performing shakespeare Participants’ Handbook
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Table of contents Shakespeare: The Man The Globe Theatre Elizabethan Theatre Male actors playing women characters Feminist views of Shakespeare Interesting Facts How to choose the right monologue/duologue for you Text Analysis Memorising Text Performance (i) Performance (ii) Rehearsal Exercises (i) Rehearsal Exercises (ii) Glossary How to enter
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Esu mentors
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Catherine Murphy
Daina Oniunas - Pusic
Catherine has been coaching debate and competing at University level for the past six years. She broke as the 1st placed team and speaker at the European University Debate Championships and the top team at the World University Debate Championships and has won several Intervarsity Debate Competitions. Catherine is studying an MA in Screen Acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Daina became involved in debate in high school and achieved success in public speaking and debating championships throughout her high school and college education. She studied film directing at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb where she made numerous short films which screened at Croatian festivals and won national awards. After graduating Daina worked as an assistant director on feature films, high production commercials, music videos and modern dance theatre performances. Daina is about to complete a postgraduate degree in Filmmaking at the acclaimed London Film School.
SHAKESPEARE: THE MAN William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon and had seven siblings. Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway when he was 17 and she was 26. Their first child was born six months after the wedding. He had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. Shakespeare’s plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare is buried in the Holy Trinity Church in his hometown Stratford-upon-Avon. He put a curse on anyone daring to move his body from that final resting place. His epitaph is: Good friend for Jesus’ sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here: Blest be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones.
THE GLOBE THEATRE
During the first years of Elizabeth’s reign, the English playing companies used inns, inn yards, college halls and private houses for their performances. Plays were performed in the summer months and transferred to the indoor playhouses during the winter. The first London Theatre was built in 1576 in Shoreditch. Shakespeare joined the resident troupe at the Theatre in the 1580s and by early 1599 the Globe theatre was up and running. However, in 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII, wadding from a stage cannon ignited the thatched roof and the theatre burned to the ground. It remained the home for Shakespeare’s old company until the closure of all the theatres under England’s Puritan administration in 1642. The project to rebuild Shakespeare’s Globe was initiated by the American actor, director and producer Sam Wanamaker, using the same original techniques and based on samples found during the excavation. Shakespeare’s Globe was opened to the public in 1995 and now stands a few hundred yards from its original site.
Though it was customary to dig up the bones from previous graves to make room for others, Shakespeare’s remains are still undisturbed.
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ELIZABETHAN THEATRE… AND THEATRE TODAY
Male actors playing women characters
• In Elizabethan times, acting was not a highly paid or highly respected profession. Actors were seen as vagrant troublemakers who promoted hard living and sin while today acting is a profession that many people respect and appreciate.
In Shakespeare’s day, the acting profession was not a credible nor respectable one and it was unthinkable that any woman would appear in a play. Indeed, women were forbidden, by law, to perform in the Elizabethan theatre, therefore there were no actresses at the Globe Theatre. The parts of female characters were played by young boy actors who usually were between 13 and 19 years old when their voices were still high and muscles had not fully developed. The body of the actor became a blank page on which gender identity, as opposed to biological sexual identity, could be written. The boy actors who took female roles were also paid the least of all actors. Furthermore, the make-up used by the Elizabethan women was lead based and highly poisonous. Finally, the costumes used for the female characters were extremely elaborate, reflecting the clothes worn during the Elizabethan era, through multi layers of clothing.
• In the 16th century, actors travelled from town to town on a cart, looking for audiences to pay to watch them perform. Playhouses were not constructed in London until 1576. Today, theatre houses are set up in a permanent location. They often stay open for decades and become part of a community. • In Shakespeare’s day, going to a play was a lively event. Groundlings (people who frequented the Globe theatre in the early 17th Century. For one penny, they could stand in “the yard”, just below the stage to watch the play)would frequently talk, yell, and even throw things such as rotten vegetables during the performance. Rich people would even sit on stage and make comments to the audience! Today, going to a play is a more serious undertaking. Audiences are expected to be silent during the viewing of a play. • The most expensive seats in a theatre were in the top row of the theatre, farthest from the audience. The cheap seats were directly in front of the stage, although people in this area had to stand. Rich people would want to have the most segregated and exclusive seats in the theatre, away from the rowdy, poor people. Some of the most expensive seats in a modern theatre are the orchestra seats, which are directly in front of the stage. The cheapest seats are in the back of the theatre because they have the worst view of the stage.
