Shakespeare Theater Washington Dc

Fourth Wall: This is the first time you’ve performed in Shakespeare in the Park. Have you done anything in an outdoor arena like this before? Is that a new challenge for you?

Michael Hayden: It’s a completely new challenge. I’ve never done anything outside, and I’ve never done Shakespeare in the Park. I’m used to working inside the theater where you project to a house based on the size of the house you’re in. In the park you’re miked, which is necessary because of the way the sound disperses. It’s tricky because if you rely on the mic and speak in such a quiet way that they have to amplify you so much, it’s a very strange experience for an audience. You have to fill the house with your ideas, but you still have to project language and ideas in a way that all the people in the house feel included. That’s a different challenge for me. I’ve always been miked in musicals, and even then in dialogue parts in musicals we were always told, “Work as though you don’t have a mic.” I follow the same rule in the park.

FW: You’re a seasoned Shakespeare performer. Have you done either of these plays before?

MH: It’s ironic — people are now calling me a seasoned Shakespeare performer, but let me clarify that. My first Shakespeare play was Henry IV are considered to be two of Shakespeare’s “problem plays.”