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In his fourth blog post, Geoffrey discusses an intensive rehearsal period in Otley, how improvisation assists his character development and whether it is Hamlet or Horatio that is the more inactive.

Otley

We spent an intensive rehearsal weekend away in Otley, in an Elizabethan Manor house. It was an extraordinary experience. We improvised the play from beginning to end including scenes that take place but are not in the play. I learnt a lot about Horatio, in particular, I started to make discoveries about why he stays behind to look after Ophelia.

Improvisation

We began by improvising scenes that happened before the play started. We improvised the scene when Hamlet and Horatio first meet in a philosophy lesson at the University of Whittenburg. We then looked at their relationship further by improvising the scene in the rose garden when Hamlet tells Horatio exactly what the ghost has said to him. I found that I was advising Hamlet to delay his actions and give himself time.

We improvised the opening scene of the play in the middle of the night, on a small mound of earth. It was quite frightening because you couldn’t see people’s faces, only their shape. I found that you stand very close to people when you talk to them. We can use this when we perform the scene to recreate darkness at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

We happened upon a lucky coincidence during our improvisations. After he had killed Polonius, Hamlet came running across the grounds covered in blood. He was then rushed away. I was left standing on the grass alone when Ophelia arrived. I was the one to tell her that her father was dead. I feel that this goes some way to explaining why it is that I spend so much time with Ophelia later on in the play.

I discovered that Polonius’ death acts as a trigger in the play. From that moment onwards events begin to move faster and faster. I tried not to get to involved because I see Horatio as an observer. It is difficult for him because Hamlet wants him at court for support but everyone else feels that he doesn’t belong there. Horatio feels very torn. I began to see that Horatio becomes involved in events through Ophelia.

Inactivity

I was talking to someone the other day that expressed the view that Hamlet doesn’t take any action during the play. I totally disagree. It is Hamlet’s failure to think before taking action that causes his downfall. I feel that Hamlets and Horatio’s friendship is based on the fact that Hamlet doesn’t think before he acts, and therefore does not consider the consequences of his actions. Horatio, on the other hand, always tries to think of the consequences, but he spends so much time thinking that he rarely gets around to doing. Therefore I think that Horatio is the man of inaction rather than Hamlet. I think that if Horatio had a different function in the play, he would advise Hamlet what do, having weighed up all the consequences. However, Horatio’s role in the play is to be the observer. He is the only character at the end of the play that really knows all that has gone on.

These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process-they are simply his/her own interpretations and frequently change as the rehearsal process progresses.

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