Character Study – Don Pedro
Performance
Techniques
When exploring the character of Don Pedro,
I looked to two interpretations, of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, for
inspiration. The two interpretations
that I became most fond of were; Kenneth Branagh’s motion picture, and David
Tennant and Catherine Tate stage production.
Both interpretations offered a classical and modernised interpretation
of the characters, and while different in performance styles, there were
several techniques and traits that I admired and wanted to imitate in my
interpretation of the character. This is
what I achieved…
Physically – The character of
Don Pedro is rich and respectful, in the sense of him being a member of the
royal household in “Arragon” (“Don Pedro of Arragon” – Leonato, Act 1 Scene 1)
and is a loyal friend and companion. Although,
at the same time, I wanted to explore more of the human side to Don Pedro, and
truly bring him to life.
I was hugely inspired by Adam James’
performance of the character, in the modernised David Tennant and Catherine
Tate stage production. In this clip
here, I really saw the true humanised, down-to-Earth, side to the character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv6I_07pT6Q.
Physically the character paced back and
forth amongst his friends (Benedick and Claudio) and his old friend, and host
(Leonato), showing his deep compassion for his friends. As well as clearly showing he is enjoying
himself.
Plus physical gests and movements to other
characters inflict a sense of traditional Shakespearean acting. Particularly on the line; “Be happy, lady;
for you are like an honourable father.”
You can see his arms slightly lifted, to show an attempt of comfort and
respect for the character he is addressing.
Plus he makes it all the more clear who he is addressing by taking steps
towards her.
All these techniques hugely inspired my
physicality of the character. Because of
his simple and naturalistic pacing, it added a sense of realism for a modern
audience. Plus with gests and movements reminiscent
of Shakespearean acting, it would all an extra homage to the original
text/performance.
Vocally – Now similarly to
the character’s physical traits, I wanted to vocally project the rich, fun and
respectful traits of Don Pedro. Vocally,
I knew I couldn’t simply take to stage and enunciate the lines. Plus I wanted to challenge myself to see what
other techniques I could use to bring the character to life with true
Shakespearean reflection.
Firstly I looked to a traditional styled
interpretation of the play. Kenneth
Branagh’s motion picture casted Denzel Washington to portray the
character. While physically and wardrobe
wise, anyone would get the impression that this man was indeed a man of royal
offspring. However vocally, the pacing
was sometime too quick or too slow. Here
is evidence of Denzel Washington’s performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ7W-dz1OvE. Although I admired the calm and sweet tone
within his voice, that was reflective of the respectful character that Don
Pedro is. I did find this to be a poor
imitation of Shakespeare’s text.
Therefore I explored to find better inspiration.
During rehearsals I did struggle with the
pacing and pronunciation of certain words in the text. Fortunately this vocal exercise video, found
on the National Theatre website, assist in my rehearsing, understanding, and
performance of the text: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/text-work-on-blank-verse.
How did this assist my rehearsing? As rehearsals drew to an end, the text became
more of a muscle memory and I didn’t hesitate to project and pronounce the
lines.
How did this assist my understanding? In contrast to understanding what the lines
meant, as I discovered the meaning via No Fear Shakespeare (http://nfs.sparknotes.com/muchado/),
but in more of a sense that I understood how to say these lines
meaningfully.
How
did this assist my performance? During
my main performance I was able to successfully project each line, with good and
accurate intention. Not only that but I
paced each sentence to a degree where I could enhance my pronunciation of certain
words, all to add an extra sense of intrigue for our audience.
All proved to be a success in my main
performance.
Key Influences and
Inspirations
Of course, no performance is completely
original. Therefore I had to bring Don
Pedro to life, by drawing from select inspiration. As mentioned previously, Kenneth Branagh’s
motion picture, and David Tennant and Catherine Tate’s stage production, interpretations
were a huge inspiration of mine. But,
which one is my most fond interpretation of inspiration?
Classical – Kenneth Branagh’s
motion picture interpretation could be considered a classical
interpretation. As it is set in the
Elizabethan era, and stays true to the original text. However, the majority of the performances in
this interpretation are less than stellar.
Therefore I didn’t draw much inspiration from Kenneth Branagh’s
interpretation.
Although one handy resource, which I found
on the National Theatre website (http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/text-work-on-blank-verse),
that assisted with my vocal performance, also assisted me with understanding
the classical performance styles of Shakespeare. While the video footage doesn’t show classical
performances at work, it does offer various vocal techniques, and suggests various
physical techniques, that all gives a great insight to how classical
performances would have been.
This was a huge source of inspiration and
assisted vastly with my main performance.
Another useful source of inspiration was
the Shakespearean workshop we took part in.
This workshop had us take part in practical exercises where we could
explore physical gests and movements, as well as vocal deliveries, that could
enhance the storytelling of the scene.
An example of an exercise we took part in had us taking single steps
towards or away from our performance partner and saw what story was being
told. The piece of text we used was from
Act 4 Scene 1; in this scene we see Benedick and Beatrice confessing their love
for each other. We used the steps
towards our partners as an advantage to show their compassion for each other,
and steps away to show the tension building within the scene.
