The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, unfolds on an enchanted island where Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, has found refuge with his daughter Miranda. With his art and magic, and the help of the spirit Ariel, Prospero brings his persecutors to the isle and exacts justice and spiritual redemption. In this world of fantasy, Shakespeare brings to life a story of love, revenge, righteousness, despair, hope and wisdom, all interwoven in a delicate web of poetry, imagination and charms. In the end, Prospero gives up his magic powers and returns to Milan and the world of men.
New York Minnesota “ The Tempest is a play of questions, not answers. I like to ask questions.”
“As a designer, the directors I have come to admire always allow me to bring some part of myself - as an artist - to the creation of the work.” Jennifer Tipton quietly smiled. “That’s a quality I aspire to as a director.” She assembled a remarkable team of internationally acclaimed artists with whom she created an island world reflecting the elements of nature, art and decay. The themes which were highlighted in the production were mirrors, shadows and dreaming,for the island in The Tempest, like a stage, is a place for dreams.
Title of Work: The Tempest Creators: Producer: The Guthrie Theater Director: Jennifer Tipton b. 1938 Background Information: Jennifer Tipton’s artistry and vision have established her as one of the world's premier lighting designers for theatre, dance and opera, and she also directs. Ms. Tipton has collaborated with many of the world’s great artists, including Twyla Tharp, Robert Wilson and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The daughter of two teachers, a zoologist father and a physicist mother, her childhood was spent traveling from one college campusto another following their fairly itinerant careers as university professors. She arrived at Cornell University planning to major in astrophysics. While in college, she became involved with a dance program and before long, a love of dance eclipsed her other interests. She graduatedwith a degree in English and went to New York City where she studied with Martha Graham and joined the Merry-GoRounders, a dance troupe which performed for children. When Ms. Tipton became rehearsal director for the troupe, she had to design their lighting as well. She apprenticed under eminent lighting designer Tom Skelton and he became her mentor. Ms. Tipton soon gave up the idea of dancing to concentrate solely on lighting. Winner of Tonys, Drama Desk Awards, and Bessies, she has been honored by the National Endowment for the Arts as the recipient of the 1991 Distinguished Artist Fellowship. Ms. Tipton is also a faculty member of the Yale School of Drama, where she has taught stage lighting since 1981.
Photo: Michal Daniel
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture:
THEATRE TRANSFORMATION THE POWER OF NATURE FREEDOM OPPRESSION&ENDURINGVALUES THEFAMILYHUMAN ARTISTIC PROCESSES 1. CREATING (Cr) 2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr) 3. RESPONDING 4.CONNECTING(Re)(Cn) rtsource ® The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts A MULTI-MEDIAEXPERIMENTALCONTEMPORARYCLASSICALTRADITIONAL
Jennifer Tipton About the Artwork:
• The Guthrie Theater production of The Tempest incorporated the movement technique of mirrors in the staging of the play. With a partner, practice creating mirror images and taking turns leading and following.
• An uninhabited, enchanted island is the setting for The Tempest. Draw a picture of what you think this magical isle might look like.
Discussion Questions: After listening to the audio recording:
• Shakespeare, William. The Tempest . Oxford Edition. Stephen Orgel, editor, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England: 1987.
• Find out what life was like in Shakespeare’s time.
• Discuss some of the choices made by Ms. Tipton in her role as director of The Tempest.
• Read other stories of sea storms, shipwrecks, and characters cast on island shores such as Robinson Crusoe or Gulliver’s Travels. LEVEL II
• What did you learn about being a director from Ms. Tipton’s comments?
• Read some couplets from Shakespeare’s works and note the rhyme and meter structure of the phrases. Collaborate and write an original collection.
• Create a soundscape for the islands you imagined in Level I. Caliban, in Act III: scene ii, says, “The isle is full of noises, / Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.” Use musical instruments, songs, sound effects, and/or recordings to achieve the desired qualities or moods.
