Hamlet without the prince

Hamlet without the prince

An event that happens despite the absence of a key player. Hamlet, the titular character of Shakespeare's play, is the prince of Denmark. The phrase originated from this very occurrence: a performance of Hamlet that took place without the actor who was to play Hamlet. Oh, we couldn't have a party without you—that would be like Hamlet without the prince!
See also: prince, without
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Hamlet without the prince

a performance or event taking place without the principal actor.
The phrase comes from an account given in the Morning Post of September 1775 . The member of a theatrical company who was to play Hamlet in a production of Shakespeare's play ran off with an innkeeper's daughter before the performance; when the play was announced to the audience, they were told ‘the part of Hamlet [was] to be left out, for that night’.
See also: prince, without
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • prince
  • here's the rub
  • there is/lies the rub
  • there(in) lies the rub
  • therein
  • there's the rub
  • that's the rub
  • (something), thy name is (someone or something)
  • the rub
  • rose by any other name, a
References in periodicals archive
And Michael Gove said: "Someone put it to me these hustings without Boris was like Hamlet without the Prince. Of course, at the end of Hamlet he isn't the king." Insiders on Mr Johnson's campaign said he was worried about "blue on blue" attacks that would give Labour ammunition for the next election.
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But there may be another reason that the show gives us Hamlet without the prince. It sets out to tell the 'histories' of iconoclasm; and yet, as the exhibition unfolds, it settles for a predictable teleology.
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The critic said the concept - Hamlet played as the Freudian dream of a disturbed in-patient - failed to liberate the play, adding: "We've all heard of Hamlet without the prince. Rickson virtually gives us the prince without Hamlet."
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Fonseka is almost as surreal as playing Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark."
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But with the stage looking its best and the curtains begging to be lifted for Fairyhouse's big day, are we about to sit down to watch Hamlet without the prince? Speaking of princes, Dermot Weld just dips in and out of the jumps scene these days but his select team of jumpers have a remarkable 35 per cent strike-rate.
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Jeremy Carter-Manning, defending Awan, said: "This trial is Hamlet without the prince."
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"Former President Bush's selective memoir is a little like Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark.
Bush at Large
Any discussion of ethnic movements, as they are pejoratively termed by proponents of Pakistani nationalism, or understanding genuine nationalist movements, as viewed by their supporters, without discussing Punjab is like staging Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark.
VIEW: Does Pakistan make sense? - I -Haider Nizamani
Responding to the opposition criticism that the Union finance minister wants to retain powers to decide the rates of state GST, Mukherjee informed the Lok Sabha that he has to take the states on board before implementing the GST as it was " not possible to stage Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark...
FM allays states' fear on GST veto power
It was Hamlet without the prince. The most powerful man in the world was 600 miles away in Chicago, having a day off with his family.
Prudence will still have a role to play
HAMLET WITHOUT the prince may not make much sense, but it's legal.
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Hamlet without the Prince? If he'd gone on a bit, so what?
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