SCENE SUMMARIES
Act 3, Scene 1:
Summary
This scene begins with the CEO (Claudius), Hamlet's uncle, and the CEO's wife (Gertrude), Hamlet's mother, as well as Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, and Ophelia sitting around a table in the break room. They are discussing Hamlet's recent behavior, specifically about his plans for the Holiday social. The agenda between the CEO and Polonius is introduced in a showing of their secretive conversation. Hamlet then has an interaction with the disheveled Ophelia, where she expresses concern for his behavior. Hamlet begins to criticize Ophelia, and eventually declares that he never loved her and storms out of the room. We then see the CEO telling Polonius and Ophelia that he wants to send Hamlet to the mailroom, but Polonius objects and convinces the CEO to let him spy on Hamlet's conversation with his mother, the wife of the CEO
Analysis
The point of this scene is to show Hamlet’s descent into madness, as well as his friends and family's opinions on his recent demeanor.
Act 3 Scene 2:
Summary
This scene begins with Hamlet and his players backstage going over the script of his play. Hamlet is instructing the players on how to perform the scene properly. After the players leave to begin the Christmas play, Hamlet meets with Horatio and advises him to keep an eye on Claudius. Hamlet wants to take note of Claudius’s reaction to the play.
While watching the play, Hamlet banters with Ophelia, and Claudius has an emotional outburst that puts a pause on the production. Afterwards, Hamlet and Horatio discuss Claudius’s reaction and deem Claudius to be guilty of firing the previous CEO. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter at this point, and tell Hamlet that Claudius is mad at him and that his mom wants to meet with him in her office. Hamlet agrees to go meet with his mom, and decides to express his disapproval of her marriage in this next meeting.
Analysis
In this scene, we wanted to portray Hamlet’s public accusation of Claudius getting his father fired in a similar way to how this scene is presented in Shakespeare's original play. We had the same actors play the Player Queen and King in order to make it obvious that Hamlet was pinning Claudius as the culprit. We put Hamlet and Ophelia at the front of the audience while still getting a view of the row where the Claudius and Gertrude sit, in order to highlight their reactions while still keeping Hamlet at the center.
Act 3 Scene 3:
Summary
This scene opens with the CEO in his office talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about sending Hamlet to the mail room. He asks Hamlet's friends to go down to the mailroom too, so that they can keep an eye on Hamlet. Polonius enters, and the CEO requests that he goes and spies on Hamlet and the CEO's wife. After Polonius leaves, Claudius expresses regret for firing the previous CEO, and he decides to take a nap to clear his mind. Hamlet enters at this point and debates whether or not he should kill Claudius right there. In the end, Hamlet resolves to wait until Claudius is preparing to kill him. In Hamlet's logic, that will ensure that the CEO will go to hell.
Analysis
We wanted to present Claudius with the same guilt and paranoia present in the actual text. We see in this scene Hamlet’s internal struggle and dissent into madness over the confirmation that his uncle fired his father.
Act 3 Scene 4:
Summary
This scene opens with Polonius and Gertrude in Claudius’s office. Polonius is expressing concern over Hamlet’s state of mind, but Gertrude assures him that she will take care of it. Polonius hides as Hamlet enters, preparing to spy on the following conversation. After a tense conversation, Hamlet expresses the desire to kill his mother, so Polonius unveils himself in order to protect Gertrude. Hamlet lashes out at Polonius, who becomes vehement and proclaims that he will quit his job. This makes Gertrude go into hysteria. However, Hamlet continues to criticize her for marrying his uncle and reveals to her that Claudius is the one who fired her first husband. Soon, the Ghost of former CEO Hamlet Sr. enters, but only Hamlet sees him, which confuses Gertrude even further. The ghost reminds Hamlet to not veer from the entire goal: to kill Claudius. The ghost exits, and Hamlet calmly tells Gertrude to leave Claudius and purify herself. Finally, Hamlet tells Gertrude to keep their meeting a secret, and he bids her goodnight.
Analysis
This scene portrays how Hamlet is more upset and angry about his mother remarrying than about his father getting fired. We also wanted to show how the Ghost leads Hamlet back onto the track of killing Claudius when Hamlet’s motivation has shifted. In making the ghost invisible to Gertrude, the audience is given the freedom to determine the mental state of Hamlet for themselves.
