Unit 4: Question 6- My Production

WEEK 6 – YOUR PRODUCTION

RESEARCH: Research your own Shakespeare play: Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, Measure for Measure. What is the play about? When was it first performed? Find a contemporary production of the play you can get an idea of and research it in terms of concept, style, design, casting. Give some attention to your own character and their role in the play.

MacBeth - William Shakespeare

What is the play about?- THE PLOT

The play is set in Scotland and begins with three witches meeting with Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman, who is currently fighting a huge, important battle. Once the battle is over, Macbeth and his best friend Banquo stumble across the three witches, who give them three predictions; Macbeth will become the Thane of Cowdor and The King of Scotland and that Banquo's descendants will become Kings too. Banquo thinks the suggestions are silly and laughs at them, whereas Macbeth becomes excited by them and intrigued. Soon after their meeting, King Duncan, makes Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor for his bravery during the battle, making Macbeth even more excited about the witches. He writes to his wife, Lady Macbeth- who is just as excited as he is.

A messenger comes and tells Lady Macbeth that King Duncan will be visiting her at the Macbeth castle and she invokes bad and evil spirits to help her kill him. Macbeth is persuaded to murder Duncan by his wife and later stabs him to death. When everyone finds out Duncan has been murdered, they are distraught and disgusted. Duncan's two sons flee Scotland as they are worried someone will kill them next as they are the King's sons. No one in Scotland is sure who killed Duncan but Macbeth is made King.


Now that Macbeth has become King, he knows that the witches second prediction has become true. But he fears that the third prediction will become true as well and Banquo's descendants will become Kings, so he hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son. But the plan fails; they kill Banquo but his son escapes. Macbeth then thinks he is going mad because he sees Banquo's ghost and it haunts him- he receives more predictions from the witches. Macbeth begins to lose it becoming ruthless and gets the whole family of Macduff's (an important lord) murdered. Macbeth thinks he is safe now but the witches prophecies start to become true one by one and Lady Macbeth cannot stop thinking of Duncan, becomes deranged and dies. A large army marches to Macbeth's castle and he is killed by Macbeth. Malcolm, one of Duncan's sons, arrives home and is crowned King. Order is restored.

When was Macbeth first performed? 

Macbeth was first performed during the early 1600s. It is said that Macbeth was first performed for King James I in August 1606. But it was first recorded being performed at the Globe in 1611.

The conditions of Macbeth weren't how they are now, there were very minimal props and set. There may have been a few chairs and possibly a table. But there were no fancy lights, set design and sound effects like modern theatre. It was performed in very basic conditions. probably just a platform, and all male actors in costumes. The men playing the men roles and young boys playing the children and women roles. Theatre was a popular form of entertainment.





King James I

Contemporary Version of Macbeth 

• Macbeth directed by Iqbal Khan- Clips Online

Concept: The play was obviously created to be very modern. This play looked amazing from what i saw. What i really enjoyed were the witches and how they used music and song to talk as their magic to talk to the character Macbeth, similarly to what we are doing in our version of the play. Also, music is a important part in their version, like ours,  they played music in the background of many scenes and it helped to set the atmospheres. The scene with Porter is created to be very funny and almost stand up comedy. The character uses modern ad-libs in this scene about Trump about Brexit and other themes, relatable to today. This kept the play relatable as they are topics we are living through currently. Obviously Shakespeare's original Othello did not have our modern day themes, such as; Trump and Brexit, but it was a choice the director had made in this version to keep the play relatable and modern. When I watched parts of this play and researched about it, I found many similarities to what we are doing in our version of Macbeth. 

Style/Design: The style of the play was very modernised. They used a lot of physical theatre and physical foreshadowing. It was really interesting. The style of the set was very extravagant. There were many props used as a symbolised of something or props to create an effect of an emotions. For example, the witches would be in black and they were always there kind of luring and influencing what was happening in the scenes. The use of puppetry was amazing! Once Macbeth had killed characters off, the witches would have them and Macbeth and the audience could see this. The witches would hold dead Banquo and haunt Macbeth with it, it gave the whole show a real mysterious, creepy effect. Pieces of material were used in the play and created an amazing image. The set and the design of the play was incredible and really enjoyable to watch and the images created were just fabulous!

