Unit 12
A midsummer night’s dream :
My original synopsis:
Midsummer night’s dream is a comedy play written by William Shakespeare. The play explores the adventures of four Athenian lovers who get caught up in a love triangle due to numerous factors, in particular, a spell. After Hernia and Lysander marriage has been forbidden by her father, Eeugues, Hernia finds herself facing desperate measures as she has the choice of marrying Demetrius (which her father is truly fond of), or faces death as a consequence. After Hernia decides to try and escape with Lysander, she shares this erratic idea with Helena. However, Helena deceives her friends and utilising this information to the best of her advantage. Helena shares this information with Demetrius that Hernia and Lysander are leaving the city, in order to win back his love but things don’t go to plan the way she thought it would. As Helena and Demetrius set their journey into the forest in order to “stop “Hernia and Lysander’s love, somewhere along the way, a formula of magical juice has been created which causes a person to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking up. Troublemaker Oberon sees Demetrius and Helena in the forest and takes advantage of the formula by aiming to make Demetrius fall in love.
Midsummer night’s dream is a comedy play written by William Shakespeare. The play explores the adventures of four Athenian lovers who get caught up in a love triangle due to numerous factors, in particular, a spell. After Hernia and Lysander marriage has been forbidden by her father, Eeugues, Hernia finds herself facing desperate measures as she has the choice of marrying Demetrius (which her father is truly fond of), or faces death as a consequence. After Hernia decides to try and escape with Lysander, she shares this erratic idea with Helena. However, Helena deceives her friends and utilising this information to the best of her advantage. Helena shares this information with Demetrius that Hernia and Lysander are leaving the city, in order to win back his love but things don’t go to plan the way she thought it would. As Helena and Demetrius set their journey into the forest in order to “stop “Hernia and Lysander’s love, somewhere along the way, a formula of magical juice has been created which causes a person to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking up. Troublemaker Oberon sees Demetrius and Helena in the forest and takes advantage of the formula by aiming to make Demetrius fall in love.
In addition to this, acting on Oberon’s order, Puck applies the potion
to Lysander’s eyelids. A plot twist commences as Puck confuses Lysander for
Demetrius. This then backfired as Lysander wakes up and falls in love with Helena.
The love triangle commences.
Just as matters couldn’t get any worse, Puck transforms Nick bottoms
head into an ass. As everybody flees in terror due to how despicable Nick
bottom’s appearance is, he himself is not aware of this and ends up in a glade
with the sleeping Titania . Titania then wakes up and automatically falls in
love with Nick bottom due to the magic formula. Furthermore, Puck then puts the
same potion in Demetrius eyes but the first person he sees when waking up is
Helena and instantly falls in love with her. Flattered, Helena believe that the
two men are mocking her well as Hernia believes that Lysander has been taken by
Helena.
Eventually, Oberon removes the spell from Titania and everyone’s
memories are erased from the love potion. Everyone comes to terms with their lovers, Hernia and Lysander and Demetrius and Helena. As Bottom arrives to reveal what
happened the night before, he is interrupted by a craftsmen performance about
married couples as everyone exists.
I decided to write my own synopsis in order to re-evaluate my knowledge
of the play. This is the first time I have read this play, therefore I
researched about the play and watched two versions of the play to. One modern
and one classical. In addition to this, as an ensemble, we read the play thoroughly in
order to get a understanding as a whole.
Language;
Due to the fact that this play was written by Shakespeare, the language
he utilises is something you have to get familiar with. Even though I have
studied Shakespearean plays before (Romeo and Juliet , twelfth night and
Macbeth ), I like to ensure that I am accurate when speaking Shakespeare’s
language . Cliff notes was extremely useful as it breaks down the play into a
format which is more understandable. Cliff notes also give you definitions on
certain words utilised in the play which was extremely useful to me. As an
actor I want to know what exactly is going on and what is being said so I can
use the correct body language background knowledge with it.
