TITLE     'TO BE OR NOT TO BE SHAKESPEARE' 
                  RECOMMENDED AGE GROUP      1º ESO. ( LEVEL 3)     

                                                    CHARACTERS

FIRST WITCH: The three witches look alike. They are old women but they move as quick as a flash on stage. They have long fingered hands with claw-like nails and hooked noses. They are wearing shabby black coats with a hood. They feel embittered.
SECOND WITCH
THIRD WITCH

FIRST CLOWN:  First and second clown look alike. They are young and well-muscled.
They are wearing overalls. Both are very witty and sarcastic. 
SECOND CLOWN

GHOST: We cannot see him, we just see a white sheet covering him. His voice is deep. He is upset and disappointed.

YORICK: He is a jester. He is young with Afro ginger hair. He is wearing colorfulgarments. He feigns happiness but he is resentful. He holds a skull in his hands.

HAMLET: He is young and handsome. He is wearing black clothes. He seemsto be very confused and melancholic.

SHAKESPEARE: He looks like an old and mad scientist, (Albert Einstein), with a long curly white hair. He is wearing a robe with pictures of little bears. He is wearing slippers. 

OPHELIA: She is a teenager. She looks like an angel with rosy cheeks but she hides a strong personality. She is rather irritated.

IAGO:  He is a nasty middle aged man. He is wearing green clothes and he is all       the time holding a handkerchief in his hands.

POLONIUS: He is wearing black clothes. He has big eyes and big ears. 

MUSE OF FIRE: She is a strong woman but she looks exhausted.

LADY MACBETH: She is wearing a crown and a dress with a big blood spot.  HORATIO:  He is a young and handsome man. He has a deep and warm voice. He will play the role of the NARRATOR.

LAERTES: He is a sporty young man. 

ROSENCRANTZ: Both characters are wearing the same clothes. They are so alike that it is impossible to distinguish them. They are wearing grey uniforms. They are very dissatisfied.

GUILDERSTERN

                                                    SYNOPSIS

William Shakespeare is entrusted with the adaptation of his play 'Hamlet' for  a group of third level Spanish students who are learning English in a secondary school in Madrid. He will try to adapt the play with the help of a MUSE. However, this task will not be easy because characters from some of his plays will want to be part of this adaptation. Not only will he have to deal with them, but also some of  the main characters of 'Hamlet' will try to take advantage of this situation asking the playwright for a new opportunity to shine. Shakespeare will have to make use of all his mastery to solve the situation.

                                                   MAJOR CONFLICT

Shakespeare's main conflict and therefore the main conflict of the play will be to be able to finish an adaptation of 'Hamlet'  instead of all the problems that the characters are going to create.

                                                 CHARACTERS OBJECTIVES

We could divide the characters in two groups, the ones who are satisfied with the role that Shakespeare wrote for them like THE CLOWNS,  and those who want to achieve a new status in this new play that the playwright is about to write.  Some of them want to become more prominent and others just want to change the image that the audience have of them like OPHELIA. IAGO is obsessed with one of the quotations that made him famous and  YORICK is just looking for a new opportunity.

                                                  CLASS PREPARATION

It would be very useful to ask the students to look for information about William Shakespeare and the characters that appear in this play. We can go to the computer room and divide the class in groups. Each group will have the name of some of the characters and they will have to check different web pages to write down a profile of their characters. We can provide them with some of the web pages we have seen in this course and they can watch some short performances where their characters appear.

SCENE 1

This scene is set in SHAKESPEARE's chamber. There is a table on the right side of the stage. SHAKESPEARE is sitting in front of it. The table is full of papers. He is trying to write down something on a piece of paper. YORICK  is juggling with a skull. Shakespeare invokes  the MUSE.

SCENE 2

The MUSE OF FIRE appears. SHAKESPEARE  and her start to talk. YORICK  is all the time present although he just mutters some words. SHAKESPEARE starts writing some words on a piece of paper.

SCENE 3

This scene is set  Elsinore's castle. We just see some towers and a flag with that name. Enter the THREE WITCHES and they say some words when the GHOST interrupts them. They will have an argument.  The two CLOWNS will also make their appearance.  After this we will see IAGO and LADY MACBETH. All of them will argue about which should be the beginning of the play. The scene will be finished by SHAKESPEARE and THE MUSE trying to impose  their viewpoint, in order to do this they will ask for ROSENCRANTZ AND
GUILDERSTEIN's help who will also appear at the end of this scene. 

SCENE 4  This scene is set in a chamber of Elsinore's castle.  HORATIO, playing the role of NARRATOR, will explain in which point of the action the play is. POLONIUS is hidden behind the arras, (tapestry). HAMLET starts his soliloquy,  'To be, or not to be', when he is interrupted by OPHELIA.  After a strong argument with Hamlet in which POLONIUS will also take part, OPHELIA will ask SHAKESPEARE to solve the situation.  HORATIO informs LAERTES of the tragic end of his sister OPHELIA, he complaints to SHAKESPEARE.

SCENE 5  This scene is set in a graveyard. The CLOWNS, HORATIO, HAMLET and YORICK, will have a talk about the human and the divine. SCENE 6 This scene is set inside the castle. LAERTES AND HAMLET 'prepare to play' while LADY MACBETH 'bring in stoups of wine'. THE MUSE will appear for the first time without SHAKESPEARE. She will have a discussion with them. HORATIO is present. SHAKESPEARE will appear later. He will make everything clear for the audience.