Hamlet: relationships between performers and audience

Hamlet: relationships between performers and audience

Understanding Audience and Performer Relationships

• It’s central to note how Shakespeare employs dramatic techniques to create distinct relationships between performers and the audience.

Breaking the Fourth Wall

• There are moments in Hamlet where characters, especially Hamlet himself, ‘break the fourth wall’, engaging directly with the audience.
• This technique offers a sense of intimacy and intellectual engagement that is a defining aspect of the audience-performer relationship in the play.

Use of Soliloquies

• A key aspect of this relationship is through the use of soliloquies, delivering insight into Hamlet’s mental state.
• Most notably, the famous ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy creates a confidential rapport between Hamlet and the audience allowing for direct emotional engagement.

Dramatic Irony

• The play utilises dramatic irony to effectively maintain audience’s interest.
• For instance, the audience is aware of Claudius’s guilt before Hamlet, which increases tension and suspense and keeps the audience invested.

Active Performances

• Active performances in Hamlet foster an engaging dynamic relationship.
• For example, in the play-within-a-play scene, it not only engages the characters but also audiences, creating an intriguing multi-layered performance.

Emotional Engagement

• The intense emotional engagement of the audience in Hamlet’s struggle allows the performers to effectively articulate the visceral emotions in the tragedy.
• Elements like betrayal, revenge, and murder evoke strong emotional responses, helping the performers connect deeply with the audience.