We Haven't Got There Yet

"We Haven't Got There Yet" is a science-fiction/alternate history story by Harry Turtledove, published on-line at Tor.com, March, 2009. In 1606, William Shakespeare learns of a new play entitled Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by playwrite Tom Stoppard. Shakespeare, angered that someone has plagerized his work Hamlet attends the play. Initially angry, he discovers that he actually quite enjoys what he sees. After bribing his way backstage, he learns from the cast that they were actually in London to perform Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead for its centennial, and then suddenly found themselves transported in back in time. As actors, the decide to continue to perform plays written centuries after Shakespeare's death.

Literary Comment
The story is superficially similar to Turtledove's own "Hindsight", which also features a time-traveler plagerizing works before they were written. The critical difference is the time-traveler's intent. Michelle Gordian has a specific agenda in "Hindsight"; she hopes to change her future by flooding the past with popular works of science fiction. The time-traveling troupe in "We Haven't Got There Yet" is just trying to survive in their changed circumstances. "We Haven't Got There Yet" is appears to be Turtledove's attempt to present a William Shakespeare who suddenly realizes just how valued and appreciated his work will be after his death. In this, Turtledove is extremely successful.

While the course of history does not seem appreciably altered, the performances of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead as well as Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot centuries before they were written does qualify the story as alternate history, if barely.