Hamlet’s Obsession (2014) by Jon Pescevich is an opera in two acts, based on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet“.
Keeping faith with his dead father, Hamlet swears to punish his murderer and deliver revenge. Blinded by his thirst for perfect justice, he commits one misstep after another. The audience watches Hamlet slowly destroy every chance for future happiness, even turning his back on Ophelia and her love.
Act One, scene 1 – part 1
The Great Hall of the Castle Elsinore
It is shortly before dawn. In the great hall of the Castle Elsinore, the solitary figure of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, studies a statue of his late father, the former King, which has been shrouded in a dust cover. Hamlet’s mother has recently remarried, taking none other than her late husband’s brother, Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, as her new husband. As Hamlet contemplates the brevity of his mother’s mourning and her union with his uncle, his blood begins to boil. In anger, he pulls the covering from his father’s statue.
Hamlet is confounded when a figure begins to materialize before him, slowly rising up from below the floor. It is his father’s ghost, come to tell his son that he did not die a natural death. The ghost recounts how he was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, who poured poison into his ear while he slept. Crying out for revenge, the ghost sinks back into the depths. Hamlet passionately swears to avenge his father’s death.
Ophelia enters the hall, and the young Prince goes to her and grasps her hard by the wrist. They slowly circle each other. But then Hamlet leaves the hall without saying a word. The strangeness of this encounter fills Ophelia with a deep concern for Hamlet. She confides in her father, Polonius, who attempts to investigate by engaging Hamlet in a conversation. Their exchange leaves Polonius convinced that Ophelia’s concern for the Prince is justified. Polonius and Ophelia hurry away to inform Claudius that something is terribly wrong with Prince Hamlet.
A troupe of mimes enters the hall. Hamlet watches as they prepare to rehearse a play, and a plan takes form in his mind. He will teach the troupe a new play, about a traitor who kills his king by pouring poison into his ear while he sleeps. During the performance, Hamlet will carefully watch his uncle’s face for evidence of his guilt. Hamlet teaches the troupe his new play, and is delighted after watching a run-through. He pays the mimes generously, and sends them away to prepare for the performance.
Act One, scene 1 – part 2
The Court assembles in the hall to welcome King Claudius and Queen Gertrude. When the King and Queen arrive, they begin to interrogate Hamlet about his dark mood. Hamlet evades their questions, announcing that he has prepared a play as a tribute to the King. He extends a rude and sarcastic invitation to Claudius and Gertrude, and storms away. The Court is shocked by Hamlet’s behavior and departs the hall in confusion, leaving Polonius and Ophelia alone with the King and Queen.
Delighted to have a chance to impress the royal pair, Polonius suggests that Hamlet’s troubling behavior is being caused by an unrequited love for Ophelia. He compels Ophelia to read aloud a love letter that he has stolen from her things. She is horrified by her father’s abuse of her privacy, but out of love and pity for him, she complies. As Ophelia reads the letter, her love for Hamlet is palpable.
Claudius and Gertrude scheme to lay a trap that will test Polonius’ theory. Ophelia is to wait for Hamlet in the hall. The parents will hide themselves nearby, where they can watch and listen to the two young people. Moments later, Hamlet returns, his mind teeming with dark thoughts. Seeing Ophelia he brightens, and greets her fondly. Knowing that the adults are listening nearby makes Ophelia unnaturally nervous. Hamlet notices her discomfort and grows suspicious. When she tries to remind him of the love they shared, he pushes those memories aside and turns on her in anger.
Hamlet calls for his play to begin. He narrates the story of a foul murder. Mimes costumed as a happily married king and queen stroll arm in arm into a garden. The pair sink down together under a tree, where the weary king soon falls asleep. The queen slips away, leaving the king to rest. A mime portraying a traitor creeps cautiously into the garden, and pours a deadly poison into the sleeping king’s ear. In the darkened audience, Claudius leaps to his feet, and calls frantically for the lights, bringing the play to an abrupt end. Claudius hastily departs the hall, and the Court disperses.
