Hamlet Meets Dr. Phil

The Dr. Phil Show: Hamlet Edition [which had students act as though they were their assigned Hamlet characters on the Dr. Phil Show], was a very creative and effective exercise for analyzing the characters of the play – both for the participants and the audience. Since the exercise was unrehearsed, it required the participants (at least myself) to reflect back to the autobiographies [that addressed their character’s actions/motives], in order to quickly mold into character themselves; I was surprised at the immediacy of some of the responses to Dr. Phil’s questions. It was also interesting to see some of the interpretations of the characters, and how participants transformed into them (Aris did a good job). At some points during the exercise I actually started to believe some of the things that were said, as though I had recently experienced them. I think that one of the goals of this exercise was to connect the plot and motives to the present day – it really seemed like the sort of thing that would end up on Dr. Phil or Jerry Springer. By seeing a modern connection, I think it also helped students to overcome the language barrier (more so grammar/syntax) they may have encountered while reading the play itself. In addition, the exercise allowed students to ask the characters in person, anything they were uncertain of in the play, as though they were an actual audience on the set of Dr. Phil.

(Photo shopped by myself)