SOLDIER Who's there?
HORATIO A friend.
SOLDIER Good night, Horatio.
HORATIO Good night. Has the
ghost appeared again?
SOLDIER I have seen nothing.
HORATIO I don’t believe in
ghosts. I think it's simply your fantasy.
The ghost
enters.
SOLDIER Look! He's coming
again!
SOLDIER He’s the same I saw
last night.
HORATIO He looks like king
Hamlet!
SOLDIER Yes, but king Hamlet
is dead!
HORATIO I know, my friend, I
know.
SOLDIER Speak to him, Horatio,
you are a cultivated man.
HORATIO Stop! Stop! Who are
you?... It’s not possible, he’s leaving.
The ghost
leaves.
SOLDIER What do you think now?
Is it my fantasy?
HORATIO You were right, my friend. I must tell
Prince Hamlet. I'll bring him tomorrow night.
A room in the castle.
HAMLET (Speaking to himself.) How could she
do it? My father died two months ago and just a few days later, my mother
married my father's brother, the new king. I'm so sad and they are so happy!
Horatio enters.
HORATIO Hello, my good lord!
HAMLET I'm glad to see you,
Horatio.
HORATIO My lord...
HAMLET Tell me, Horatio.
HORATIO I..., well...
HAMLET Come on, my friend!
What’s the matter?
HORATIO My lord, I think I saw
your father last night.
HAMLET Who? Please, Horatio,
my father is dead.
HORATIO Believe me, my lord. I
saw him.
HAMLET Where?
HORATIO Outside the castle.
HAMLET And what did he say?
HORATIO He said nothing, my
lord.
HAMLET But...
HORATIO Come with me tonight.
HAMLET We'll go there, my
good friend.
Polonius’ house.
LAERTES I’m leaving, my dear
sister. Please, write to me.
OPHELIA I’ll do it, my dear
brother.
LAERTES I know Hamlet is in love with you.
Remember he is the Prince and he can’t choose his wife.
OPHELIA Don’t worry, Laertes.
Polonius
enters.
POLONIUS Laertes, hurry up! The
ship is waiting for you.
LAERTES Goodbye, father!
Goodbye, sister!
OPHELIA Goodbye, dear brother.
Look after yourself.
Laertes leaves.
POLONIUS What were you talking
about?
OPHELIA About Hamlet.
POLONIUS And?
OPHELIA He says Hamlet loves
me.
POLONIUS I don’t believe his words and I don’t like
him. He is the Prince, he’s young, and he can do what he wants. Be careful and
don’t talk to him.
OPHELIA I’ll obey, father.
HAMLET It’s cold here!
HORATIO Yes, my lord.
HAMLET What time is it?
HORATIO I think it’s around
midnight.
The ghost
enters.
HORATIO Look, Prince! He’s
coming!
HAMLET Am I dreaming? He’s my father!... Leave
me alone, Horatio. I want to talk to him.
HORATIO Don’t do that!
HAMLET Leave me alone!
Horatio leaves.
GHOST Listen. I’m your
father’s spirit.
HAMLET Oh, God!
GHOST I want you to revenge
my murder.
HAMLET What? Your murder?
GHOST My brother, Claudius, killed me. He
poured some poison in my ear while I was sleeping. Now he is the king and your
mother is his wife. My wife is his wife!... I must go but remember... revenge
my murder.
HAMLET Wait, father! Wait!
The ghost
leaves and Horatio enters.
HORATIO Prince Hamlet! What did
he say?
HAMLET I can’t tell you. Listen: you must help
me. I’ll pretend to be mad from now on...
A room in the castle. Claudius and his wife are
talking about Hamlet.
QUEEN I’m really worried. Hamlet’s behaviour is very strange. He seems to be mad.
CLAUDIUS I have asked Guildenstern and Rosencraus to
talk to him. Perhaps they may discover what's wrong with him.
QUEEN I'm sure he is sad
because of his father's death.
Polonius
enters.
POLONIUS My good lord, can I speak to you? I think I have
found the cause of Hamlet's madness.
CLAUDIUS Tell us, Polonius.
POLONIUS I have a daughter, Ophelia, I’m sure she is
the cause of Hamlet's madness. He loves Ophelia, his love for her has driven
him mad.
QUEEN How can we be sure?
POLONIUS We may hide while they
talk and listen to their conversation.
CLAUDIUS That's a good idea.
Rosencraus and Guildenstern visit their friend Hamlet.
GUILDER My lord!
ROSENC My Prince!
HAMLET How are you, my
friends?
GUILDER Fine, thanks.
HAMLET What are you doing
here?
ROSENC Just visiting you.
HAMLET Visiting me? I think
the king has sent you, hasn't he?
