Act 2 was weird and long. But besides that...

I liked but was a little confused by the scenes with the players. Hamlet's friends seem to know him well, and the acting really seemed to cheer him up for a little while. He even was cracking a few jokes. His friends' presence alone seems to have a positive impact on him, but it is short lived. Even his merriment turns toward vengeance, as he forms a plot to test the trustworthiness of the ghost.

That leads to another point. I was thinking while reading, what if the ghost wasn't real and they were wrong about the uncle killing Hammy's dad? Thankfully, this act shows that Hamlet isn't a complete nut case. At least he tests to see if his ghost is truthful before he turns murderous. That's reassuring. I was really wondering what the point of all the players and such was until Hamlet introduced his idea to watch his uncle's reaction. Ahh, the genius of Shakespeare... Long winded, but amazing plot lines.

As a side note, the highlight of my Hamlet reading experience happened today when Erin politely pointed out the connection between Hamlet and The Lion King. Mind blown.