My character is not in the play consistently, however the scenes my
character is included in, he often speaks a lot. Majority of his lines are
often speeches (reflects his authority and power) and have a lot of words
included in them, therefore it is important that I deliver this effectively the
correct way in order for the audience to know what I am saying. Punctuation Was
key as although Shakespeare often has extremely long lines, he uses punctuation
to allow the actor to breathe so that they can deliver those lines clearly and
effectively.
Themes explored in
midnight summers dream;
-Comedy
-Fantasy
-Romance
-Gender
Key Facts;
The play was written approximately in 1594/1595 and was first published
in 1600.The play combines both elements of Ancient Greece and renaissance England.
although William Shakespeare wrote the play, it was published by a man called
Thomas Fisher.
Having a read of the play, I noticed there is no narrator or antagonist.
The plays tensions are mostly the result of certain situations and mistakes.
Majority of the conflicts of the play are resolved in the last act however in
my perspective, the most tension illustrated in the play is the arguments
between the lovers in act 3 scene 2.
Audition process:
Audition process in our roles / link to interviews outside etc at
universities
Before starting the play, our tutor spoke to us regarding the casting
and told everyone to have a idea on who they want to play . After doing some
individual study on the play, (as I have never read it beforehand )the
character Egeus really stood out to me . In addition to reading a section of
the text , we also had to explain why we chose this specific character . It was
a feeling of tough love that came across in his monologue at the start of the play;
“ Full vexation come I “. Although he is handling the situation at extreme
measures, he has good intentions behind it . I also wanted to play a character
r with a lot more dominance and authority in order to help build my confidence.
A week later, The audition process began . After reading the play both
as an ensemble and individually, we was gold to select a piece your character
says in the play and my characters monologue at the beginning of the play was
just the thing I needed. I researched the context behind the monologue, the
characters objectives in order to g perform with a level of accuracy .The
audition involved just myself and my tutor ( director) however , we all then
had to perform our different monologues to each other .Due to there being two
different casts , If anyone wanted to play the same characters , the issue was
easier to resolve! This gave everyone equal opportunities.
During the process of this occurring, I was receiving university
interviews which required me to a perform a monologue of my choice which had to
be from a classical play and written before the 19th century. Some universities
gave me a list of monologues to choose from well as others allows me to make a
choice of my own as long as I follow the guidelines. Auditioning in front of my
tutor and peers was a good opportunity for me to practice my university auditions.
Practice makes perfect. Everybody can say a monologue in front of anybody but
it’s about enhancing your skills. That’s the most important thing.
The character I am playing in midsummer night’s dream is Eugeus. Although
Egeus isn’t a main character, I believe his actions lead to the events occurred
in the rest of the play. My character’s actions introduce the conflict in the story.
In Act 1, Eugeus is devastated that his daughter Hernia will not obey his order.
Egeus wishes Hernia will marry Demetrius despite Hernia falling in love with Lysander.
Upset that his daughter won’t comply with his orders, He abuses his power and
authority by reminding everyone of the Athenian law which grants him to have
the power of who his daughter marries. If she refuses, the consequence of this
is death or becoming a nun for the rest of her life.
By Egeus himself suggesting the Athenian law knowing that these are the consequences,
emphasises how cold-hearted he is even to his very own blood. I would describe
my character as extremely selfish due to him not being willing to cater to his
child’s feeling. It also shows how demanding he is. If it wasn’t for Egeus
putting his daughter in this predicament, the play wouldn’t have its core plot!
His validity is important as everything afterwards is a reflection of his
choice.
Egeus feels entitled because he created Hernia. Therefore, he feels he
gets to decide who she loves and marries that just isn’t fair. He is utilising
his power to his advantage. But not only his power, but his gender. The
characters in midsummer night’s dream live in a patriarchal society. This
is a society where men are given authority over women and women must obey.
Although society has changed drastically in today’s society due to equality rights,
in this era, this wasn’t the case.
