"Pasternak’s 'Hamlet' gave me my first window into both the complexity, and apparent transparency, of the adult world I was rapidly entering, where saying what you mean and meaning what you say were not the same thing at all . . . Like Hamlet entering the stage, I entered poetry ‘alone’, but was welcomed there, albeit confronted by ‘Pharisees’, waiting to see what I might might find myself saying."
"'I want it to be accessible to everyone, not just a different take on ‘Hamlet’ for someone who knows everything about ‘Hamlet,'' he says. 'Ten years ago, I probably would have wanted to most impress those people. I have since absolved myself from that.'"
'Hamlet' is so pervasive, it's found its way into cartoons! This is the gravedigger scene, according to Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner; Dot "translates" the lines into plain English. Just like in stage productions of the play, physical movement (and in this case, props, slapstick humor, and contemporary references) make the scene more accessible to a wider - and younger - audience.
"The plants, most of which have symbolic significance, were depicted with painstaking botanical detail. The roses near Ophelia's cheek and dress, and the field rose on the bank, may allude to her brother Laertes calling her 'rose of May'. The willow, nettle and daisy are associated with forsaken love, pain, and innocence. Pansies refer to love in vain. Violets, which Ophelia wears in a chain around her neck, stand for faithfulness, chastity or death of the young, any of which meanings could apply here. The poppy signifies death. Forget-me-nots float in the water."
"Dana Marschz is a failed actor and recovering alcoholic who's moved to Tucson to teach high school drama, where he's plagued by bad reviews, student indifference, budget woes (he and his wife, who is trying to get pregnant, take in a boarder), and his own teaching limitations. Because the other electives are closed, he finds himself with a large class of seeming gang-bangers, and the principal informs him that drama will be cut next trimester. On the advice of a student reviewer, Dana decides to stage his own play, a sequel to 'Hamlet' in which the prince and Jesus, with the use of a time machine, try to save Gertrude and Ophelia. Can Dana for once pull something off?"