Comments on: Hamlet Uncut is 5 Hours Long! http://www.bardblog.com/hamlet-uncut-is-5-hours-long/ Quips, Quibbles, Queries, and Quarks from a Quirky Bardolator Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:07:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: simon webb http://www.bardblog.com/hamlet-uncut-is-5-hours-long/comment-page-1/#comment-1111 simon webb Sun, 26 Jun 2011 23:22:40 +0000 http://www.bardblog.com/?p=184#comment-1111 I was recently in a Hamlet that ran 2 3/4 hours, with 7% cuts (in other words, folio) plus intermission. We followed the tradition espoused by Peter Hall, which is an oral tradition shared by actors, all the way back to Garrick and Macklin. Also the work of Patrick Tucker, in trying to understand the performance realities of Shakespeare's actors. I gotta say, at that speed, it's like standing up in the roller coaster - hair-raising! And it made more sense to our audience (eg "There were lots of words I didn't know, but I GOT everything!") We often try to slow up for those tricky or obscure words and passages - forgetting that most of those words were coined by Shakespeare himself, and if they are strange to us, they were completely new to his audience. Hearing this stuff for the first time must have been like getting slapped awake with a wet towel! By simple math, I calculate that, at the tempo of our Hamlet, Merchant could run 2 hours, Comedy of Errors (the shortest and earliest) only 80 minutes, and Tempest (the last and second shortest) about 98 minutes. That's short enough to give any director plenty of room for self indulgence, without hacking the text in order to keep it under 5 hours! I was recently in a Hamlet that ran 2 3/4 hours, with 7% cuts (in other words, folio) plus intermission. We followed the tradition espoused by Peter Hall, which is an oral tradition shared by actors, all the way back to Garrick and Macklin. Also the work of Patrick Tucker, in trying to understand the performance realities of Shakespeare’s actors. I gotta say, at that speed, it’s like standing up in the roller coaster – hair-raising! And it made more sense to our audience (eg “There were lots of words I didn’t know, but I GOT everything!”) We often try to slow up for those tricky or obscure words and passages – forgetting that most of those words were coined by Shakespeare himself, and if they are strange to us, they were completely new to his audience. Hearing this stuff for the first time must have been like getting slapped awake with a wet towel!

By simple math, I calculate that, at the tempo of our Hamlet, Merchant could run 2 hours, Comedy of Errors (the shortest and earliest) only 80 minutes, and Tempest (the last and second shortest) about 98 minutes. That’s short enough to give any director plenty of room for self indulgence, without hacking the text in order to keep it under 5 hours!

]]> By: A.K.Farrar http://www.bardblog.com/hamlet-uncut-is-5-hours-long/comment-page-1/#comment-354 A.K.Farrar Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:39:47 +0000 http://www.bardblog.com/?p=184#comment-354 I sat through a 'cut' Hamlet that was over 4 hours and a half (with intervals) and many a cut one feels much more. Speed of delivery was certainly different - but what wasn't played in Shakespeare's time is the 'un-cut' text we now have. What is noticeable in it are the repeats and mismatches. Shakespeare texts as printed were rarely what you heard on stage - as I recently mentioned elsewhere, Hamlet gives us the classic reason for believing texts were adapted and changed for individual performances - Hamlet changes 'The Mousetrap". The Hamlet text is questioned - and often regarded as the least complete Shakespeare text precisely because it is not reflective of a performance but contains far too much for a satisfying theatre experience (especially if you are standing in the theatre on a January day and the light is fading fast. I sat through a ‘cut’ Hamlet that was over 4 hours and a half (with intervals) and many a cut one feels much more.
Speed of delivery was certainly different – but what wasn’t played in Shakespeare’s time is the ‘un-cut’ text we now have.

What is noticeable in it are the repeats and mismatches.

Shakespeare texts as printed were rarely what you heard on stage – as I recently mentioned elsewhere, Hamlet gives us the classic reason for believing texts were adapted and changed for individual performances – Hamlet changes ‘The Mousetrap”.

The Hamlet text is questioned – and often regarded as the least complete Shakespeare text precisely because it is not reflective of a performance but contains far too much for a satisfying theatre experience (especially if you are standing in the theatre on a January day and the light is fading fast.

]]> By: Ken in Albuquerque http://www.bardblog.com/hamlet-uncut-is-5-hours-long/comment-page-1/#comment-353 Ken in Albuquerque Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:43:21 +0000 http://www.bardblog.com/?p=184#comment-353 One of the many Shakespeare-related myths is that the BBC versions of the plays are uncut. The BBC Hamlet has considerable cuts in every act of the play. One of the many Shakespeare-related myths is that the BBC versions of the plays are uncut. The BBC Hamlet has considerable cuts in every act of the play.

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