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Authors: William Shakespeare
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Laertes’ pardon, explaining that his actions were “Never Hamlet,” but the result of “madness” which caused “Hamlet from himself [to] be taken away,” again reinforcing the fragmented nature of his identity. Laertes will not consider “reconcilement” until he has consulted “some elder masters” on the matter of honor, but he accepts Hamlet’s “offered love.” They begin to fence.
Lines 231–325: The fight signifies a shift from “words” to “action.” After all the contemplation and conversation, we are presented with fast and confusing activity, added to by the various characters’ brief comments and asides. There is a switch of rapiers, resulting in both Hamlet and Laertes being stabbed with the poisoned blade. Gertrude, meanwhile, mistakenly drinks the poisoned wine. She dies and Hamlet demands that they seek out the treachery that killed her. Laertes, realizing that he and Hamlet are both dying, explains everything and blames Claudius. Hamlet kills Claudius with the poisoned sword, finally fulfilling his quest for revenge. Laertes begs Hamlet to “exchange forgiveness” with him and dies. Hamlet forgives Laertes and curses the courtiers who stand around and watch as “but mutes or audience to this act,” sustaining the theatrical awareness to the end. Horatio wishes to drink the poison and die, but Hamlet begs him to remain alive “in this harsh world,” so as to tell Hamlet’s story. A “warlike noise” is heard, and Osric explains that Fortinbras and the English ambassadors have arrived. Hamlet announces that Fortinbras will be the next king of Denmark and dies.
Lines 326–353: Fortinbras asks what has happened, and Horatio promises to tell him. We learn that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras claims the Danish throne and orders that Hamlet be given a military funeral.
HAMLET IN PERFORMANCE:
THE RSC AND BEYOND
The best way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or ideally to participate in it. By examining a range of productions, we may gain a sense of the extraordinary variety of approaches and interpretations that are possible—a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made “our contemporary” four centuries after his death.
We begin with a brief overview of the play’s theatrical and cinematic life, offering historical perspectives on how it has been performed. We then analyze in more detail a series of productions staged over the last half-century by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The sense of dialogue between productions that can only occur when a company is dedicated to the revival and investigation of the Shakespeare canon over a long period, together with the uniquely comprehensive archival resource of promptbooks, program notes, reviews and interviews held on behalf of the RSC at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, allows an “RSC stage history” to become a crucible in which the chemistry of the play can be explored.
Finally, we go to the horse’s mouth. Modern theater is dominated by the figure of the director. He, or sometimes she (like musical conducting, theater directing remains a male-dominated profession), must hold together the whole play, whereas the actor must concentrate on his or her part. The director’s viewpoint is therefore especially valuable. Shakespeare’s plasticity is wonderfully revealed when we hear directors of highly successful productions answering the same questions in very different ways.
FOUR CENTURIES OF
HAMLET:
AN OVERVIEW
Hamlet
is the best-known and most discussed of all Shakespeare’s plays. It is also one of the most frequently performed. The many earlyreferences to it suggest that this has always been the case. There is then a remarkably full stage history which reveals a certain continuity and predictability by way of a perpetual focus on the figure of the prince himself, claims for the “naturalistic” quality of the actor’s performance, a
Lines 231–325: The fight signifies a shift from “words” to “action.” After all the contemplation and conversation, we are presented with fast and confusing activity, added to by the various characters’ brief comments and asides. There is a switch of rapiers, resulting in both Hamlet and Laertes being stabbed with the poisoned blade. Gertrude, meanwhile, mistakenly drinks the poisoned wine. She dies and Hamlet demands that they seek out the treachery that killed her. Laertes, realizing that he and Hamlet are both dying, explains everything and blames Claudius. Hamlet kills Claudius with the poisoned sword, finally fulfilling his quest for revenge. Laertes begs Hamlet to “exchange forgiveness” with him and dies. Hamlet forgives Laertes and curses the courtiers who stand around and watch as “but mutes or audience to this act,” sustaining the theatrical awareness to the end. Horatio wishes to drink the poison and die, but Hamlet begs him to remain alive “in this harsh world,” so as to tell Hamlet’s story. A “warlike noise” is heard, and Osric explains that Fortinbras and the English ambassadors have arrived. Hamlet announces that Fortinbras will be the next king of Denmark and dies.
Lines 326–353: Fortinbras asks what has happened, and Horatio promises to tell him. We learn that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras claims the Danish throne and orders that Hamlet be given a military funeral.
HAMLET IN PERFORMANCE:
THE RSC AND BEYOND
The best way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or ideally to participate in it. By examining a range of productions, we may gain a sense of the extraordinary variety of approaches and interpretations that are possible—a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made “our contemporary” four centuries after his death.
We begin with a brief overview of the play’s theatrical and cinematic life, offering historical perspectives on how it has been performed. We then analyze in more detail a series of productions staged over the last half-century by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The sense of dialogue between productions that can only occur when a company is dedicated to the revival and investigation of the Shakespeare canon over a long period, together with the uniquely comprehensive archival resource of promptbooks, program notes, reviews and interviews held on behalf of the RSC at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, allows an “RSC stage history” to become a crucible in which the chemistry of the play can be explored.
Finally, we go to the horse’s mouth. Modern theater is dominated by the figure of the director. He, or sometimes she (like musical conducting, theater directing remains a male-dominated profession), must hold together the whole play, whereas the actor must concentrate on his or her part. The director’s viewpoint is therefore especially valuable. Shakespeare’s plasticity is wonderfully revealed when we hear directors of highly successful productions answering the same questions in very different ways.
FOUR CENTURIES OF
HAMLET:
AN OVERVIEW
Hamlet
is the best-known and most discussed of all Shakespeare’s plays. It is also one of the most frequently performed. The many earlyreferences to it suggest that this has always been the case. There is then a remarkably full stage history which reveals a certain continuity and predictability by way of a perpetual focus on the figure of the prince himself, claims for the “naturalistic” quality of the actor’s performance, a
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