Shakespeare Week 1

Today was one of the first sessions in which we furthered our research into Shakespeare, specifically his well-known, comedic play 'Much Ado About Nothing.'

     William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful, middle-classed glove maker in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare's father, John, came to Stratford with the profession of a glove maker. He later met and married Mary Arden, whom the daughter of a wealthy family. (There isn't an awful lot of information on the marriage itself apart from the knowledge that it would've been a Catholic service due to the fact Queen Mary I was reigning at the time.) In this era and many before and after, it was almost unheard of for the woman to have jobs. The only 'work' they would be expected to do was house cleaning, cooking, washing etc.

Rumours have it that both his parents possibly had little knowledge in reading and especially writing. (As you can imagine, neither of these would be needed, specifically, when 'glove making' etc.) This information is decided purely on the fact that both Shakespeare's parents owned signatures of images instead of written words. John used a design of a glovers compass while Mary used a running horse. From John's signature I presume that horses were something large in Mary's life, which links well to the fact she came from a well off family who most probably owned many a horses and would've quite possibly been brought up with them.
This wasn't something that downgraded there social status at the time, unlike something that could happen these days for example, as John went on to become the 'Boroughs ale-taster' (thanks to the fact that Stratford had a good reputation of its ale-brewing.) He became known for this 'position' in a few other boroughs which awarded him free education at the Stratford Grammar School, which leads us more onto Shakespeare; as the free education was taken by him. Shakespeare attended a grammar school but ironically this is as far as his education went.

Moving more onto Much Ado About Nothing and college sessions. I studied this play in my English Language at school. I very much fell in love with it at the time, and although oblivious to wanting to take drama further, I very much liked the story line as we got to understand it more. I feel at quite an advantage already because I know the play very well, after studying it so in depth at school, and watching it a good few times. I know the characters and the story line etc, so I'm very much looking forward to actually working towards performing it, especially because I have never studied Shakespeare in acting before now.
      Apart from that, we started out by watching a 1980's (contemporised) version. David Tennant and Catherine Tate brought Shakespeare to life whilst bringing it more 'to home' with thanks to it being a contemporary version. I feel at a large advantage of doing this very play for GCSE English at school, we studied an exam on it so we had to delve into an awful lot about characters in order to know it well enough. This more modern version was interesting to watch seeing as I was most familiar with the Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson version; a more dated version (a recreation of how Shakespeare purely intended.)
     Today's session we began work on the language of Shakespeare; which proved an awfully lot harder than I had anticipated. Our first exercise to do with language was simply to study some of the more bizzarre words that feature in the Shakespearean language; for this we were given a sheet. Since then I have looked into more of these words and discovered quite a few have been picked out and used in songs.

For example, Mumford and Sons have used a few various quotes and words in songs of there's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH3t0fatneI, The song itself, Sigh No More, is very much drawn from Much Ado About Nothing. "Sigh no more ladies..." saying how, us, ladies should 'cry no more.' To me the song comes across like an inconsistent man, very much like how both Claudio and Benedick come across throughout the course of the play; with Benedick suddenly turning madly in love and Claudio, the opposite, falling out of love. Many of the lyrics are taken straight from Much Ado About Nothing (MAAN) for example: "Serve God, love me and mend" which is Benedick speaking to Beatrice (Act 5, Scene 2.)
"Oh man is a giddy thing" (one of the final lines to the play) said by Benedick himself (Act 5, Scene 4), means, to me, a referral to the natural, human tendency to being so unpredictable and inconsistent, as well as fickle and unsure about oneself etc. Which links well to the lyrics before, "My heart was never pure, you know me, you know me" Sounding more like a guilty apology as though one has understood how much of a 'giddy man' one has been? "My heart was never pure" (Mumford and Sons lyric) this closely links to MAAN however it is not a direct line which proves the fact Mumford and Sons have used Shakespeare and Much Ado very clearly as 'musical inspiration' for songwriting.
      I am a big fan of Mumford and Sons, there folk-like sound comes as a relief to the very same(y) pop music we hear on repeat every Sunday for the charts, and with further discussion as to how we are setting our version of MAAN (possibly a festival enviroment?), I think it would be really good to have Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More, to feature. 'Attention to detail' etc...


Shifting down to the slightly more exciting part of the rehearsal process would be our first 'read through' and casting! The read through was really interesting as we could start to draw up on more about our characters and the context in which they live in (what happens before their scenes etc, and what other characters think of them if mentioned in other scenes.) However saying that, now being casted as Hero in Act 3, Scene 1, I didn't get an awful lot of new information. Which was most probably be due to the fact I was simply reading through and not annotating anything particularly key within the script. But I am excited to play Hero, as she was the character I knew I wanted to try with. She is most like me, and although that may be becoming a sort of 'type-cast', I feel most comfortable there. Louise, from Road, was perhaps a slightly more introverted me; and Rachel, from 13, was the loud, more confident me. So Hero is a more 'me' type character, she has the passion in her as well as the very friendly side to her. She goes out of her way to set up her cousin with a guy (Benedick) which shows the friendly side to her as well as the more cheeky and playful side to her which appears only briefly in this very scene. She plays the leader to all of this 'false, sweet bait we lay' (Hero Act 5, Scene 4) ((a slight trick played on Beatrice to make her believe Benedick loves her.)) So it shows the more fun side to her, which dramatically disappears in one of the final scenes in which she is 'shamed publicly' of having sex with another man...Before marriage!! I know little about Hero herself and from only week 2, I am looking forward to delving more deeply into her and finding more about her. Especially her background, as there is no known information about any background stuff for any of the characters; which can only mean Shakespeare intended this, most likely on purpose.

Hero, the name itself, comes as a bit ironic to me. Hero; "a person, typically a man who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities." The 'google' definition proves accurate, and could link to anyone from Superman to a stranger saving someone's life. Although, Hero in MAAN, saves noone; and actually is the only one who really suffers. Claudio 'shames her publicly' which ruins her, and her love for him- all due to the trick in which another character sets up, to fool Claudio into believing Hero has cheated on him. Annoyingly I can't work out the meaning behind naming Hero, hero purely because it doesn't fit. She is no hero in the play, I suppose she could be seen as a hero as she sets Benedick and Beatrice up together; and from their perspective as well as ours as the audience, that could be seen as heroic as because both Beatrice and Benedick are so against the thought of love. Hero could be more of a metaphor, however. Hero's are known for saving others, but not necessarily get saved themselves. Shakespeare may then have written Hero as a really lonely character, whom deep down needs saving. Which could be why he (Shakespeare) makes such a big story out of her meeting Claudio and the dramatic alter break-up etc; because Claudio is someone who will, theoretically, 'save her'.
     This new analysis of Hero, the character, has made me see her in a more in depth way. I now understand that she hides her feelings and not that we know her before the play, I can now see she has suffered; very much like we all have throughout our lives. In a sense, I see her more like myself now. She is a reasonably quiet character and although she knows how to stir up a bit of fun (specifically in the scene in which I am playing her) she is seen as a lot more reserved than her cousin Beatrice. This may be because she doesn't appear an awful lot during the play, however the way she has kept her 'suffering' a secret, links her more closely to my personality. I would much rather keep things to myself and not let those surround me know my problems etc. And again, this leads into another reason in why Claudio becomes more of the 'saviour'/'hero' of the play.
 
Returning back to language, we focused mainly, today, on translating our scenes into 21st Century English language. Which actually proved really interesting. I began with the start of Hero's scene in Act 5, Scene 4 (pg.  39) :

"Good Margret, run to thee parlour; 

There shalt thou find my cousin Beatrice

proposing with the Prince and Claudio.

Whisper her ear, and tell her I and Ursual

walk in the orchard, and our whole discourse 

is all of her; say that thou overheadst us, 

and bid her steal into the pleached bower,
where honeysuckles, ripened by the sun,
forbid the sun to enter- like favourites, made by proud princes, 
that advance their pride against that power
that bred it. There will she hide her,
to listen to purpose. This is thy office; bear 
thee well in it, and leave us alone."

