RALPH:  No one else at the court besides Hamlet knows that Claudius killed his brother.  But after Hamlet’s staging of the play in Act 3, scene 2, the faceoff between Prince Hamlet and Claudius has been ratcheted up to a fever pitch.

SARAH:  This play within the play, which is often referred to as the Mousetrap, shows a scene almost identical to Claudius’s murder of Hamlet’s father – and it causes Claudius to reveal his guilt.  So now Hamlet has even more convincing evidence of the murder; but it also means that Hamlet has had to tip his hand. One of them is bound to act soon.

RALPH:  At the same time, Polonius and Gertrude are still trying to discover the source of Hamlet’s madness. Gertrude has told Hamlet to come to her closet, or her private chambers, where she intends to confront him about this strange, and rather insulting, play that he’s put on for the court.

SARAH:  Polonius, meanwhile, will be listening in – and, you’ve guessed it, once again he’ll be hiding behind the curtain.