school year, they are suddenly faced with a new ordinance created by their city's archdiocese that directly attacks their identities, threatening to expel each one of them. Their solution is simple: malicious compliance and refusing to interact with any academic material that directly contrasts any Catholic teachings— Starting with Hamlet.
"Maggie has created a theatrical powerhouse by introducing an audience to this group of teens and their struggles before they take a stand..."
-Rachel Feeny-Williams, New Play Exchange
This play was written in response to many Catholic schools' new policies on gender and sexuality, which all archdiocesan schools were expected to comply with. This play was written to show that there can be and is an intersection between queerness and religious beliefs. I wrote this play while also reflecting on the caring and accepting environment I grew in at my own Catholic high school, and worked to find a way to depict this accepting environment in the wake of anti-queer policies that are being placed in all environments— not just educational.