Tom: Managing for Baltimore Shakespeare, little acting, seen 22 of 39 plays live. Now it’s getting harder. Not all are great.
Ref. Christian Business Network, founded by Tom Shetleck?
Shakespeare wrote for the stage, not the page. He was an actor and gave them enormous liberty, with little stage direction, unlike other playwrites. In Winter’s Tale there is a single indication of someone entering “stage right” or some such thing. This leads itself to people resetting and retelling the stories. Wife Vicky connected with Gentlemen of Verona because it was set in New York City and she could relate.
PowerPoint: slideshow. Describe the people you are looking at.
1. pensive, thoughtful, reflective (Lawrence of Olivia)
wistful,
2. emersed in his thoughts, cool
tricky, self absorbed
3. puzzling, young (Christopher Plumber, Michael Kaine
weak, distracted,
4. intense: Kenneth Branaugh
determined
5. regal, high brow, Ser Bernheart (19th Century Hamlet)
6. intense, slick,
angry, disturbed
7. sad, reflective, Kevin Kline (favorite)
There are some similarities, but huge differences. There is a huge liberty in interpretation. Compare the Bill Murray as Polonius in Hamlet (2000) in which the son barely pays attention to him, to the older versions in which Polonius is highly regarded by the son.
Shakespeare is seen either as a genius, a man beyond his time, or more recently a man of his wonderful time.
Stephen Greenblatt: Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, a wonderful book for context. Hamlet in Purgatory he also wrote. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, a year in which he wrote 1599 4 plays, started Hamlet at the end of that year. (As you like it, famous speech about the ages of man: All the world’s a stage, a lot about death, a precursor to Hamlet. After Hamlet he wrote Measure for Measure, also a character like Hamlet.
He wrote for a company. He was an actor and lead the company. He wrote for the individuals who made up the company. In 1595 he writes lots of comedic pieces, Henry IV part 1 (Fallstaff, the great big baudy, hard-drinking, braggart Knight), Mary Wives of Windsor, Much Ado about Nothing, repurposing the same character 4 times, then stopped. He had an actor Will Kemp, a fantastic comedic actor, who he wrote for. Then there was a falling out, and he killed Fallstaff in Henry V (what Tom Clancy did with Jack Ryan. Tom Clancy died and now there is a new Jack Ryan movie coming out!)
Richard Burbage, a tremendous actor, the first Hamlet, Lear, Othello.
Another book: God’s Secretaries, the making of the King James Bible.
Thomas Moore, chancellor of England in time of Henry VIII, in prison for not recognizing the divorce. Writes the “Dialoge of the Comfort against Tribulation” about how to find comfort in tribulation, in circulation at the time Hamlet was written.
Reference 3 kinds of men who are in trial, from Thomas Moore’s work, where we see the 3 kinds. One who receives comfort (Fortinbras). Two who don’t: one who is lethargic (Hamlet) and one who is fuming (Laertes). 3 kinds of men who are avenging their father’s death.
Act IV, Scene 4, line 15:
Shakespeare often tells people why they are doing things.
Gertrude: she likes her station and doesn’t want to step down. She likes being queen. And she may have been involved with Claudius before. Act III, Scene 4, closet scene: just after killing Polonius, Hamlet says that she was involved in killing her husband.
Shakespeare played the Ghost in this play. He played old kings a lot. Is the ghost satisfied with the result that he had set in motion? He is in his armor, does he only think about himself? Contrast with Hamlet, the intellectual.
Why wasn’t Hamlet king upon his father’s death? It wasn’t primogenitry, it was an elector system whereby nobles elected the next king. They draw from a tight band from around him.
To Be or Not To Be Speech: with Ophelia on the stage, which makes it much more of a foreshadowing.
2 themes going on concurrently: Montaignes talking about appearance and behavior, and how you can never really know people. All the while Renaissance is re-birthing humanities, where character qualities are being elevated and examined.
At the end you are left with lots of questions. How did you like how it turned out? etc.
Tom’s favorite speech: Hecuba speech: actors can produce emotion about something that means nothing to them. Why am I so paralyzed when I have something so important to me to emote about.
Favorite character?
Measure for measure was written just after this, the last comedy he wrote, there is a male character in prison scheduled to be executed. Set in Venice, Duke goes away putting his brother in charge, irresponsible, baudy jokes. Sister is studying to be a nun, going to a guy to let her brother go, says she must sleep with him for him to release her brother. His last comedy, from there it was just dark.
Horatio: boring? blank slate? For a scholar, he never initiates, he’s always just a step behind.
Everyone is always spying on each other in this play, behind a curtain, being sent to France to spy on family members.
Claudius: never really “owns” the throne, perhaps because he is usurping it.
Reference:
Bill Murray, Hamlet, 2000 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXS2esgBvxQ
Orson Welles and Peter O’Toole on Hamlet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smMa38CZCSU
Looking for Richard: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116913/
Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare http://vimeo.com/53246814