Hamlet Reaction Essay Sample. 2 Page Paper for High School

Thursday Nov 13, 2014 I attended Hamlet at the Robert E. Nims Theatre. I had a great time watching the play. I met some of my classmates there and I met some new people. On the other hand, it was freezing cold that night so I was glad the theatre kept everyone warm. More important, it was opening night and the opening of the play was one that I will remember forever. Walking into the theater I saw all of the actors on stage moving about and talking. Also there was occasional play fighting amongst the actors. It was unclear if this was the begging of the play or not. After about 2 minutes Hamlet falls down and a cop comes in and the lights go dark. So as an audience member I guessed that this was the opening scene.
Regardless, I found the lights to play a big part in the scenes. During the play I noticed four different colors of light: Blue, light blue, yellow and white. The blue light seemed to imply sadness, death, and nighttime. The light blue light was used every time a suspenseful moment occurred. The yellow and white light was used to give the feeling of everydayness and visibility. Above all I really liked the lights in the platforms. The intensity of lights lit up the floor and the shapes of the lights were different from all the other lights.
In the view of the lighting effects, the stage design was representative of the Greeks. The stage had these 3 platforms with square shape holes in each of them. This set up was different from “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.” I was glad that the 3 platforms were used in so many effective ways. Being that the platform and lights were used in efficacious ways, the actors’ monologues were able to shine and the suspension of disbelief was undemanding. Sam Malone (Hamlet) had a few monologues with in the play and I concentrated on how he delivered them. Sam played with his voice when he spoke. He used his inner voice and his mid and low voice of tone during his monologues. I didn’t recall of him using a nasally voice. Also Sam let his emotion trigger his voice. In addition to his emotion his movements during his monologues played a big part in the drama of the scene. Malone used the entire stage and he wasn’t confined to a space. When observing Malone’s performance I recognized that he is a great actor.
Last, during the play I had trouble figuring out the time period of the play. Hamlet wearing a suit I figured the time period was anywhere between 1800s-1900s. But Gertrude and Claudius wearing robes and crowns I figured 1700s-1800s. But there was one sound effect that helped me figure out the time period for sure. And that sound effect was the typewriter. So I looked up what year the typewriter was invented and found my possible time period, which should be 1860s- present day. As a final point, Hamlet may have been lengthy, but I am glad that I could be apart of the Shakespearean experience.