Casting: I think the actors that were casted were a really good choice. I feel like the roles fitted them appropriately from what i have seen. I think all of the cast had skills in physical theatre- especially the witches. For Khan's vision of the play, he would have need very physical fit actors to portray his creation. The witches, seemed to be quite flexible and I think the casting for the witches fitted very well. All the actors from the videos I watched were very strong performers and there wasn't a weakest link i felt. One of my characters, Donalbain was played by Kerry Gooderson (who also played Fleance and Young Macduff). I liked this because the male characters were played by a female. This related to our all female cast and our views we wanted to portray. There weren't any videos that I could watch of her acting but from a few photos I saw that she wasn't playing the characters as stereotypical 'men'. It looked like she was just herself playing the character. This made me think of our aim in our version of Macbeth. The cast was quite small from what i can tell, only with 13 members so my other two roles, being the murderer and Siward, were not played. Which I found interesting, perhaps Khan, had them as part of an ensemble moment- where the whole cast played the murderer- similar to how we do but with the witches being the ensemble. I really am intrigued by this play and would love to go and see it performed! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quqFPmkM_J4  -- AUDIENCE REACTIONS TO THE PLAY

REHEARSALS

Unit 4: Question 5- Shakespeare Today

WEEK 5 - SHAKESPEARE TODAY

QUESTION: Analyse contemporary Shakespeare productions with reference to live performances you may have seen or clips or footage available online. You should comment on what you notice about them and how they differ from what you know about the original performance conditions of Shakespeare’s work? (Don’t be afraid to point out the obvious).

Consider how these productions are employing all the techniques, technology and resources of modern theatre.

You can use Digital Theatre http://www.digitaltheatre.com a password to access this site is available from the library.

List of Top 10 Shakespeare's Plays:

10. The Merchant of Venice
09. Romeo and Juliet
08. The Tempest
07. Twelfth Night
06. Othello
05. King Lear
04. Much Ado About Nothing
03. Midsummer's Night's Dream
02. Macbeth
01. Hamlet

• Twelfth Night directed by Simon Godwin- 2017 At the National Theatre

Twelfth Night at the National theatre was a really exciting performance to watch! I really enjoyed it. The contemporary set design was amazing and so was the actors! They added a lot of modern music into the performance and this helped to keep it alive and exciting, however I feel like sometimes it was over done. The way the set was created was fabulous and really captivating to the eye. The play adopted many modern techniques and technology, which kept it relatable for their audience and current. Another thing i really enjoyed about the performance was the lighting and how it contributed to their work. I thought that the plot was easy to understand, and this was not only because the modern aspects of the play, but because all of the actors had clearly worked very hard on their lines, tone and phrasing to make it as clear as possible, for us to understand what the story.

How it differs from the original performance conditions of Shakespeare's work:

Obviously this version of Twelfth Night, differed a lot from the original performance conditions of Twelfth Night. The performance was performed in a completely indoor set. There were many extravagant props and costumes, lighting, sound and set were heavily included. The actors were a mixture of both men and women. They added contemporary music tracks to the play. They even used cars and bikes on stage!

• Othello directed by Trevor Nunn- 1990

This was a very interesting piece of work that i watched on Youtube. I really enjoyed watching it. In my opinion most of the acting was good, especially the actor who played Iago, however at times I found the acting of others quite melodramatic, which
made me as a viewer feel rather uncomfortable. The overall version of the play was really good and I feel like the use of lighting was used well to portray the confusion and mysteriousness behind the plot. Contrasting to 'Twelfth Night' at the National Theatre, this version of Othello didn't adopt that much modern technology which was quite enjoyable because it kept the play truthful and realistic to when it was set. The did include lighting and some modern props which did keep the play a bit contemporary. The set was very big, having many places for scene changes which was a modern addition to the play. But the set was designed quite old fashioned and i really liked this too, as it kept some truthfulness to the play.






How it differs from the original performance conditions of Shakespeare's work:

There are women actors in this version of Othello, also the set was a lot larger than original performance conditions of Othello. In the Globe, and other spaces that Othello was performed back in the early 1600s, there was one stage, whereas this set, had lots of different tunnels and spaces for different scenes. It was a large performance space.

• Romeo and Juliet directed by Rupert Goold- 2010.

I watched some clips online, specifically Act 2 Scene 2 and i enjoyed watching their version of the play. I particularly liked how sometimes the set was very basic and subtle, it reflected the basic setting that would have been used in the late 1500s/ early1600s. However this basic layout was not used throughout the whole play, which i found was good, they used lighting and music to heighten moments in the play. They also had moments of dance, which helped keep the play alive. In my opinion, the play had a good variation of modernised theatre and old fashioned theatre, which was enjoyable because as a viewer, I was able to enjoy and relate to the play, and also remember/ considered the Shakespearean era as well- as it was not overloaded with modern technology etc. 

