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Plays › The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark › First Player

First Player

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark · 8 speeches across 2 scenes

Player from a traveling troupe performing 'The Murder of Gonzago' for Hamlet, serving as a tool for the prince's revenge scheme.

Who they are

The First Player leads a company of actors hired by Hamlet to stage a play that mirrors Claudius's supposed murder of Hamlet's father. He delivers a passionate speech about Pyrrhus and Hecuba, demonstrating theatrical emotion that contrasts with Hamlet's own inaction. He later collaborates in revising the performance to include a poisoning scene, becoming a key instrument in the prince's plan to expose the king's guilt. His relationship with Hamlet is professional but symbolic, as the prince uses him to manipulate the court.

Playing them

Balance the classical gravitas of a seasoned troupe leader with genuine theatrical flair—speak the Pyrrhus speech with raw, visceral intensity, building to a crescendo of grief for Hecuba. Use a resonant, controlled voice that can shift from polite deference (addressing Hamlet) to dramatic abandon (onstage). Physicality should suggest practiced poise, but allow the 'mobled queen' passage to evoke a trembling, vulnerable posture. Tradition often casts this actor as middle-aged, weary yet proud of their craft.

Appearance

Typically costumed in a simple, worn actor's tunic or doublet, perhaps with a prop sword for the Pyrrhus speech. No elaborate regalia—the focus is on the player's expressiveness, not their attire.

Worth knowing

The First Player reflects the real Elizabethan acting troupes of Shakespeare's era, such as the Lord Chamberlain's Men, who performed for royalty and commoners alike. The Pyrrhus speech is a pastiche of classical epic, possibly alluding to Marlowe's 'Dido, Queen of Carthage,' and highlights contemporary debates about the power of theatrical emotion.

Where they appear

Play First Player

Take the part and Yorick reads every other role aloud, following you line by line as you speak.

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Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.