I
Shakespeare’s
H A M L ET
There are so many reasons why I love Shakespeare’s Hamlet. When I first saw the play at the RSC in Stratford in the 1970s I was completely taken with the wonderfully driven narrative and the play’s central theme (as Laurence Olivier puts it) about a man who ‘can’t make up his mind’. I was also amazed how many everyday phrases come from a play that is over 400 years old.
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Frailty, thy name is woman! - Neither a borrower nor a lender be; - This above all: to thine ownself be true - to the manner born - There are more things in heaven and earth - brevity is the soul of wit - What a piece of work is a man! - The play’s the thing - The lady doth protest too much, methinks - I must be cruel, only to be kind - How all occasions do inform against me - The cat will mew and dog will have his day – and Hamlet’s last words, The rest is silence.
There are other reasons. In the 1980s I held the position of senior course tutor for a performing arts course in Southend on Sea. At the time, WH Smith had an arrangement with The National Theatre that allowed schools and colleges to hire props, bring in directors and (for £100!!!) have a performance of a play performed by National Theatre actors at your school. That particular January it was Hamlet! I wasted no time making a booking and arranged a ‘one off’ performance in a dull, empty hall by the seaside. When the bus with the actors turned up the first person who stepped off was Tim McInnerny (well before his Blackadder fame) who was playing Hamlet, and followed by Kate Buffery who played Gertrude with around another 10 or so other amazing actors in the cast. The Director was Cicely Berry, the renowned voice coach who gave Margaret Thatcher her deep, aggressive parliamentary voice. The production was on the flat of the hall, had a few simple props, no entrances or exits and was lit by the hall’s neon strip lighting. It was sheer theatrical magic. They created such an intense atmosphere that, at times, I could hardly breathe and performed the final fight scene with a strength and vigour that was amazing. The cast stayed to speak to us at the end of the play for about an hour which was incredibly generous considering they had just performed Shakespeare’s longest play. Hamlet, performed at Southend College of Arts and Technology on a rainy January afternoon was an experience I will treasure and never forget. By the time I saw that production, I was a ‘fresh out of the box’ drama teacher. So, the scene when Hamlet gives advice to the actors I saw it in a new light. The moment that meant so when Hamlet tells the actors….
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…… to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature, to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.
…… and I have tried to impart this advice to students I have taught ever since. Everyone who understands acting knows what it means. Acting should be natural, unforced, heartfelt and reflect the culture and world around you. Who’s up for an all-female Hamlet, then? Nick Jones, Head of Drama.
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