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In his sixth blog post Geoffrey discusses his final impressions of Horatio, and the last rehearsals before the play opens.

Character reflections

I have been thinking about Horatio’s age. I think that Hamlet’s father and I would have been contemporaries at school. I am older than Hamlet. I think I’m about 50, probably at least 20 year older than Hamlet. I need to work all this out because I have been cast, and I am older than Mark (Rylance – Hamlet). But, having said that, Horatio isn’t the wise man that gives advice. I can find no evidence for this in the text. There are lots of bits in the text that imply that he is an older man. I think he may have had a family once, and that they had died. I think that he’s been through something very painful and overcome it. Hence his interest in philosophy.

Last rehearsals

We are coming towards the end of rehearsals, and are starting to go through the play for the last few times. I am still struggling with my bits with Ophelia. Giles (Block) wants me to get more involved with the court, but all my instincts tell me not to. I think that I should just be there for Hamlet, and if necessary, Ophelia, on his behalf.

We’ve been talking about a scene, running through it, talking about it some more and trying it again. This is a different way of working for me. I’m not used to it. I like to go through things as a whole a little bit more.

We haven’t cut the play down yet. I think that we will have to. Giles thinks that once we know it better it will speed up. I’m not convinced yet, but I will be very happy if I’m wrong. I worry that if its too long then people will start to leave, especially as Horatio has the last couple of speeches! I have tried to do a little cutting myself, just a couple of lines here and there. I have cut a couple of lines from the speech that I have at the start of Ophelia’s mad scene. It begins ‘She speaks much of her father …'

The moves are still changing, so one has to keep an open mind and adapt. I follow Hamlet a lot, which isn’t too complicated as I just fill in the spaces that he isn’t using.

I think that Horatio is a wonderful part to play. Somebody said to me that he represents the audience’s view in the play, which I think is a lovely idea. He is the observer, not so much an advice giver. He rarely gives advice or intervenes.

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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