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now, wa s an d is, to ho ld, as 'tw er e, the mirr orup to na tur e. . . 23 Af ter the days of Ham let and Shake­ spe are it wa s anoth er cent ury and mor e bef ore Da vid Gar rick trod the boa rds to illu stra te thi s kin d of rest rain t in ac tin g. Hamle tcon tin ue s in the same ve in : 0 ,the re be pla yer s tha t 1 hav e see n pla y, and he ard oth ers pra ise, and tha t hi gh ly . . . ha ve so str utt ed and bel­ low ed that I ha ve tho ught som e of nat ure 's jou rn eyme nha d ma de me n an d not mad e th em we ll, th ey im ita ted hu man ityso abom in ably . 24 Th e drama ticgro up at the Un ive rsi tyof Wi tten ber g,gu idedby a sta ge dir ecto r who could put the se ide als into pra ctic e, mi gh t well be calle d profess ion al in the full est sen se of the wo rd. Ham let, mo reo ver ,is not only a dir ecto r but also a rev ise r of play s, like his cre ator Shake spe are. He asks the Firs t Pl ay er to ins ert "some doz en or six teen lines, "wh ich ost ens ibly have been written by the Pr inc e him sel f. One int erp ret ati on 25 ha s the Fir st Pla yer depic tin g Lu cianu s, the mur der er in the play-w ithi n-t he- play.Fol low ing thi s line of though the is to rec ite the ext ra lin es writ­ ten by Hamle t, and therefor e the Pr inc e add res seshi s en tir espe ech of ad vic eto thi s one pla yer . Haml et's pur pose is to pre ven t the Ki ng fro m rea lizi ng that hi s own mur der of the eld er Ham let is be ing re- ena cte d. If the sta ge mur dere r, Lu cianus , were to overp lay hi s part, Cla udi us mi gh t well see thr oug h Ham let's sta ge ma chin a­ tio ns and stop the play bef ore the poi son is pou red int o the slee per 'sear s. By thi s int erpret atio nHam let typi fie sthe har rie d and ne rvo us dramat ic dir ect or bac kst age ,esp eci all ywhen Lu cianusmakes hi s entran ce an d, for get tin gHam let's ad­ vic e, star ts to ov era ct. t ere, ir or t e . 2 3 l • s er i i te t i g. Hamlet continues in the same vein: 0, there be players that I have seen play, and heard others praise, and that ly . ave so strutted and bel• lowed that I have thought some of nature's journeymen had made men and not made -them well, they imitated anity abominably. 24 tic group at the University of Wittenberg, guided by a stage director who could put these ideals into practice, might well be called professional in sense of the word. l t, ver, not only a director i r s, h s eare. rs i ibly i e self. One interpretation ' i ting i s, er ithin-the-play. l ing t i - l t, e i e ses e i e . let's t li ing l g t d. r, nus, lay ius might wel h l 's a• o is poured into the sleeper's ears. tation l ifies ri d us tic tage, e ial y us ce , ting l ' - , t ct. 23 IT , ii, H III, 2, i 's. 2 ' III, ii,20-26. "Il l , ii 31-39. 2 5 Th is is Dover Wil son' s. , l ,

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her e again Ham let woul d mo st sur ely have ex cel led . 21 The ad vic eof the Pr inc eto the pla yer s ontechn iqu esof ac tin ghas sca rce ly been sur passed ;many a scr een or tele vis ion "pe rso nal ity" today cou ld well use Ham let's dict um on his tri onic rest rain t. His inte nse fas cin ati onfor the dram a is at onc e awake ned whe n Haml et isadvis ed that a gro up of pla yer sha s arr ive dat the cou rt. He qu ick ly rev iew s the typ ica l drama tic roles an d the n ref ers to the chi ldre n's compan ies, so popular in the per iod of the fir st Eli zab eth . Wh en the act ors themse lves appear , Hamle t gre ets them with all the warm th an d enthus iasm that he had ear liershown to Ho ratio. Then the Pr inc eliste ns with rapt atte nti onto the Firs t Pla yer 's len gth y speec h, app are ntly sele cted from an old pla y ba sed on the fal l of Tr oy . Th e arr iva l of the pla yer shas for the mom ent stir red Haml et from hi s leth arg y. Hi s most str iki ng comme nta ryon drama is, of course , the well- know n ad vic e to the pla ye rs. 22 Th is sug ges ts the uni ver sity Hamle t asdrama ticcoa ch rath er than acto r. Hi s bro ads ide attac k on blemi she sin sta ge techn iqu eis leve led at all the atr ica lproduc­ tions unw orth y of the name , be the y amateur or pro fess ional, Eli zab eth an or moder n. He dec rie srantin gan d mo ut hin g; he sco res the me an ing les sges tur e. Tim ele ss are the sugg estions in the fol­ low ingpa ssa ge : . . . sui t the ac tio n to the wor d, the wo rd to the ac tio n; with this spe cia l ob se rv an ce , tha t you o'er ste p not the mod es ty of na tu re: for an yth ing so ov er done is from the pur pos e of play ­ in g, wh os e en d, bo th at the first and 21 The re is an inte rest ing disc ussi on of Ham let's view s on drama from the Uni vers ity viewp oint in Marc hette Chut e, Sha kes pea re of Lon don , New York, Dutto n, 1949 , p. 227. 22 In many sta ge prod uctio ns Ham let is dep icte d as having been rehea rsing the play ers befor e he beg ins his spee ch of adv ice. led. 2 i e i e s on iques i g h ly s ; i ion s nality" l 's ionic i t. i s ation t ned let is i e s i d t. i ly i s i l tic 's ies, i eth. s lves , l t the warmt ias lier ti . i e tion 's y h, ntly l . i l s t let le rgy. i i tary o , n i e players. i ts sity l t as tic . side ishes i i e ical • t y , be f s ional, et an n. i s g outhing; ingles e. eles sti s . i s ge: . wn l d, lo t wn; i l observance, that you o'erstep not the esty f t re: or anything do e se f - , e , i 2 i g <' n l ' ity ll , . eare f , , , 22 ti ns l t i si i .

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