JohnCenaFan28
11-27-2008, 12:57 AM
A Shakespeare fan's dying wish has come true after his skull was used as a prop in Hamlet.
http://www.ananova.com/images/web/1457144.jpg
Actor David Tennant used it on stage during the famous "Alas, poor Yorick" scene, reports The Sun.
Concert pianist Andre Tchaikowsky left his skull to the Royal Shakespeare Company but since his death from cancer in 1982, it had only been used in rehearsals.
But Doctor Who star David agreed to handle the macabre prop in 22 performances at the Bard's home town Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.
The audience was unaware the skull was real until the final performance last week. It will be used again when the play transfers to London.
Pole Andre often visited Stratford and Hamlet was his favourite play.
David Howells, curator of the RSC archives, said: "You have to go back to the early 19th century for the last time a real human skull was used in a production of Hamlet."
Dave Ferre, a friend of the Tchaikowsky family, said: "It was Andres dream. They will be pleased he has made it on stage."
In act five, scene one, a gravedigger unearths the skull of jester Yorick, prompting Hamlet to deliver the line: "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy."
-Nova
http://www.ananova.com/images/web/1457144.jpg
Actor David Tennant used it on stage during the famous "Alas, poor Yorick" scene, reports The Sun.
Concert pianist Andre Tchaikowsky left his skull to the Royal Shakespeare Company but since his death from cancer in 1982, it had only been used in rehearsals.
But Doctor Who star David agreed to handle the macabre prop in 22 performances at the Bard's home town Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.
The audience was unaware the skull was real until the final performance last week. It will be used again when the play transfers to London.
Pole Andre often visited Stratford and Hamlet was his favourite play.
David Howells, curator of the RSC archives, said: "You have to go back to the early 19th century for the last time a real human skull was used in a production of Hamlet."
Dave Ferre, a friend of the Tchaikowsky family, said: "It was Andres dream. They will be pleased he has made it on stage."
In act five, scene one, a gravedigger unearths the skull of jester Yorick, prompting Hamlet to deliver the line: "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy."
-Nova