episode_0028

The expression “like a movie” was somewhat insufficient to explain the mystery of magic.

that… It was like a dream. Although the actors were acting in front of my eyes, the surrounding environment changed moment by moment and merged with the actors as if the world existed for them.

So it was a strange thing.

[Hamlet: To be or not to be, that is the question]

This performance was simply theatrical.

At the moment of Hamlet’s monologue, he was portrayed as if he was praying alone, even though he was standing among the actors. He simply monologued alone, as if there was an invisible wall between him and the other actors.

Even another world created by magic failed to imbue the actor with that world.

[Hamlet: Is it nobler to endure the violent arrows and slings of fate with your heart?]

This was the difference between a play and a movie.

In a movie, all characters belong to that world, but in a play, the actors simply belong to the play.

The world does not exist.

Anywhere can be a stage for a play as long as there are actors and a play. So a play is nothing without a play.

Even if there is some kind of splendid magic.

The disappointment I felt while watching the play ‘Alice in Wonderland’. The moment he realized its identity, Hamlet, who had finished his soliloquy, shouted to Ophelia:

“─Miss, if you pray, pray for my sins too!”

I was immersed in this ‘play’.

When I came to my senses, everyone in the audience was standing up and applauding the actors.

I was there too.

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‘Hamlet’ was performed in most theaters in the empire.

The difference from the novel is that no matter how many theaters it was performed in, only a small number of people who could get tickets could see this play.

As a result, the play ‘Hamlet’ itself functioned as a kind of upper culture. Nobles, merchants, and wealthy people did not spare money to see the play Hamlet.

“How tragic… I was so captivated by the play that I saw it three times already. Every time I look at it, something new catches my eye… Wow, I think the author of Homer is truly a genius!”

“Hehe, I saw it five times. But do you know what? The script of ‘Hamlet’… Actually, there are two types.”

“Yes?”

The fact that one has seen the play Hamlet multiple times has itself become a symbol of wealth.

In the process, it became known that there were two different editions of ‘Hamlet’. As a result, the number of viewers attempting to watch the show again increased.

“It is said that he wrote it together with two of his students! I think they are called the Camel version and the Plummer version after their disciples.”

“If you’re Carmel, are you the same student who wrote ‘Alice in Wonderland’?”

To cool down the heat, Kindersley Publishing officially published the play ‘Hamlet’, but it had little effect.

Rather, it only amplified the readers’ desire to see the ‘play’ after seeing the play.

and.

People who exchange people’s aspirations for money exist everywhere.

“Pyo! Get your ticket! How much will it cost?”

“Sseu-eup, I also had a hard time getting it… . How long have you been looking into it?”

The scalpers started running amok.

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“Haha! Stuttering guy! Look! Overwhelming audience evaluation!”

“Ah, it’s not overwhelming, ah, it’s not… ? Well, it’s only a 3% difference… . Oh, actually, I won the evaluation of the play… ?”

“Tsk, critics are nothing but haters who even criticize Homer’s works. There is no meaning to those guys’ evaluations.”

“Ha, but I won… ?”

“The author of Homer also asked me to be evaluated by the audience, so this is my victory!”

“Look at this. Plummer’s version of Hamlet has no depth and is full of exaggerated sentences… Camelpan is the pinnacle of Homeric art… .”

“Critics’ evaluations are meaningless!”

The relationship between the two authors of Hamlet, Rawls Carmel and Ian Plummer, was like a cat and a dog.

Ian Plummer, full of aristocratic pride, was closer to a popular artist when it came to his art. Even when revising Hamlet’s lines, I took the audience’s perspective into consideration as much as possible and thought about lines that were intuitive and easy to listen to.

Rolls Camel, a stutterer, was a typical artist who was trapped in himself. Even when revising Hamlet’s lines, he indulged his own artistic enthusiasm and tried to fill them with as many new and beautiful sentences as possible.

So we had no choice but to growl at each other. Because the two were complete opposites of each other.

” Author Homer! How is it! I got a higher score in the audience evaluation, so isn’t it my victory?!”

“Well, my sentences are better, right? Author Homer… ?”

“Uh, can’t we just make it a draw? Both were very good. Why bother winning? .”

“Yes? But the writer Homer─.”

“Since both have their own merits, the idea was to publish both and get them evaluated. Honestly, it’s fun to see people’s reactions, right?”