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It is interesting to look at some of the ways in which Shakespeare negotiated writing women’s parts for boys. Indeed, there were several “gender tricks” in many of Shakespeare’s plays. In “As you like it” for example, Rosalind disguises herself as the shepherd Ganymede so the boy playing Rosalind went back to his original male gender. It is also worth noticing that some of the changes in audience perception occurred once those parts were played by women. Today, it is not uncommon that men and women play opposite gender roles. While common in North America, the play Julius Caesar was the first allfemale cast to be performed recently in London.
Feminist views of Shakespeare Shakespearian society was a lot more patriarchal than today’s society, dominated by men and fathers as highlighted by some feminist critics. Women were often the means of exchange in power relationships among those men and important assets in diplomatic relations. Marriage, courtship customs, gender relations and family structures are recurrent themes in Shakespeare’s work. Throughout his work, Shakespeare created strong female characters, intelligent, freewilled and powerful, with a mental capacity not only equal to men but sometimes superior. This goes against the Elizabethan expectations of women as passive and the property of men. Examples of these characters are Rosalind of As You Like It, Viola of Twelfth Night, Beatrice of Much Ado About Nothing and Katherine of Taming of the Shrew. In order for a woman to be considered one of Shakespeare’s strong female characters, she must be able to make quick and calculated decisions in order to
change the situation from the inside. That is to say that she must change the situation in a passive way so as not to reveal her true desires to anyone, except for in some cases another single confidant. For example, Rosalind and Viola changed their identities to become men in order to protect themselves and therefore their own destinies. This manipulation of their circumstances also required these women to be not only intelligent, but intelligent in an imaginative way because they had to figure out ways to change an outcome over which they were allowed no direct control. Female characters also acquire freedom by escaping their gender and pretending to be men such as Viola. However in the end, Shakespeare female characters conform to Elizabethan times’ expectations by getting married for instance.
Image: Jose Gil
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iNTERESTING FACTS • During his life, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets! This means an average of 1.5 plays a year since he started writing in 1589.
• Due to the plague outbreak in Europe, all London playhouses were closed between 1592 and 1594 because it was thought that crowded places helped facilitate the spread of the disease. During this period, because there was no demand for Shakespeare’s plays, he began to write poetry.
• Few people realise that apart from writing numerous plays and sonnets, Shakespeare was also an actor who performed in many of his own plays as well as those of other playwrights. • Nobody knows what Shakespeare did During his life Shakespeare performed between 1585 and 1592. Those years before Queen Elizabeth I and, later, are referred to as “Lost Years” before James I who was an enthusiastic • Shakespeare lived a double life. By the patron of his work. seventeenth century he had become • Shakespeare is the second most quoted a famous playwright in London but in writer in the English language – after his hometown of Stratford, where his the various writers of the Bible. wife and children were, and which he visited frequently, he was a well-known • Some of Shakespeare’s signatures have and highly respected businessman and survived on original documents. In property owner. none of them does he spell his name in what has become the standard way. He • When the National Portrait Gallery spells it Shakespe; Shakspe; Shakspere opened in December 1859, a portrait of and Shakespear. Shakespeare became the first picture to enter the Gallery collection. • Shakespeare’s shortest play, The Comedy of Errors is only a third of the • One of Shakespeare’s relatives on his length of his longest, Hamlet, which mother’s side, William Arden, was takes four hours to perform. arrested for plotting against Queen Elizabeth I, imprisoned in the Tower of • All Uranus’ satellites are named after London and executed. Shakespearean characters. • Shakesapeare never went to university. In fact, his family was illiterate! Yet, he grew up to be the greatest English language writer that has ever lived.
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How to Choose the Right Monologue or Duologue for you In choosing a speech make sure that you have considered the following: STEP 1- Get to know the plays! – Do you know the difference between a comedy and a tragedy? – What speaks to you? What do you feel connected to, what do you find funny? That is very important! – If you don’t care about the piece neither will your audience! STEP 2- Be sure to find a piece with a clear, cohesive structure meaning it has a Beginning, Middle and an End. This way, we can see your character go on a journey. STEP 3- If choosing a duologue; look for a balanced piece that has scope for performance for both characters – in speech and in presence (if you have less to say, can you create the character physically?). STEP 4- Think of how you want to connect to your audience and what you want to communicate. See what kind of monologue might do that best.
Monologue types: 1. Interior Monologue: a character externalising their thoughts so the audience can experience what would usually be private and internal. For Example: SHYLOCK To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what’s his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
2. Dramatic: One character speaking Image: criben
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to another.
achieve a clear goal.