A Basic Layout of a Scene

                                                                              A Scene with Modern Technology, Music and Dance

How it differs from the original performance of Shakespeare's work: 

Obviously Shakespeare's original performances of 'Romeo and Juliet' would not have had any modern technology, lighting and sound effects. There also wouldn't have had many props like in Rupert Goold's version. Also there wouldn't have been many costumes and they wouldn't have been wearing the same clothes as in Goold's version. Romeo- played by Sam Traughton- was  

wearing a tracksuit jumper, baggy jeans and a t-shirt in a few scenes and this is not what Shakespeare's original actor would have been wearing as Romeo, firstly because these types of clothes did not exit. Secondly, tracksuit jumpers, baggy jeans and a t-shirt is currently not what we would stereotypically associate a wealthy person to wear, we would associate this attire with a regular person. Therefore, Romeo (a character created by Shakespeare to be from a wealthy family) wouldn't have been dressed in regular attire,  he probably would have been wearing something that presented him as "noble" during the time era. 

Unit 4: Question 4- Theatre's, Actor's & Acting In Shakespeare's Time

QUESTION 1: What were the theatres or ‘playhouses’ of Shakespeare’s time like and how were plays staged in them? 

QUESTION 2: Who were the actors of Shakespeare’s plays and how did the experience of being an actor differ from the experience today?

http://www.folger.edu/Content/Discover-Shakespeare/Shakespeares-Theater/

Use the Globe’s fact sheets on Actors and Playhouses http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/education/discovery-space/fact-sheets

Question 1:

In Shakespeare's time, not all theatre was performed on a stage, many shows were versatile and could be performed in outdoor playhouses, indoor theatres and and royal palaces. or company tours, a courtyard or an inn were also popular places to perform.

Men and boys played all roles, male & female characters. Acting was an all male profession. Audience members had favourite actors, enjoyed looking at the fancy costumes and the props in the play. However, the actual stage, was very bare, with very little set design. Playwrights at the time used very vivid words to describe the simple stage layout.




In 1576, the Globe theatre was built just outside of London by James Burbage. This was one of the first playhouses in England since the Roman era. It was a multi-sided structure with an uncovered yard that was central. It had 3 tiers of covered seats surrounding it with a slightly raised stage at one end of the yard. The lobe, became one of the most popular playhouses where audiences saw some o the most famous Shakespeare plays. In 1613 it burnt down when it caught fire during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII. Later, in 1614, the second Globe was built at the same very spot.

Large, uncovered playhouses, like the Globe, is a wonderful experience when the weather is good, but indoor theatres can be a great experience with whatever weather. Also artificial light is available in an indoor theatre, which can create a mood or emotion that is completely different to the actual weather outside.

Question 2: 

Elizabethan era:

For an actor in Shakespearean times, your life would change dramatically. Actors toured in companies and and traveled around the country performing in towns, villages and private houses. By 1616, when Shakespeare had died, there were several theatres around London where actors performed to huge audiences. However actors had a bad reputation and were seen as to be unruly and threat to a peaceful society.

In Shakespeare's time, acting was only a career for men and boys. Women could not perform in England until 1660. Boys would play the female roles, men played the male roles and occasionally the older women roles.
Many actors started the careers as boys, they would join a company initially as a apprentice and then get taught by one of the senior actors. Actors were expected to sword fight, sing, dance and have a good memory for learning lines.


Today:
Being an actor in today's time, is a much harder job to land, and it takes a long time for an actor's life to change dramatically. There is more competition for actors currently and there are more skills required from them. But, there are far more theatres all over the country now rather than in the Elizabethan era with only theatres in London- therefore there is more opportunities and more plays for actors to audition for. There are a lot of stages to go through to get a acting job today, whereas before it was more of a straight forward process. Although it is still true that actors can have a bad reputation and are seen as a bad influence, and drama in school is claimed to be against the educational system. To go to the theatre now is very popular but expensive.


Acing now, is profession for men, women, boys and girls. Some roles in theatre today don't have to be acted by the same gender, gender role swapping is very current in today's acting. However, it is often that casting agencies do still stick to casting people as the same gender as the character roles. It also isn't just theatre that are available for actors, today there are TV programs and movies for actors to do, this entertains a larger scale audience.

Unit 4: Question 3- Shakespeare's London & Elizabethan Eras

QUESTION: What was London like in Elizabethan times and who were the people attending the theatre?