Act One, scene 2
The Chapel at Elsinore
Satisfied that Claudius’ treachery has been confirmed, Hamlet pictures himself murdering his uncle, stabbing Claudius over and over again in his mind. Seeing Hamlet so agitated, Ophelia reaches out to him, but his obsession with revenge has rendered him oblivious to her every effort. Hamlet ignores her, and succumbs to the thrall of his obsession. He is preoccupied with his plans to murder Claudius. When the sound of footsteps approaching pulls him back to reality, Hamlet finds himself in the chapel. He quickly hides.
Terrified for the fate of his mortal soul, Claudius has sought out the dark and silent confines of the chapel. He confesses to having murdered his brother, taking his brother’s wife and crown for himself. In desperation, Claudius falls to his knees and begs the angels for forgiveness. Hamlet stealthily approaches the kneeling figure, and his father’s ghost appears above him, egging him on. Hamlet raises his sword to strike, but then hesitates, and retreats back into the shadows to reconsider. If Claudius dies now, with his soul freshly purged by confession, might he be granted the eternal peace that Hamlet’s own father was denied? Hamlet decides to wait. He will catch Claudius when his soul is again heavy with sin, and dispatch him to the fires of hell. The ghost flies away. Hamlet hides again. Claudius finishes his prayers and leaves the chapel.
Lost in weighing his next moves, Hamlet does not notice when Gertrude and Polonius enter the chapel. Polonius quickly hides himself while Gertrude goes to confront Hamlet. She is upset about Hamlet’s rudeness to Claudius, and reproaches him for offending the King. Hamlet in turn castigates Gertrude for having married his uncle. Losing control of his emotions, Hamlet tears Gertrude’s locket from her neck. She cries out in fright, and Polonius, alarmed, calls out for help from his hiding place. Hamlet whirls and thrusts his sword viciously at the unseen presence, and Polonius falls to the floor. Gertrude recoils from the sight of the old man’s lifeless body, lamenting Hamlet’s rash action.
The door of the chapel swings open and the ghost of Hamlet’s father enters again, admonishing Hamlet for not yet having taken revenge. Hamlet pleads with his father not to scold him for being slow to act. Gertrude fearfully asks Hamlet with whom he is speaking, and Hamlet points wildly at the ghost. Gertrude sees nothing. Convinced that her son is mad, she cries out that Hamlet has broken her heart. The ghost leaves the chapel, and Hamlet runs off after him.
Claudius returns to the chapel to find Polonius dead on the floor, and Gertrude in a state of shock. She recounts the horror that she has just witnessed. Claudius easily persuades Gertrude that Hamlet must be sent away to England. He asks Gertrude to go and inform their inner circle about what has transpired, and what must be quickly done.
Claudius stands alone, regarding the body of Polonius. The old man’s murder confirms that Hamlet poses a grave threat. He resolves to send an order ahead to England, to have Hamlet beheaded when he arrives. Ophelia enters the chapel, and finding her father dead on the floor, she collapses over his body and weeps.
intermission
Act Two, scene 1
The Woods
Ophelia wanders past a neglected graveyard in the woods outside Elsinore, singing sad and curious songs. Gertrude has been following Ophelia at a distance, fearing that Polonius’ death has unhinged the balance of Ophelia’s mind. When Claudius joins his wife, he confirms her fear that Ophelia has fled from sorrow into the realm of madness.
Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, appears out of the woods with a band of friends who have accompanied him home to avenge the death of his father, Polonius. Laertes is stunned when his sister does not recognize him. With her eyes and her words full of sorrowful madness, Ophelia wanders away from him, into the woods. Concerned for her safety, Gertrude and Laertes’ friends follow her. Laertes and Claudius remain behind, and as the sun begins to sink behind the trees, they hatch a plot to kill Hamlet.
Laertes will challenge Hamlet to a fencing match. Before the match, Laertes will poison the tip of his sword. To guarantee the success of their plot, Claudius will poison Hamlet’s cup of wine. Laertes is satisfied with the plan, confident that it will deliver the revenge that he craves. Claudius is secretly delighted. The threat that Hamlet poses to his life and his crown will soon be eliminated.
