The following is a blog written by Adam Luckey, who as you may or may not know is playing the title character in our upcoming production of Hamlet here at AGL. As he writes more, we will post more, but it should give you a fascinating insight into the acting process and what actors go through as they prepare for a role of the size and scope of Hamlet. Come and see him, you won't be disappointed!!

Peace and Love

Richard (Rick) St. Peter

Artistic Director

Adam Luckey Writes:

So, as you know, I'm playing Hamlet soon, and if you didn't, you get a few extra points in my book. Anyway, I've been taking this play apart, piece by piece, and although it has been said already numerous times and much more eloquently that I ever could, I just have to say that the play "Hamlet" is a wonderfully deep, soul searching play about revenge, action, the lack thereof, rash and bloody deeds, and casual slaughters, but it is also a damn fine actor's text. I mean, most everything you need to play Hamlet is right there. In front of you. On the page. It is so powerful, that you can almost hear the pages whispering "say these words and I can change your life." Okay, maybe that is a little (alright, a lot) heavy handed, but it is pretty dern palpable. "A very palpable hit," as Osric says in Act 5, scene 2, line 286.

We've been rehearsing since September 17. This is EXACTLY one month from opening night. What is that you say, "You can't mount a decent production of Hamlet in a month! Are you insane?!" Well, to answer both those questions: we are, and we are. Did I mention the multimedia aspect we are adding to our production? Images on screens placed about the stage, movies presented to the court, stark, digital backgrounds to create mood and ambience, all supplied by the genuis of Cyburbia Productions. Yes, we are gonna be plugging that in too, all within a month. The race has started. Strong and steady wins it.

But that is a whole other can of worms that we will get to soon enough. Right now, I am concentrating on my text and my approach to each scene. Hamlet's arc is still somewhere out there in the mist of Elsinore, but I am chipping away at this monolith that is the Character of Hamlet.

Fortunately, I have Shakespeare to lead me by the hand, the heart, and the head. As I have been working individually with director Rick St. Peter, I have realized that so far, I have been coming at Hamlet completely from the heart, and I can say now after a little deeper exploration, that this isn't the approach I want. Man, my Hamlet was raging, frothing, quivvering, wavering, all those -ing words that seem to make Hamlet utterly tortured and completely lead by his emotions. Yes, they certainly drive Hamlet, but it his head that prevents him from following his heart's wishes. If I continued to play Hamlet with such passion all the time, one would have to wonder "why he didn't just walk up to Claudius and snap his neck?" It is a fine line and I am still trying to make sense of it. Like I said, it is out there in the mist, but we are working hard to grab hold of it and make it ours.

Rick keeps reminding me to trust the text because the clues are all there. Everything you need is in front of you. I've heard "trust the text" before and I know that an actor needs to, but it is easy to get away from that and "method it up" or whatever. So now, I'm really trying to study the text word for word, punctiation mark for punctuation mark. And after working the "O, what a rogue and pesant slave am I" monologue yesterday, I am starting to allow the text take me to where I need to be. It is amazing to be along for the ride. After I hit the speech pretty firmly, I was astounded that all I had to do was work with the script, not against it. Use the clues and the tools he gives you. It is that simple. The hard part is to remember to trust that, remember that, and DO that. Those of you who have performed Shakespeare, you understand what I mean. Those of you who haven't, you probably know what I am talking about too.

So, anyway.......this is the first of my rehearsal blogs. I will post more when I get to it. It's gonna be one hell of a ride one way or the other, and I hope you will be a part of it.

Actors Guild of Lexington presents HAMLET by William Shakespeare.

Running October 17 -- November 11, 2007 at the Downtown Arts Center, 141 E Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507

For tix, call 859-225-0370 or email boxoffice@lexarts.org

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