We can imagine the day of the first performance. The afternoon sky painted itself in hues of blue as the radiant sun shone its golden rays upon the sprawling front lawn. The humid June air whispered a soft breeze through the haw tree’s leaves and branches, casting a large shadow upon the grass below. The stage was set. A large crowd of neighbors sat under the shade of the haw tree awaiting the show’s beginning.
William Hawley Smith announces: “To do or not to do, that is the question.” As his wife, Ellen Galusha Smith, playing Ophelia, enters the stage, he completes Hamlet’s altered soliloquy, “I give it up! The game’s too tough for me! It makes me tired; yes, worse, gives me a pain. But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue.” To the audience, it seems as though the Smith family is replicating Shakespeare's Hamlet, until Romeo and Juliet take to the stage. Neighbors erupt in applause while Hamlet and Juliet’s and Romeo and Ophelia’s new love story unravels, concluding the Smith's original Shakespeare crossover play.
During my time in UW–Madison's Special Collections, I discovered a book made with two wooden boards and some string. At first glance, it seemed like a Shakespeare text housed in a unique cover. Upon further investigation, I noticed the traditional Shakespeare tones were replaced with causal and modern attitudes. It was a Shakespeare text but, it did not read like Shakespeare. Rather than being filled with confusion as I read, this Shakespeare plot flowed smoothly, and I understood the text without re-reading as I normally do when reading traditional Shakespeare. The Smith family challenged theatrical norms in its reinterpretation of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. But, did their creative performance do Shakespeare justice? Shakespeare’s works provide much room for interpretation and adaptation, which offer the opportunity to revolutionize the esteemed plays—within certain limits.
The Story
On June 17, 1902, the Smiths performed their reimagined Shakespeare classic, The New Hamlet on the front lawn of their home, “The Thicket,” which had become a place for a community gathering in Peoria, Illinois. William Hawley Smith first wrote The New Hamlet, and following the family performance his manuscript was printed into an original book. According to the Peoria Historical Society, William began his career as a teacher but abandoned teaching to become an author. His writing career proved successful, as William wrote many books and toured the country as a recognizable entertainer and lecturer. Perhaps The New Hamlet served as the launching pad for his prominent writing career due to its originality and creativity.
In synopsis, The New Hamlet twists the classic love stories of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Gertrude and Lady Montague, two old college friends disappointed in their sons’ love interests, send their sons across the world, placing Hamlet in Verona and Romeo in Denmark. While in Denmark, Romeo discovers Claudius poisoned King Hamlet, and Ophelia falls in love with Romeo. Similarly, in Verona, Hamlet and Juliet fall in love. At the end of the play, Hamlet rightfully returns to his throne, and the long feud between the Capulets and Montagues resolves. Romeo and Ophelia and Hamlet and Juliet happily marry, ending the play on a uniquely lighthearted note.
Shakespeare on the Farm
While Shakespeare’s esteemed works allude to themes and morals of 16th-century culture, The New Hamlet proves Shakespeare’s timeless and versatile manner, as his plays and texts are easily adaptable to any time period and its societal customs. The New Hamlet—printed on thick, weathered, and yellowed paper—is sandwiched between two wood boards bound with string. A mostly colorless book, of alternating shades of brown and tan, reminds the reader of a simplistic farm lifestyle of the early 20th-century. The physical makeup of The New Hamlet coincides with the history of its authors, as the Smith family utilized organic materials, putting a local spin on Shakespeare classics. The Smith family crafted the book in a manner that complements the small town, hardworking farm culture of the early 1900s.
Neither Hamlet nor Romeo and Juliet were intended to be performed on a farm, yet the Smith family created a play which adapted Shakespeare classics three hundred years after their first performances. The prologue explains:
When Shakespeare wrote those doubly gruesome plays
Of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet
He wrote of things well suited to those days
But not to times like ours to-day, you bet.
William designed an adaptation complimenting the attitudes and beliefs of his current time, removing aspects of the plays that were no longer socially appropriate. The University of Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections archives volumes of The Rock Angus, a local newspaper from Rock Island, Illinois, provides a glimpse into life during this time. The June 21, 1902 newspaper offers insights into the joyful attitudes of rural Illinois society in the early 1900s. The newspaper includes circus and local grocery store advertisements, highlighting generally pleasant times, a hardworking nature, and family-oriented perspectives. The New Hamlet compiles these positive traits to produce a work of Shakespeare that reflects the viewpoints and lifestyles described in the newspaper.
The New Hamlet removes the unhappy deaths from Shakespeare's original plays and instead concludes with a happy note, for this particular community. Furthermore, the entire Smith family, ages one to eighty-two, make up the cast of characters. The family involvement emphasizes family importance to the Smiths in 1902. But despite the differences between The New Hamlet and the original Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, the main ideas and heroic plot points remain.
More than a Book
Since the Smith family’s adaptation, others creatively spun Shakespeare’s classic plays to parallel the attitudes of modern times. Most recently, Broadway’s hit musical & Juliet, written by David West Read, offers a 21st-century adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. In this rewrite, Juliet decides against killing herself and gains a second chance in finding love. Accompanied by William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway, Juliet runs away to Paris, embarking on a chaotic journey while singing famous songs from pop culture. In an Interview with Folger Shakespeare Library, Read describes the enjoyable challenge designing a script where Shakespeare interacts with his famous characters. He further describes the fun in matching the audience’s favorite songs to the relatable emotions, stress, angst, and joy, portrayed by the characters.
The musical follows the classic love story of Romeo and Juliet is followed, and similar to The New Hamlet, & Juliet’s modern twist on Shakespeare provides the opportunity for the audience to engage with the work as it most relates to modern attitudes and values. The New Hamlet’s performance and physical manuscript revolutionized the manner in which Shakespeare adaptations are devised and served as a stepping stone for elaborate and colorful Shakespeare adaptations such as & Juliet, with the themes of Shakespeare remaining constant in each creative rewrite.
Beyond Shakespeare
On the bright day of June 17, 1902, the Smith family happily performed their play, unaware of the magnitude of this groundbreaking Shakespeare performance. While some may argue merging two remarkably different plays ultimately removes the label of a Shakespeare text and potentially ruins the original intended content, the combination of two esteemed plays facilitates the crafting of a creative masterpiece. The Smith family crafted its Shakespeare text as if it were cobbling together a piece of furniture, as the family members incorporated the values of family into theater. Art serves to speak of our current times; choosing Shakespeare to convey morals and values proves Shakespeare's themes continue to endure and be adaptable to modern viewpoints. Adaptations of classic texts do not minimize the uniqueness of the original texts; instead, they offer a reimagined story in which writers bring to life audiences’ farfetched visions. As society evolves, media sources compliment changing times and those who push the boundaries of theatrical norms and textual works will continually revolutionize entertainment.
If you are interested in seeing The New Hamlet as discussed in this essay please make an appointment at UW-Madison's Special Collections. Or, view an online copy here.
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Funding for this series—which allowed HH to pay student writers and editors—was generously provided by the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries. Special thanks are due, as well, to the staff of Special Collections, and especially to Lisa Wettleson, who guided students through the process of learning how to conduct original research in rare book and archival libraries.
About the author: Rachel Smiley is a first year biology student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her interest in archival research and Holding History began in her first semester English class with Professor Calhoun. Rachel enjoys writing in her free time and hopes to pursue a career as a pediatrician in her future.
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