Paapa Essiedu's 'To Be Or Not To Be' speech in Royal Shakespeare's Hamlet

Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder…

The Royal Shakespeare Company takes Shakespeare’s searing tragedy of murder and revenge on national tour in 2018.

A student is called home from university to find his life turned upside down. He had the world at his feet, but now everything has changed. Who can be trusted, who can be believed?

Sent by the ghost of his father to avenge his brutal death, Hamlet’s mission to expose the truth is a perilous journey of madness, murder and lost love. What will ultimately become of a young man sent to kill?

Following a critically acclaimed run in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2016, rising star Paapa Essiedu plays the title role in a riveting and contemporary take on Hamlet.

[charlie]

Hands down, my favorite interpretation of the soliloquy. You hear the resonance and rage, but the doubt and the grief too. It’s as if he’s really contemplating these thoughts for the first time and voicing them. It’s the only Hamlet to make me cry.

[swanee]

I'm not a huge fan of TED talks, but this is a good one.

[Ghost-ufds]

I like this interpretation with a set design that brings it into a contemporary experience. My goodness, did you notice the actor is weeping? And this soliloquy occurs at the beginning of the Act. (Way to set the tone. Well done.) T.S. Eliot observed of "Hamlet" that it is "the Mona Lisa of literature." It's probably the most well-known of Shakespeare's plays for the general audience. Another scholar describes Hamlet's depression and anger at what happened in his family as 'manic.' This interpretation reveals a lot about the character. It's also not distracting from the words. There's just the right amount of body movements and facial expressions. Hamlet would have been going through what we now call the five stages of grief so his emotions can be all over the place. And I guess throughout the play, they are. I can't say enough good things about this performance. I appreciate its inclusion on YouTube.

[VirgoVeg]

this is the best version of the speech I've seen so far, and I think it'll be pretty hard to top it. all that emotion came out strong, even without the use of music or sound effects. This is the kind of acting that I wish was more common, because now I wont be able to look at the kind of acting I usually see and think its actually good. 😔

[thillirrr]

For me personally, that is the best interpretation so far..

[canaldemais]

Best ever! Better than Hiddleston, better than Branagh. Paapa should receive the Red Book for this soliloquy alone! Exactly the right amount of youth and confusion and doubt and rhythm. Exquisite!!!!

[natvaughn]

Ah, this rocks my world. Thank you for the inspiration!

[robertbrucelockhart]

He neither plays nor recites, he lives in this role. I share all feelings, emotions he conveys. No literature, but life. Shakespeare would be pleased. After all, Hamlet was a guy rather than Seneca. He expressed himself rather than moralized.

[fernanoficial]

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.–Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember’d.

[anisam]

this is utterly amazing! the emotions and work put into this is truly amazing. best performance, hands down!

[michaelciardi]

Nicely done. I think my students in my English classes will appreciate this version.

[meitalpo]

Such a brilliant actor, I see this and I just saw him as Kwame in “I May Destroy You”

[redactednull]

Wow this may just be my favorite rendition of hamlets soliloquy holy shit

[jonno]

I've only seen the play once, way back in (I think) 1968, Nicol Williamson played Hamlet. I don’t remember enjoying that performance greatly, I certainly wasn’t gripped by it in the same way as by this powerful, original and compelling soliloquy by Paapa Essiedu.

[rihadrihad]

This is the best, he is so great in this monologue, things like this makes me really appreciate the craft of acting?

[tiffanytcheng]

Shakespeare is finally stepping into 2022 he has become friendly n speak like us. Great one!

[tomashize]

Papa smashed it. Great actor! why is Dull Hiddleston a star and this guy ain't? Makes no sense to me

[jaydenmathews]

This one and Andrew Scott’s are the best interpretations ever

[jeanhill]

Oh that was so good! I love the emphasis placed on "is" rather than "that" in "that is the question"... Cumberbatch rendered it that way as well. Yes, I think I may have to agree with Demais - best ever! He nailed it!!

[katemate]

This is amazing. The best I have seen and heard. It has the WOW factor 💐🌟