Furthermore, after some thorough research, I started to investigate why
my character wants Demetrius to marry his daughter so badly. Taking a closer
look on Demetrius individual character, he hasn’t been conveyed to be the most
faithful when it comes to a relationship. This is evidential in act 2 when
Lysander calls Demetrius a “inconstant man “. Despite Lysander being specific
on what type of man Demetrius Is when it comes to be being in a relationship,
Shakespeare conveys uses hidden hints to convey that there has been a history of
leaving women after sleeping with them. When Lysander portrays this, both Theseus
and Egeus don’t even seem shocked. As a matter of fact, Egeus even defends
Demetrius;” Demetrius hath my life ;/ and what is like my love shall render him
“.
As for Lysander, Egeus seems like he extremely hates him. Some of the
word he associates with Lysander emphasis on this some more. He believes Lysander;
has “bewitched “ his daughter .
Also, “ stol’n the impression of her fantasy “ .
And, “with cunning “has “filched” Hernia heart “.
He has no fondness at all for Lysander and even calls for him to be
prosecuted once finding out him and Hermit have escaped and are in the woods.
This shows how judgemental my character is as well as getting the
impression that Egeus believes Lysander is a horrible person for falling in
love with his daughter despite the feeling being mutual. Egeus is clearly
driven by the need to regain his own authority.
Character Development :
My character Egeus enters the scene whist other characters on stage are having a conversation. I walked on stage and my tutor instructed me to go off again. H then asked me what my charioteers intentions are whist entering the stage. Du to my research , my character enters the stage with his daughter Hernia very angrily. in order to portray this , i grabbed Hernia by her arm when entering the stage just to emphasis to the audience my emotions.. My character then approaches Thesus reminding him of the law that Hernia has to obey, being egeus choosing who his daughter marries as well as the consequences which may occur if she decides to dis -obey this. I made my tone of voice sound demanding.. I remained on stage walking and talking with power and authority.
My tutors feedback allowed me to work on this particular scene and better by doing the things i stated above. His feedback was to " Take the words into you're body" meaning, make sure you're body language is similar to the words you're also saying.In addition to this, he told us to reflect on the reason why you're entering the stage and have a clear understanding on what my character s saying and doing.
Character Development :
My character Egeus enters the scene whist other characters on stage are having a conversation. I walked on stage and my tutor instructed me to go off again. H then asked me what my charioteers intentions are whist entering the stage. Du to my research , my character enters the stage with his daughter Hernia very angrily. in order to portray this , i grabbed Hernia by her arm when entering the stage just to emphasis to the audience my emotions.. My character then approaches Thesus reminding him of the law that Hernia has to obey, being egeus choosing who his daughter marries as well as the consequences which may occur if she decides to dis -obey this. I made my tone of voice sound demanding.. I remained on stage walking and talking with power and authority.
My tutors feedback allowed me to work on this particular scene and better by doing the things i stated above. His feedback was to " Take the words into you're body" meaning, make sure you're body language is similar to the words you're also saying.In addition to this, he told us to reflect on the reason why you're entering the stage and have a clear understanding on what my character s saying and doing.
" A day in the life of your charterer " Task:
My tutor gave us a task of doing a short piece of writing in characters perspective. By writing about my character outside of the play allowed me to utilise the knowledge i know into this piece of writing . Evaluating y characters intentions , behaviours and reactions has allowed me to become as accurate as possible when writing this short piece.I need to provide realistic content which has similarities of what my character usually does in the play.
A day in the life of Eugues
We last left off seeing everybody celebrate the marriage of my one and only daughter Hermia and her husband Lysander . Although I am happy that my daughter has found a man she loves , I’m pretty sure you are all aware of how much I didn’t want this marriage to take place . My Hermia is too good enough for any man and when I feel like she’s settling for less it’s not only her I’m worried about but also myself .I had dear plans for my daughter to inherit my position and continue my legacy however, i feel she cant complete this with a man of his sort.
After the marriage ended and the guests went home , I had to exchange some serious words to Hermia . I sat her down and told her how ashamed I was at the fact that she ran away and went missing with a man I forbid her to marry . Not only that but she returned with him to ! As a father , my duty is to protect . I told her to never run away from home again but she explained she felt that was her only option . It made me realise maybe I need to be a bit more understanding . After getting all the negativity the way , I congratulated my daughter on finding true love and following her gut .strong minded just like her father!
