hamlet staging adaps + context for adaps

renaissance is

14-17th century

religious divisions between Catholic and Protestant doctrines

Renaissance, ex. the role of the pope and interpretations of the scripture

religious and ethical concerns about revenge

renaissance

specualtions on the fate of the soul after death (connected to religious divisions)

renaissance, ex. John Donne’s poem ‘death be not proud’, challenge traditional fear of death

the dramatic power and horror of the ghost on stage

renaissance

the dramatisation of Hamlet’s melancholy and insanity

renaissance

surveillance culture, succession crisis, Sir Francis Walsingham, the Earl of Essex’s rebellion

renaissance

humanism praising man’s godlike potential

renaissance, ex. Davinci and Michelangelo’s focus on human anatomy, Davinci’s vitruvian man

where would the play’s witty language be expected

a royal court

who created the idea of servants of royals entertaining their rulers with inventive language

Castiglione’s work ‘The Courtier’

theatre reopenings post civil war

Restoration, Enlightenment and Age of Reason

years for Restoration, Enlightenment and Age of Reason

1660-1780

Female actresses allowed on stage for the first time

restoration, enlightenment, age of reason, ex. Sarah Siddons playing Hamlet in 1775

royal society founded in

1660

enlightenment scholars sought to

limit the power of organised religion, separate church and state, ex. John Locke in his ‘A letter concerning toleration’

parliament takes leading role with monarchs taking more ceremonial role

restoration, enlightenment, age of reason

increased consumption of reading materials

restoration, enlightenment, age of reason, ex. coffee houses typically offering the Tattler and the Spectator

shakespeare seen as primitive and untutored in comparison to neoclassical artistic ideals, i.e. Aristotle

restoration, enlightenment, age of reason

Hamlet is a ‘vulgar and barberous drama’

Voltaire 1748

truth as personal and individual

romanticism, ex. rise in popularity of philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau work, belief that truth is inherently linked to the individual and authenticity

years for romanticism

1780-1840

man is a pure being corrupted by prolonged contact with society

romanticism, ex. Coleridge’s ‘frost at midnight’ emphasis on his son Hartley being able to enjoy his childhood

interest in things outside the ‘normal’ and ration, i.e. dreams, insanity, drugs, ghosts, or spirits

romanticism, ex. ‘the spectre bridegroom’ Washington Irving, ‘Olalla’ R.L. Stevenson

extremism, excess of emotion and sensibility are valid

romanticism, ex. Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads

romantic love is human’s natural birthright

romanticism

emphasis on homosocial bonds

romanticism, ex. rise in popularity of male dominated social spaces, like coffeehouses, gentlemen’s clubs and traveler’s clubs

readers love for the gothic novel

romanticism

what did the Romantic gothic revival do

admire the exaggerated, idealised depictions of courtly romances, chivalric quests, Catholic ritual and superstition

1850, Edmund Kean

portrayed Hamlet as showing love rather than fear for the ghost

restoration era, what was cut

bawdy references, included those made by Ophelia

17th century to end of 19th century what was cut

the play’s political strand, focusing on Fortinbras and his impending invasion

when did David Garrick play Hamlet

18th century

why were audiences thrilled by Garrick’s acting

the tender expression of love for his dead father and his contagious terror in his encounter with his father’s ghost

what did Garrick do to show his terror of the ghost, 18th century

wore a cunning wig so his hair could always be relied upon to stand as ‘quills upon the fretful porpentine’ just as the ghost says they should

When did Edmund Kean play Hamlet?

19th century

how did Kean present Hamlet’s love for Ophelia

evident, though he was forced by circumstance to reject her

who was the dominant Hamlet in the late 19th century

Henry Irving at the Lyceum theatre

what was Henry Irving described

‘a lean image of hungry speculation’ by Yeats

what did Henry Irving do skilfully

showed Hamlet’s volatility; fits of melancholy alternating with fits of cheerfulness

who was the dominant Ophelia in the late 19th century

Ellen Terry

What did Ellen Terry do

play Ophelia’s madness in a ‘disturbingly painful way’

Kosintsev

1964

how does Kosintsev’s Hamlet present surveillance culture

monologues are internal. at Polonius’ death, Gertrude’s dresses in the closet look like bodiless spectators.

Olivier

1948

how does Olivier present surveillance culture

mobile camera roams halls of Elsinore. eavesdropping presence, closer to guards during watch. high angle.

Almereyda (Ethan Hawke)

Hamlet 2000, 2000

how does Michael Almereyda convey surveillance culture

Hamlet has his own camera and films Claudius during mousetrap

critic quote about Almereyda’s surveillance culture

the characters are inmates of the technological panopticon - Burnett

Robert Icke

2018

who’s ophelia is in a straight jacket in madness

kenneth branagh

Kenneth Branagh

1996

Act 1, Scene 3, Kosintsev, Ophelia

sits at Polonius’ feet by the throne, infantilised

Robert Icke, Ophelia and Laertes, 1.3

make fun of Polonius behind his back

what is the name for numerous religions mixing

syncretism

Kosintsev, 1.4, ghost scene

Hamlet does not hold sword as a cross as stage directions suggest. reminds of Stalin’s ‘five year plan of atheism’, 1932-1937.

Kosintsev, opening scenes, 1964

filming rough ocean, emphasising Denmark as a prison, frequent camera view of bars and grates

When did Jonathan Pryce play Hamlet

1980

who played Hamlet as being possessed by his father’s ghost?

Jonathan Pryce

when did Jonathon Pryce take the role of Hamlet?

His father had been violently attacked and died, he says he ‘wanted to conjure him back into being’

in which adaptation does Ophelia kiss random soldiers while mad

Zeffirelli, 1990

what did Lawrence Olivier say about Hamlet

‘Hamlet was a prime sufferer from the Oedipus complex’

what happened post ww2 (oedipal complex)

psychoanalysis experienced a period of significant intellectual and popular interest to grapple with the aftermath of the war (Nazism and rise of Cold war tensions)

How did Olivier emphasise the Oedipal elements of the play

casting himself (41) as Hamlet and Eileen Herlie (28) as Gertrude

Who plays Olivier’s Ophelia?

Jean Simmons

what was said about Jean Simmons, Olivier’s Hamlet, nunnery scene

when she collapses on the staircases she ends in the ‘position of a rape victim’ (Deborah Cartmell)

what was said about Kosintsev’s Ophelia

the image of Ophelia in an iron fathingale symbolises the fate of the sensitive and intelligent in the film’s tough political environment- J Lawrence Guntner

who directed the 1925 version of Hamlet

H.K. Ayliff

what was controversial about H.K.Ayliff’s Hamlet

Ophelia’s madness was presented as the uncontrolled release of pent-up sexual frustrations