What if Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy wasn’t a soliloquy at all — but a conversation with you? Meet Hilary Dennis of Junkyard Shakespeare, the performer behind sweet prince, playing Strange Birds as part of the 2026 Scranton Fringe Festival on Friday, October 2 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, October 3 at 9:00 PM, and Sunday, October 4 at 3:30 PM.
Part one-woman Hamlet, part live improvisation with the crowd, this show throws out the rulebook on how audiences and actors are supposed to relate. We caught up with Hilary ahead of opening to talk about complicité, Edinburgh Fringe, and eight years of living inside one of Shakespeare’s most famous roles — read on below.
In your own words, what is your show about?
sweet prince is an experiment around creating complicité between the actor and the audience, encouraging the audience to be — or not to be — active in the storytelling of Hamlet.
What sparked this piece?
One day a few years ago, a friend said, “You should do a one-woman Hamlet,” and the seed was planted. I didn’t want to do a one-person show the traditional way, where one actor plays all the roles. I’ve been obsessed with speaking directly with and engaging the audience in all my work, so an interactive show seemed like the logical way to approach my one-woman Hamlet. I also have been studying the role of Hamlet for eight years; sweet prince is a love letter to this most famous of Shakespeare’s characters.
What does “Fringe” mean to you as an artist?
I feel like “Fringe” means pushing the boundaries of what theatre can be. I left Edinburgh Fringe last year having seen the most ground-breaking performances and believing that anything was possible onstage. Theatre creates a magical container where the most intimate human experiences are made public, beautiful, and sacred; Fringe gives permission to take those moments to a new level of creativity and absurdity. sweet prince is a little creative and a little absurd, and it breaks the rules around the traditional actor/audience relationship.
What do you want someone to feel — or think about differently — after seeing your show?
I hope sweet prince attendees feel inspired: by Hamlet, by Shakespeare, and by their own participation in the performance. I also hope they feel surprised by how much they understood Shakespeare’s language, and how much humor there is in Hamlet, even though it’s a tragedy.
What’s been the hardest or most surprising part of making this?
The most surprising part of making sweet prince has been the audience interactions, and adjusting as the performer every night to the energy and improvisations they create.
Anything else you want people to know before they walk in?
I would say, be brave, jump into the fray, and be prepared to surprise yourself.
sweet prince plays Strange Birds on Friday, October 2 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, October 3 at 9:00 PM, and Sunday, October 4 at 3:30 PM as part of the 2026 Scranton Fringe Festival. You can buy tickets here.
Thank you to Hilary for sharing — we can’t wait for you to see it.
