--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The essential is to excite the…" description: "\"The essential is to excite the spectators. If that means playing Hamlet on a flying trapeze or in an aquarium, you do it.\" — Orson Welles" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/orson-welles-1628_flying_the-essential-is-to-excite-the-spectator_76796.jpg" --- # The essential is to excite the spectators. If that means… ![“The essential is to excite the spectators. If that means playing Hamlet on a flying trapeze or in an aquarium, you do it.” quote by Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/orson-welles-1628_flying_the-essential-is-to-excite-the-spectator_76796.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/orson-welles-1628_flying_the-essential-is-to-excite-the-spectator_76796.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/orson-welles-1628_flying_the-essential-is-to-excite-the-spectator_76796.jpg) > “The essential is to excite the spectators. If that means playing Hamlet on a flying trapeze or in an aquarium, you do it.” [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The core idea is to prioritize audience engagement, even if it requires unconventional or spectacular methods. **In simple terms:** Engage the audience with bold, unexpected performance. Key Takeaway Spectacle enhances impact. Themes creativity audience engagement risk-taking performance art innovation Mood playful audacious Type advice observation When to use this quote - theatrical productions - live events - marketing campaigns - educational workshops Key Concepts spectacle attention storytelling Practical Applications - Stage direction - event design Questions to Reflect On - How far should one go to captivate an audience? - When does spectacle distract from substance? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) [Hamlet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hamlet/) ## Related quotes > [I saw Ben Whishaw playing Hamlet at the Old Vic and straight away had a very strong sense that he might be the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-tykwer/i-saw-ben-whishaw-playing-hamlet-at-the-old-vic-and-straight-away-had/) [Tom Tykwer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-tykwer/) > [ I had to kiss it \[ playing Hamlet\] goodbye because Marvel have to plot things for the next three, four years. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/i-had-to-kiss-it-playing-hamlet-goodbye-because-marvel-have-to-plot/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [I am not one of those people who like to play. I don't. I'm neither coy, nor do I, in any way, want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-dobbs/i-am-not-one-of-those-people-who-like-to-play-i-don-t-i-m-neither-coy/) [Lou Dobbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-dobbs/) > [What actor doesn't want to walk around a set and be called 'Mr. President?' Playing POTUS is a kind of rite of passage among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-lurie/what-actor-doesn-t-want-to-walk-around-a-set-and-be-called-mr/) [Rod Lurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-lurie/) > [There are a thousand ways of playing a good classic. If it were effective, I would play Hamlet on a trapeze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/there-are-a-thousand-ways-of-playing-a-good-classic-if-it-were/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [I started to realise that it wasn't for me. 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Never ever!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-elliott/i-never-want-to-see-hamlet-ever-again-never-ever/) [Marianne Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-elliott/) > [“The theater, bringing impersonal masks to life, is only for those who are virile enough to create new life: either as a conflict of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/the-theater-bringing-impersonal-masks-to-life-is-only-for-those-who/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [“In the gravedigger scene in act V, Hamlet looks upon an anonymous skull and jokes that even Alexander the Great decomposed into dust that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/in-the-gravedigger-scene-in-act-v-hamlet-looks-upon-an-anonymous/) [Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/) > [The two greatest plays ever written were Hamlet and Oedipus Rex, and they're both about father-son relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/the-two-greatest-plays-ever-written-were-hamlet-and-oedipus-rex-and/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [I was very moved to see that the name of the boat was Hamlet - an imaginary character becomes so important to people, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-was-very-moved-to-see-that-the-name-of-the-boat-was-hamlet-an/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Cannot you tell that? Every fool can tell that. It was the very day that young Hamlet was born, he that is mad and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/cannot-you-tell-that-every-fool-can-tell-that-it-was-the-very-day/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/shakespeare-s-hamlet-there-is-nothing-either-good-or-bad-but-thinking/) [Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/) > [“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite,/That ever I was born to set it right!” Thus Hamlet. 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