S1 E1: Defining Verse Drama
Prose: Hamlet by Shakespeare (Act I, Scene 2)
HAMLET.
I have of late—but wherefore I know not—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.
I have of late—but wherefore I know not—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.
Verse: Hamlet, Shakespeare (Act II, Scene 2)
HAMLET.
Seems, madam! Nay it is; I know not ‘seems.’
‘Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected ‘havior of the visage,
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly: these indeed seem,
For they are actions that a man might play:
But I have that within which passeth show;
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.
Seems, madam! Nay it is; I know not ‘seems.’
‘Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected ‘havior of the visage,
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly: these indeed seem,
For they are actions that a man might play:
But I have that within which passeth show;
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.
Prose: The Tragedy of the Election of the Citrus King by Deb Victoroff
TRUMPIST.
Stay, sir. If you brother be, stay your vocal ‘plaint. You say, “I know,” yet know not, else, why say this result was an error of judgment or bad luck, and not the choice of a free people who spoke and loudly, against oppressions of their own?
CITIZEN.
If oppressions pressed their hand, then these oppressions they loved dearly and embraced. Why else these fellows now reward themselves by raising upon a pedestal the thing that enslaves them; the living form and embodiment of each listed ‘plaint that ‘ere they uttered. Prayed they for salvation and thereby did manifest one who prayed not, but happily, did prey, upon them. Praying thus, did then bring forth the predator, to rend their flesh and dreams.
Stay, sir. If you brother be, stay your vocal ‘plaint. You say, “I know,” yet know not, else, why say this result was an error of judgment or bad luck, and not the choice of a free people who spoke and loudly, against oppressions of their own?
CITIZEN.
If oppressions pressed their hand, then these oppressions they loved dearly and embraced. Why else these fellows now reward themselves by raising upon a pedestal the thing that enslaves them; the living form and embodiment of each listed ‘plaint that ‘ere they uttered. Prayed they for salvation and thereby did manifest one who prayed not, but happily, did prey, upon them. Praying thus, did then bring forth the predator, to rend their flesh and dreams.
Verse: The Tragedy of the Election of the Citrus King by Deb Victoroff
TRUMPIST.
Stay, sir. If you brother be,
Stay your vocal ‘plaint.
You say, “I know,” yet know not,
Else, why say this result was an error
Of judgment or bad luck,
And not the choice of a free people who spoke
And loudly,
Against oppressions of their own?
CITIZEN.
If oppressions pressed their hand,
Then these oppressions they loved dearly and embraced.
Why else these fellows now reward themselves
By raising upon a pedestal the thing that enslaves them;
The living form and embodiment of each listed ‘plaint
That ‘ere they uttered.
Prayed they for salvation and thereby did manifest
One who prayed not, but happily, did prey, upon them.
Praying thus, did then bring forth the predator,
To rend their flesh and dreams.
Stay, sir. If you brother be,
Stay your vocal ‘plaint.
You say, “I know,” yet know not,
Else, why say this result was an error
Of judgment or bad luck,
And not the choice of a free people who spoke
And loudly,
Against oppressions of their own?
CITIZEN.
If oppressions pressed their hand,
Then these oppressions they loved dearly and embraced.
Why else these fellows now reward themselves
By raising upon a pedestal the thing that enslaves them;
The living form and embodiment of each listed ‘plaint
That ‘ere they uttered.
Prayed they for salvation and thereby did manifest
One who prayed not, but happily, did prey, upon them.
Praying thus, did then bring forth the predator,
To rend their flesh and dreams.
Verse: "Alexander Hamilton;" Lyrics from Hamilton the Revolution, Lin-Manuel Miranda
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a
Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten
Spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor,
Grow up to be a hero and a scholar?
The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father
Got a lot farther by working a lot harder
By being a lot smarter
By being a self-starter
By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter.
And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted
Away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up.
Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of,
The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter.
Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned,
Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain,
Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain,
And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain.
Well the word got around, they said, “This kid is insane, man”
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland.
“Get your education, don't forget from whence you came, and
The world’s gonna know your name. What's your name, man?”
Alexander Hamilton.
My name is Alexander Hamilton.
And there's a million things I haven't done
But just you wait, just you wait…
Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten
Spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor,
Grow up to be a hero and a scholar?
The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father
Got a lot farther by working a lot harder
By being a lot smarter
By being a self-starter
By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter.
And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted
Away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up.
Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of,
The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter.
Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned,
Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain,
Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain,
And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain.
Well the word got around, they said, “This kid is insane, man”
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland.
“Get your education, don't forget from whence you came, and
The world’s gonna know your name. What's your name, man?”
Alexander Hamilton.
My name is Alexander Hamilton.
And there's a million things I haven't done
But just you wait, just you wait…
BONUS EPISODE: Interview with Deb Victoroff
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Resources
Peter Brook
Lin-Manuel Miranda
William Shakespeare
Deb Victoroff
Joss Whedon
- Peter Brook, The Empty Space
Lin-Manuel Miranda
- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton: The Revolution (Collected lyrics)
- “Alexander Hamilton” performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda at the White House for President Obama
- “Alexander Hamilton” performed by the Original Broadway Cast for the #Hamilfilm
- “Hamilton and Motifs” by Make Stuff on YouTube
William Shakespeare
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet
- Kenneth Branaugh “What a piece of work”
- Mel Gibson “What a piece of work”
- Ethan Hawke “What a piece of work”
- Maxine Peake “What a piece of work”
- David Tennant “What a piece of work”
- William Shakespeare, Richard II
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
- William Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing
Deb Victoroff
- Deb Victoroff on New Play Exchange
- Tragedy in monologue form at Dixon Place, NYC
- Tragedy as a drama at the New York Theatre Festival
Joss Whedon
- “Going Through the Motions”—Opening song from “Once More With Feeling,” Season 6, Episode 7, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- SPOILERS: “I’ll Be Mrs.”—Anya’s song from “Selfless,” Season 7, Episode 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
