Reread Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy. Then reread the encounter between him and Ophelia. How would you stage this scene? How should Hamlet deliver his lines and how should Ophelia react? Does she know her father is spying? Is she helpless and afraid or angry? Does Hamlet get in her face? Touch her?
Because of the dark nature of Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy, I would stage Ophelia with a pained expression and anxious demeanor; considering her strong feelings for Hamlet, I would assume she would feel worried as he is talking about his inner conflict with his suicidal thoughts. I believe that Ophelia does not know that her father is spying, because I feel that her character is somewhat gullible, and easy to manipulate. I feel as though Hamlet would deliver his lines in this part as if he is talking as two different parts of himself, going back and forth between wanting to continue living, and wanting to die.
The following encounter between Ophelia and Hamlet, I believe, would be staged with Hamlet very calmly explaining to Ophelia that he never loved her. For him to be able to state it this way, I feel would help further paint him as a madman, and enhance his acting role, which he did not see as fit during his last soliloquy. I think that Hamlet would be distanced from her, not getting in her face or touching her, as he is trying to sound definitive and set in the idea of never having loved Ophelia. I could picture Ophelia being nervous, and perhaps jittery, as he declares that he had been deceiving her into thinking they were in love, and then perhaps breaking down when Hamlet insists she should join a nunnery. Ophelia would be visibly shaken.
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