 Another change, the addition of Hamlet's drinking song for the Players in act 2, created another opportunity for an audience-pleasing musical number.It also led to a shortening of his instructions to them before the song and could be justified dramatically as a cover for his ulterior motive in asking them to enact the mime play.In the final scene, in another simplification of the plot, Laërte, Polonius, and Gertrude survive.