A vain, pompous buffoon who doesn’t know when to go: How Shakespeare’s grudge destroyed the kingdom he once ruled …
A former king with a lust for revenge is about to murder the entire cast of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet – and a new comedy at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe seeks to discover what has driven him to contemplate this brutal tragic killing spree.
Hamlet’s father’s ghostly return from the grave leaves a string of stabbed, drowned, and poisoned corpses of his family and friends – but Shakespeare never tells us why the dead king makes the fatal mistake that leads to the death of his brother, ex-wife, son, and chief advisor, among others.
Fortunately, Waiting for Hamlet, at the Space Triplex throughout August, does. It’s because he’s a vain, pompous buffoon who doesn’t know when it’s time to lie down and die.
Accompanied only by his Fool Yorick, the King plots revenge for his foul and most unnatural murder. Can Yorick stop him making the biggest mistake of his afterlife?
Waiting for Hamlet imposes itself on the public of the Edinburgh between August 6 and August 26.