helia to speak first.

_Oph._ What are you thinking about, my lord?

_Ham._ I am wondering whether to be or not to be, whether 'tis nobler in
the mind to suffer--

And so on, till you get to the end, when Ophelia might say, "Ah, yes," or
something non-committal of that sort. This would be an easy way of doing
it, but it would not be the best way, for the reason that it is too easy
to call attention to itself. What you want is to make it clear that you
are conveying Hamlet's thoughts to the audience in rather a clever
manner.

That this can now be done we have to thank the well-known inventor of the
telephone. (I forget his name.) The telephone has revolutionized the
stage; with its aid you can convey anything you like across the
footlights. In the old badly-made play it was frequently necessary for
one of the characters to take the audience into his confidence. "Having
disposed of my uncle's body," he would say to the stout lady in the third
row of the stalls, "I now have leisure in which to search for the will.
But first to lock the door lest I should be interrupted by Harold
Wotnott." In the modern well-constructed play he simply rings up an
imaginary confederate and tells him what he is going to do. Could
anything be more natural?

Let us, to give an example of how this method works, go back again to the
play we have been discussing.

_Enter_ Hamlet. _He walks quickly across the room to the telephone, and
takes up the receiver impatiently._

_Ham_. Hallo! Hallo! I want double-nine--hal-_lo_! I want double-nine
two--hal-_lo_! Double-nine two three, Elsinore.... Double-_nine_,
yes.... Hallo, is that you, Horatio? Hamlet speaking. I say, I've been
wondering about this business. To be or not to be, that is the question;
whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows--What?
No, Hamlet speaking. _What_? Aren't you Horatio? I want double-nine two
three--sorry.... Is that you, Exchange? You gave me double-_five_, I
want double-_nine_.... Hallo, is that you, Horatio? Hamlet speaking.
I've been wondering about this business. To be or not to be, that is
the--What? No, I said, To _be_ or _not_ to be.... No, "be"--b-e. Yes,
that's right. To be or not to be, that is the question; whether 'tis
nobler--

And so on. You see how effective it is.

But there is still another way of avoiding the soliloquy, which is
sometimes used with good results. It is to let Hamlet, if that happen to
be the name of your c