Audio-Visual Materials:
• Cast students in scenes from The Tempest and present the scenes as staged readings.
• Perform selected Shakespearean sonnets as choral readings, highlighting the poetry and rhythm of the verse.
• In 1610, one ship among a fleet sailing from England to the Virginia colony was caught in a storm. William Strachey, a passenger aboard that ship, wrote a letter telling of the terror of fighting the sea and of the experiences of the crew and passengers once they landed safely on a Bermuda island. The letter, many scholars think, was available to Shakespeare and it is often cited as a possible reference to The Tempest. Research this period of English colonialism and study the sea voyages and settlements in the New World. Discover what daily life was like, both the hardships and the rewards, providing insight into the historical framework for the play.
Sample Experiences:
* * * Indicates sample lessons * 2
LEVEL I
Multidisciplinary Options:
LEVEL III
• Stevenson, Burton. The Folger Book of Shakespeare Quotations. Folger Books, Washington, DC: 1979.
• Name some of the people who collaborate to create a play and define their jobs.
• The Tempest has a theatrical convention called a masque as part of the action in Act IV: scene i. Study this entertainment form and then create and stage some masques in your classroom.
• What are some of the things The Tempest is about?
• What most impressed you in listening to the interview with Ms. Tipton?
• Slides and photos: courtesy of The Guthrie Theater.
Research topics such as: clothing, books, trades, language, government, scientific discoveries, methods of travel, city life vs. country life, and the courts of Queen Elizabeth and James I.
• Looking at the slides, what time period and/or place do the costumes suggest? Why?
• Artsource® audio: Interview with director Jennifer Tipton, conducted by Barbara Leonard, courtesy of Jennifer Tipton and the Los Angeles Music Center.
• Explore some of Shakespeare’s most well-known quotations and discuss their meanings.
Additional References:
• Create exact mirror reflections of a partner’s movements; take turns leading and following; and perform a simple activity using mirror techniques. (Creating & Performing)
MATERIALS: None PROGRESSION:
• Have students select a partner of relatively the same height and then have them face each other. Designate one partner as A and one partner as B. Let A be the mirror who will reflect the movements of B, the initiator.
TRANSFORMATION MIRRORS: IMAGES AND REFLECTIONS
THEATRE
• Begin the mirror exercise coaching A and B to establish eye contact and form a very concentrated gaze. This eye contact should not waver during the exercise; A and B should observe each other’s movements peripherally. Then ask B to start moving very slowly in a fluid manner so that A can easily follow him.
• Reverse the roles with B playing the mirror and A initiating the movement. Allow the pairs to mirror freely for three minutes.
Instruct A to mirror all of B’s movements including facial expressions. Encourage B to use different levels, standing, stooping, sitting, lying down, side to side, etc. Allow the pairs to mirror freely for three minutes.
Photo: Michal Daniel 3
LEVEL I Sample Lesson
INTRODUCTION: Director Jennifer Tipton used the technique of mirroring in her staging of The Tempest to reveal Shakespeare’s characters and provide insights into their relationships. She said, “This play is about mirrors and shadows - about life itself reflected brightly and darkly. Each person represented is found within another or has characteristics deeply buried in the dark side of the other. It is only when we face the mirror and are able to see our own shadow within and without that we can become all of ourselves.” The mirror exercise is an elementary drama/movement technique that requires concentration and observation skills. After the initialconcept has been mastered, students can use mirrors in a variety of activities and scenes.
Richard S. Iglewski (Prospero) Jennifer Campbell (Miranda) Shawn Hamilton (Ferdinand) in the Guthrie Theater’s production of The Tempest
OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes) Students will be able to:
• Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)
VOCABULARY: mirrors, shadows (as theatre games), concentration, observation, monologue
• Create a distance between you and your partner and try to follow him. Try standing six feet apart, then twelve feet apart, then across the room from each other!
Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking
• Begin the mirror exercise again when the cue is given. However, this time, A and B should begin mirroring each other without defining their roles. The mirroring they create should be moving in perfect harmony without specific leadership, based on A and B’s sensitivity to the other’s energy and movement.
• Choose a favorite character from folktales, fairy tales, or children’s literature and portray that character looking into an imaginar y mirror. Invent the character’s posture and facial expressions, revealing his or her inner thoughts and emotions in a one-minute monologue.
ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting) DISCUSS: Discuss the experience you had in the mirroring exercise.
• Next allow A and B some planning time, approximately 15 minutes, to select an activity to perform as a mirror. Suggestions of appropriate activities include: putting on make-up, brushing your teeth, combing your hair, getting dressed, and doing simple physical exercises. A and B should improvise and rehearse the activity, making sure that it has a beginning, middle and end. Share the mirror activities with the class.
EXTENSIONS:
• Discuss the students’ observations of playing both the leader and the follower. Did they find it easier or more difficult to be the mirror? Why or why not? What did they learn about communicating with each other and listening to each other’s bodies?
• Practice mirroring in groups of four where the mirroring is passed from one player to the next. Begin with all players facing the same direction. When the first player, A, turns to the right, he passes his movement on to B, who reflects A’s movements and then turns to the right and passes the movement to C, who reflects B’s movements and then turns to the right and passes the movement to D.
ANALYZE: Analyze the mirroring experience and identify why it was or was not successful.
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• Establish a three-way mirror, where three players are positioned as the three mirrored panels and one player is trying on clothes.
• One variation on mirroring is shadowing. Have A stand in back of B as his shadow. As B moves, A must mirror his activity and assume B’s body positions. Allow the pairs to shadow freely for three minutes.
• Create a mirror you might find in an amusement park ‘fun-house,’ where a person’s image is distorted, either elongated or widened.
Students will be able to:
Kristen Flanders (Ariel) in The Tempest Photo: Michal Daniel 5 LEVEL II Sample Lesson
•Become familiar with some Shakespeare quotations, come to an understanding of their meanings, and discuss their relevance and universality. (Responding & Connecting)
MATERIALS: A collection of Shakespeare’s plays (not mandatory)
“Bad workmen blame their tools.”
• Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)
INTRODUCTION:
• Now examine the ten quotations listed below. Read each one and carefully decipher its meaning. Direct students to paraphrase the quotation in their own words. Allow each quotation to be a platform for discussion of its wisdom or pertinence. Encourage students to compare Shakespeare’s ideas to their own or to those of other eminent writers or philosophers.
OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes)
Lines from William Shakespeare’s plays are often quoted in contemporary literature, newspaper articles, politicians’ speeches, television programs, films, and daily conversations. These quotations cover a wide range of subjects and illuminate his eloquence and wit. This lesson looks at some of the more well-known quotations from a selection of Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies.
THEATRE
“The course of true love never did run smooth.” Lysander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream “To be or not to be: that is the question.” Hamlet, Hamlet “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
PROGRESSION:
ENDURING VALUES SHAKESPEARE QUOTATIONS
• Introduce the concept of a quotation, a line which expresses an idea which bears repeating. Use familiar examples in the form of proverbs, rules, or sayings and discuss each one’s meaning: “The early bird catches the worm.” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
“Et tu, Brute! Then fallCaesar,Caesar!”
ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting)
EXTENSIONS:
• Improvise two or three person scenes which convey a quotation’s meaning or concept using contemporary settings and language.
DISCUSS: See the second bullet (•) under ‘Progression’ for ideas on quotations to discuss.
Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking 6
Julius Caesar “All that glitters is not gold.”Morocco, The Merchant of Venice “ Parting is such sweet sorrow.”Juliet,Romeo and Juliet
“Beware, my lord, of jealousy, it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” Iago, Othello
• Make a list of subjects to explore in Shakespeare’s plays and use The Folger Book of Shakespeare Quotations to find lines or verses about them. (See pages 11 and 12 in this Artsource ® Unit for a complete reference listing.)