All were a huge inspiration, and assisted
for my main performance to be a success.
Modern – In contract to
the lack of classic interpretation footage of ‘Much Ado’, there were loads of
modernised interpretations to look to for inspiration.
There
was Adam James’ interpretation, in David Tennant and Catherine Tate’s stage
production. I was extremely fond of this
interpretation. For his look, to his
movement on stage, to his vocabulary, this was the best interpretation of the
character I had seen. The majority of my
interpretation drew inspiration from this performance.
However there was another source of
inspiration, for our modernised interpretation of the play that I admired. Back in the early 2000s the BBC released a
mini series of short films showing modernised interpretations of Shakespeare’s
plays. We watched the modernised ‘Much
Ado About Nothing’ episode. I admired
the show, as it for filled its purpose, to welcome a modern audience to the
world of Shakespeare plays. The episode
also modernised the text, as well as the setting. While there was a lack of Don Pedro, in this
interpretation, I was slightly inspired by their modernisation of the
text. It stayed true to the comedy and
entertainment values that can be seen in all interpretations and the original
text. That was a goal I set myself to do
in my main performance, to introduce the character to a modern audience, all
the while upholding the comedic value of the text.
All of which I feel I achieved.
Other Sources of
Inspiration
– When looking to other sources, or in this case, characters of inspiration, I
mainly drew to other humorous Shakespearean characters that could help me bring
Don Pedro to life. One character in
particular, that inspired me to enhance the comedic value of the character was
Mercutio, from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.
Performed exceptionally by Harold Perrineau,
in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 modernised motion picture interpretation of Romeo +
Juliet. I found this portrayal of
Mercutio exceptional because it didn’t lack comedic value, and he knew when to
take the character seriously for dramatic effect. This was something I wanted to make reference
to. I particularly his introduction
scene in the motion picture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV_L6RsiHZo. I like this scene because it is instantly
apparent that the character is fun and wants to have a good time. While, at the same time, indicating a serious
sense when he speaks with Romeo. This is
something I wanted to do with Don Pedro.
I wanted to introduce the character as a
fun, energising, individual, all the while indicating to a serious side to the
character. While ‘Much Ado’ lacks
tragedy scenes, in comparison to Romeo & Juliet, there is hints of serious
treatment within the characters. I could
only make slight hints/references in my main performance. But I was truly inspired by the character of
Mercutio to show the comedic value of the character and the storyline.
Personality
For my final study into the character of
Don Pedro, I looked to his personality traits.
Using mainly the original text and reference I managed to deduce five
traits which I feel summarise my interpretation of the character.
1) Calm – I found Don Pedro to be an extremely calm
individual. In the original text he is
depicted as the Prince of Arragon; “Don Pedro of Arragon”. Yet I found when he interacts with other
characters, he didn’t give any indication of stress or concern as being the
Prince. Particularly in line like: “You
have it full, Benedick”, “Be happy, lady; for you are like an honourable father”,
and “I dear swear he is not hypocrite, but prays from his heart.” All of this quotes I felt summarised his calm
personality, as he focuses on the main subjects at hand, and feels more concern
and passion for his friends.
2) Energised – The first line spoken by Don Pedro in the text
reads: “Good signor Leonato, are you come to meet your trouble? The fashion of the world is to avoid cost,
and you encounter it.” I found this line
extremely energising, to read and to say.
Because he is greeting, complementing, and thanking an old friend. Therefore I felt it necessary to open with
such energy to show the energised character on a roll.
3) Respectful – Joining words like: “Be happy, lady”, “honourable
father”, and “prays from his heart.” I
admired Shakespeare’s use of structuring words for Don Pedro, as it gave a
respectful sense to the character. Many
of the lines/words that came before these sentences seemed like sarcasm, and
they followed with respectful recovery words to ensure that all characters get
along well and have fun. Don Pedro is
respectful to all his friends and family, these lines strongly show it, and I
wanted to show that this isn’t an arrogant, self-driven man; he is a kind and
respectful individual whom likes all things good.
4) Good-Listener – During Act 1, Scene 1, all characters are
blocked by the first duologue between Beatrice and Benedick. I felt this would be a key opportunity to
mime Don Pedro’s interactions with his old/good friend Leonato. As the duologue progressed, I and my fellow
cast member improvised a silent conversation between the characters. I felt this was a good opportunity to show
the listener side to Don Pedro. Linking
into the respectful side to the character, Don Pedro would respect his counterpart
and listen to whatever they needed to say.
5) and Collective – Linking all these traits together, I
did find that Don Pedro is indeed a collective individual. Not in the sense of Don John, who is
collective in a bad sense and plots against his family and friends. But more in the sense that Don Pedro truly
thinks before he acts. In Act 1 Scene 1
I strongly felt the was thinking about what to say and when to say it. Especially in the line: “Truly, the lady
fathers herself.” At first, much like
the character, I found this line slightly disrespectful and little to sarcastic
that it backfires and Hero (whom the comment is guested to) doesn’t respond
kindly. Therefore Don Pedro compliments
her as a better response, with: “Be happy, lady; for you are like an honourable
father.” Thereby think about what he
previously said and mending the situation to being a fun introduction.
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