The Hamlet Murder Mystery Party - My Students' Favorite Thing We Do All Year
Every year, without fail, when I ask my seniors what their favorite thing was that we did in class, I get the same answer: the Hamlet Murder Mystery Party.
Not the Socratic seminar. Not the devised theatre project. The murder mystery party.
In this video I'm doing a full unboxing of the activity - going through my literal storage box of materials - and walking you through exactly how it works, why it works, and how it sets the tone for one of the most rigorous units I teach all year.
The context: two Shakespeare tragedies in three to four weeks
This activity kicks off a unit where my seniors read two Shakespeare tragedies - Hamlet followed by Macbeth - in a matter of three to four weeks, depending on the bell schedule. It sounds aggressive. It works because the inquiry framework holding it together is strong, and because the Murder Mystery Party gives students a visceral, embodied entry into the world of the play before they've read a single line.
The unit's essential question, explored across both plays: Are monsters born or made? Everything — every discussion, every analytical paragraph, every comparison essay — comes back to that.
How the Murder Mystery Party works
A few days before we start the unit, I quietly identify a few students who already know something about Hamlet - who knows what happens, who knows who's dead at the start of the play, who can play a key role. I pull them aside individually and give them their character assignment. They know something nobody else does yet.
On the day of the party:
The key players come in first and get their roles and their information.
The rest of the class is held in the hallway, building anticipation.
Students are brought in to a transformed classroom — the premise is that a murder has occurred, and they're investigators.
Characters interact with investigators. Clues are gathered. Accusations are made.
By the end of the activity, students have organically reconstructed the basic premise of Hamlet: who was killed, who did it, and why - all before they've read Act One.
What this does is extraordinary: it gives students dramatic stakes before the text. They care about what happens because they experienced the story first through play, through their own bodies and voices, before Shakespeare's language became the delivery mechanism for something they already understand.
What's in the box
I keep this activity organized in a labeled storage box - one of the scrapbooking-style boxes from the craft store. Inside: character role cards, investigator clue sheets, a facilitator guide, and the debrief questions that connect the activity to the play. Everything is reusable year after year. The activity is resource-heavy compared to a lot of what I do, which is exactly why keeping it in its own box matters.
Watch the full video for the complete unboxing and walkthrough - including how I prep the key players without spoiling anything for the rest of the class, and how the debrief connects directly to the essential question of the unit.
Want to build a full Shakespeare unit around engagement like this?
BNT University has two Shakespeare workshops built for exactly this.
WKSP 301: Teaching Shakespeare Basics with the Bard covers unit planning and foundational strategy.
WKSP 302: Teaching Shakespeare in the Modern Classroom goes deeper into play-specific close reading and supplemental pairing.
And LIT 105: Active Shakespeare covers the performance-based strategies - including physical activities for iambic pentameter and character motivation - that make Shakespeare come alive before students ever sit down with the text. All available at BNT University.