For Example:
For Example:
SHYLOCK
GRATIANO
Signior Antonio, many a time and oft In the Rialto you have rated me About my moneys and my usances: Still have I borne it with a patient shrug, For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe. You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, And all for use of that which is mine own. Well then, it now appears you need my help: Go to, then; you come to me, and you say ‘Shylock, we would have moneys:’ you say so; You, that did void your rheum upon my beard And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur Over your threshold: moneys is your suit What should I say to you? Should I not say ‘Hath a dog money? is it possible A cur can lend three thousand ducats?’ Or Shall I bend low and in a bondman’s key, With bated breath and whispering humbleness, Say this; ‘Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last; You spurn’d me such a day; another time You call’d me dog; and for these courtesies I’ll lend you thus much moneys’?
Let me play the fool: With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come, And let my liver rather heat with wine Than my heart cool with mortifying groans. Why should a man, whose blood is warm within, Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster? Sleep when he wakes and creep into the jaundice By being peevish? I tell thee what, Antonio-I love thee, and it is my love that speaks-There are a sort of men whose visages Do cream and mantle like a standing pond, And do a wilful stillness entertain, With purpose to be dress’d in an opinion Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit, As who should say ‘I am Sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips let no dog bark!’ O my Antonio, I do know of these That therefore only are reputed wise For saying nothing; when, I am very sure, If they should speak, would almost damn those ears, Which, hearing them, would call their brothers fools. I’ll tell thee more of this another time: But fish not, with this melancholy bait, For this fool gudgeon, this opinion. Come, good Lorenzo. Fare ye well awhile: I’ll end my exhortation after dinner.
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3. Active: A character is using their speech to 8
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4. Narrative: a character is telling a story,
often in the past tense (It might be a couple of the above!). For Example:
NOTES
BASSANIO No, by my honour, madam, by my soul, No woman had it, but a civil doctor, Which did refuse three thousand ducats of me And begg’d the ring; the which I did deny him And suffer’d him to go displeased away; Even he that did uphold the very life Of my dear friend. What should I say, sweet lady? I was enforced to send it after him; I was beset with shame and courtesy; My honour would not let ingratitude So much besmear it. Pardon me, good lady; For, by these blessed candles of the night, Had you been there, I think you would have begg’d The ring of me to give the worthy doctor.
Text and Analysis (i) 9
1. Read the whole play
1. Mark the points of change
Make sure you understand where your speech fits into the play, how it influences the story.
Point of change = new “beat” in the text, i.e. when the topic of conversation changes/ when the character thought changes/when the mood changes/ when the approach or tactic of the character shifts.
2. Is this even English? Re-write your text in a way in which you would speak it naturally. When written in modern English, this will help you to understand the text. Once you understand the text, it will be easier to learn it and perform it 3. Rhythm The spoken word had a great amount of weight in Shakespeare’s time, 80% of people didn’t know how to read and write thus language had to be pleasing to the ear. The rhythm in which one spoke was very important as it is today in public speaking. Iambic pentameter is a type of rhythm that Shakespeare used and it provides a rhythm to the text not unlike a heartbeat (da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM). Public speaking has a rhythm of itself as well and you speed up or slow down or change your rhythm depending on the point you are making or reactions you are reading from your audience.
2. Mark points of subtext Not everything a character says is what they mean! Sometimes they say one thing but mean another and the true meaning is hidden in the “subtext”. Try and find these points in your speech (if there are any) and use them in your performance. 3. Finding logical pauses Punctuation may not be as clear in verse so decide and practice where it is logical to pause and use these spaces as a chance to regain your breath and calm yourself if necessary! 4. Find a reason to speak Finding a reason why you are speaking. A wordsmith like Shakespeare never chooses his words without a purpose – ask yourself: • Who am I? • Why am I doing what I am doing? • Where am I? • Who am I speaking to? • Why am I speaking? • The best performances come from having an intense need to speak!
Text Analysis (ii) 10
Memorising Text 1. Understanding Start by understanding what you are saying and what the intent of words is. 2. Divide the text Divide the text into blocks. Give yourself a deadline to memorise each block and then move on to the next. This will give you a sense of progress while you are memorising the text. 3. Find a practice buddy Ask another person to help you memorise. They can listen to you perform and correct your speech or let you know whether they understood what you where conveying. 4. Images Find images that you can connect to what you are saying. Sometimes a mental image can help you remember what the progression of a text is.
Performance (i) 1. Confidence
3. Breath
If you were on a tight rope and lost your balance, what should you do? Flail your arms about? Panic? Shout? OR should you take a breath, centre yourself and carry on? Public speaking and performance are the same! The more strenuous the situation is the calmer and more centered you need to be.
Be aware of where your breath comes from. Connecting your breath with your speech will give your voice a richer sound and will give you a calmer performance.
2. Thought It is vital to understand the thought, which is connected to everything you are saying. Help yourself by imagining your given circumstances through imagery including where you are and whom you are addressing. It will also distract you from the camera and the audience!