Summary
This scene begins with the CEO (Claudius), Hamlet's uncle, and the CEO's wife (Gertrude), Hamlet's mother, as well as Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, and Ophelia sitting around a table in the break room. They are discussing Hamlet's recent behavior, specifically about his plans for the Holiday social. The agenda between the CEO and Polonius is introduced in a showing of their secretive conversation. Hamlet then has an interaction with the disheveled Ophelia, where she expresses concern for his behavior. Hamlet begins to criticize Ophelia, and eventually declares that he never loved her and storms out of the room. We then see the CEO telling Polonius and Ophelia that he wants to send Hamlet to the mailroom, but Polonius objects and convinces the CEO to let him spy on Hamlet's conversation with his mother, the wife of the CEO
Analysis
The point of this scene is to show Hamlet’s descent into madness, as well as his friends and family's opinions on his recent demeanor.
Act 3 Scene 2:
Summary
This scene begins with Hamlet and his players backstage going over the script of his play. Hamlet is instructing the players on how to perform the scene properly. After the players leave to begin the Christmas play, Hamlet meets with Horatio and advises him to keep an eye on Claudius. Hamlet wants to take note of Claudius’s reaction to the play.
While watching the play, Hamlet banters with Ophelia, and Claudius has an emotional outburst that puts a pause on the production. Afterwards, Hamlet and Horatio discuss Claudius’s reaction and deem Claudius to be guilty of firing the previous CEO. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter at this point, and tell Hamlet that Claudius is mad at him and that his mom wants to meet with him in her office. Hamlet agrees to go meet with his mom, and decides to express his disapproval of her marriage in this next meeting.
Analysis
In this scene, we wanted to portray Hamlet’s public accusation of Claudius getting his father fired in a similar way to how this scene is presented in Shakespeare's original play. We had the same actors play the Player Queen and King in order to make it obvious that Hamlet was pinning Claudius as the culprit. We put Hamlet and Ophelia at the front of the audience while still getting a view of the row where the Claudius and Gertrude sit, in order to highlight their reactions while still keeping Hamlet at the center.
Act 3 Scene 3:
Summary
This scene opens with the CEO in his office talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about sending Hamlet to the mail room. He asks Hamlet's friends to go down to the mailroom too, so that they can keep an eye on Hamlet. Polonius enters, and the CEO requests that he goes and spies on Hamlet and the CEO's wife. After Polonius leaves, Claudius expresses regret for firing the previous CEO, and he decides to take a nap to clear his mind. Hamlet enters at this point and debates whether or not he should kill Claudius right there. In the end, Hamlet resolves to wait until Claudius is preparing to kill him. In Hamlet's logic, that will ensure that the CEO will go to hell.
Analysis
We wanted to present Claudius with the same guilt and paranoia present in the actual text. We see in this scene Hamlet’s internal struggle and dissent into madness over the confirmation that his uncle fired his father.
Act 3 Scene 4:
Summary
This scene opens with Polonius and Gertrude in Claudius’s office. Polonius is expressing concern over Hamlet’s state of mind, but Gertrude assures him that she will take care of it. Polonius hides as Hamlet enters, preparing to spy on the following conversation. After a tense conversation, Hamlet expresses the desire to kill his mother, so Polonius unveils himself in order to protect Gertrude. Hamlet lashes out at Polonius, who becomes vehement and proclaims that he will quit his job. This makes Gertrude go into hysteria. However, Hamlet continues to criticize her for marrying his uncle and reveals to her that Claudius is the one who fired her first husband. Soon, the Ghost of former CEO Hamlet Sr. enters, but only Hamlet sees him, which confuses Gertrude even further. The ghost reminds Hamlet to not veer from the entire goal: to kill Claudius. The ghost exits, and Hamlet calmly tells Gertrude to leave Claudius and purify herself. Finally, Hamlet tells Gertrude to keep their meeting a secret, and he bids her goodnight.
Analysis
This scene portrays how Hamlet is more upset and angry about his mother remarrying than about his father getting fired. We also wanted to show how the Ghost leads Hamlet back onto the track of killing Claudius when Hamlet’s motivation has shifted. In making the ghost invisible to Gertrude, the audience is given the freedom to determine the mental state of Hamlet for themselves.