GUILDER Yes, my lord, we were
sent.
ROSENC The king and the queen
are worried about you.
HAMLET I'm sad, that's all.
ROSENC If you are sad, I have good news. A group
of actors is coming to perform a play for the king and the queen. I remember
you love theatre.
HAMLET Oh, I'd love to talk
to them! Go and tell them.
Guilderstern
and Rosencraus leave.
(Speaking to himself.) I have an
idea. I'll ask them to perform "The Murder of Gonzago" but I'll put
some extra lines in it.
The king, the queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Guilderstern
and Rosencraus are talking.
CLAUDIUS (To Guilderstern and Rosencraus.) So, you
couldn't find the cause of his madness.
ROSENC He says he is sad but
he doesn't want to talk about it.
CLAUDIUS I want to talk to
Polonius and Ophelia. Please, leave us alone.
Guilderstern,
Rosencraus and the Queen leave.
CLAUDIUS Hamlet is coming soon. Let's hide there and
listen to their conversation.
POLONIUS Ophelia, walk around
this room until Hamlet comes.
The king and
Polonius leave. Hamlet enters.
HAMLET To be, or not to be, that is the
question. If we die, our problems finish, we sleep... But, what happens after
death? We are afraid of that... (He sees Ophelia.) Ophelia! What
are you doing here?
OPHELIA I want to give you
back something you gave me.
HAMLET I never gave you
anything.
OPHELIA My lord, you know well
you did.
HAMLET Ophelia, do you think
I loved you?
OPHELIA Yes, I do.
HAMLET Ha, ha! I didn't love
you and I don’t.
OPHELIA Don't say that!
HAMLET Go to a nunnery! I
hate women! Go to a nunnery!
OPHELIA My prince...
HAMLET Go away, I said. I
don’t want to see you, stupid woman!
OPHELIA Good heavens!
Hamlet leaves.
The king and Polonius enter.
CLAUDIUS Love? That's not the problem, but I think he
may be dangerous. I'll send him to England.
POLONIUS Before sending him to England, I have another
plan: after the play, we'll prepare a meeting between Hamlet and his mother,
the queen; I'll hide and listen to their conversation.
CLAUDIUS OK. We'll do it.
The room where the play is going to take place.
HAMLET Hello, Horatio!
HORATIO I'm at your service, my
lord.
HAMLET You are my best friend
and I'm going to tell you a secret.
HORATIO Tell me, my lord.
HAMLET Tonight there is a play before the king,
one scene is about my father's murder. If the king gets angry, we will know
that he is the murderer.
HORATIO I’ll pay attention, my
prince.
HAMLET Be ready, they are
coming.
The king, the queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencraus and Guilderstern enter. Everyone takes a seat.
CLAUDIUS The play can start.
Two players,
king and queen, enter.
(p) QUEEN I love you so much!
(p) KING I know you love me but; if I die, you will marry another man.
(p) QUEEN Never! I won't marry
again!
(p) KING Leave me alone. I
want to get some sleep.
Player-queen leaves and player-king falls asleep. Another player enters and pours some poison into the king's ear.
CLAUDIUS (Shouting.) Stop the play!
Stop the play!
Everybody
leaves but Hamlet and Horatio.
HAMLET Have you seen that?
HORATIO Yes, my lord.
HAMLET There's no doubt, the
king killed my father.
Polonius
enters.
POLONIUS My lord, the queen would
like to speak to you.
HAMLET Then, I'll go to see
my mother.
The queen’s room.
POLONIUS Hamlet is coming. I'll
hide behind the curtains.
QUEEN Don't worry.
Polonius hides
and Hamlet enters.
HAMLET Hello, mother! What's
the matter?
QUEEN Hamlet, your father is
very angry with you.
HAMLET Mother, my father is
very angry with you.
QUEEN (Angrily.) Don't be rude!
I'm your mother (She tries to leave the room.)
HAMLET (Holding her.) Come, come!
You won't go anywhere!
QUEEN Are you going to kill
me? (Shouting.) Help, help!
POLONIUS (Behind the
curtains.) What's the matter? Help, help!
HAMLET What’s that? Is it a rat? (Hamlet pulls
out his sword and kills Polonius through the curtains.)
QUEEN You have killed
Polonius! You are a criminal!
HAMLET Criminal? I think that killing a king and
marrying his brother is worse.
QUEEN Killing a king?
HAMLET Yes, Claudius killed
my father and now you are his wife.
QUEEN That’s enough! You are
lying!
HAMLET This is the truth.
Good night, mother! (He leaves.)
A room in the castle. The king and the queen are talking.
CLAUDIUS My dear wife, you must understand that Hamlet
is really dangerous.