Even though I dislike Lysander , seeing him with my daughter and now being part of my family, I have decided to uplift my mindset towards him allowing us to at least be civilised . No,we are not going to be the best of friends as he is the reason why Hermia showed me such erratic behaviour and as a husband he should’ve advised her to do the right thing . Shows me how he handles serious situations !
I will sit back and observe the marriage for 30 days in order to find out what their strengths and weaknesses are in the marriage . I have a huge reputation to maintain and I will not allow my daughter to ruin that . Hernias first marriage will also be her last so she better get it right ! And he better not let me down .I have ensured a back up plan has been processed. Demetrius willingly ( after a few asks) signed a contract of mine. This means that if Hermia and Lysander do not progress within their marriage ,Demetrius will have to do husband duties for 7 days . Afterwards i will re-evaluate the situation and act accordingly.I have been linenant but that doesnt change the fact that i am Hermia's father and she shall do what i say . Hopefully this goes well.
Practical Work/rehearsals:
Section 1;
For example , in today’s lesson,When my team ( the red team ) have the performance space to rehearse i try and give 100%. My tutor often asks for energy as an ensemble , sometimes certain people are more energetic than others therefore I feel that is something as a team we need to work on . Even though our regular performance space is quite small , I still try and project my voice to the best of my ability however sometimes i find it difficult as you get so comfortable with the Space you usually use instead of the actual performance Space .There is a big different in size . We are deciding to perform outside . Due to the space being so open, it is crucial for me to work and improve on talking clearly and loud enough for the audience to hear me .i also take into consideration of any background / outside noise which might occur as our performance space is in a garden . Natural noises will contribute to the sound so I see it as my job to ensue I speak loud enough
.Utilising time wisely:
On another separate occasion , rehearsals have been very useful as the more practice we have as a ensemble , the better the performance as a overall will be .Due to the amount of students in our class ,my tutor decided to split the class into two separate casts , red team and blue team . One of my class mates Michael is also playing the same character as me “ Eegeus” so it’s useful to observe how he portrays the character , his different inferences and perspectives on the character to.
We often have to take turns with the performance space and the two separate casts. However , I utilise this rehearsal time to the best of my advantage . If the Blue team is rehearsing, I will sit , observe and watch and take notes And writhing down my dislike and likes, any ideas I come up , the feedback my tutor may give and taking on any constructive feedback so that I don’t make the same mistakes .
Recently, I watched a modern version film on midsummer nights dream which was made in 2016. The film was released again on channel BBC 4 My tutor suggested giving it a watch which came in handy as it was nice to see how they made their own adaptation on a traditional popular play . Despite me reading the plays script several times both as an ensemble with my peers and individually, it was great seeing everything come to life on screen instead of constantly utilising my imagination.
At the beginning of each lesson, a warm up is taken place . the purpose of this is to....
1) warm up our voices
2)stimulate the mind
3)expand our focus
The advantages of taking time at the beginning of each lesson to warm up,allows us to feel more relaxed as well as being ready to start our drama activities.
My tutor says its crucial to participate in games before rehearsals in order to improve ensemble. By working as team , strive everyone as an ensemble to feel comfortable working together when they are rehearsing the lay. Working together allows you t feed off each other. That is also important for m as a individual actor as it strengthens my scenes in the play when working with the actors involved within my scene to .
Section 2
Tongue Twisters:
At the beginning of every rehearsal , a warm up takes place and one of my favourite things within the warm ups are tongue twisters. Tongue twisters are useful because its a way of improving my articulation and pronunciation on words which helps mu speech generally in my day to day life and also when performing on stage. It is important as a actor for the audience to understand each word i am saying.
Examples of my tongue twisters
-"Black bug bit a big black bear".
-"Six sleek swans swam swiftly southwards"
-"Switch watch, wrist watch"
-"Tie twine to three tree twigs"
-" She sells sea shells on the sea shore"
-" She sells sea shells on the sea shore"
My tutor found a list of tongue twisters from Google and these are the ones i utilise the most . I printed a few tongue twisters out and stuck them on my fridge in order to ensure that i practice regularly.