I had no intention of evaluating which of the two was better.

I was not qualified to do so in the first place, and more than anything, I lacked the ability to evaluate. Because in my opinion, both were very interesting.

As long as I could enjoy more literature, that was enough for me.

” Ian Plummer won the audience evaluation, and Rolls Camel won the critic evaluation. Isn’t that enough?”

“… Okay.”

Ian Plummer didn’t seem very convinced.

“Hmm, student Ian. Have you read the novel ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’?”

“Ah, yes. This is the novel that took first place from us, so of course I read it.”

“It was fun, right?”

“… Yes.”

“Isn’t it more interesting than my novels?”

“Well, that’s not it. Isn’t this a novel with many internal errors in the setting and a mess of historical research?”

“But it’s fun, right?”

“‥‥‥.”

“Many readers say that The Count of Monte Cristo is a more interesting novel than the novels I have written. So, did I lose to a writer named ‘Herodotus’?”

“… No.”

“Right?”

“… Yes.”

In fact, ‘Herodotus’ is another pen name of mine, but Ian Plummer doesn’t know that.

So this analogy might work.

“It’s good to be competitive, but I hope you don’t get too obsessed with results or wins and losses. Literature itself is too beautiful to classify some as winning works and others as losing works, isn’t it? Right?”

“Yes. Yes.”

“Instead, um, it is true that student Ian Plummer received a higher score in the audience evaluation… . How about doing it like this?”

“‥‥‥.”

“When Ian Plummer publishes another work on his own, I will write a recommendation for that work.”

“… !!!”

Actually, it wasn’t that great of a privilege.

In the first place, I have no intention of saving recommendations, and I have already written recommendations for the full-length fairy tale written by Rolls Camel.

In other words, what Rolls Camel received was no different from what Ian Plummer received.

“Thank you! I will work hard!”

But in this case, showing off is important.

Ian Plummer was so moved that he even stuttered. It was a bit funny, considering that people used to call Camel a stutterer.

I nodded moderately and continued speaking.

“Then let’s end this story… About the play Hamlet. Did you know that these days, scalpers are using plays to make profits?”

“Ah, yes. Isn’t that what merchants are like? They are shallow people who don’t know anything about fame and see art as just a way to make money. Although beastmen are inherently flawed, merchants are especially bad in that they exploit fellow humans even though they are human.”

Ian Plummer spewed out random gossip about the merchant.

Having a father who was a member of the Parliamentary aristocracy, he did not seem to like merchants profiting from monopolies.

To be honest, I don’t have that bad of a perception about merchants, but… . The part about ticket scalping was different.

This is because scalpers are parasites that eat away at the culture and arts world.

“It is natural for merchants to pursue profits, but… I think it’s hard to see people making profit by using my work and holding the audience’s opportunity to see the play hostage. Opportunities to pursue cultural life must be given fairly to everyone.”

“You are correct!”

It is okay for wealthy people to purchase tickets by paying more than those who purchased tickets. Because you can’t blame someone for prioritizing money over culture.

However, scalpers take away even the slightest opportunity for ‘poor people to be lucky enough to see a performance’ by selling tickets.

The results cannot be fair. But the opportunities must be fair.

“However, there is currently no legal basis for punishing scalpers, so when publishing the play this time, I plan to include a warning against such ‘scalping’ behavior in the preface… Since it is the work of two students, I would like to hear their opinions.”

So I planned to sway public opinion in the same way I did when I published Part 2 of Don Quixote.

However, upon hearing what I said, Ian Plummer suddenly smiled triumphantly and raised his voice.

“If that’s the case, please leave it to me!”

“Yes?”

“My father is ‘Earl Plummer’. You are the leader of the Conservative Party of the House of Lords. We can pass at least one law quickly.”

“Ah.”

“If the author of Homer writes just one statement on ‘scams’, I will neatly organize public opinion. Haha!”

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“Oh my, you came here to buy Hamlet tickets, right? By the way, how long have you been looking into this? It’s become more popular these days, so it’s hard to make ends meet with a reasonable amount of money… .”

“Arrest everyone.”

“Yes!”

“Uh, huh? What is this! Don’t you let this go?! You guys know who I am!”

“Huh, I’d rather ask. What kind of confidence did you have to use ‘that person’s’ work to make money? .”

one week.

This was the time it took for the scalpers, who were eating away at the empire’s culture and art world, to be completely eliminated.