We talk a lot about text sessions as an integral part of the
way we work, but what exactly do we mean by that, and what does it entail? Well, to give you a taste, below you
will find a section of Hamlet Act 1,
scene 3: the famous ‘get thee to a nunnery’ scene. We will go point through point how one of these sessions
runs. Enjoy!
…………………………………………………….many a
day?
I humbly thanke you: well,
well, well.
…………………………………………………….receive
them.
No, no, I never gave you
ought.
…………………………………………………….There my
Lord.
Ha, ha: Are you honest?
…………………………………………………….My Lord.
Are you faire?
…………………………………………………….your
Lordship?
That if you be honest and
faire, your Honesty
should admit no discourse to
your Beauty.
…………………………………………………….your
Honestie?
I trulie: for the power of Beautie, will sooner
transforme Honestie from what
it is, to a Bawd, then the
force of Honestie can
translate Beautie into his likenesse.
This was sometime a Paradox,
but now the time gives it
proofe. I did love you once.
…………………………………………………….beleeve
so.
You should not have believed
me. For vertue
cannot so innocculate our old
stocke, but we shall relish
of it. I loved you not.
…………………………………………………….more
deceived.
Get thee to a Nunnerie. Why would’st thou
be a breeder of Sinners? I am my selfe indifferent honest,
but yet I could accuse me of
such things, that it were bet-
ter my Mother had not borne
me. I am very prowd, re-
vengefull, Ambitious, with
more offences at my becke,
then I have thoughts to put
them in imagination, to give
them shape, or time to acte
them in. What should such
Fellowes as I do, crawling
between Heaven and Earth.
We are arrant Knaves all,
beleeve none of us. Goe thy
wayes to a Nunnery. Where’s your Father?
…………………………………………………….At home,
my Lord.
Let the doores be shut upon
him, that he may
play the Foole no way, but
in’s owne house. Farewell.
…………………………………………………….sweet
Heavens.
If thou doest Marry, Ile give
thee this Plague
for thy Dowrie. Be thou as chast as Ice, as pure as
Snow,
thou shalt not escape Calumny. Get thee to a Nunnery.
Go, Farewell. Or if thou wilt needs Marry, marry a
fool:
for Wise men know well
enough, what monsters you
make of them. To a Nunnery go, and quickly too. Far-
well.
…………………………………………………….restore
him.
I have heard of your
pratlings too wel enough.
God has given you one pace,
and you make your selfe an-
other: you gidge, you amble,
and you lispe, and nickname
Gods creatures, and make your
Wantonnesse, your Ig-
norance. Go too, Ile no more on’t, it hath made
me mad.
I say, we will have no more
Marriages. Those that are
married already, all but one
shall live, the rest shall keep
as they are. To a Nunnery,
go.
EXIT HAMLET*
The first thing that we notice is that all of Hamlet’s lines
are written in prose. In Hamlet’s
cue script, this follows ‘To be or not to be,’ which is written in verse. That means between the end of that
block of speech and this section, there is a major playable (actable) shift in
the character.
How do we know that the first lines are in prose? They are all short lines that do not
complete their cues. That means
that if this is meant to be verse, there is a lot of pausing here – and there
very well may be. The question
then arises: what effect does that have?
A good rule of thumb when it comes to pauses is: when in doubt, leave it
out. An audience can follow
dialogue that keeps moving, and important information in Shakespeare is often
repeated, so should they miss it here, it will come up again. What an audience will not forgive is
lots… of… unnecessary… pausing.
Usually if there is to be a pause between the lines, Shakespeare makes
it pretty obvious. In these lines
in particular, the punctuation offers opportunity for pauses and action within
the lines on ‘;’s and ‘Ha.’ The
determining factor on whether the actor should pause in the words is whether or
not the actor can find a way to play the pause.
The first four lines are pretty straight forward, no variant
spellings, capitalization or archaic words. We encourage every actor to look up any word,
familiar or unfamiliar that is capitalized or spelled in an odd way. Don’t use an American dictionary. There are many dictionaries available
that offer good, playable alternate definitions for words we think we
know. The fact that the text calls
attention to these words demands special attention. However, sometimes a variant spelling is just a variant
spelling and is not accorded any special treatment.