Section 3
Vocal work ( Articulation)
Pronunciation is also a key factor . I’m trying to get into the habit of analysing Shakespeare’s contest and language.In rehearsals I am taking my time in order to familiarise myself with the pronunciation of certain words , breathing techniques and constantly comparing to cliff notes in order to get a modernised understanding on the concept of this play. Line learning is also key .June is approaching and rehearsals will be a lot more easier if the two casts learnt their lines . It will run smoother and allow us to get more things done and fix our focus onto something . Due to everyone having scripts whilst rehearsing on stage , it can sometimes be distracting .You sometimes forget to the play moment and focus on the things around you and what your doing , because you have lines to deliver and you have to keep constantly referring back to the script . In addition to this , when reading off the script , allows the actor to have eye contact on the script and not to the “ audience “ .This then tends tor you to utilise your inside voice as your not delivering nothing to anyone . Vocal dynamics is something which I want to work on both independently and as an ensemble .
Section 4;
As a actor, it is important to warm up the body before starting rehearsals. The advantages of taking time at the beginning of each lesson to warm up,allows us to feel more relaxed as well as being ready to start our drama activities.
At the start of each lesson a warm up would commence , the purpose of this is to
1) warm up our voices
2)stimulate the mind
3)expand our focus
One of the warms up we done with my tutor Sharon, helped us with our voices hugely. There was 4 fruits: Cucumber, Banana, Orange and Pineapple. We started off by saying these fruits normally in unison , but each time we said these fruits it will get harder and harder. This was because its not what you say its how you say it. The first fruit said was "Cumber". We started saying this in a
high pitch which went to a low pitch., this helped exercise our jaws. The second fruit was "Banana". We smiled while saying this fruit in order to articulate our words. The third fruit said was "Pineapple". The more you repeated this fruit the higher the pitch of your voice will get. Lastly, the last fruit we said was "Orange". This was said in a deep tone of voice in order to see how low our voices go as well as relaxing our voices also.
Section 5;
Rehearsals and Script
Recently, we rehearsed my first scene in Act 1 scene 2. Although we had our scripts on us , we tried to read off the script in order to play around and bring it more to life . At firs,t everyone was reading straight off the script however, as i observed this, it really effected my class mates ability in acting by reading off the page. This was due to the fact that eye contact was mainly focused on the script and nt my tutor/audience, the dialogue didn't flow and the timing of dialogue between each character didn't tend to bounce off each other as such. I then suggested when it m scene was due, t try and read off my script and at within the moment . Although its one of our first rehearsals as an ensemble, it was really good and i received some great feedback .
Online Rehearsals:
Due to the global pandemic ,the structure of our normal rehearsals have changed.As an ensemble we now rehearse online on the days where we would usually attend college. Zoom is a app we all use to...
-Communicate and interact with each other.
- To ensure rehearsals are being kept up to date.
-Receiving constructive feedback from tutors and peers.
- Practising lines.
Sometimes the rehearsals dont run as smoothly due to
- Everyone not being together physically
This is a different way of rehearsing therefore it all felt a bit strange , not being able to physically rehearse with each other was unusual.
-Technical difficulties may occur
The paste of the rehearsals were a lot more slower due to trying to hear everybody at once. in addition top this , sometimes the app will glitch and sometimes people weren't technically prepared for example ; leaving on the mike even though they are not in the current scene( background noise was a bit distracting when recieiting lines during rehearsals).
-Punctuality / Attendance
Often people would join the meeting at various different times. This would then mean the rest of the group will have to explain what we are currently rehearsing. Connections/ WiFi had a huge part to play in this as everyone's utensils are different.
Sometimes these things can be extremely frustrating and this causes every-bodies energy when interacting with the play to decrease. Just because of the situation currently, doesn't mean that is an excuse to lack your full potential. One of the things my tutor said as feedback to the class was to"Make sure we give the reading the same energy you would as a psychical rehearsal.I defiantly took this feedback on board but its important for everybody to take it on board also .