Juliet, Romeo and Juliet
• Ask students to create artworks which illustrate one of the quotations in the form of banners, murals, collages, etc. Use the selected quotation as a title or caption.
ANALYZE: Discuss or write about why a specific situation that supports or disproves a quote. (e.g. a love relationship which has no problems might disprove the quote, “The course of true love never did run smooth.’)
VOCABULARY: William Shakespeare, quotation, verse, improvisation, synopsis, character, setting, action
• Read the story or synopsis of one of Shakespeare’s plays from which a quotation you liked was excerpted. Check library resources for books which explain the plays’ characters and plots. Some are written in storybook form for primary school children, or in comic book form for upper elementary and junior high school students.
“This above all: to thine own self be true.” Polonius, Hamlet
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.”Polonius, Hamlet
“ What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
• Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)
• Begin by asking the class if they have ever participated in any staged or choral readings as part of a church or civic event. Discuss the examples.
• Learn several choral reading techniques and use them in a recitation of a selected Shakespearian sonnet. (Responding & Performing)
3. antiphonal - the voices are divided into two groups, each alternating the reading of certain parts
TRANSFORMATION
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PROGRESSION:
THEATRE
OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes)
Students will be able to:
CHORAL READING AND SHAKESPEARE’S
Choral reading is a drama technique which uses the voice to creatively interpret poetry. Historically, choral speaking was used in religious ceremonies and festivals of primitive peoples. It was also an important element of ancient Greek drama. Choral reading can help students discover the possibilities within verse and create a sense of ritual in presentation. It can be done in any space or with any number of participants and is suitable for any age level. As a learning experience, it provides opportunities for speech improvement and social cooperation.
MATERIALS: A collection of The Sonnets by William Shakespeare.
Members of the Ensemble in The Tempest
INTRODUCTION:
• Introduce five ways to present a poem as a choral reading:
5. line-around - one voice reads one line, another voice reads the next line, and so on until the end of the poem
• Jennifer Tipton included five sonnets in The Guthrie Theater production of The Tempest, sonnets 8, 23, 43, 46 and 78. Review a selection of sonnets and choose one to orchestrate in a choral reading with the class. First discuss the sonnet’s meaning and point out the use of simile and metaphor within the verse.
Look for ways in which the sonnet’s rhyme and meter could be enhanced with vocal techniques and
Lesson
Photo: Michal Daniel
SONNETSLEVELIIISample
1. unison - all voices reading as one 2. cumulative - the accumulation of voices, individually or in groups, to build toward a high point or climax
Several reading techniques may be used on one poem and music and movement can be incorporated.
4. solo - one voice reading specific lines or stanzas
VOCABULARY: choral reading, sonnet, simile, metaphor, rhyme, meter, orchestration (as it pertains to choral reading)
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.
Group A:That time of year thou mayst in me behold
Group A:In me thou seest the glowing of such fire That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, Group B:As the deathbed whereon it must expire, Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
• Have students work in groups of six, creating a choral reading of a sonnet of their choosing.
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• Sing a sonnet, composing a melody and rhythm to suit the verse.
Group B:In me thou seest the twilight of such day
ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting)
Solo:This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong, Unison: To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
ANALYZE: Discuss the sonnet you performed and analyze what worked well. Next, make suggestions for what could be changed, developed or refined in the next performance.
As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking
• Present the sonnet you have chosen on the blackboard or on a large piece of posterboard. Ask the class to help orchestrate it, utilizing any of the five choral reading techniques listed on page 7.
• Interpret a sonnet through movement and/or dance.
•emphasis.Aspractice, Sonnet 73 is reprinted below and uses antiphonal (alternating voices), solo, and unison techniques in a sample choral reading. Reproduce the sonnet and its orchestration on the blackboard and recite it as a class. - 73 -
EXTENSIONS: