The Great Dane

Ghosts, revenge and sword fights have always been popular, which is only one of the reasons Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is still around.

OK, Mel Gibson didn’t hurt, either.

First performed in London probably around 1602, “Hamlet” is one of the best known of Shakespeare’s plays, surpassed only by “Romeo and Juliet.”

The first Melancholy Dane was probably Richard Burbage. More recent Hamlets include Laurence Olivier, and of course, Gibson, who starred in last year’s film.

It’s fairly well-known that Shakespeare borrowed almost all of his plots from other sources. “Hamlet’s” source is most likely a play called “The Revenger’s Tragedy,” which was actually more popular in the Bard’s time.

Several classic speeches, such as “To be or not to be,” “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” and “The advice to the players” make “Hamlet” the better remembered.

A production of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” will be presented by A Noise Within, a classical theater company, at the Masonic Temple at 234 S. Brand Ave., Glendale. It opens Saturday and runs through Dec. 8. Times are 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays ($8 donation).