Plot

A group of theatre actors plays "Hamlet" in a provincial village, faced with their own temptations, disappointments, and joys.

Out of work actor Joe Harper (Michael Maloney) volunteers to help try and save his sister's local church for the community by putting on a Christmas production of Hamlet, somewhat against the advice of his agent Margaretta D'Arcy (Dame Joan Collins). As the cast he assembles are still available even at Christmas and are prepared to do it on a "profit sharing" basis (that is, they may not get paid anything) he cannot expect, and does not get, the cream of the crop. But although they all bring their own problems and foibles along, something bigger starts to emerge in the perhaps aptly named village of Hope.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

Out-of-work actor Joe Harper (Michael Maloney), who on the verge of a nervous breakdown, decides to put on a production of Hamlet in a church, at Christmas. Despite admonitions from his agent Margaretta D'Arcy (Dame Joan Collins) and sister about the career suicide he's about to commit by investing in such a morbid play over the holidays, he pushes on to realize his goal. Faced with a series of challenges and cast of misfits and oddballs, the troupe crawl towards opening night, discovering love, laughter, and friends along the way.—J. Lake

An unemployed actor directs an unlikely group in an English church's production of "Hamlet."