The situation is out of our control, we have tried to do our best and we will keep doing so as we are all one team.
Objectives and subtext;
Due to everybody not physically together to rehearse, sometimes everyone as an ensemble was under playing their roles in the play. My tutors feedback was based on everyone just stating the lines and not having no thought process beforehand on what we are saying and how we are saying it. This point highlights your characters objectives. When saying your lines aloud , think about the background context behind what your saying, use that t your advantage ad play that moment to the best of your ability. Although this was feedback for the whole group, it was very useful to me as an individual .By researching on how to develop my charterer contributed to this also as i already had a slight idea on how to really play the moment, however my tutor explored this on a more personal level therefore it was additional information to improve my skills and perfect my craft.
Due to everybody not physically together to rehearse, sometimes everyone as an ensemble was under playing their roles in the play. My tutors feedback was based on everyone just stating the lines and not having no thought process beforehand on what we are saying and how we are saying it. This point highlights your characters objectives. When saying your lines aloud , think about the background context behind what your saying, use that t your advantage ad play that moment to the best of your ability. Although this was feedback for the whole group, it was very useful to me as an individual .By researching on how to develop my charterer contributed to this also as i already had a slight idea on how to really play the moment, however my tutor explored this on a more personal level therefore it was additional information to improve my skills and perfect my craft.
Ideas :
As an ensemble , we decided to make our version of midnight
summers dream a modern day production . We will embrace modern society by
utilising props and costumes which are modern day . However , due to
Shakespeare’s language being so unique , we still wanted to keep the original
language used in the play in order for the audience to have a clear
understanding that it is a Shakespeare play they are watching .
The play is set in 2020 . Our production is extremely multicultural which is different to Shakespeare’s Era which he lived in . We decided to not make any restrictions when auditioning for the roles we wanted to play . My tutor gave us the advantage of picking a specific character when auditioning for the play . This allowed me to gain more independence in my individual role of the play . My character which I chose was a man . Usually a man role is also played by a man however it’s 2020 and you’re gender doesn’t stop you from doing what you want to do . It’s more accepted in society and therefore I decided to embrace this in the role of our play .
Furthermore character ?? ( find out ) is a man pretending to be a women . This may have been seen as comedy in that era however , this is very common in today’s day and age . Somebody suggested that this may convey someone being a transgender therefore , although we may pursue this idea , we understand this content is sensitive and we are ensuring that we can regard any member of the audiences feelings .One thing that was extremely useful was managing to find translations between the original language used in the play by Shakespeare and a modern day version to translate what is happening . For me , this gave me a clearer understanding of the play . Allowing me to know what I’m talking about and then giving me time to reflect on my characters body language and gestures . Cliff notes was extremely useful in this aspect .
The Midsummer's Night Dream Hunt idea:
One of the ideas we have for the play is to let the audience participate in a “ midsummer night dream “ hunt . By planting different clues all across our performance space allows the audience to interact with the actors and would make them feel more engaged . By planting things // creating a quiz around this specific play is informative aswell .
I feel we should utilise this idea to even more advantage by maybe planting something or commencing the quiz at the beginning of each Act/ Scene . I feel it makes the audience watch the performance with a clearer mindset knowing what’s going on as it’s been broken down with the informative strategies we will be using .
Although this is our final performance , the strategies we are using has similarities to a event rather then a performance as the audience need to constantly get up and interact with the actors . We’re trying to better this experience by creating enjoyment within all of this .
The play is set in 2020 . Our production is extremely multicultural which is different to Shakespeare’s Era which he lived in . We decided to not make any restrictions when auditioning for the roles we wanted to play . My tutor gave us the advantage of picking a specific character when auditioning for the play . This allowed me to gain more independence in my individual role of the play . My character which I chose was a man . Usually a man role is also played by a man however it’s 2020 and you’re gender doesn’t stop you from doing what you want to do . It’s more accepted in society and therefore I decided to embrace this in the role of our play .
