Comedy version of Hamlet which opens with an extended bit involving various characters seeing the King’s ghost and trying to figure out who they can pass the buck to because this is not going to be their problem.
“comedy version of hamlet” as if hamlet isn’t already the funniest shakespeare play
except othello wouldn’t do any better in hamlet than hamlet did
othello very much does wait to receive more information. othello doesn’t act until he’s positive he’s got definitive proof of desdemona and cassio’s guilt
othello gets sick of iago’s “maybe they’re cheating, maybe they’re not” SO quickly and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t show some form of proof of his accusations and suspicions
if othello were in hamlet, he’d tell off the ghost for saying things with no evidence to back it up.
–Edmund (if you count “fa so la mi” to mean ‘singing to himself’)
Characters in Shakespeare who don’t canonically sing, but should:
–Hamlet
hamlet DOES sing!! after the murder of gonzago when everyone’s running and chaotic he has a little song exulting in his victory
Why, let the strucken deer go weep, The hart ungallèd play. For some must watch, while some must sleep: Thus runs the world away.
For thou dost know, O Damon dear, This realm dismantled was Of Jove himself, and now reigns here A very very—pajock.
and in 2.1 when he references “jephthah, judge of israel” to polonius i’ve often seen him do it in a little sing-song voice, and i think that’s based on a contemporary song
WOOOOOOO Thank you for this!!
I was looking specifically for stage directions that indicate singing so that one didn’t catch my eye
But it’s wonderful to know that hamlet gets to be involved in Being In A Musical
descriptions in purple refer to the most recent adaptation)
All’s Well That Ends Well:
4 adaptations, oldest from 1968, most recent from 2009, from National Theatre Live
Antony and Cleopatra:
7 adaptations, oldest from 1908, most recent from 2002, ‘Kannaki’, Indian modern-day adaption(I never read A&C so idk how loyal the adaptation is based off of the wikipidia summary)
As You Like It:
11 adaptations, oldest from 1912, most recent from 2010, direct-to-video recording from a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe
Comedy of Errors:
9 adaptations, oldest from 1940, most recent from 1989, Canadian TV production
Coriolanus:
2 adaptations, oldest from 1984, most recent from 2012, just listed as 'Film’ with no notes, so nothing to say about this one
Cymbeline:
3 adaptations, oldest from 1913, most recent from 2014, a modern-day adaptation featuring biker gangs
Hamlet:
43 adaptations, oldest from 1900, most recent from 2019, the live-action Lion King remake, which somehow qualifies for this because it’s listed on the wiki. unfortunately.
Henry IV, 1:
7 adaptations, oldest from 1960, most recent from 2012, The Hollow Crown series
Henry IV, 2:
6 adaptations, oldest from 1960, most recent from 2012, The Hollow Crown series
Henry V:
9 adaptations, oldest from 1944, most recent from 2019, 'The King’, supposedly based on Henry IV 1+2 too, but only listed as an adaptation of Henry V
Henry VI, 1:
5 adaptations, oldest from 1960, most recent from 2016, The Hollow Crown series
Henry VI, 2:
8 adaptations, oldest from 1960, most recent from 2016, The Hollow Crown series
Henry VI, 3:
6 adaptations, oldest from 1960, most recent from 2016, The Hollow Crown series
Henry VIII:
2 adaptations, oldest from 1911, most recent from 1979, a BBC TV adaptation
Julius Caesar:
9 adaptations, oldest from 1950, most recent from 2018, all-female stage production, filmed
King John:
4 adaptations, oldest from 1899, most recent from 2015, Stratford festival stage production, filmed
King Lear:
20 adaptations, oldest from 1910, most recent from 2018, modern AU in a militarized London
Love’s Labour’s Lost:
4 adaptations, oldest from 1920, most recent from 2000, 1930s AU, also described as a 'musical romantic comedy,’ also directed by Kenneth Branagh, also the music is “classic broadway songs of the 1930s”– there’s a lot going on with this one.
