Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 6, No. 0458.  Thursday, 8 June 1995.
 
(1)     From:   Sean Lawrence <
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        Date:   Wednesday, 7 Jun 1995 17:10:58 -0700 (PDT)
        Subj:   Re: SHK 6.0451 Re: Elizabethan Directors and Directing
 
(2)     From:   Jesus Cora <
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        Date:   Thursday,  8 Jun 1995 14:06:58 UTC+0200
        Subj:   SHK 6.0451  Re: Elizabethan Directors and Directing
 
(3)     From:   Chris Bergstresser <
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        Date:   Thursday, 08 Jun 1995 09:06:41 -0400 (EDT)
        Subj:   Re: SHK 6.0451  Re: Elizabethan Directors and Directing
 
 
(1)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Sean Lawrence <
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Date:           Wednesday, 7 Jun 1995 17:10:58 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: 6.0451 Re: Elizabethan Directors and Directing
Comment:        Re: SHK 6.0451 Re: Elizabethan Directors and Directing
 
About Hamlet as director:  isn't he more like an acting coach, telling them how
to speak and what style to work in, rather than where to walk on, fall down,
etc.?  That said, there's a definite metadramatic slant to the play.
 
Cheers,
Sean.
 
(2)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Jesus Cora <
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Date:           Thursday,  8 Jun 1995 14:06:58 UTC+0200
Subject: Re: Elizabethan Directors and Directing
Comment:        SHK 6.0451  Re: Elizabethan Directors and Directing
 
To Dom Saliani,
 
Well, if companies were economically independent from their nominal masters, I
think they should also be artistically independent from them. I cannot really
imagine the Lord Chamberlain or King James, for that matter, taking the
troubles of directing their men at the Globe or Blackfriars.
 
Yours,
Jesus CORA ALONSO
 
(3)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Chris Bergstresser <
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Date:           Thursday, 08 Jun 1995 09:06:41 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: 6.0451  Re: Elizabethan Directors and Directing
Comment:        Re: SHK 6.0451  Re: Elizabethan Directors and Directing
 
>The first instance of a clearly directorial role must surely be Hamlet with hi
>explicit and detailed instructions to the Players in Act111, scene ii.
>
>Anna Cole
 
Every essay I see on acting styles in Shakespeare's time uses _Hamlet_ at some
point for evidence.  Personally, I'm highly suspicious of any conclusions drawn
from what a character, with personal and political motives, describes as proper
presentational methods.  There can be a few bits of information gleaned from
the passage ("Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand" must surely
indicate that gestures were used -- with no indication of how much is too much,
of course) but most can be placed squarely within the context of the the
situation.  Were I trying to get a reaction from Claudius, I'd certainly say
the purpose of acting was "to hold a mirror up to nature".
 
Chris Bergstresser