How does Shakespeare depict theatre and the acting craft across his works?

Hamlet is the most prominent example of direct commentary on theatre in Shakespeare’s time. The play within the play is used to convict King Claudius of the murder of his brother. ‘The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king,’ Hamlet says, and he proceeds to direct the players that have come to perform. This is one of the rare comedic scenes in Hamlet, as he is not content with their initial interpretation of the lines. ‘Do not saw the air too much with your hand thus,’ he complains and famously demands the player ‘hold, as ’twere, the mirror up to nature.’ The fact that the audience are present for this rehearsal and the close representation of theatre practice show how important theatre was culturally in Shakespeare’s times. Theatre is given an enormous amount of power not only in Hamlet as the performance unmasks the killer, but also in disguise plays such as King Lear, where Edgar’s acting saves his life as he is persecuted and allows him to restore the natural order to the world.In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, another play is performed within the play, based on the ancient tale of Pyramus and Thisbe. This time, much as in Hamlet’s complaints, the actors’ hopeless attempt at performing well and their childish fights during rehearsal comment smilingly on the problems of acting as a craft and serve as comic relief for the audience. Most famous in Shakespeare’s comedies is of course Jacques’ monologue ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.’ This is a surprisingly serious interlude to the comic chaos surrounding the play, and this is why it has remained in the mind of centuries of audiences so well. It is the ultimate justification for theatre as a profession, elevating it above its contemporary stance as one educational institution among others. ‘All the world’s a stage’ sets out to prove that theatre teaches about life and spreads wisdom – a strong countermove to the Puritan’s claim of acting being professional lying.Shakespeare fervently presents theatre as a representation of life in Hamlet, King Lear and As You Like It, while not shying away from a humorous take on the profession in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Puritan prohibition of theatre on the northern embankment of the Thames is strongly opposed by Shakespeare’s plays and the Globe on the Southbank which fight for recognition of the craft as a moral institution.