April 1, 2011
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Hamlet's Friday Night Soliloquy: A Dramatic interpretation
I majored in English, but I also studied drama in both high school and college. One of the high points of our Drama I class in high school was when my brother (who was also in the class) and I performed the end of the last act of Hamlet, including the sword fight to the death, between Hamlet and Laertes, for the final. I always got good grades in drama. I was in two all school plays in high school, and I crewed for a performance of "The Dybbuk" at USC. Sadly, I never made it "on stage" in college. My drama coach picked me as the "voice of God" in Thorton Wilder's play "The Skin of Our Teeth" as a senior, however, and I also starred in a one act play for Drama II night.
I was regarded as a "Shakespeare Scholar" for most of my schooldays, and was always called upon in high school to read the soliloquies from the plays.
I would think most of you are tired of all the "April Foolery" to which you've probably been bombarded with today, so I thought I'd give you a rare treat. You haven't heard any of my dramatics. In the 80s, a lot of my close friends would really pump me up when they called me a "drama queen". Even though they got the gender wrong, it warmed the coccles of my heart. (They used to throw things at me and tell me to shut up whenever I performed though. I never understood this.)
However, below is an audio file of me "performing" the great soliloquy from the play "Hamlet:" You are sure to remember it. It begins...."To Be or not to be...." This is Hamlet's contemplation on whether or not to end his life.
I have a certain regard for the character of Hamlet. Like him, I can see both sides to every question. This trait has always made me a wonderful internet moderator in the groups which I managed online.
So without further ado.....ahem.....I present without any vanity at all, the great actor which is me.... Michael F. Nyiri, thespian, philosopher, fool, performing what I like to call:
Hamlet's Friday Night Soliloquy.
(Three different files, since I'm now having trouble with the audio file on Xanga.
1. Audio file on AllThingsMike:
http://www.allthingsmike.com/Friday.mp3
2 YouTube file:3. Xanga audio file:
BEHIND THE PERFORMANCE: I'm acutely aware that possibly 75% of my readers might not get the "joke". So I will supply a link to 13 year old Rebecca Black's music video of "Friday" called the most hated song on the internet cause it has over a million dislikes (but also over 74 million views!) You go, girl. Love ya. (In a grandfatherly way, of course) Here also, just because I'm pretty anal retentive when it comes to references, is Laurence Olivier's recitation of the 3rd soliloquy from Hamlet. April Fool. MFN/ppf EDIT: 04/02 10:42am. This entry is currently #5 on Top Blogs. Me so excited! Thought I'd have more comments by now. (I'm a whiner, I admit it.) But I'm satisfied with the recommends. I really wanted to sing "Friday" as a slow blues, but didn't have too much time and wanted to put the entry up for April 1st. I got my tooth pulled yesterday, and am in no more pain. A followup appt. has been scheduled in two weeks to fit me for a partial. Me/ppf
Comments (57)
I'm an English teacher, and Shakespeare really makes me believe that life is worth living. I love this!!! Hamlet ... and Rebecca Black?
This is better than the original. I always found Hamlet a bit of a whiner LOL!!!
A Bard aficionado eh? I can imagine you make great company
Get down with yo bad self, Hamlet!!
Thanks fer the friday night chuckle, Mike.
I always knew you had some great classical training!! Good on ya, mate!
That Hamlet pose is really something. Now if only skulls could talk, they sure have a lot to say about human bodies!
Thanks for stopping by, Mike. I read your poems and especially like the last stanza which explores the idea that a random sensuous act of nature has overwhelming consequences for us.
Astounding in simplicity
Yet an overwhelming force
of natural geology
Gaea undulating
Sedimentary shuffling
sometime and again
Ha Ha, was listening to the youtube thing and i was all ready to tell you how I appreciated the arts, and how I was really proud I understood the Shakespeare Play at the high school a few years ago. Then i heard the Friday thing Ba ha ha ha. I think I have heard that horrible song, I think some of my MUCH YOUNGER Facebook friends, who obviously hated the song too, put it on their page. That was awesome. And hey, thanks for sending people over to see me and make me feel better about F@#C%^& Xanga. Maybe I should start over, reintroduce myself, and see what happens. Anyway, thanks for the laugh, going back to sleep.
Mike,
You're awesome. (Check out my blog post for today for another rendition of the song.)
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Very dramatic.