Furthermore character ?? ( find out ) is a man pretending to be a women . This may have been seen as comedy in that era however , this is very common in today’s day and age . Somebody suggested that this may convey someone being a transgender therefore , although we may pursue this idea , we understand this content is sensitive and we are ensuring that we can regard any member of the audiences feelings .One thing that was extremely useful was managing to find translations between the original language used in the play by Shakespeare and a modern day version to translate what is happening . For me , this gave me a clearer understanding of the play . Allowing me to know what I’m talking about and then giving me time to reflect on my characters body language and gestures . Cliff notes was extremely useful in this aspect .
The Midsummer's Night Dream Hunt idea:
One of the ideas we have for the play is to let the audience participate in a “ midsummer night dream “ hunt . By planting different clues all across our performance space allows the audience to interact with the actors and would make them feel more engaged . By planting things // creating a quiz around this specific play is informative aswell .
I feel we should utilise this idea to even more advantage by maybe planting something or commencing the quiz at the beginning of each Act/ Scene . I feel it makes the audience watch the performance with a clearer mindset knowing what’s going on as it’s been broken down with the informative strategies we will be using .
Although this is our final performance , the strategies we are using has similarities to a event rather then a performance as the audience need to constantly get up and interact with the actors . We’re trying to better this experience by creating enjoyment within all of this .
Constructive feedback/Criticism
For example , in today’s lesson,When my team ( the red team ) have the performance space to rehearse i try and give 100%. My tutor often asks for energy as an ensemble , sometimes certain people are more energetic than others therefore I feel that is something as a team we need to work on . Even though our regular performance space is quite small , I still try and project my voice to the best of my ability however sometimes i find it difficult as you get so comfortable with the Space you usually use instead of the actual performance Space .There is a big different in size . We are deciding to perform outside . Due to the space being so open, it is crucial for me to work and improve on talking clearly and loud enough for the audience to hear me .i also take into consideration of any background / outside noise which might occur as our performance space is in a garden . Natural noises will contribute to the sound so I see it as my job to ensue I speak loud enough
.Utilising time wisely:
On another separate occasion , rehearsals have been very useful as the more practice we have as a ensemble , the better the performance as a overall will be .Due to the amount of students in our class ,my tutor decided to split the class into two separate casts , red team and blue team . One of my class mates Michael is also playing the same character as me “ Eegeus” so it’s useful to observe how he portrays the character , his different inferences and perspectives on the character to.
We often have to take turns with the performance space and the two separate casts. However , I utilise this rehearsal time to the best of my advantage . If the Blue team is rehearsing, I will sit , observe and watch and take notes And writhing down my dislike and likes, any ideas I come up , the feedback my tutor may give and taking on any constructive feedback so that I don’t make the same mistakes .
Tasks and research:
One of our ensembles idea regarding this play was to perform this play outside. It was something out of everyone's comfort zone as nobody has performed outside before, Everyone was intrigued by this idea my tutor( director ) suggested,. He then explained the correct term, which is called promenade theatre.He asked us to do some simple research regarding promenade theatre in order to gather more knowledge.
Promenade Theatre research task :
Promenade theatre is a type of theatre in which the audience members interact with the performance by moving with the performance as a whole. A typical performance requires the audience to sit down and watch. Promenade focuses on allowing the audience to watch the performance whilst being involved in the action and following the performers around the performance space . Promenade doesn’t have the functionality of a traditional theatre; seats , stages etc .
Example of improbable theatre :
Improbable is an English theatre company which was founded in 1996 by Lee Simpson. The company is funded by Arts council England in London .There aim is to always allow the audience to have a crucial part in the creation of a show . They utilise the promenade theatre to complex social and cultural issues through performing in open space events across the UK as well as a variety of other countries such as ; Bulgaria ,Romania , Canada and the USA.
Our production:
Due to our performance utilising promenade theatre , our aim is to take the audience to a place which resembles the play . Taking the audience on a journey through the woods etc allows them to feel as if they are the heart of the play. As the audience move around with the actors , a series of our scenes will unravel at all different points along the way . We decided to not have a narrator but tell the story as an ensemble . Not only are we as actors telling the story but the audience become as much of a part of the play as we will be.
