Monday, July 13, 2020, 11:30 AM – 1 PM EDT
Sarah Higinbotham, Assistant Professor of English, Oxford College of Emory University
“’Speak the Speech’: Performing Hamlet”
Sarah Higinbotham, Shakespearean scholar/teacher from the Oxford campus, will direct volunteers among us in a Zoom “production” of the first two scenes in Hamlet—that is, a dramatic reading of the text. If you’re feeling “playful” enough to participate, let Gretchen Schulz know (by sending an email to gschulz@emory.edu by the end of the day on Monday, July 6). Sarah will consult with would-be performers about the casting in time for all to review their lines in preparation for the occasion. (And by the way, that will be gender-blind casting, so women needn’t be restricted to enacting no one but Gertrude.) If performers also want to prepare by bedecking themselves with bits of costume or bringing props (a sword? a crown? a skull?), all the better.
After our reading, Sarah will lead a reflective discussion in which we think about how speaking the lines out loud (and hearing them so spoken) connects us to Shakespeare’s language and thought. “Speak the speech, I pray you,” Prince Hamlet directs his actor friends, “trippingly on the tongue." We look forward to the experience of hearing our actor friends do the same.
Sarah recommends that all of us, actors and audience alike, use the free Folger digital version of the text. With so many variations of the text available, it will be helpful if we’re all looking at the same one.
shakespeare.folger.edu…