Globe Education Online

In his penultimate blog post, Geoffrey discusses performing on the Globe stage, and how his perception of Horatio has developed.

The Globe stage

Performing on the Globe stage is just what I expected. It’s a wonderful space but not an easy one to work in, because of the pillars. The pillars mean you have to watch the angles that you are standing on at all times. You need to work on the diagonal or around the pillars. The stage is also very big. The most exciting thing about performing here are all the lines that work so well with the groundlings that you know wouldn’t have the same effect in any other theatre. I find that wonderful. A good example of this is Hamlet’s line in Act 3 Scene 2: ‘to split the ears of the groudlings, who, for the most part, are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise.’ At The Globe, where there are groundlings at the actor’s feet, Mark (Rylance, Hamlet) is able to direct this line directly to the audience. It would not work in the same way at any other theatre as there would not be a groundling audience. Mark pauses after ‘dumb shows’ as the groundlings respond vocally to the reference. The end of the line ‘and noise’ can then be used as a direct comment on the noise just generated by the groundlings standing, at that moment, in the yard.

One of the biggest challenges that an actor faces at The Globe is to make his or herself heard in the open air. I feel like I have to project my voice quite a lot at the beginning of the play in order to make sure the audience hear me and to make them understand the actor’s on stage. This is because they take a long time to settle down and are still talking to each other when they play begins. At the end of the play, however, you could hear a pin drop.

Playing the opening scene has been quite hard. Trying to convince the audience that it is dark on a bright summer’s day is not easy. It’s more difficult than I thought it would be and I knew it was going to be hard. One day it was very hot. When I began my opening lines about the cold everybody laughed because it was exactly the opposite. It’s hard without lighting. Shakespeare seemed to like making challenges for himself. He wrote a lot of scenes in the dark. I think that he enjoyed the challenge of making the audience believe that they are somewhere completely different from where they are. The opening scenes of Shakespeare plays are often problematic to play at the Globe. Similar challenges are faced with The Tempest. The Tempest opens with a storm and it is the actor’s job to make people believe they are in the middle of that storm. Shakespeare seems to go to extremes of climate or situation in opening scenes in order to absorb the audience into his world.

Horatio

My understanding hasn’t changed of Horatio since I have been performing him on the Globe stage. I think that some members of the audience are not convinced about his age. I have overheard some people say that Horatio is far too old because they come to the play with preconceptions that Horatio is the same age as Hamlet. There is nothing in the text to suggest he is young. He is described as Hamlet’s fellow student but that doesn’t mean that he has to be the same age. Horatio’s age is something that I have no control over as I have been cast in the part and I can’t change my age.

There are a lot of inconsistencies in Hamlet. It isn’t clear how close Hamlet and Horatio are at the beginning of the play. They don’t seem to be particularly good friends. It isn’t until the end of the play that you see that Horatio is Hamlet’s best friend. This development is very interesting.

Performing on The Globe stage has strengthened all my thoughts on Horatio as the observer and the listener in the play. In many ways he goes on the audience’s journey with them. He also represents the integrity of the play. I am really enjoying playing Horatio.

I love being on the Globe stage and saying these wonderful lines. I am particularly enjoying the scene where I tell Hamlet that I have seen his father’s ghost. It’s a fast moving question and answer scene that I think is wonderfully written. I am now enjoying the Ophelia’s mad scene (Act 4 scene 5), although I am still unsure as to exactly why Horatio is there. Penny (Layden, Ophelia) has started to change that scene a little which makes it interesting. She has taken to putting her arms around me at one point, which she didn’t do in rehearsal.

I can’t say that I’ve made any new major discoveries. All my thoughts just seem to be strengthening and my earlier ideas confirmed. I am really enjoying myself. Horatio is a wonderful part to play.

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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