"There are few rules about playing Shakespeare, but many possibilities," said Shakespearean director, educator and theoretician John Barton, in his edifying book "Playing Shakespeare."
Through generations of actors myriad possibilities have been tested. Each generation has chosen a leader of its time to be the spokesman of the current representative of Shakespeare's perennial truths. With modulating trends, a conversion of styles has led to the current approach to Shakespearean acting. Despite all the changes in acting styles, one of the most challenging tests for any actor remains the role of Hamlet.
Considered one of the most extraordinary characters in English literature, Hamlet's language (remarkable even in Shakespeare's oeuvre) transports the listener in a seemingly endless flow of brilliant imagery and complex human experience. His speeches surpass quintessential similes and metaphors of conventional speech; they actively display intelligence and convey the excitement and passion of his thought. His attitudes, his genuinely human and complex psychology and even his subconscious have intrigued audiences for centuries.
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