WEEK 0.5 AUDITION PHASE

Me in rehearsals, wearing a Nirvana shirt like Hamlet

Today we 'auditioned' for our parts. I chose to perform the To Be or Not To Be monologue. I chose this as it was a good window into the character of Hamlet, the character I wanted to play. In this monologue Hamlet talks about whether to live or die, to give up or to avenge his father. I felt that is summarised the emotions in the play and if I could do it with some respect then I should be able to convey the images that the audience would feel when watching the full production.

Also, this week we returned to find that Stuart had selected some scenes for us to perform. I was performing the bedroom scene with Steffi. In this scene Hamlet visits his mother Gertrude and kills Polonius who is hiding underneath a bed. Stuart wanted us to explore the sexual tension between Hamlet and his mum and how that affected the relationship between the audience and the characters. This change really made some of the lines have another layer of subtext. Lines that seemed seemingly harmless became rather disturbed. The physicality between Steffi and myself became rather dominant and submissive, changing from mother and son to more partners.

In the end, Stuart decided for me to play Hamlet, along with several other versions of Hamlet. The idea is that each Hamlet is a form of grieving and a different Hamlet that from the same mind. We will all be contained on a bed throughout the course of the play to show how we are one. I think this is a really interesting take on a teen angst Hamlet.