Classical Theatre Performance Assignment –
‘Much Ado About Nothing’
Tuesday 29th September – Friday
2nd October 2015
Rehearsal Progression
Having previously learnt my lines, their
meaning, and my characters standing in the play, I continued to progress in
bringing the character to life in our interpretation. I proceeded with a style to Don Pedro that
was more down-to-Earth and realistic to a modern audience’s eye. But it became apparent to me that I was
lacking emphasis and relation to truly powerful Shakespeare performances. Therefore my main goal of this week was to
embark on techniques and performance styles that could assist me in achieving
my goals.
Language Techniques
A major aspect of Shakespearean
performances is vocal delivery.
Shakespearean text analysis shows that the writing style is extremely
metaphorical, rich, and meaningful; therefore it is the job for the performer
to deliver the text in such as fashion.
The main question is, how do the performers achieve exceptional
performances within language techniques?
The answer is within the ‘Thinking like an
Elizabethan Actor’ resource link found on the Digital Theatre Plus website (https://www.digitaltheatreplus.com/study-guides/the-comedy-of-errors/language/thinking-like-an-elizabethan-actor?0=ip_login_no_cache%3D67d15d5c60ab4d02457429ffdcc2845c).
I found this resource to be extremely helpful. It assisted me in learning my lines, my
delivery of my lines, and my understanding of my lines and my character and my
place in the performance. The various
techniques gave a decent and mature pacing, execution, and detail to each and
every character’s lines within Shakespeare’s text.
But, how can you identify the various
techniques and how can they help you with the Shakespearean language?
1) Single
Syllables – The
purpose of this technique is emphasis the quieter moments within
performances. A key example (used in the
Digital Theatre Plus resource) is Hamlet’s speech from ‘Hamlet’. Single Syllables have the performer
project/deliver the line beginning in a louder tone but dropping the tone
slowly to a quieter projection. The
purpose of this is to emphasis the sentence and the meaning behind the
scenario, thereby making the scene all the more intriguing for the
audience. A key example from Don Pedro’s
lines, which could become more enthralling with Single Syllable support, is one
of his opening lines in Act 1, Scene 1.
The line reads: “I tell him we shall stay here at least a month, and he
heartily prays some occasion may detain us longer.” I intend to begin this sentence with strong
and loud emphasised projection, reflecting his excitement and uplifting
character. While the next sentence
reads: “I dare swear he is no hypocrite, but prays from his heart.” I personally believed he wanted to take this
part of the conversation away from Leonato (his host) plus if I used Single
Syllables it could give meaning to the line.
Almost as if to indicate there is a private joke between Don, Claudio,
and Benedick about Leonato. All adding
more meaning to such a short line/moment in a larger meaning filled
performance.
2) Iambic
Pentameter – This
technique requires the performer to break down each word, in each sentence, in
the Shakespearean text. Here is an
example of a piece of text broken down for Iambic Pentameter purposes:
As you may notice every other word
is highlighted with a different symbol, this is to reflect the emphasis needed
within the performers projection/delivery.
Iambic Pentameter assists the performer to project/deliver their lines
in such a fashion that is well paced and clear.
By breaking down their lines and putting emphasis on every other word
(in the example above the emphasised words are: long, men, breathe, eyes, see,
long, this, this, life, and thee) it intrigues the audience, as it is
reflective of a poets reading. Giving
more meaning and entertainment value for Shakespearean text and performers.
3) 11-Beat
Lines – In this
technique words are referred to as beats and the main job of the performer was
to extract every line and see which sentences has 11-Beats. The words a then split into two. One half beginning the word, and the second
half becoming a beat. Ending each
11-Beat word with a beat emphasis that particular word, and with a 11-Beat
structure it gives the short sentence a rhythmic projection/deliver
pattern. This gives more relation to the
song/poetic structure of Shakespeare’s text.
I personally found this to be a handy technique to help me learn their
lines and give me a structure to deliver such lines.
4) Alliteration – This English literature writing
technique can be found in various written texts, not just in Shakespeare. The formation of Alliteration is identified
through spelling, in particular matching first letters. Three or more words have to match with the same
first letter; they can be back to back or just in the same sentence. For example: “A bird of my tongue is better
than a beast of yours.” (Beatrice, Act 1 Scene 1) The letter of Alliteration for this sentence
is “B”. Now this may seem more of a
writing language technique, and may be seen to many as unhelpful for language
techniques in performance. However many
letters, like “B”, can be projected/delivered with such emphasis that it gives
credit to both the writing and the performance.
Giving credit to the writing makes the text more apparent with its use
of such literature techniques. Plus
credit to the performance because the performer can make the emphasis enhance
the comment. The line example from
Beatrice, in Act 1 Scene 1, is a brilliant example because the line is an
insult to Benedick, therefore emphasis on the “B” will make the insult more
apparent and meaningful coming from Beatrice’s strong projected mouth.
5) and
Full Stops – The
final technique used to assist Shakespearean performers is the lack of Full
Stops. In many of Shakespeare’s texts he
certainly has a lack of Full Stops; this is mainly because he believed Full
Stops halted a train of thought.
Shakespeare observed real life conversations and he discovered that when
an individual wants to express a monologue of thought they would not pause
until they relieved their minds of such a matter. Therefore pauses were used for a key purpose,
dramatic effect. Shakespeare’s most
famous soliloquy from ‘Hamlet’ reads as: “To be, or not to be? That is the
question—Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by
opposing, end them?” With the use of
comers, dashes, and capital letters the read can instantly see what this
character is going through and how the performer can emphasis every word
through dramatic pauses. The making of
an entertaining performance.
After analysing and interpreting each
technique I questioned which I found to be the better and most helpful
method. Personally I found Iambic
Pentameter to be the preferable language technique. It was a method that I could easily master
and take note of in my copy of the script.
Plus it made me realise what was the true meaning behind Don Pedro’s
choice of words and to truly project the emphasis to the audience.
The Globe Theatre Tour
To get a wider view of performing
Shakespeare we took a trip down to London to have a tour and workshop at ‘the
Globe Theatre’. I found the tour to be
extremely educational. Having a
first-hand view of the theatre’s auditorium and stage broadened my view of what
it would have been like to perform in or watch such productions.
Plus the Shakespeare performance workshop
itself put our current abilities and understanding of the language techniques
to the test. Using text extracts
(Benedick and Beatrice confessing their love for each other, Act 4 Scene 1) we
used both physical and vocal techniques to really bring meaning to the lines
and emphasis the storytelling.
When we returned from the trip, I
personally wanted to master these techniques so I too could master the
Shakespeare performance format and bring the character of Don Pedro to life in
future rehearsals in such a way that it would be ‘Globe Theatre’ performance
standard.
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