While differences among the three early printed texts of Hamlet have
often been considered in terms of interpretive conequences in
performances, The Hamlets instead considers practical issues in the
playhouse and acting economy of early modern London. This book examines
how Shakespeare's company operated, how it may have treated the
authorial text, what the actors' needs might be, and how the three texts
may be manifestations of the play's life in the theater. By collating
and studying cue-line variation in the three texts, the book introduces
a new method of analysis and constructs for Hamlet a new narrative of
authorial, textual, and playhouse practices that challenges customary
assumptions about the nature and transmission of Shakespeare's most
textually troubling play.