4. Understanding your character, finding a voice Remember that you are offering your words to the audience- understanding that you are speaking to and for them. There were no microphones when these plays were first shown! You are in control of the scale of your speech, enjoy that!
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Performance (ii)
Rehearsal Exercises (i)
1. Physicality
1. Group speech
It is important to understand that what you are saying and your character has physicality to them. There is always a physical element to your performance. “Physicality” refers to the physical actions of a character, specifically those which convey information about certain aspects of their character. The way they behave, their physical movements reinforce their emotional state.
a) Tongue Twisters
2. Pause
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Don’t be afraid to pause. If you can’t remember the text straight away don’t panic – just pause and it will most probably come to you. Play with the pauses in your speech, make it an advantage.
Tongue twisters are a good way to improve your pronunciation. They can seem a bit challenging at first, but they will quickly become very a useful and fun exercise. Betty bought a bit a butter but the bit of butter Betty bought was bitter.
Round and Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran! b) Reading from the play being performed and reading in public, walking and talking.
3. Visual ideas Divide the verses into visual ideas and try and think if them individually. After each visual idea there is a question that leads to the other visual idea. Example. – Two household / both alike in dignity/ In fair Verona / where we lay our scene From ancient grudge / break to new mutiny
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c) Speaking the monologue in a circle as one voice– break off only when you feel the thought is done and let the next person continue. d) Shakespeare Williams Speaking a line and throwing a tennis ball at the same time to physicalise the meaning of the text. If the sentence is gentle in intent, throw the ball gently and so on.
Rehearsal exercises (ii) 2. Breathing exercises Breath from your diaphragm, then speak or create noises by breathing this way. Try reading a short speech out loud without breathing and then taking short and shallow breaths. Breathing from your Diaphragm allows for pauses, stops you speeding and allows for variety in volume, projection etc. 3. Game of Chase Two people speak a duologue OR one monologue while putting pressure on one another by holding hands, arms straight and trying to move the other. The instructor can at any time ask them to go louder and then shouts CHASE! At this point both parties attempt to catch people for their side. Then the speaking starts again, the person speaking walks forward with their troop behind them to support them and the person with their troop must walk backwards away from them and then it switches as the speaker does. The groups behind can be encouraged to make noises and physical responses (like the crowds at the Globe or Jerry Springer). 4. Speaking in intent rather than the actual words A, B, C are the only allowed communication on stage. Now, perform and see if you can convey the meaning with physical gesture, expression, tone etc.
GLOSSARY Monologue An extended speech by one actor in a theatrical performance. Duologue An extended part of a piece where the speaking roles are limited to two actors. Beat The moment in which increasing dramatic tension produces a noticable change in the consciousness of one or more characters. Iambic Pentameter A particular rhythm that words establish in a line of verse. It is measured in small groups of syllables called “feet� of which there are five in one verse. Oratory The art of public speaking often in a formal and eloquent way. Rhetoric The art of discourse that aims to improve the speakers or writers ability to inform, persuade or motivate. Subtext Content which is not explicitly announced but is implicit and becomes understood by the reader or observer the more it progresses.
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THE ESU PERFORMING SHAKESPEARE COMPETITION 2013 OVERVIEW Teachers/ Tutors are reminded that the video submission (this should be around 5 minutes duration for the performance piece) is the means to capture a performance intended for a live presentation. A reliance on tele-visual effects ie: close-ups to emphasise emotion or an overly prominent sound-effect etc., may not satisfactorily transfer to a live performance – it will be the ‘theatre production’ on which the final Adjudication will be assessed. In addition to the extract students should also answer the question: “I/we chose this piece because...” This should be recorded at the start and should not be longer than two minutes. The judges are interested in any particular reasons for your choice and any evidence you convey in your performance which links to this. Before the performance please also state your • name(s) • school • the play • scene • lines YouTube Submissions should be uploaded and designated ‘unlisted’, and the URL/link emailed to education@esu.org. You will also need to fill in the online form at esu.org/shakespeare.
ASSESSMENT The Extract The assessment will look for a cohesive extract that ideally has a natural conclusion or denouement. The extract might present the text within its original Elizabethan context or use a ‘modern interpretation’ with contemporary relevance. The adjudication will look favourably on shifts of emotion and the imaginative grasp of relationships or concerns. The gender of the performer will not be taken into consideration so students should feel free to select any suitable extract. Individual/Dual Performance Adjudication This will be assessed on (i) textual understanding (ii) characterisation (iii) vocal skills Textual understanding will include sincerity, emotive quality, appropriateness and sensitivity to the verse where appropriate. Characterisation will include posture, accent, facial and physical expression/movement – perhaps even clowning if appropriate. Hand props may be used but only if the performer feels they are absolutely essential. Vocal skills will include audibility, clarity and pace.
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