Script work

With this section of my script, we had to translate it into language that technically made more sense to us (with the help of the internet if need be: nofearshakespeare.com) And not to blow my own trumpet, but I managed with translating this monologue without using the website provided to us; which I was pleased with as it proved to me I understood the piece a lot more than I had expected of myself. I get that the piece is all about 'laying false, sweet bait' out for Beatrice in order to trick her into thinking Benedick loves her. It's basically a very old fashioned way of setting someone up with a guy (things have dramatically changed these days!!) The, now, translated version of this piece evolved into:

"Good morning Margret, run to the living room, there you'll find my cousin, Beatrice, talking with the Prince and Claudio whisper to her, and tell her myself and Ursular are walking in the garden and that our conversation will be about her. Tell her you heard us, and that she should go and listen. Tell her to hide where the honeysuckles ripen in the sun. There she will listen to us talking. This is your job, do it well and leave us to do ours."

Festival Attire

Suddenly, to me, the piece seems to make a lot more sense. It has a better flow to it as well, because I understand it so much more. This exercise was extremely useful and it almost seems a shame we won't be performing with this translated language as the story really seemed to tell itself more due to us being able to understand it more.
Although saying that there, was discussion, today, about the location and context in which we plan to set our performance of Much Ado About Nothing. Sally had the idea of setting it in a festival-type environment. We knew we wanted to set it in a more contemporary location as this will enable us to make it our own. I think the festival location is perfect! We had discussions on how the piece includes a band in which Don Pedro leaves and is now trying to get back into the band. Don John is the festival organiser with help from his daughter and cousin. Other characters will mould into this story-line also, however these are only brief ideas. Alongside these character ideas, we have costume ideas discussed; which would consist of the stereotypical wellies and long shirts, necklaces, sunglasses and colours etc (like seen in the picture on the left.) Much Ado About Nothing is very much about social status, with the soldiers reaching down to the maid used in the trick against Claudio. This is something that is compulsory to include in our version purely because it has such a big impact on the original play itself.
     To show this, in the David Tenant and Catherine Tate version we have just recently watched, all the soldiers wore different navy uniforms. For example, a more middle-located in the soldier ranks would be Benedick himself: in the image on the right, Tenant (playing Benedick) is wearing a red sash.
Soldiers wore a sash across one shoulder when in battle, it was used for the men to wipe there bloody (literally) hands on. So the red sash was usually worn by those 'on-the-front' soldiers. Blue, worn by Claudio (played by Tom Bateman ) shows another hierarchical status. To me, Claudio, seems of a lesser status than Benedick is, but going by the sash's, blue is worn by Royal Signals- of a higher rank than Benedick. 

Claudio: Blue sash

Benedick: Red sash

With social statues being so important in the play, for our festival-styled piece, those less high up characters in the play; such as the maid, would become, simply a festival-goer and none more. Whereas those characters with a higher status, such as Leonato, would be dressed in a more business-like costume; instead of the stereotypical festival attire as he would become one of the many festival managers/organisers.
      Other thoughts that went towards the idea of setting it at a festival was discussed by my small group; consisting of myself, Frankie, Donna and Sophie- forming the four characters of, myself as Hero, Frankie playing Margaret, Donna playing Ursula and Sophie playing Beatrice (in Act 5, Scene 4.) This scene is, in some sense, the game scene. Hero and Ursula set out to trick a hiding ("like a lapwing, close to the ground to hear our conference.") Beatrice into thinking Benedick is highly in love with her. In the Tennant and Tate version, this is done in the main halls of the play. Beatrice is looped up into a harness (as is mis-identified as a painter??) In the 'Shakespeare Re-done' version, it all happens in a toilet...which gave us the idea of bringing in a port-a-loo (very fitting for the festival location I think. ) Beatrice would be sat on the toilet, and the girls (Hero, Margaret and Ursula) then perform the scene, with the knowledge of Beatrice being in the toilet. It's important to see Beatrice's reaction to this scene as it adds to the comedy of it all, so if the door of the toilet was to be left open, Beatrice then can be seen by the audience. Small reactions will really help to add to Sophie's creation of Beatrice, and whilst getting too into discussion about the whole festival idea; suggestions of Beatrice using toilet roll as her prop to show her reactions and emotions could work very well. For example when she gets really into listening to the conversation happening outside, she unwraps all the toilet roll (as a sign of pure engrossment?) When Hero starts to speak less well of Beatrice, she could drop the toilet roll, leading it to roll out of the cubicle and further on stage.
   These, currently, are just ideas and in the midst of all discussion. However I do really think highly of the idea, it fits well and it makes the prospect of tackling Shakespeare a lot more appealing thanks to the fact we are contemporising the setting.

