Improvise Like Hamlet Act I Scene i

I recently re-read Hamlet. In so doing, I was struck by what the very first scene of the play revealed about the art of improvising. I think improvisers can learn a lot by looking closely at the opening of this masterful work. 

Break The Rules 

The very first line of Hamlet is a question.

BERNARDO
Who's there?

I venture to guess that you would be told that this is not a great initiation for a scene in a regular improv class. Generally, improvisers are cautioned to avoid questions. Following the rules will only get you so far - instead, pay attention to the moment and what it needs. Just remember you have the power as a performer to make the things you want to make. Sometimes that involves breaking the rules.

Establish Mood

In the opening scene of Hamlet, there is such tension, trepidation, and fear evoked by the exchange between Bernardo and Francisco that we are immediately immersed into a world that has us on the edge of our seats. 

Yes, the “who what where” can be essential tools for scene development; however, in Act 1 Scene 1 of Hamlet, the mood is what is made apparent first. I think this is even more important than establishing that you are at yet another laundromat. How we feel about where we are is just as vital.

Still, it is revealed fairly quickly where Bernardo and Francisco are and how they know one another. They talk about the king and the watch, the time of night, and - get this - they also name one another.

FRANCISCO
Bernardo?
BERNARDO
He.
FRANCISCO
You come most carefully upon your hour.
BERNARDO
'Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, Francisco.

Talk About How You Feel

It is clear how both Bernardo and Fransisco’s characters feel because of how they behave. Francisco also shares his feelings outright with his fellow guardsmen.

FRANCISCO
For this relief much thanks: 'tis bitter cold,
And I am sick at heart.

Saying how you feel in a scene can be a pathway to discovering your point of view. Naming your emotion can be a useful tool.

Deal In The Present 

Immediately when Bernardo implies a future meeting with Horatio and Marcellus, the later appear. There is no biding time. The play moves forward. 

Horatio and Marcellus also heighten the established mood by displaying the same trepidation and fear with their answers. They must quickly prove to Bernardo and Francisco that they are no threat and are, in fact, “liegemen to the Dane.”

BERNARDO
Well, good night.
If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus,
The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.
FRANCISCO
I think I hear them. Stand, ho! Who's there?

Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS

HORATIO
Friends to this ground.
MARCELLUS
And liegemen to the Dane.

Later in the scene, Bernardo discloses to Horatio that he and Marcellus witnessed a ghost in the eerie and troublesome watch the previous night. Just as an incredulous Horatio is silencing Bernardo, the “dreaded” apparition arrives, leaving no further room for doubt.

HORATIO
Well, sit we down,
And let us hear Bernardo speak of this.
BERNARDO
Last night of all,
When yond same star that's westward from the pole
Had made his course to illume that part of heaven
Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself,
The bell then beating one,--

Enter Ghost

MARCELLUS
Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again!
BERNARDO
In the same figure, like the king that's dead.

The scene focuses on the present moment rather than idling in the past or the future. When you talk about the past you are ahead of the scene you want to do. When you talk about the future, you are behind the scene you want to do. Make it happen NOW.

Make the present matter. Make what you want to happen, happen NOW. Let the scene have immediate consequences for your characters, and do not waste time talking about what was or what will be. 

Make It True

If another player says something, treat it “as if” it could be true. In improv, we get to explore all the delightful surprises served up by our imagination. Treat everything “as if” it is true, no matter how ridiculous. This is the way to commit to and support an idea wholeheartedly.

BERNARDO
How now, Horatio! you tremble and look pale:
Is not this something more than fantasy?
What think you on't?
HORATIO
Before my God, I might not this believe
Without the sensible and true avouch
Of mine own eyes.

Silence Is Compelling 

The ghost never speaks in Act 1 Scene i of Hamlet. Instead, the terrifying specter silently “bodes some strange eruption” of the state of Demark before disappearing at first light.

HORATIO
Stay! speak, speak! I charge thee, speak!

Exit Ghost

MARCELLUS
'Tis gone, and will not answer.

As improvisers, we tend to over-rely on words and use speaking as a shortcut to creating characters, scenes, and worlds. We need to commit physically and emotionally to a scene and let the text arrive out of that commitment.

Silence can be compelling. Silence can add mystery. Silence can increase the tension. Silence is an underutilized tool.  Say less. Feel more.

Breaking the rules, creating mood, talking about how we feel, dealing in the present, confirming all that has been established as the truth, and using silence as a tool are only a small part of what this great scene from Hamlet has to teach us about improvising. If we aim to make compelling moments of spontaneous theater, we best heed the warnings of the ghost of Hamlet.