An anguished scream is heard from the forest, and moments later Gertrude comes running towards Claudius and Laertes with the tragic news that Ophelia has drowned. Climbing up into a willow tree to hang garlands from its boughs, she lost her footing, and fell into the brook below. Laertes’ band of friends emerges from the woods carrying Ophelia’s body, wrapped in flowers. Gertrude, Claudius and Laertes join the sad procession, and together they carry her earthly remains away. When they are gone, Ophelia’s ghost appears. She watches the moon, as it slowly rises above the forest.
Ophelia’s ghost sees Hamlet emerge from the woods. He has managed to evade Claudius’ murderous plot in England, and return to Denmark. Ophelia’s ghost approaches him with joy, and tries to make her presence known. Hamlet sits down and begins sharpening his sword, reliving his close brush with death with every stroke of the blade. Ophelia’s ghost tries desperately to communicate with him, but Hamlet’s mind is focused solely on Claudius, and the new proof of his treachery. Realizing that her attempts are futile, Ophelia’s ghost wanders off into the night.
An old grave-digger emerges from the trees, carrying a shovel on his shoulder and singing an odd song. Hamlet is curious, and asks who is to be buried in the untended cemetery. The grave-digger answers in riddles, revealing only that the grave is for a woman. When his work is finished, the grave-digger presents Hamlet with the skull of Yorick, who was the court jester back when Hamlet was a child. Laying down his shovel, the grave-digger ambles away.
The sun rises on a new day. Laertes, Gertrude, Claudius and a group of mourners are returning to the woods to lay Ophelia’s body to rest. Hamlet hears them approaching, and hides among the trees to watch. When he sees Laertes climb into Ophelia’s grave in a fit of grief, Hamlet abandons caution. He steps out of hiding, emotionally proclaiming his own love for Ophelia to be greater by far than that of Laertes.
Act Two, scene 2
Hamlet’s Mind
The woods fade away before Hamlet’s eyes and a vision of the life and the love that he might have shared with Ophelia floods his brain. He begins feverishly shoveling dirt into Ophelia’s grave, bitterly mocking Laertes for his tears. Laertes becomes enraged, and storms away with Claudius and the other mourners close behind. Hamlet remains to bury Ophelia, alone.
Hamlet does not pause his shoveling when the grave-digger reappears. Climbing up out of Ophelia’s grave, the old man silently gathers Ophelia’s flowers and tosses them into the grave. Reclaiming his shovel and Yorick’s skull, he climbs back down into her grave, disappearing from sight. Still lost in his thoughts, Hamlet takes no notice of the grave-diggers departure.
A court official appears, and presents Hamlet with an invitation to a fencing match with Laertes. Hamlet recognizes the risk of a match organized by Claudius, but feeling that he no longer has anything to lose, he accepts. The Court assembles, and the fighting begins. King Claudius calls for wine, and proposes a toast to Prince Hamlet. Drawing a poisoned pearl from his robes, Claudius declares it to be a gift for the Prince, and he drops it into Hamlet’s cup. Intent on fighting, Hamlet waves the cup aside.
Resting between bouts, Hamlet attempts to apologize to Laertes, and asks to be forgiven. Laertes ignores the apology and turns his back on Hamlet. The fighting resumes, and Laertes manages to scratch Hamlet. Both fighters momentarily drop their weapons, and when they pick them back up again, each has accidentally taken the other’s sword. Gertrude picks up Hamlet’s cup of wine, and urges him to refresh himself. When Hamlet declines the cup, Gertrude drinks deeply from it herself. Hamlet lands a strike, scratching Laertes. Suddenly, Gertrude swoons, and falls to the floor. Realizing that the wine was poisoned, she attempts to warn Hamlet with her dying breath.
Laertes drops to his knees. With his life fast ebbing away, he admits all. He, the Queen, and Hamlet have all been poisoned by the sword and the cup. Claudius blurts out a denial and tries to flee, but with a final surge of strength Hamlet springs at him, and forces him to drain the poisoned cup. Claudius convulses, and dies. Hamlet sinks to the floor, fervently wishing for more time.
The stage becomes suffused with a brilliant light. Ophelia’s ghost appears and goes to Hamlet, to comfort him as he dies.