The Play within the Play. An Adaptation of Hamlet by William Shakespeare - William Shakespeare;Stephen Evans

The Play within the Play is an adaptation of Hamlet by William Shakespeare. In this version (in two acts), the play has been shortened, the sets and cast simplified, and the scene order revised to some extent. Estimated running time is under two hours. The intent is to make it easier for small and community theaters to produce, and for modern audiences to enjoy, this fascinating play.

Publisher's Note: Non-profit academic and community theaters may present this adaptation on the stage royalty-free. For production permissions and other information, please contact TimeBeingMedia.com.

There is one aspect of Hamlet that fascinates me, and that has been my focus for this adaptation: that is the concept of Play. Concepts, I should say, though there is a many in one aspect to it. Half a world away and wholly unknown to Shakespeare, the Japanese term for play, asobu, refers to theater, and to sham fighting, and to ceremony in general. All of these are found in Hamlet.

So I suspect Play also fascinated Shakespeare. In As You Like It (a much better play written about the same time - 1600 or so), we are told that "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players". So Shakespeare obviously had play and playing on his mind at the time.

I think the word merely there says so much about what Shakespeare thought of his profession. And in Hamlet, play and players are layered into nearly every scene... Hamlet is a play of plays, a ceremony of blood and theater.

This adaptation, of course, can be seen as a play within the play. And the plays within the play, with the play, within the play... is one of Shakespeare's most compelling conceptions.