Hi Mike, Shakespear's work has always been interesting for me but since English is not my native language I do not have the appreciation I should have for his work. You will probably not surprised that I am always more interested in the history of Shakespear and the theories of who the real author was of all the works. They claim that no writing was ever found in Shakespears own hand and the only signature we have of Shakespear (the Stradford man) was so shaky that it is doubtful to be the signature of the man that write all the plays. These type of arguments were apparently happening after his death and still continue till this day in some circles. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the topic.
Wonderful, Mike -- Happy April Fool's Day!
Brilliant! I'm glad I got to play the video here. I got the joke!
As an elective in my Speech/English courses in college, I took a class in Shakespeare. Prof. required learning lines from the plays each week. I had already started down that road when I took English Literature in H.S. and we read Macbeth. My friends and I got several good lines from it. Also, it's interesting to learn that you were active in drama in H.S. I didn't get into that until our Senior Class Play, and then I was "stage struck" nearly for life. I got into every play at B.J.U. that I could as "walk on" or part of a group. I also was in most operas in the chorus. After I came to Dallas, I auditioned for and became part of casts for several productions at Garland Civic Theater. At one time I had an agent who sent me out on auditions, but I also learned from other sources what movies or made for TV programs were calling for "extras", so I got a lot of "extra/atmosphere" work in the l70's and early 80's. I can hear in your "soliloquy"yet another talent to add to your those I've discovered in your posts. It's great you are sharing your multi-talentness on Xanga. ~~Blessings 'n Cheers
@Zeal4living - In the first college I attended, for my English class, I did research on whether Shakespeare really wrote the works attributed to him. It was very interesting. Other possible choices for his writings were Christopher Marlowe or Ben Johnson, I think. That was a looooonnnnggg time ago, so I don't remember all I learned. My research was the basis for the paper I wrote for English class. I don't know that I could come to a definite conclusion. I just prefer to accept that William Shakespeare has been credited with those plays and poems..
@DonnaLou - Well thank you for sharing.
I knew that song sounded familiar. Stealing from the Bard? That's just cliched.
Some more Shakespeare humor that I found hilarious.
You are a hoot, Mike!
What a great combination - Shakespeare and "It's Friday". If only rebecca black and shakespeare existed in the same time.
Classic. This should be the official rewrite. Go petition that!
@Zeal4living - @DonnaLou - Dear Jurgens and Donna, William Shakespeare wrote his own plays. It doesn't matter that there isn't a "written signature". The folios themselves published during his lifetime have his name on them as the author. The debate has raged for centuries. Each supposed author of Shakespeare's work has it's own club. The Oxfordians nominate Edward de Vere. The Baconians (including Samuel Clemens) nominate Francis Bacon. Marlovians declare it was Christopher Marlowe. The Derbyite theory posits William Stanley. HERE is a good article to read declaring that it was in fact Mr.Shakespeare himself who wrote his own plays. "And cursed be he who moves my bones.."
@BellaMeadow - @gottobereal64 - Dear Emily and Gretchen, I did the "performance" really quickly and would have really "acted" better if I would have had more time. (and if I hadn't had a tooth pulled earlier in the day!) My friend Jim and I used to love to do Sir Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek from Twelfth Night. My favorite comedy is As You Like It. (I've had to explain the last description in my signature many times. "The fool may thinketh himself wise, but only the wise man knoweth himself a fool." It's spoken by the Fool (of course)) My favorite tragedy is Hamlet.
@GodlessLiberal - Dear Krisko, That was hilarious. Thank you for the link. I wish we'd had the internet when I was in college. My brother and I wrote a musical comedy called "Oh, Atreus!" based on one of the more base and cannibalistic Greek tragedies. It's quite funny, and someday I'm going to post the audio file on this blog from the original cassette tape made in 1972.
@Roadlesstaken - Dear Alex, I had to edit the speech and the song for time. Hamlet's a long play. And Friday SEEMS to last forever.
I am a much bigger fan of MacBeth. But even if Hamlet is not my favourite, that is relative, as all of Shakespeare's works are brilliant. I enjoyed this post and hope your tooth feels better!
I had to read Mac Beth in high school. I wasn't doing very well but I liked it (even though I was not doing well with the tests and discussions). I went into a drama class in college and actually did a monologue of Lady Mac Beth's speech at the very end (with the "out spot" part).
Lots of giggles here!
I've got something for you... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVNgUd3qv_Y ... it's a metal take on the song. I kid you not.
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