Observation of a Production of William Shakespeare's Hamlet
On Saturday October 14, 2000, the North Carolina Shakespeare festival put on a performance of Hamlet. This show, which was performed at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, North Carolina, was directed by _____________________, who also directed ____________________. ___________________ did a really good job at playing Hamlet, which is a very hard role to act for any actor. Hamlet was produced by the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, which is a group of actors that travel around NC and the South, running productions of Shakespeare's many plays. The North Carolina Shakespeare Festival put on a production of Taming of the shrew on October 13, where the actor who played Hamlet played a servant of a rich landowner.
Out of all the players in Hamlet, two that really stuck out in my mind are Hamlet and Polonious. __________________'s portrale of Hamlet was very energetic and believable. Where ____________ was silly and almost humorous in his portrale of Polonious. Two players that really disappointed me in their performances were _____________________ and _________________________. The king, who was played by _______________ was dry and inconvincible, and ______________________ who played Hamlet's mother was very fake and uninteresting.
Out of the whole play, the scene that struck me as the most memorable was the scene where Hamlet sees his father and makes everyone that is with him to swear that they won't speak a word of what they saw to anyone or anything. They are all sitting in a circle and Hamlet asks them to swear and then the lights dim and a red light turns on. Then a big ominous voice pounds down from above (it is hamlet's father) and commands them to swear. This happens many times until all the people say that they will swear.(it is also quite comical.). The scene where hamlet kills Polonious was just as I had expected it to be, where as the scene where hamlet makes his famous "to be or not to be?" speech was nothing like I had expected.
The set that Hamlet was played on was a very simple; on its edges it had two kind of curtanoffed closet looking things. In the back of it there were 2 huge doors, which opened in the middle of the stage. On stage right there was a raised platform about 5-6feet off of the floor with concrete steps going up to it.
What can we say about Hamlet that has not being said before? Almost nothing and we do not consider ourselves worthy of even commenting on such an incredible play. What we can say for sure is that its tragic tones still serve as a referent for the modern theater. The play has approximately 4,000 lines, and since the story is tightly knit, it is hard to choose parts to cull, as it has to be done carefully in order to the play keep its original meaning. In the same way, it will depend on which format we are planning on presenting the play, if it will be presented at a theater, we might keep closer to the original. On the other hand, if the cuts would have to be done for a movie, we would have to cull it severely, so it fits the timeframe.
Vowing revenge upon his Uncle/Dad, Hamlet begins to mentally falter and eventually, is in. such a wild rage that he accidentally kills Polonious believing him to be his father. Hilarity ensues. & nbsp; Ophelia, Hamlet's love interest, commits suicide/dies (that's up). for debate elsewhere) after going slightly mad at the impact of her.
Hamlet is a classic play that has been performed, filmed, and read millions of times since its birth four hundred and fifteen years ago. These portrayals vary from the basic performances of Shakespeare’s time to high-tech revivals that remodel Claudius’ seizure of the throne as a sly boardroom takeover of a prospering tech-company. Each of these adaptations takes artistic liberties, a collaboration or conspiracy among director, screenwriter, and cinematographer, which changes not only the details but also the era and locale. Both Branagh and Almereyda’s versions retained the original name, and some of the dialogue, yet couldn’t be more opposite in their portrayal of “The Tragedy of Hamlet”. Each depiction has quirks that modify Shakespeare
There have been numerous remarks of William Shakespeare’s most celebrated drama Hamlet. Almereyda managed to make Hamlet a theoretical play, into an intense, action-driven movie without losing much of the initial tragic atmosphere of the original play. The play Hamlet focuses strictly on the state of Denmark on the original Elsinore castle, however Michael Almereyda was able to modernize the movie to New York City. In many ways I think that the modernized version of Hamlet is easier to appreciate but in review that diminishes the play’s “greatness,” in my personal opinion.
Much of the dramatic action of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet is within the head of the main character, Hamlet. His wordplay represents the amazing, contradictory, unsettled, mocking, nature of his mind, as it is torn by disappointment and positive love, as Hamlet seeks both acceptance and punishment, action and stillness, and wishes for consummation and annihilation. He can be abruptly silent or vicious; he is capable of wild laughter and tears, and also polite badinage.
The scene then cuts to Hamlet walking into the theatre and Gertrude asking him to sit by her. Hamlet says no because he would rather sit next to Ophelia who is more attractive. Hamlet then jumps over a row of seats to get next to Ophelia and asks if he can lit on her lap. She says no and then he says no and Hamlet says “my head upon your lap” and Ophelia says that he can. I feel that this sequence shows a lot about Hamlet. First off, wh...
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most produced plays of all time. Written during the height of Shakespeare’s fame—1600—Hamlet has been read, produced, and researched by more individuals now than during Shakespeare’s own lifetime. It is has very few stage directions, because Shakespeare served as the director, even though no such official position existed at the time. Throughout its over 400 years of production history, Hamlet has seen several changes. Several textual cuts have been made, in addition to the liberties taken through each production. In recent years, Hamlet has seen character changes, plot changes, gender role reversals, alternate endings, time period shifts, and thematic alternations, to name only a few creative liberties modern productions of Hamlet have taken.