Promenade theatre is something the audience can adjust to. It’s also very suspense. The audience will never be sure where the next scene will commence ( in front of them or behind them ) or whether what there watching is even a planned part of the play. By building this suspense , it will engage the audience a lot more .
Disadvantage of a promenade performance:
- Easy for dialogue to not be heard by all members of the audience due to natural sound effects
- Easy for dialogue to not be heard by all members of the audience due to the movement between each scenes.
- May make the audience feel disconnected to the play as it’s not directly played right in front of them .
- Weather is unpredictable. This can be extremely risky . It’s our responsibility to ensure we are kept safe as well as ensuring the audience are safe also . Certain weather conditions can become a health and safety risk ( rain , fog , snow ) . The audience and actors majority of the time are moving so that’s something to take into deep consideration
- Easy to not receive customers . Not everyone’s usual type of theatre . Most people prefer the traditional way
Recently, I watched a modern version film on midsummer nights dream which was made in 2016. The film was released again on channel BBC 4 My tutor suggested giving it a watch which came in handy as it was nice to see how they made their own adaptation on a traditional popular play . Despite me reading the plays script several times both as an ensemble with my peers and individually, it was great seeing everything come to life on screen instead of constantly utilising my imagination.
In my opinion the film was very good and a variety of aspects within the play caught my attention ;
-The cast was multi-cultural which stood out to me . This highlights how modern the adaptation is . Even though the actors utilised the original Shakespeare language , they made it their own .They also put their own individual personalities into the play . Usually, everyone has this impression that when acting and recieiting Shakespeare plays, you have to put on " this particular voice / talk a particular way. It was nice to see that they utilised the original language but made it their own A sense of realism throughout the film was defiantly a pleasure to watch.
-The setting was very accurate. When Hermia and Lysander escaped , it looked realistic due to the next scene being in the woods . In addition to this , it was very visible on what actor plays what character and in terms of appearance, you could really tell the difference between normal humans and the fairies/other species. Props and costumes was used effective to convey this also. The faires often had horns on their head and their costumes looked like the were made from natural resources.Due to the faieres living in the woods, the props and costumes really emphasised on this . It was extremely realistic.
In terms of my character,based upon my analysis, he seemed extremity dominate and over protective for his daughter Hermia . At the beginning of the film you also see how powerful Theseus is. Whilst rehearsing i never used to take that into consideration. Therefore in my rehearsals i will improve on showing that although my character is powerful, Theseus is even more highly.One of my set goals when rehearsing this scene again, is to ensure the audience can see that highiracy between these two characters. I also sensed a feeling of disappointment when Hermia consistently expresses her love for Lysander. The actors gestures and facial expressions were used to illustrate this which i will be taking on board. Body language is equally important as the dialogue and i feel i can focus on this more due to everybody being off script. I could really tell the difference on who Egeus was more fond of however i feel like the actor could've maybe played his likes sand dislikes of each men a lot more bigger. i want to ensure the audience is aware on who my character dislikes and likes so that when the final scene commences, my character reuniting with his daughter and accepting her will to marriage will illustrate growth and positivism. i want the audience to see that.
The film was a good watch and was very useful for me to perfect my craft in my final performance.
The BBC film of midsummer's night dream wasn’t the only film I viewed of
the play . I also viewed short clips being performed by a live national theatre
performance ;
These were also very useful and were recommended by my tutor as well as coming across these clips whilst doing independent research.
References :
My character/midsummer nights dream research references :
https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/msnd/
Promenade /Improbable Theatre research references:
https://www.ayoungertheatre.com/behind-the-scenes-promenade-theatre/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Site-specific_theatre
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2007/sep/25/promenadetheatreisrightup
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improbable_theatre
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2008/may/29/theatre1
Setting for final production research references:
https://www.toptenz.net/tp-10-tongue-twisters.php
https://www.engvid.com/english-resource/50-tongue-twisters-improve-pronunciation/
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