Guildenstern's journal

21 sep '00

We finally have a Hamlet! Chris, from a couple of shows back, is in the house.

Our rehearsal was abbreviated yesterday by scheduling conflicts and by my commuting problems. John said he was happy, but I still have barely a clue as to how to tackle this part. John wants to emphasize Guil's frustration in the early passages, so I'm borrowing a bit from Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden. And I'm trying to lay that over my natural sarcasm and pedantry.

We have stumbled through up to about halfway through Act II. So we haven't come near the pirate battle or the second Gonzago scene yet. We've got seven weeks and a day left.

John has trimmed a couple more of my bits, generally things that neither of us could make sense of. I think it's our ignorance. But the entertainment value is not compromised.

We've worked once (maybe twice) with the first scene with the Player's troupe. John wants to push the bawdy schtick, and these guys have the bent (if that's the word I'm after) for it. John has given them a killer visual for "rape, or rapiers, or both." His casting of Rob as Alfred is inspired: you usually think of Alfred as a pubescent, androgynous stripling. Rob is a big boy, at least 250 pounds.

before
index and backstory
after