We performed the play 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' and I played the part of Antonio whom is Proteus's father. The performance went well and we all worked together collaboratively to bring the story to life and portray the comedic yet romantic themes throughout the play. When I first read the play 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' I felt that it would be difficult to perform due to the Shakespearean language and the story would not get across to the audience, however after studying the play for a few months and through my own personal research, class lessons and discussions I felt confident on the day of the performance to perform the play.
The first performance went well and we were given feedback afterwards to improve the evening performance. As Antonio, I was told to have more hatred and anger towards my son Proteus and be more disgusted and eager to send him away. I found this helpful as I put more energy and emphasis in my lines during the second performance to achieve this and I felt that the scene ran more effectively and the objective got across more clearly to the audience. It also helped Proteus to feed off my lines, so he could stutter and plead to stay which I neglected and refused to listen to which reflected the relationship of father and son and the disappointment I felt towards Proteus during the scene.
I felt the costumes in terms of performance, historical accuracy and how they defined the characters were definitely some of the plays strengths. I wore a black suit to portray Antonio which reflected the power and authority held by the character. The colour black represents the gravity of the situation and adds depth to the significant moment between father and son. The outlaws wore matching army jackets to be recognised as a double act and as they spent a lot of time in the forest; the army jackets are used to camouflage themselves which suggests they are hiding and awaiting trespasses to capture. Lance and Speed, whom are the personal attendants to Valentine and Proteus wore brightly coloured shirts with long trousers and an over sized hat. Speed wore illuminous pink glasses with exaggerated face makeup. The over enthusiastic sense of style portrayed the youthful, comedic sides of the characters who are full of mischief and quick wit. Julia had two costumes, one for playing herself which was a dainty pinafore dress and the second costume of a boys outfit as she disguises herself to follow Proteus to Milan where she catches him trying to woe another woman. The colours worn for the male character were dark brown, beige and white to portray a shabby character with not much wealth as the characters aim was to not stand out but fade in the background. The Duke of Milan (Silvia's father) wore a black suit with a white shirt to convey his strict manor, creating a serious atmosphere. He also held a cigar to show his strength and higher status in the play.
The costumes also worked well under the lights. The contrast of the black and white made the characters look very formal and the materials and colours used to contrast the characters with less power status such as the outlaws and Lance and Speed stood out and looked brighter and more unique.
In my scene, I entered confidently with Pantino following behind me which showed I had a higher status and he was my servant. I had my arms folded whilst pacing around Pantino to question him about sending Proteus away to the emperor's court in Milan. This was effective as it made the atmosphere curious and a sense of suspicion about my son Proteus. The pacing up and down the stage space also reflected that I was in deep thought and rationalising my thought process whilst in action. When I stated the line "Good company! With them shall Proteus go!", my movement became more fluid and relaxed which confirmed to the audience a decision had been made and I was going to send Proteus away. Whilst Proteus enters the scene reading through a letter from Julia, confessing her mutual love for Proteus and her desire to marry him, I catch him off guard by stepping up to Proteus slowly adding suspense, as Proteus hesitates and steps away from my character. This was effective as it emphasised the tension in the relationship between father and son during the scene and the fear felt from Proteus towards Antonio his father. I used a Stanislavski method of emotional memory during the scene and I imagined a time I was angry at my younger sister for not completing her homework which gave me the ability to connect to the higher status role and sense of responsibility towards another person. This exercise also helped me to fit into a mature and firm role. A key dramatic moment in the scene was when I said "No more of stay, tomorrow thou must go!" which was said in a harsh, bitter tone with raised volume which created a powerful startling moment. Furthermore, it allowed the anger to feel more direct as I held a firm gaze with prolonged eye contact.
To improve my work, I would like to work on using my vocal variation. In a short space of time my character showed curiosity, interest, anger, clarity, annoyance and frustration and I found it difficult varying my tone to express the different emotions and decisions. I found getting the balance of remembering the lines and making sure the audience understood what I was expressing was challenging and to improve this next time during rehearsals I will annotate each line with a clear 'want' from the character, a 'tactic' to achieve this want and an overall objective in the scene. This will help me to state each line with less ambivalence and have the confidence to portray a three dimensional character with thoughts, feelings and emotions.
Although I found parts of this scene challenging to perform, I found it helped me to develop many of my acting skills such as going within and thinking of personal experiences to connect with the scene. I also found being in the moment by practising mindfulness using meditations before coming onto the stage and listening to the opposing character rather than just focusing on my own lines helped to achieve a truthful performance.
Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Shakespeare Performances
The Shakespeare play that I am studying is 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' which is a comedy written in between 1589 and 1593. The play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the foolish behaviour of people in love. There are also aspects of betrayal and forgiveness.
