The Hamlet Project– Kate Bell's Response
Hamlet Project
Hamlet Act I, Scene ii – taking Hamlet’s soliloquy and physicalising the punctuation.
The exercise required us to walk round the space, changing direction whenever we came to a point of punctuation. This helped to emphasise the fragmented state of Hamlet’s tortured mind. We discussed the fact that the soliloquy could be summarised by combining the phrases “That it should come to this…within a month…why she, even she…married with my uncle”. Thus the rest of the speech is digression.
Some of the group felt that the frequent punctuation revealed the restlessness of Hamlet’s mind, in that, just as we were constantly changing direction, Hamlet’s mind is constantly shifting focus. I felt, however, that the breaking up of the sentences revealed Hamlet’s inability to articulate his agony, and his desire to do so. This is evident in the contrast between the shorter and longer phrases. There is, for example, a shift between Hamlet’s repulsion and anger at his mother’s hasty remarriage and his feelings for his father, and this contrast is emphasised by punctuation differences.
“…That it should come to this –
But two months dead, nay, not so much, not two!
So excellent a king, that was to this
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly.”
Hamlet does not finish his first thought, which is broken by his reconsidering the length of time his father has been dead, before rushing onto his next thought. The first two lines end in punctuation, but the following four are enjambed, reflecting Hamlet’s insatiable reflection on his father, and the change in mood from anger to grief. The fourth line also breaks the iambic pentameter, which further stretches this thought. This helped me to understand that Hamlet is revelling in grief. This could be uncomfortable for an audience. One thing I learnt from this is that Hamlet inspires both sympathy and irritation, and I feel it is important for a director and actor to encourage both reactions from an audience.
The line “But two months dead, nay, not so much, not two!” is expressed almost conversationally, as if Hamlet is trying both to understand and clarify things in his own mind, and express them. As he thinks about the two months that have passed since his father’s death, he suddenly realises that is has not even been this long, and thus reverses to correct himself. This shows the importance of detail in his soliloquy. The exclamation, as if he is expressing this verbally to someone is ironic as it emphasises his loneliness and isolation. This effect of Hamlet’s enforced isolation was a key idea that struck me as we read and physically punctuated this speech.
This led me to realise the importance of Hamlet’s being a student. He is seen by the others within the court to be overreacting, indulging incessantly and unnecessarily in grief. I think we are naturally drawn to Hamlet because of the complexity of his soliloquies and the relationship with the audience that this fosters, but equally he is not always an admirable character and his inability to move on is partly self-inflicted. If Hamlet is portrayed as a very young, adolescent student, the court’s reaction to him could be made more understandable. Hamlet’s soliloquies are his own, his one chance to persuade the audience that his mother’s behaviour is inexcusable. These speeches are therefore crucial in presenting a Hamlet for whom the audience can feel sympathy. I think the desire for communication is a key concept and one which makes these soliloquies and the role of Hamlet so appealing to any actor.
Hamlet and Gertrude – being restrained
One actor from each group played Hamlet, and one played Gertrude. Hamlet’s task was to repeat a line and try to reach Gertrude, who was standing at the other side of the room, while being held back by two other actors. This really helped to consolidate in my mind a sense of Hamlet’s helplessness in communicating his anger, bitterness and heartbreak. Being held back was intensely frustrating, as it would be for Hamlet. Playing Gertrude, however, helped me to understand her vulnerability and the force of Hamlet’s anger in a scene such as the closet scene, where the two are alone and she is unprotected against his resentment.
Sounds from Hamlet – making soundscapes to create the scenes of the Battlements and Ophelia’s death.
The group split into two and each presented their soundscape to the other group, who sat with their eyes closed. We each had a list of sounds associated with the different settings. The battlements sound effects included quotes from those scenes within the play, but the rest of the sounds were based on associations. This helped to create a general picture of each setting, and opened possibilities for interpretive choices. A powerful choice that the other group made to portray Ophelia’s death scene was to have one actor laughing and a few seconds later making choking noises. This portrayed Ophelia’s helplessness and madness, as she was out of control.
Hamlet is a play about…the impossibility of certainty – devising an improvised piece to show a theme of the play.
Our group chose to show the idea of the impossibility of certainty within Hamlet. We felt that the line “To be, or not to be – that is the question” best demonstrated Hamlet’s indecisiveness and mental anguish. We showed this physically by repeating this line as we jumped over a skipping rope which got increasingly higher and led to us all collapsing, entangled within the rope. This showed that Hamlet is very vulnerable and his torment is never resolved positively.
06 Feb 2007 22:19
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