Enter HAMLET and three of the PLAYERS.

HAMLET         Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you – trippingly on the tongue. But if you mouth it as many of our players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for, in the very torrent, tempest and, as I may say, whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.            (3.2.1-8)

Change of pace (again): prose! Hamlet being reasonable, if highly managing, bossy, and attempting to tell professionals how to do their actual job. (Is there an in-joke here, both about acting styles and about officious patrons/enthusiastic amateurs?) Hamlet’s written a speech, as he promised (what it says is never made clear), and he’s anxious that it be well delivered; it’s crucial to his plan that it come across clearly, but also he has very fixed ideas about acting and its techniques. (He could be speaking more generally about acting, and certainly is by the end of his speech as a whole.) Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you. Do it exactly as I did it; I know what I want. Trippingly on the tongue: be light and fluent and swift, not ponderous or bombastic. It’s got to seem part of the play, rather than a significant addition. But if you mouth it as many of our players do—if you go over the top, make a meal of it, like certain actors I could name—I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines, roaring at the top of his voice, with no shape or sense, all volume and self-importance. And another thing, do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus [exaggerated gesture]—don’t do that wavy thing with your hand, you know the thing, this thing—but use all gently. Be subtle! Be understated in your gestures as much as in your delivery! For, in the very torrent, tempest and, as I may say, whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. Even in the most passionate speech, at the highest pitch of emotion, all the big feelings, there’s got to be light and shade, it’s got to be believable, reasonable, convincing; it’s still got to sound good.