Hamlet’s second cue to speak is a stage direction: ‘…receive
them.’ Someone is trying to give
someone something. This line may
be spoken to another character on stage.
What that something is, and who is supposed to receive them, will be
made evident in the lines of the other character(s). However, Hamlet has his own direction in his following line:
‘No, no, I never gave you ought.’
Obviously the something is supposed to be delivered to Hamlet who
rejects whatever is being offered, and he uses the pronoun ‘you,’ which means
he is not invading the personal space of whoever gave him this cue. He is not taking the prop.
Also, in the first four lines, Hamlet is addressed as ‘My
Lord,’ and ‘Lord.’ These are clues
as to the relationship between the speakers. In all honesty, this is a famous scene, and we know that
Hamlet is speaking to Ophelia. They are not treating each other as one expects lovers
to. She is calling him
‘Lord.’ He uses the impersonal
‘you.’ By playing these clues,
which are giving the actors the relationship to play, the actors are relieved
of having to come up with one.
The fifth line is obviously in prose, as it contains 2
lines, the second of which is not capitalized:
…………………………………………………….your Lordship?
That if you be honest and faire, your Honesty
should admit no discourse to your Beauty.
Hamlet is answering a question from someone who addresses
him as ‘Lordship,’ so that is a clue as to the relationship with the person he
is talking to. He uses the pronoun
‘you’ which means that he crosses to whomever he is speaking with, but is
keeping a respectable distance.
Honesty and Beauty are important words since they both appear at the end
of the lines and are capitalized.
Yes, they appear at the end of lines of prose, but the typesetting could
have placed them elsewhere. The
first lines could end with ‘should admit,’ there is enough space, but it does
not. Honesty and Beauty are
important words to the sense of the line.
What do they mean? ‘Faire’
is spelled differently than we are used to, so let’s look that word up as well.
faire (adj):
beautiful, handsome (things and people); clear, fine, unspotted, pure; of white
complexion; becoming, honorable, equitable; being as a thing ought to be;
favorable, auspicious; kind, good, accomplished; good looking; pale; fine,
pleasing, splendid, excellent; appropriate, courteous, pleasing; plausible,
flattering, seductive; virtuous, honorable, upright; favorable, unobstructed,
clear; legitimate, lawful, proper; healthy, sound, fit; unsoiled
Honesty (n): virtue,
chastity; honor, integrity, uprightness; generosity, liberality, hospitality;
decency, decorum, good manners; sexual honesty; love of truth, upright conduct;
honorableness, just claim to be respected; decency, love of what is noble and
becoming
Beauty (n):
assemblage of graces to please the eye and mind; a beautiful person*
As is evident from the (over) abundance of definitions
above, there are a few different ways the line can be spoken. Which one is settled upon is up to the
actor, but attention needs to be paid to what is actable, and that the sense of
the line, if not the exact meaning, is clear to the audience. They may not pick up on the exact
meaning the actor chooses to play, but at least the intention, given by the
line and played by the actor, will be.
At this point, we’ll take a break, and continue the session
in another entree, but notice that these sessions look at the text – the words
– and not the internal struggle, intentions or psychology of the
character. Everything that is
needed to play Hamlet’s part is printed on the page. The actor should listen and react to the lines from the
other characters when he hears them.
There is no need to pretend that it is the first time, it very well may
be the first time that these actors are having this conversation. Stage directions are pointed out,
important words are pointed out and different definitions given, but no
solutions are settled upon by the person preparing the script or the
director. All the signs are
highlighted for the actor, and the how’s are up to them.
- Andy Kirtland
*Works
Cited
Crystal,
David, and Ben Crystal. Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language
Companion.
London: Penguin, 2002. Print.
Partridge,
Eric. Shakespeare's Bawdy. London: Routledge, 1990. Print.
Schmidt,
Alexander, and Gregor Sarrazin. Shakespeare Lexicon; a Complete Dictionary
of All the English Words, Phrases and Constructions in the Works of the Poet. New York: B. Blom,
1968. Print.
Shakespeare,
William, Neil Freeman, and Paul Sugarman. The Applause First Folio of
Shakespeare in Modern Type. New York: Applause, 2001. Print.
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