Elizabethan Theatre Form

When we go to live theatre we can often see features of theatre forms in the way the play is scripted, staged, directed or performed. This play draws directly from an historically established theatre form; Elizabethan Theatre.

Contemporary performances of Shakespeare’s work will always give a nod to the features of the form in the way they are staged, the design elements, directorial and acting choices. Teasing out the features of the form that are overtly or subtly used in the performance can help you understand the play in a deeper way, as well as inspiring your own work in the classroom. Your kaiako will be able to support a deeper understanding of Elizabethan Theatre, but this series of activities will help you identify some of the features that were used in the performance. This list is not complete and you will be able to identify more.

IDENTIFYING FEATURES:

Balancing The Stage

On the Globe Theatre Stage actors and directors will use an activity called ‘Balancing the Plate’ to ensure that the stage feels balanced in terms of the space between actors and aesthetically for the audience. This involves moving to balance the space between yourself and other actors, while considering the shape of the stage and any set. As an actor you need to imagine that the stage is a plate balancing on a pole, you can’t let it fall.

Practical activity

(instructions for Kaiako): the whole class stands in a circle around the perimeter of the classroom. Four students step two steps inside the circle. One student leads by moving, in any direction they choose, clockwise, anticlockwise, directly across the circle or moving in and out to the centre. The other three students need to respond and balance the stage accordingly. You can swap students in and out, add numbers and encourage the leader to play with speed, pathways and levels.

Extension: using a portion of script from the play with staging and balancing the space. You may want to tape out an interesting shape on the stage, like a thrust or a traverse, like was used in this production of King Lear.

Revision activity

(instructions for akonga):

Thinking about the performance of King Lear and the shape of the stage used. Choose three moments in the performance where you felt the stage was purposefully balanced by the actors. Sketch and annotate these moments, make sure your annotations are detailed. Using arrows and lines, note how you think the stage has been balanced. Under each sketch explain in a detailed paragraph what was happening in this moment and how the positioning of the actors communicated some or all of the following:

• Status

• Power

• Subtext

• Relationships

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE/GREAT CHAIN OF BEING

The way Elizabethan’s viewed the world was often shaped by two concepts; The Wheel of Fortune and The Great Chain of Being. Shakespeare used these concepts in the structure and character arcs of his plays.

• The Wheel of Fortune: This concept originates from Roman mythology, where the goddess Fortuna controlled people's lives with the spin of a wheel. Each person’s life was controlled by this wheel, which was turned at random, meaning that their fate or destiny was out of their hands. This meant that even those who were rich, comfortable and high status, with a turn of the wheel, they could find themselves in a completely different position.

As they deeply believed in fate and destiny, they had to accept this change in fortunes.

• The Great Chain of Being: this is a hierarchy or order thought to be ordained by God during the mediaeval period. We imagine this hierarchy as a chain between the heavens and the earth. Everything has a place, either higher or lower than other things, beginning with God and moving all the way down to the weeds in the dirt. This included your place in society and how you were viewed by others. It is reflected in the imagery that Shakespeare uses in his writing, in the status of the characters and the disorder that drives the narrative.

Practical activity: Both concepts are heavily tied with status in Shakspeare’s work. Choose a scene from King Lear with three characters, there needs to be a change of status or fortune within the scene.

• Stage the scene with one character sitting on the floor, one on a chair and one standing. Where the status or fortune of a character changes, shuffle the order. You could do this spontaneously or read through the script first, discussing where you think there are status or fortune changes.

• Adjust your voice and posture according to this status or fortune.

• Share with a group of peers and discuss how this impacts the meaning of the scene.

• How could you use the idea in a more realistic way to stage the scene.

Revision activity: Choose a scene from the performance of King Lear where you think the Great Chain of Being and/or The Wheel of Fortune was at play. Use the following prompt to write a short essay, record a podcast as a group or create a short presentation. Do some research into both concepts, so that you can support your argument in a detailed manner.:

• Prompt: How did the concept of The Great Chain of Being and/or The Wheel of Fortune impact the characters in this scene? How was this shown in the acting, directing or design choices?

THE LANGUAGE OF HONESTY VS SHIELDING, HIDING AND LYING

Your kaiako will be able to explore the language of Shakespeare’s plays with you in depth, but this way of thinking about Blank Verse (Iambic Pentameter) and Prose will give you insight into Character’s motivations and emotional state.

• Blank Verse: Iambic Pentameter has a ten beat rhythm which sounds like a heartbeat, ba BOOM, ba BOOM, ba BOOM. It makes sense to think about blank verse being connected directly to the heart, therefore, they are speaking with honesty or sincerity.

• Prose: If blank verse is the language of honesty then it makes sense that prose might be the opposite of this; lying, hiding or shielding. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are being malicious. They could be lying to themselves about something, or hiding a secret. Often when a high status character slips out of blank verse into prose, we need to ask ourselves what are they shielding, hiding or lying about?

Practical activity (instructions for Kaiako): Choose two short scenes, one prose and one blank verse. Divide the class into groups and assign half the groups with prose script and half the class with the blank verse script. Each group needs to unpack the scene using the ideas outlined above, annotating their script and then bringing it to life using these ideas as the subtext and emotional motivation for the performance.

Revision activity (instructions for akonga): In groups discuss King Lear’s use of language throughout the play and how it changes. Think of specific scenes where Lear was using blank verse or prose, and discuss how he communicated honesty or lying, hiding, shielding through his acting choices; body, voice, space and movement. What themes, symbols or ideas can you identify? Brainstorm your ideas, find appropriate quotations and share them back with the class. Collate all your ideas to support your revision near exam time.

Other features:

Use this chart to make a note of other features of the Elizabethan Theatre you or your kaiako might know of. Think of ways that you could play with the feature practically in class and where ATC’s cast used the features in the performance as discussion material for revision.

Feature Description of the feature

A scene where the feature used

What the use of the feature made you think about

References: “Creative Shakespeare; The Globe Education Guide to Practical Shakespeare. Fiona Banks, 2014.”