Hamlet's instructions to the players tells us that many actors in the Elizabethan period became too exaggerated and melodramatic in their acting. They also tended to speak too loudly. We can easily believe that the accomplished playwright Shakespeare, using Hamlet as his mouthpiece, knew exactly what he was talking about.

Hamlet, who has obviously seen some bad productions in his time, tells the players not to "saw the air too much with your hand thus, but use all gently." In other words, he is telling them not to overact or make unnatural gestures. He also advises them that he hates when actors "tear a passion to tatters, to very rags" by shouting too loudly to be heard by the part of the audience that is far away.

Having the play performed in a natural, convincing way, as if it were real life, is very important to Hamlet, for he wants to observe Claudius's emotions as the actors pantomime the murder of Hamlet's father.