Middle School - Martha Price (Bulls)

‘Shakespeare’s plays are just as rewarding when read as when seen in performance.’ Discuss.

In recent decades, it has become apparent how complex and riveting theatre productions can be. With school curriculums abundant in set play texts, these will almost certainly contain a Shakepeare play or two. Whatever the play, studying the printed texts is obvious to be the starting point. You are allowed to discover, at your own pace, the plot summary, characters and key themes. However, is it more pleasing to experience the play in the way they were written for – performance?

Shakespeare prides himself, and is well respected, on his composite language and lavish imagery. There is a certain sense of satisfaction of experiencing the endless suggestiveness of his language alone, in a book. Before somebody puts it into physical imagery in front of you, you are allowed to explore the eloquence of the phrases and speeches and take and twist it in your own manner. For example, “King John” marks an introduction of complex philosophical, political and psychological allegories. The play questions the validity of the hero’s maxims and actions and its speeches can only be fully stripped to understand their full meaning, the historical context of the time and the King himself, when they are written and analysed on paper. These allegorical pictures can only be truly appreciated when analysing the text and background closely, rather than watching a performance in person.

However, seeing a play in person, quite simply, is more pleasurable. People who may struggle with the comprehension of Shakepeare’s written text will watch the story come to life and understand the complexity, physically. The plot also comes clearer and the characters can come to life, if previously one struggled with picturing the ideas displayed in the play text. In the case of Jacobean or Elizabethan drama, the language is easier to understand, as it is accompanied by physical movement, props and music fitting to the situation. There is a certain thrill in hearing a talented actor interpret Shakespeare, and to produce this it is necessary to choose a line to take with specific delivery, tone, mannerism and volume. The final soliloquy in Macbeth is a great example of him projecting his feelings that everything he has done and built for himself throughout the play has been pointless. When he laments: “A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more”, it is so emotionally understood and works so well in the theatre, because at that moment he is a player on a stage, about to be heard no more because the play is nearly ended. Hearing it live in theatre gives it another layer.

Hamlet is perhaps Shakespeare’s most intelligent character, yet he is generous with his puns – whether they are humorous or complex. His first words in the play, “A little more than kin, and less than kind” are a play on words to state a paradox: Claudius, whom he is describing, is twice related to him but neither kin or kind at all. This is easily understood when written, but when performed live the physical interactions and mannerisms between the two actors can be seen, and added to the layers created by that line. These comedic elements almost always need the theatre to make them work. Reading Polonius’ long speech, when he is reeling off a long list of platitudes to his son, it is a dull monologue that was written to be this way to represent how lacking of depth and substance Polonius is. However, in theatre it is directed to be funny as it is a boring man doing what he does best: being boring. When

‘Shakespeare’s plays are just as rewarding when read as when seen in performance.’ Discuss. the speech keeps going, laughter is often heard in the audience as the speech is obnoxiously long and full of moralizing maxims, and the reactions of Laertes mimic this.

But why should we try picking a side when we can appreciate both? Reading and studying the plays lets one feel the poetry better, and maybe consider a deeper or more moral meaning to the words, however watching an actor emote and bring the words to life obviously adds a strong emotional impact. Particularly for major speeches, they are entertaining to read as you can focus on specific words and work through it slowly, but the whole purpose is that they were written by Shakespeare to be performed, so it would be odd if any theatrical element did not add to the words.