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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 3.15.97: Top | Help
An element all-too-often overlooked is that Sh wrote for a repertory company; the actors had to have a half-dozen plays in their head at a time. Inevitably they were type-cast and tended to give generic performances. So the person playing Ophelia was told "This is the same virgin you've played a dozen times before, except that you get a mad scene," and the actor playing Polonius was told "Combine the senile old fool you played in that play with the clever politician you played in the other," and so on. In that kind of system, it is unlikely that any of the characters had much specificity or topical relevance.Posted by Hamlet on March 24, 1997 at 11:14:44
In Reply to "Depends" posted by JTJ on March 23, 1997 at 19:12:04
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 3.15.97: Top | Help