QUEEN I know, Claudius, I know. It was
terrible the way he killed Polonius.
CLAUDIUS Yes, it was really terrible, so last night I
sent him to England with Guildenstern and Rosencraus.
QUEEN Last night?
CLAUDIUS Yes, I gave Rosencraus a
letter for the English king.
QUEEN My poor son!
CLAUDIUS (To himself.) That letter
contains my orders: Hamlet must be executed as soon as he arrives in England.
QUEEN Have you heard about
Ophelia?
CLAUDIUS What’s wrong with her?
QUEEN She has lost her mind
after her father’s death.
CLAUDIUS It’s a pity!
QUEEN What’s that noise?
Laertes enters
angrily.
LAERTES Claudius! My father is
dead and my sister mad!
CLAUDIUS Be patient. I’m not
responsible. I’m your friend.
LAERTES I want an
explanation! I want revenge!
CLAUDIUS Please, my queen, leave
me alone with Laertes.
The queen
leaves.
LAERTES I want to know the
truth!
CLAUDIUS Hamlet is responsible
for everything.
LAERTES Where is he? I’ll kill
him!
CLAUDIUS I sent him to England.
A messenger
enters.
MESSENGER My lord, a letter from
Hamlet.
CLAUDIUS From Hamlet? Give me the
letter.
The messenger
leaves.
CLAUDIUS (Reading.) “My lord, I
have returned to Denmark. Tomorrow I’ll explain you everything. Hamlet”.
LAERTES What does it mean?
CLAUDIUS I don’t know, but I have
a good plan.
LAERTES Tell me.
CLAUDIUS I know that you are very
good at fighting with swords.
LAERTES Yes, I am.
CLAUDIUS Hamlet loves fighting with swords. If you
invite him for a friendly match of swords, he will agree.
LAERTES And...?
CLAUDIUS We will put some poison on the tip of your
sword. If you cut him, he will die.
LAERTES We’ll do it.
CLAUDIUS In case the plan fails,
I’ll prepare a poisoned drink.
The queen
enters.
QUEEN Very bad news,
Laertes. Your sister is dead.
LAERTES Dead? Where?
QUEEN She fell into the
river. I think it was an accident.
CLAUDIUS I’m sorry, good Laertes.
A room in the castle. Hamlet and Horatio are talking.
HORATIO What are you doing in
Denmark, my Prince?
HAMLET I thought my journey to England was very
strange. So I stole the letter for the English king.
HORATIO And what did the letter
say?
HAMLET It said that I had to
be executed.
HORATIO Oh! What did you do, my
lord?
HAMLET I escaped when we were
attacked by a pirate ship.
HORATIO So Claudius killed your
father and now tries to kill you.
HAMLET Silence! Someone is
coming.
Osric enters.
OSRIC My lord,
welcome to Denmark.
HAMLET Thanks. What do you
want?
OSRIC I bring a
message from the king.
HAMLET Tell me.
OSRIC Laertes would like a friendly
match of swords with you and our king is sure you will win. The king has bet
six horses.
HAMLET Tell the king I agree.
A room in the castle. The king, the queen, Hamlet, Laertes, Horatio and
Osric enter.
HAMLET (To Laertes.) I’m sorry for
your father’s death. It was because of my madness.
LAERTES Your words sound nice.
Now, let’s start.
HAMLET Give me my sword,
Horatio.
CLAUDIUS (To Laertes.) Here you have
the poisoned sword, and I have the poisoned drink ready.
HAMLET (To Laertes.) Come on, sir.
LAERTES Come on.
They fight for
a while.
CLAUDIUS Stop, stop! Hamlet,
would you like a drink?
HAMLET No, thanks. Later.
QUEEN I’ll drink. (She takes the
cup and drinks.)
QUEEN I’m thirsty, my king.
CLAUDIUS (To himself.) It’s the
poisoned drink. It’s too late.
LAERTES Come on. Let’s fight
again.
They fight and Laertes wounds
Hamlet with the poisoned sword. Later, during the fight, they exchange their
swords and Hamlet wounds Laertes with the poisoned sword.
OSRIC Stop! The
queen feels bad!
The queen falls.
QUEEN The drink, the drink!
The drink was poisoned! (She dies.)
HAMLET My mother is dead!
LAERTES And we are dead too. My sword and the drink were poisoned. Claudius planned everything.
HAMLET The sword is poisoned!
Then, poison for you! (He kills Claudius.)
CLAUDIUS Help me, please! (He dies.)
LAERTES I beg your pardon,
noble Hamlet. (He dies.)
HAMLET Horatio, I’m dying.
HORATIO My lord, I’ll kill
myself too.
HAMLET No, you must live to
tell Hamlet’s story. (He dies.)