Hamlet, performed by the Yohangza Theatre Company of Korea and directed by Jung-ung Yang, is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet that integrates Korean Shamanist rituals with the original storyline and text. Performed in Korean and featuring an all Korean cast, the play made its debut in 2009 at the Myeongdong Theater in Seoul. The play was later also performed at the at the 2010 Oz Asia Festival in Adelaide, the 2011 Shakespeare-Festival Neuss in Germany, and at the Peacock Theatre in London in 2014 (Yung). It is clear that many liberties are taken in this adaptation of Hamlet; therefore, evaluating the effectiveness of the overall production based on the accuracy of the
Hamlet, one of the most intricate and influential plays by Shakespeare, debatably of all time. It has inspired not only appreciative readers and writing critiques but continuous generations of people. The inspiration led to the fabrication of many great movies, which wasn’t achievable until the 20th century. Before cinema was the prevalent method of sharing appreciation and spilling emotion for a specific subject, art portrayed what would fly through our minds such as the many interpretations of Ophelia’s death. With the imagery put into motion we can try and pick apart how certain people might view the play being portrayed and choose what best suits our expectation of this tragedy. Other things that only film has been able to present to us is the various camera angles, a setting that isn’t restricted to a stage and an audience that can be reached anywhere in the world. Also who is casted and how they will be dressed is crucial to the success of the movie although sometimes overlooked during the production process. Some movies represent these elements of mise-en-scene in an excellent matter such as the Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet, while others would seem to disappoint my expectations for a great re-visualization of our suicidal hero like Micheal Almereyda’s Hamlet staring Ethan Hawke. Admirably though every Hamlet film to date has its own unique style, something that will please all audiences, with its unique pros and cons.
Different adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works have taken various forms. Through the creative license that artists, directors, and actors take, diverse incarnations of his classic works continue to arise. Gregory Doran’s Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet bring William Shakespeare’s work by the same title to the screen. These two film adaptations take different approaches in presenting the turmoil of Hamlet. From the diverging takes on atmosphere to the characterization of the characters themselves, the many possible readings of Hamlet create the ability for the modification of the presentation and the meaning of the play itself. Doran presents David Tenant as Hamlet in a dark, eerie, and minimal setting; his direction highlighting the
During class we have reviewed many versions of the play Hamlet. The two movie versions that I chose to compare on the play Hamlet are the David Tennant version and the Kenneth Branagh version. I chose these two versions because these were the two that most interested me. I believe that some scenes from each movie were better than the other, but overall I liked these two versions just as equally. The three main scenes that stood out to me that I will be comparing are ‘Ophelia’s Mad Scene’, the ‘Hamlet Kills Polonius’ scene, and Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ scene.
...ent techniques and styles that help audiences understand. Hamlet is play of one man?s apparent uncertainty and exposure to a number of dissolutions and distractions that prevent him from giving peace to his father?s ghost and peace to his own mind state. He uses the madness that he has, as a way to distract and trick his enemies into doing as he pleases. The film version attempts to show this, but in an environment that is very much different than the middle ages. Just as in most film adaptations, Hamlet on screen is mostly vague, but with enough substance to be mildly entertaining, and a good start for individuals who want to start reading Shakespeare, but are afraid that they won?t understand, or will be caught off guard by the language. This is why the modern version of Hamlet is a very appropriate film for students and children, alike. (apart from the violence)
Hamlet, performed by the Yohangza Theatre Company of Korea and directed by Jung-ung Yang, is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet that integrates the Korean Shamanist rituals with the original storyline and text. Performed in Korean and featuring an all Korean cast, the play made its debut in 2009 at the Myeongdong Theater in Seoul. The play was layer also performed at the at the 2010 Oz Asia Festival in Adelaide, the 2011 Shakespeare-Festival Neuss in Germany, and at the Peacock Theatre in London in 2014 (Yung). It is clear that many liberties are taken in this adaptation of Hamlet; therefore, evaluating the effectiveness of the overall production based on the accuracy of the play in relation to the original text will be unfruitful. Instead,
...amining the masterpiece that is Hamlet, it becomes clear that Shakespeare was a successful playwright because he understood his audience and knew how to connect with them through his work. Even four hundred years after Shakespeare, this is still undeniably a crucial quality in anyone who is required to interact with an audience. Hence, much can be learned from Hamlet and from Shakespeare’s other works of art; the context of his plays may no longer resonate in today’s world, but the methods he used to engage and target the audience are timeless guidelines.
I do not agree with the comment of Hazlitt: 'There is no play that suffers so much in being transferred to the stage' Based on performances I have seen and other plays by Shakespeare, I think this is one of his better plays as it does not stick to guidelines. Although a long play, it has a depth to it, that, if transferred to the stage well, is transformed from a long and winding script to a fascinating play filled with suspense and the emotions of the characters run high. 'Hamlet', nonetheless is a challenging script and Hamlet himself can either create the play, or destroy it, he is the key element.