You can start by reading the ‘London’ and ‘Audiences’ factsheets on the Globe website.

http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/education/discovery-space/fact-sheets

Elizabethan London:

Elizabethan London was predominantly very dirty, noisy, crowded and swarming of people. The change in agriculture made a lot of people from the countryside flee to the city to search for employment. Every trade could be found in London and it was a great commercial centre of England, holding many London Guilds. It it was also the home of the Elizabethan theatre and other pleasurable 'liberties'.

The houses in Elizabethan London were famous for the highly distinctive Black and White Half Timbered style, typical Elizabethan architecture. Elizabethan London houses included the following features:

• Vertical and diagonal timbers
• High chimneys
• Overhanging first floors - galleries
• Pillared porches
• Dormer windows
• Thatched roofs
• Leaded windows

Like today, Elizabethan London was a great centre for entertainment. Londoners enjoyed a variety of different leisure activities. Performances of plays could be enjoyed at Inn-yards and the new theaters that were being built all over the city. There was a place called 'The Bear Garden' and it was a great sporting and gambling entertainment place. Bull and Bear baiting was enjoyed by all classes, including Queen Elizabeth, her courtiers and foreign ambassadors. Queen Elizabeth I had a Bear baiting arena built in her palace at Whitehall. Jousts and Tournaments, Games, Sports, Gaming and Gambling all was a massive part in Elizabethan entertainment. The lower class Londoners enjoyed entertainment from acting troupes, mystery plays, festivals, jousts, dancing, trained animals, mummers (dancers), mystery plays, jugglers and strolling players. Fairs were also and important as entertainment for Elizabethan Londoners.

People who attended the theatre:

London theatres, by 1600, including the Globe, could hold 3,000 people for the most popular plays that were being shown. On average a week, 10,000 - 20,000 people a week!
Generally more men than women came to the theatre, also majority of the audiences were wealthy citizens A lot of royalties went to the theatre, the poorer people weren't able to  go to the theatre, it was considered a luxury form of entertainment. 

In open air theatres, the cheapest price was one penny (there were 240 pennies in a pound), this would place an audience member in the "groundlings" standing in the "yard" outside the stage. For two pennies you could get a bench sweat in the lower galleries surrounding the yard. For some more pennies, you could sit more comfortably on a cushion. The most expensive seats were in the "Lord's rooms". For the indoor theatres prices started at 6 pence. The low prices was on of the reasons why the theatre was so popular. 

The groundlings were very close to the stage action. People would stand on sand or ash with nutshells covering. Food and drink were available to buy during the performances. Such as; apples, oranges, nuts, gingerbread and ale. However, there were no toilets on the groundlings. These standing positions, weren't the greatest for some people as people did complain of unpleasant smells or the weather. The poorer people tended to stand on the groundlings. A wealthier audience member would buy a ticket under cover with a cushioned seat.

Unit 4: Question 2- Shakespeare's Life & Biography

RESEARCH: Research Shakespeare’s life, ensuring you include information about his origins, family, relationships, the world he lived in and questions surrounding his work. 

Visit the Folger Shakespeare Library Website and working from the ‘Discover Shakespeare’ Tab you work through the information regarding Shakespeare’s Life. http://www.folger.edu/Content/Discover-Shakespeare/Shakespeares-Life/

You can also read the ‘William Shakespeare Fact Sheet’ on the Globe website.

http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/education/discovery-space/fact-sheets

Quick fact file:

Name: William Shakespeare

DOB: 23 April 1564, Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Era: Elizabethan Era

Death: 23 April 1616

Parents: John and Mary Shakespeare

Siblings: Joan Shakespeare (sister), Gilbert Shakespeare (brother), Edmund Shakespeare (brother), Richard Shakespeare (brother), Margaret Shakespeare (sister), Anne Shakespeare (sister)

Spouse(s): Anne Hathaway 1582-1616

Children: Hamnet Shakespeare (son), Susanna Shakespeare (daughter) and Judith Shakespeare (daughter).

Origins:

In the Elizabethan Era, birth certificates did not exit. However, church records indicate that William Shakespeare was baptized on 26 April 1564 at Holy Trinity Church in Statford-Upon-Avon. From this indication it is believed that he was born on or near the 23 April 1564.

Family:

John Shakespeare (father); professions included a politician, a glove maker and a business person. He moved from Snitterfield to Stratford as an apprentice Glover and tanner of leathers. He bought a house in 1552. Between 1556 and 1559 John Shakespeare married Mary Arden.

Marry Arden: She was the youngest of 8 daughters and inherited her father's farm, now called Mary Arden house in Wilmcote, Warwickshire. Mary and John had eight children together but only five survived into adulthood.

Children: Hamnet Shakespeare, was the only son of William Shakespeare's. He was born in 1585 and sadly died when he was 11 in 1596 due to a plague.

