Guthrie casts Hamlet

Fontana, a 2004 graduate of the University of Minnesota, is 23 years old, and Dowling cited his ability to portray "the insecurities of youth" in the role. The production of Hamlet will start previews on March 4 and run through May 7--forty-three years to the date of the theater's opening with Hamlet (directed by Tyrone Guthrie and starring George Grizzard in the title role). Fontana is a hometown pick who has appeared on the Guthrie stage before, in roles in Death of a Salesman, Six Degrees of Separation, and As You Like It. Dowling directs the fourth overall production of Hamlet at the Guthrie, one during each decade of the theater's existence except for the '90's (perhaps the gloomy drama didn't fit those halcyon days).