It never fails to amaze me what new things I find in my daily trolling for all things Shakespeare. Did you know that Shel Silverstein did a version of Hamlet for Playboy magazine? Warning, this is not a children’s story. It’s a bit more adult, as you can guess by the publishing credit:
Hamlet stabs Laertes, and Laertes stabs him.
Then Hamlet turns around and stabs his uncle, too,
While the queen drinks some poison the king had brewed.
So she dies, he dies, Hamlet dies, Laertes dies
On top of where Ophelia lies,
Right next to where Polonius died.
And before you can wink, blink or turn your head,
Chop-stab-slice — every motherfucker’s dead.