If I was directing this play I would start it in Verona as this is when Valentine is preparing to leave Verona for Milan so as to broaden his horizons. I would then move onto setting the play in Milan as all the characters depart to the Duke's court. Furthermore, I would have the contrast of the artificial and formal city of Milan compared to the forest where the characters go to in Mantua which would portray a simple basic life with a relaxed environment of nature such as trees and wildlife. My main aim would be to take the audience on a journey into the emotions of adolescence and first love. To keep the audience engaged I would make sure the text is concise and no longer than an hour and a half so the plot remains gripping. After researching and watching 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' by the Shakespeare company I gathered that keeping the play simplistic but entertaining creates a positive experience for the audience.
I would reduce the cast to six actors whom would double for other characters to establish a friendly connection with the audience and not complicate the story. To differentiate between the change of characters I would have very specific outfits for each character with a trademark such as a long shabby yellow overcoat for Speed (the servant to Valentine) and a formal brown hat for Valentine to show different classes. The women in the play would wear light summery dresses and the men would wear khakis and polo shirts. The costumes would be inspired by the mid-sixties with a more old fashioned feel such as lots of beige, brown and grey knitwear. The outlaws would be layered up with plenty of fringed leather sheepskin and bandanas.
In Act 4 Scene 1, which is the scene when the group of outlaws capture the recently banished Valentine who is travelling in the forest between Milan and Mantua. The outlaws listen to Valentine's story instead of capturing him on the spot. The outlaws tell Valentine that if he refuses to become their leader they will kill him. To light this scene I would have the whole set dark to begin with which would create an eerie atmosphere among the audience. I would gradually fade this out to a black out and have two main spotlights on the outlaws and the rest of the background pitch black. The aim of this contrast, is to engage the audience in the speech of the outlaws and to not cause any distractions of the text. I would have trees, plants and birds in the sky to create a visually clear set of the forest. Moreover, I would have a rope across the stage as a trap set up by the outlaws to convey their motive which is to capture anyone trespassing.
As Valentine gets caught, the spot light will be aimed on him to create tension and to fill the audience with shock and fear for Valentine. Once the tension has lessened, the lighting will move towards all the characters on stage rather than just Valentine to suggest that the conversation has opened up and instead of question Valentine, has developed into more of a discussion about becoming their leader.
I would include a variety of stringed instruments for the scene in which all four men are singing about love. In between each scene there would be light Italian classical music with a climax in the middle of the music to move the story on smoothly and to create a romantic atmosphere but with some tension still lingering.
To end the play, the finale would be of Sylvia and Julia singing a song that is part sadness and part defiance suggesting that the relationship between wronged women is a much stronger bond than the shallow shifting friendship of men.
If I was directing this play I would start it in Verona as this is when Valentine is preparing to leave Verona for Milan so as to broaden his horizons. I would then move onto setting the play in Milan as all the characters depart to the Duke's court. Furthermore, I would have the contrast of the artificial and formal city of Milan compared to the forest where the characters go to in Mantua which would portray a simple basic life with a relaxed environment of nature such as trees and wildlife. My main aim would be to take the audience on a journey into the emotions of adolescence and first love. To keep the audience engaged I would make sure the text is concise and no longer than an hour and a half so the plot remains gripping. After researching and watching 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' by the Shakespeare company I gathered that keeping the play simplistic but entertaining creates a positive experience for the audience.
I would reduce the cast to six actors whom would double for other characters to establish a friendly connection with the audience and not complicate the story. To differentiate between the change of characters I would have very specific outfits for each character with a trademark such as a long shabby yellow overcoat for Speed (the servant to Valentine) and a formal brown hat for Valentine to show different classes. The women in the play would wear light summery dresses and the men would wear khakis and polo shirts. The costumes would be inspired by the mid-sixties with a more old fashioned feel such as lots of beige, brown and grey knitwear. The outlaws would be layered up with plenty of fringed leather sheepskin and bandanas.
In Act 4 Scene 1, which is the scene when the group of outlaws capture the recently banished Valentine who is travelling in the forest between Milan and Mantua. The outlaws listen to Valentine's story instead of capturing him on the spot. The outlaws tell Valentine that if he refuses to become their leader they will kill him. To light this scene I would have the whole set dark to begin with which would create an eerie atmosphere among the audience. I would gradually fade this out to a black out and have two main spotlights on the outlaws and the rest of the background pitch black. The aim of this contrast, is to engage the audience in the speech of the outlaws and to not cause any distractions of the text. I would have trees, plants and birds in the sky to create a visually clear set of the forest. Moreover, I would have a rope across the stage as a trap set up by the outlaws to convey their motive which is to capture anyone trespassing.
As Valentine gets caught, the spot light will be aimed on him to create tension and to fill the audience with shock and fear for Valentine. Once the tension has lessened, the lighting will move towards all the characters on stage rather than just Valentine to suggest that the conversation has opened up and instead of question Valentine, has developed into more of a discussion about becoming their leader.
I would include a variety of stringed instruments for the scene in which all four men are singing about love. In between each scene there would be light Italian classical music with a climax in the middle of the music to move the story on smoothly and to create a romantic atmosphere but with some tension still lingering.
To end the play, the finale would be of Sylvia and Julia singing a song that is part sadness and part defiance suggesting that the relationship between wronged women is a much stronger bond than the shallow shifting friendship of men.
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