Thursday came as a more relaxed session; set back in our groups (Frankie, Donna and Sophie) we ran through the lines and briefly looked at the meaning of what we were saying.

Introduction to Shakespeare's language

I know understand the, fully, the beginning of my scene but I know it will help me if I continue to translate it. Its really important with Shakespeare to understand it, and as Sally said: "if you don't understand it, nor will the audience." I hope to have the time to properly translate and begin to understand my lines now that we've been casted but today we simply read through them and lightly dusted the meanings; which to me meant nothing as the proper meaning of something is always, always hidden.


We also spent a session looking at the Shakespearean language and managing to wrap our heads around it before we dived straight into trying to understand it. To begin with, we looked at what the four most common words meant:
Thou
Thee
Thy
Thine

Firstly all four of these words are translated from an emphatic Greek and Hebrew personal pronoun. http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/thou.html An archaic form that was familiar in the Shakespearean time, hence the major use of it in his works.
We were taught that 'thou' and 'thee' were both words for 'you', so first person. And 'thy' and 'thine' were words for 'they're', so plural.
In slight contrast to this, 'ye' is always a word used for 'you'. But I'd say more commonly 'thou' and 'thee' are used. We also learnt Shakespeare's word techniques, which consisted of learning about the Iamic Pentameter etc. But firstly, we were given a variety of worksheets of information on the language of Shakespeare.
These taught us stuff such as 'assonance' which is very regularly used by Shakespeare. Assonance is "when the vowel sounds of two consecutive words are the same but don't rhyme." A good example of the use of assonance in Much Ado About Nothing, that I picked out would be "No, the world must be peopled." ~Benedick [Act 2, Scene 3.]
Rhyming is another popular technique of Shakespeare and the easiest example of this that I found would be "If loving goes by haps, some cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." ~Hero. As you can simply see, 'haps' and 'traps' are the two rhyming words.
Iamic Pentameter confused me easily. From what I learnt today, it is a:

"A rhythm of five de-dums, like a heartbeat. this is the basic rhythm Shakespeare uses. He writes like this for a reason: to make the groundlings listen. (The groundlings were those whom stood in the theatre, they were usually the rowdy crowds that often didn't pay much attention to what was happening on stage.) It gives the language momentum and a beat which is pleasant on the ear. When a line fits neatly into that rhythm it sounds nice to say it and speeds along. Always beat out a line when you speak it out loud- make it fit." Much Ado About Nothing Learning Resources, www.digitaltheatreplus.com

Shakespeare's technique worksheet

So I get that it's every other word that needs the weight, but it's actually a lot harder than it seems. To me, when practising this at home now, it feels far too stylised. With some research though, it does say that you aren't meant to perform Shakespeare in a naturalistic form, because of the fact that the Iamic Pentameter sort of doesn't allow you too, unless, that is, if you completely go against the rules-which we are not. I can sort of already tell that I am going to have some difficulties with this, but that's the whole point of it all!! I can see that there was a real reason as to why Shakespeare used this, and that's mainly to ensure that the right words are getting the most emphasis. It also gives the actor more of an understanding of the character, if you supposedly look into the iamic's of the lines. This is something I will have to look into further into the project, but currently it's quite exciting to find out more about the language and the use of it. Two other points for the use of Iamic that were breifly mentioned in today's session was:

•  To help the actors learn their lines more easily
• To allow the actors to get through their lines quickly (which I gather would be in order to stop the audience getting bored. If boredom struck, the audience wouldn't keep quiet like us civilised persons do, they would often start causing a riot. Throwing stuff on stage, shouting and very often having intercourse.)

We were also briefly introduced to, apparently, the three main points of the Shakespearean language. The three consist of: 

Pros - like a story, fills the page.

Iambic Pentameter worksheet.

Blank verse - which is the use of iamic pentameter. This kind of formal pattern of rhyming words is called a metre, which is where the 'pentameter' originates from, which explains why blank verse is iambic. 

Verse form - End words rhyme.