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Pascal Phoa performance at the A Midsummer Nights Dream - Boston, Massachusetts - Amerika Serikat, 3-8-2023. (Photo : Pascal) -  

VOInews, New York : A New York based Indonesian-born actor made his New York theater debut in RJ Theater Company’s Princess Hamlet at The Flea Theater.

Running from September 7, 2024 - November 2nd 2024, Pascal Phoa played The Ghost of Hamlet’s Father, a critical character from one of William Shakespeare’s most popular works, Hamlet, that tells the story of a prince conflicted about taking revenge for his recently-deceased father who was murdered in his sleep by his scheming uncle. 

Princess Hamlet is a gender-bent spin on Hamlet where the female characters are male characters, and vice versa. The Ghost is still played by a male actor, Pascal Phoa.

Pascal joined the cast of Princess Hamlet after auditioning for director and creator of Princess Hamlet Sophie Leighton Toomey, in August 2024 and went straight to rehearsals just days after.

“It was a very quick process but everyone was so encouraging of me coming onboard for The Ghost. I feel really blessed and I’m just a little sad that it’s all coming to an end,” he remarks after his closing performance on November 2nd 2024.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Saturday November 23rd 2024,  Pascal has performed as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and is constantly involved in the New York City theater scene.

“I guess it is interesting when you think about how someone from Indonesia can relate to playing an Athenian boy like Lysander or an English king like Cymbeline. How do you play characters who are so culturally different from you? But I always think it’s important to realize that these characters are people with real emotions, wants, and struggles. That’s what’s so powerful about Shakespeare - his works have the ability to transcend language and culture,” he reflects on some of the roles he has played.

Pascal hopes to keep doing Shakespeare, classical, and contemporary plays around New York and the country.

“I’ve never acted in a Shakespeare Festival before. It sounds really fun so I’d love to be in one someday,” says Pascal.

“Also, doing an Anton Chekhov play would be such a thrilling experience too. The characters in Chekhov plays are deeply complex. They can be really introspective and feel a lot of things but they rarely say what they really feel. It’s a lot like how
people behave sometimes I guess,” he jokes.

Pascal can next be seen performing in Macbeth as Macduff at Circle in the Square Theatre’s Youth Theatre Series in December 2024//VOI