The Murder of Gonzago
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| Thanks to Critical Stages |
Author: Not known
Publisher: Not known
Source play: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Yes, I bet you all thought I forgot about one of the most obvious plays within a play ever. Well, here we are. And although I have seen Hamlet on stage twice at least, possibly three times, I never studied it at school and am no expert on The Murder of Gonzago. In fact, you are all quite right: I had forgotten. Oops!
The Murder of Gonzago is also known as The Mousetrap, although remember, it’s absolutely not the same play as The Mousetrap. Which is by Agatha Christie. Although if you ask me it creaks as much as a bad amateur production of Hamlet.
So here’s an article from the British Library which tells you everything you didn’t realise you needed to know about this oh so famous play within a play.
Oh, and there’s this too from Britannica. Scroll down to get to the bit about Hamlet.
One time my mother and I, and most unusually my brother (honestly, he never went to the theatre) all went to see Hamlet together. And behind us sat a group of people (two couples I guess) who genuinely seemed to have no idea how the story ends. We couldn’t believe it. In the interval they were like “what do you think will happen?” scrape, scrape at the half time ice cream. They really didn’t know. And we were like (whisper it) “do they really not know?”, and “don’t say anything”. A nasty shock really, if you have no clue how a 400 year old play finishes.
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| Thanks to Shakespeare Birthplace Trust |
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