Macbeth:
47 adaptations, oldest from 1908, most recent from 2021, the A24 version
Measure for Measure:
6 adaptations, oldest from 1943, most recent from 2019, modern-day Australian AU
Merchant of Venice:
14 adaptations, oldest from 1914, most recent from 2004, the Al Pacino version, but other than that a straightforward adaptation
Merry Wives of Windsor:
5 adaptations, oldest from 1950, most recent from 1982, BBC TV adaptation
Midsummer Night’s Dream:
22 adaptations, oldest from 1909, most recent from 2018, modern-day Los Angeles, California AU
Much Ado About Nothing:
7 adaptations, oldest from 1973, most recent from 2023, 'Anyone But You’, an enemies to lovers romcom where the main characters named Beatrice and Ben– other than that it doesn’t seem like it has much in common with the original play (based on the wiki summary at least)
Othello:
26 adaptations, oldest from 1906, most recent from 2024, 'Athhoi’, Indian adaptation, based on the wiki it seems to follow the main plot points fairly well
Pericles:
1 adaptation, 1984, BBC TV adaptation
Richard II:
9 adaptations, oldest from 1960, most recent from 2012, The Hollow Crown series
Richard III:
19 adaptations, oldest from 1911, most recent from 2022, 'The Lost King’, seems to be more about someone who’s obsessed with Richard III than the shakespeare play itself
Romeo and Juliet:
51 adaptations, oldest from 1900, most recent from 2021, West Side Story reboot
Taming of the Shrew:
23 adaptations, oldest from 1908, most recent from 2008, 'Frivolous Wife,’ a Korean adaptations, wiki summary doesn’t resemble anything from the original plot, to the point where I’m not sure why it’s listed here. (I tried looking at summaries on different sites to understand what makes this a Taming of the Shrew adaptation, but it almost seems like the exact opposite of TotS. “spoiled girl who could have any guy she wants” is the opposite of Katherine, “awkward and shy guy” is the opposite of Petruchio, there’s no taming and no shrew)
The Tempest:
17 adaptations, oldest from 1911, most recent from 2020, 'Shakespeare’s Shitstorm’, mad scientist AU, horror-comedy musical, seems like it’s got a lot going on in general
Timon of Athens:
2 adaptations, oldest from 1973, most recent from 1981, BBC TV adaptation
Titus Andronicus:
3 adaptations, oldest from 1985, most recent from 2017, 'The Hungry,’ modern-day AU set in New Delhi (no summary listed on the wiki, the only summary I could finds makes it seem like it’s Titus Andronicus from Tamora’s pov, so congrats to this one for being the adaptation I most wanna watch)
Troilus and Cressida:
2 adaptations, oldest form 1954, most recent from 1981, BBC TV adaptation
Twelfth Night:
13 adaptations, oldest from 1910, most recent from 2013, filmed Globe production, all-male cast in an original practice production
Two Gentlemen of Verona:
2 adaptations, oldest from 1931, most recent from 1983, BBC TV adaptation
The Winter’s Tale:
4 adaptations, oldest from 1910, most recent from 1999, filmed version of a RSC production
if edmund’s mother was just mentioned 2 or 3 more times she would haunt the narrative. unfortunately she’s only mentioned in act 1. but can you imagine.
Things that genuinely surprised me about TMA after only knowing about it via tumblr
(no spoilers please, I’m at around 165 rn)
1– Jon and Martin are canonically together?? I thought it was just a tumblr ship. I forgot that it’s physically possible for tumblr to ship things that are canon
2– main characters die for real?? (as in not fake-out deaths)
I was in deep denial when Sasha died and again in denial when Tim died and it took me a while to come to terms with them really being dead
3– Elias is actually, for real, the antagonist?? I know I saw tumblr posts talking about how he’s one of the most well-written antagonists ever but up until the end of s4/beginning of s5 I was like ‘ok this guy is more like a morally grey little guy. morally questionable boss, but what else do you expect from corporate work?’
but no he’s actually out here doing the non-silly type of plotting and scheming
