Classical Theatre Performance Assignment –
‘Much Ado About Nothing’
Tuesday 14th – Friday 18th September
2015
Introduction
For our first performance assignment, of
our second year, I was thrilled to know that we would be performing selected
scenes from William Shakespeare’s comedy ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ tells the story of a
rich family, Leonato’s family, hosting a gathering for Don Pedro, their Prince,
whom has returned from the war. It is in
this gathering that personalities clash, marriages are made, and rivalries and
friendships are put to the test. The
result is an extremely entertaining character and dialogue driven play.
Before we began the casting process we had
to get a decent understanding of the plot and the characters. Our introduction to the play was through
Digital Theatre’s recording of Josie Rourke’s interpretation of the play. This interpretation stars David Tennant and
Catherine Tate, as Benedick and Beatrice, and was, in my eyes, fun and
informative.
Fun based on its loyal, modernised,
interpretation of the comedy.
Also informative based on its modernisation
of the play. It was set in the 1980s,
and used modern props and scenery. It
was a fascinating introduction to the play, as it showed us how we may be
interpreting the piece.
From past experiences I knew a fair few
info about the play, but after seeing this interpretation I was eager to begin
this assignment and analyse the play too see how we could bring a new twist to
interpreting the text.
Casting
As we began the casting process I was
eager for two reasons: firstly, I wanted to audition for the part of Benedick,
as he his one character I aspire to perform, one day, plus I can’t help but
relate to him with some of the plays scenarios.
Secondly, I wanted to express my interest in Shakespearean text and
adapt my abilities to perform all different kind of roles. When performing scene extracts from the text,
I felt the need to express the comedic inception within each characters lines
and personalities.
I did so, and I was pleased to have received
the role of Don Pedro for Act 1, Scene 1.
Beginning
Now the roles were cast, and the selected
scenes had been chosen, it was time to begin the assignment process. Officially beginning next week, we would be
analysing our lines, to truly understand what our characters are saying. Looking to how we could modernise the
setting, yet keep a strong connection to the text. Plus developing our characters to begin
rehearsals.
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