There have been analyses of this line that ask – is he meaning BREAK it as in break character? And it’s certainly possible – but it seems fairly obvious to me that he means the oath. If, after basically swearing herself into a miserable existence, should she break it, (she does, in fact, break it – as we know she will) then, what? Misery. Obviously.

Oaths are really made to be broken, aren’t they?
And the more fervent the oath, the more likely it will break and the more an audience will want to see it broken. A story where someone swears intense fealty and then just keeps that oath? Well, it’s like putting a gun on stage and never shooting it.

A piece of wood, made a meal of by a worm, or a family of worms, will retain its shape, will still seem to be a piece of wood. But the worms, in their feeding, will leave behind a void. Where there was wood, there will be air.
Where all was solid, will now be dotted with space.
A piece of wormwood is destined to break. Something solid becomes fragile and the slightest pressure will crack it into holey pieces.
That’s wormwood.

When our hearts get broken, suddenly everything gets generalized. You feel a woman did you wrong then clearly all women are wrong-doers. If a man behaves like a dog, then clearly all men are dogs. We love so specifically and then hate so generally.

This seems to be inevitable – at least in heterosexual relationships.
Certainly a woman who’s had her heart broken by a woman might still indulge in a lamentations of “Women! Can’t live with ‘em. . .” but there’s always in reserve the self. If it’s included, it includes a measure of self-deprecation, self-mockery, self denial.

Woman’s love is just as long and just as short as man’s is. Depending on the people and the circumstance.

You know what would be a really good gift for a total Shakespeare geek?
A ring. Like a nice silver one, with this prologue engraved on it.
It would be one of those things that said Shakespeare geek would wear and when he or she would show it to a fellow Shakespeare geek, the 2nd geek would first find it amusing and then get to say this line and then get all jealous and want one of his very own.
It’s like having an inside joke on a piece of jewelry – one that could last for centuries. Because the joke could have been as funny and as inside as it was 400 years ago. And will be as amusing as it will be 400 years from now, I hope.
The question is, though, could the prologue actually fit on a ring?

Given Ophelia’s response to this, it’s possible that this is meant to be a little ribald, maybe a little personally suggestive.
He’s using the formal You, so it’s got some distance but it’s a directive so it does seem aimed at our fair Ophelia. And what exactly could he be suggesting she show without shame? Something it might be funny for the prologue to explain.
Why on earth is he making jokes like this to the woman he just broke up with?

A compelling case of logorrhea
He will remain mute of all subjects
Until you show him a show
Then he suddenly cannot stop talking
He will explain every detail
Make sure you’ve missed nothing
Will place the whole thing in its theatrical framework
Or its artistic movement.
No plot point left unturned
No character left unanalyzed
No prop left unsymbolized
No metaphor left unpacked.
He is a prologue machine
And will discourse on anything
So long as it’s a show.

She was complaining about the management’s surveillance of the place. All the employees are under constant video surveillance by the owner, at his home. And as an employee myself at this institution, I can tell you that the employees are not informed about this surveillance. I’m not sure this is legal.

But anyway –

She said, “I’m happy to tell him anything he wants to know. You want to know something about me? Ask me.” And then proceeded to describe a scenario in which she told him at exactly what time she usually went #2 and that it is a floater.
She really will tell all. Even if you don’t ask her.
I generally will not tell all. I will tell more than many would expect, though.

Players can be incredible gossips. But probably anyone can be. They can also keep some serious secrets under wraps when they want to. The number of times I’ve found out that some relationship developed right under my nose is really quite extraordinary. When working on a show, the experience is so intimate, so full of intense togetherness, it can feel like there are no secrets, that everyone knows everything about one another. But – sometimes that is an illusion.

I thought of a theatre company, known for its group aesthetic, for being open and edgy and experimental and what not. In other words, they are a company that would seem not to keep secrets. But when one of their own proved to be a bully, proved to be the sort that would give his girlfriend and fellow cast member a black eye, the secrets started closing in around them. They keep this counsel. They keep it close.

The stage direction is: Enter the Fourth Player as Prologue.
Which along with this line, makes me wonder if there is some sort of accepted Prologue costume or prop.
Like, if a guy comes out in a tabard and a pointy hat, everyone knows he’s the Prologue.
Or he wears a little chalkboard around his neck that reads “Prologue.” Or maybe the prologue wears a wizard robe with plot points pinned to it so he doesn’t forget. It feels like there is some signal that this guy is going to give us a prologue speech. In much the same manner that if a guy in a top hat and tails emerges at a circus, we assume he will be the ringmaster. Or if a woman appears in a bikini at a boxing match, we assume she will be telling us what round we’re in.
What those signals are for this particular position, I don’t know – but it would seem there is SOMETHING.

I like a show that means mischief- a show that stirs up trouble. But trouble of a playful sort. A lot of shows mean to be edgy, to raise eyebrows and such – but with no laugh behind the eyes.

I want to see more mischievous shows. I want to see shows that, if they’re going to fuck with you, they’re going to fuck with you in a way that makes everyone smile. A show that plays with you like Robin Goodfellow – obnoxious, sure, but usually also adorable – and with no long term deleterious effects.