Judith Quiney, was the younger daughter of Shakespeare's and the twin of Hamnet Shakespeare. She was born in 1585 and married Thomas Quiney in 1616. She died in 1662.

Susanna Hall was the oldest child of William Shakespeare, born in 1583

World he lived in: looked at this website:

https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~sflores/345world.html

• people's lives were often short, one-half of the children born never lived beyond fifteen years 
• average lifespan of an adult was only thirty years, due to the limited medical knowledge
• antiseptics and antibiotics weren't known so doctors used primitive forms of medication
• the bubonic plague- the disease plagued England appeared suddenly and spread quickly
• to help stop the spreading of the disease, regulations were put into place; all London theaters were closed when death ate was high, because they believed it would stop human contact. Another regulation was to kill all cats and dogs
• food supply was very low and many of the poorer people starved, and overall the whole population were acquired illnesses caused by vitamin deficiencies

• Every year approximately 10,000 citizens migrated to London mainly because wages were about 50 percent higher than in other parts of the country
• During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries England was at peace, enterprise and prosperity was introduced. Even lower class laborers and yeomen worked hard and were able to accumulate wealth.A lot of this money, was spent on leisure activities. It has been calculated that London playhouses saw close to 50 million visitors
• The main source of the country's income was wool
• London became a booming trade station handling 85 percent of all exports

• majority of women had very limited rights in England and had little power over the direction of their lives
• there was a traditional Patriarchal system and women were expected to be "domination and submission."
• the father and head of the household ruled over his wife and children
• women were denied formal educations, the opportunity to hold office, and also guarded against speaking out too freely
• many daughters were heir to a father's property, if there were no male heir

Unit 4: Question 1- Setting The Scene – Life in Elizabethan England

The Time Travellers Guide to Elizabethan England is a documentary that first aired on the BBC in 2013. It gives insights into life in Elizabethan England. Below is a link to a series of clips on the BBC website which you should watch to gain an insight into life in this period. As you watch the clips and make notes bear in mind the question below.

QUESTION: What sense do you get of what life was like in Elizabethan England? Try to include information on: The population, entertainment, religion, superstition, money, jobs, medicine, theatre.

Elizabethan England

• In 1958, Elizabeth was just crowned Queen.
• Elizabethan England was dominated by the rich and powerful, but this was only a few people in England. Many people were poor and lived in the countryside.
• Most of the people who lived in the countryside, were poor and face a great hardship.
• Kent was an open heath and this is the type of area, many people lived.
• Kent was classed as one of England's wastelands as it was full of many fields and hills.
• In 2017, some people may call this place scenic, quiet and relaxing, however in the Elizabethan era, it was dangerous. There were no roads and the area was full of muddy tracks and was classed as horrific.
• In the countryside there were small thatched cottages which is were a family would live, maybe of 7 or 8 people. Some cottages were over 100 years old.
• Inside was very basic- there was one room with an earth floor, in the middle was a fire which caused thick smoke to fill the room. To prevent suffocation, there was a small opening in the top of the roof and there were small windows in the wall, that hardly let in any light.
• Objects in the house was very minimal; a basket, a few pots, ladles, spoons, a straw mat and a bench.
• Most people spent a lot of time outdoors, this was because of the dark, smoke-filled house they lived in.

It's true that many people who lived in the Elizabethan era, pay attention to things more than people today. They listen differently. Perhaps they listen to the raindrops outside more, or listen to the fire burn or the baby sigh quietly in the corner. Society in the Elizabethan era was divided by class. 

• Yeoman- owns and rents his farm & employs workers. 
• Husbandman- rents the land that he works on
• Laborers- works on other peoples farms.

An unknown, poor person looking for work is limited. Their best bet was to probably travel from farm to farm working as a laborer. The yeoman or husbandman may employ them and allow them to sleep in the barn- which would be quite a hard night. A laborer would earn one groat for a day's work. This is 2.1 grams of pure silver. It is equivalent to 4 pence. In the Elizabethan era, four pence was the price of a chicken and a lemon was 3 pence. Now, if a chicken or a lemon meant as much to us as it did to Elizabethan people, it would cost £100 for a chicken or £75 for a lemon.

A loaf of bread, a small piece of butter and cheese everyday. 4 small meat & 3 small fish per week. Ail to drink- because water was polluted- is 6000 calories, which is enough to feed a man and his wife. But this doesn't leave anything for the children, the fireplace, rent or clothing. Getting married and creating a family would not have been as easy or even possible, like it is today.