Director, 2023, Columbia University Players

In this original staging of Charlotte Jones’s 2001 play, Felix Humble, a Cambridge astro-physicist, returns to his country home following the sudden death of his father. He battles with his overbearing mother to make sense of his father’s life and his own identity and sense of purpose. Inspired by HAMLET, Jones’s play features everything from bees and beekeeping to theoretical physics and swing music, all within the garden of the Humble home.

Shore’s re-staging of the play featured an immersive set designed by Amelia Lang that started in the lobby with a found footage film projected onto a wall framed by foliage and accompanied with a soundtrack that blended instructions for beekeeping with the incessant sound of bees buzzing. The stage itself presented a deconstructed garden in which an apple tree is composed of a ladder and stacked chairs upon which apples balance precariously. One reviewer described: “Humble Boy’s set, costumes, and sound were truly stunning. From the moment we entered the theater, we were immersed in Felix’s world”.

Using a gender neutral approach to casting, Shore focused on the humanity of the characters rather than superficial characteristics and scenarios. Shore sought to highlight Jones’s reframing of Hamlet’s sexual dynamics away from a focus on intra-family marriage and towards an exploration of the needs and desires of the characters. A reviewer noted Shore’s use of blocking to achieve this shift in purpose: “There are much less clear villains and heroes here, making the tension between Flora (mother) and Felix (son) all the more familiar. In the first scene, the pair stand divided on opposite sides of the stage, sharing a laugh. This wonderful blocking by Shore perfectly encapsulates the depth of their relationship: Two people are as far apart as they can be, but fundamentally connected.”