Six performances of the play, I Hate Hamlet, are slated by the theater program at the University of Illinois Springfield Studio Theatre to kick off its 2011- 2012 season. I Hate Hamlet is a humorous play by Paul Rudnick about a successful young television actor, Andrew, who lands in the apartment once owned by actor John Barrymore, who once had acclaim as Hamlet, a role Andrew isn’t happy about being forced to play now that he’s out of work. But Barrymore’s inebriated and fully-costumed ghost appears, and perhaps Andrew will change his mind about a lot of things. UIS associate professor of theater Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson directs, while UIS alumnus Ben Beams plays Barrymore and UIS student Tommy Caldwell plays Andrew. Purchase tickets by phone, online at www.uis.edu/theatre or weekdays at the box office or beginning 90 minutes before curtain time.