Hamlet Director's NotesOctober 9th 2007 |
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Hamlet Director’s Notes
“Elsinore’s disease is anywhere’s, anytime’s. Something is rotten in every state, and if your sensibility is like Hamlet’s; then finally you will not tolerate it.”
Harold Bloom, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human
What is there left to say about Hamlet that hasn’t been said better in some other place, in some other time? This most modern of classic plays continues to entertain and enlighten us precisely because its very essence captures the times it is produced in while simultaneously evoking a sense of timelessness. Something IS rotten in the state of Denmark…Denmark being the ideal stand in for (insert your own problem): America, Iraq, Washington DC, Communist Eastern Europe, Frankfort KY, Republicans, Democrats, Fascists, Dictators, Artists…Standing alone against the onslaught of oppression is one young man, intelligent but unsure, driven but wary, raging against the dying of the light. In him we see our better nature…and with his treatment of Ophelia, we see our darkest demons…in short, with the character of Hamlet; we see the birth of modern man in all of his messy contradictions, inconsistencies, tragedies and triumphs. In Hamlet, we see how we, as a species, can be so promising and so dangerous at the same time. We come back to this great play over and over again because human nature hasn’t changed since 1601…and unfortunately probably never will. And so Hamlet continues to ask, “To be, or not to be:” and we continue to seek the answer…watching, wondering, waiting…
Peace and Love
Richard (Rick) St. Peter
October 9, 2007
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