A new day a new challenge. Monday began with a well anticipated activity, the Heaven to Hell tour of the Globe Theatre. (See pics) We began in heaven- the top floor of the Globe named appropriately not only because of all the cool props and set pieces in storage but because it is where the trap door in the ceiling above the stage is… The trap is used for those Deus Ex Machina moments and to drop people and things through of great import. Brian the stage manager who gave us the tour told us that today when we use the trap we use invisible wires etc to hide the fact that it is a manipulation. However in the times of Shakespeare they would have used very large very obvious ropes to assure the audience that it wasn’t witchcraft afoot! Taking the stairs down level we found ourselves in the Gentleman’s boxes/Musicians Balcony. Often in Elizabethan England the upper crust would sit behind the playing space. It was considered one of the best spots in the house of course because they could be seen. However in addition it’s important to remember that while today we say we are going to “see” a play. 400 years ago people would say they were going to “hear” a play. Language had great importance at this time and the gentleman’s boxes would have good acoustics. The set for Troilus and Cressida was up for the performance from the evening before and so we bravely ventured out onto a temporary decking above the stage for photo opportunities. In the musician’s balcony we found some original practice instruments such as giant sheet metal to make thunder etc. The next floor down is stage level and we were as giddy school children running about on the Globe stage. Actors often speak of the “valley of death” with runs between the two pillars onstage. It was interesting to see how constrictive and yet comfortable it was to stand there! I can only imagine what it would be like to be on the stage in front of 3000 people performing. A death defying experience I am sure. Finally we went backstage and down under the stage to get to the trap in the floor. Everyone had to duck down as it’s only about 4.5 feet tall down there. The area is again aptly named Hell because the characters who emerge from the floor are those who are devilish, the clown characters etc. In the Globe’s last performance of Hamlet in the graveyard they devised a clever way of very slowly opening the trap so that it gave the illusion that the grave digger really was making progress and digging into the earth. Finaly we ended up inthe orginal practice costume closet (all costumes were made in the same way they would have been 400 years ago. So cool!
Monday was also our first meeting with Giles Block, the Master of Words here at the Globe. Giles works with all of the shows each season on text analysis and speech. At first Giles was a bit esoteric for me, or at least it seemed he came with no agenda. But sometimes that is the way with many a learned person, teaching is not easy people! After a bit of abstract discussions we got to work on the use of blank verse vs. rhyming verse vs. prose. The ideas are ones I was familiar with, but Giles brought to it a fresh excitement. It is clear he really loves the text.
Giles has directed in the Globe in the past and did an original practice AND original pronunciation version of Romeo and Juliet several years ago. (Original practice means that they only used costumes and props etc that were created in the same way they would have in Elizabethan England, they only do the special effects as they would have at the time etc. Giles taught the actors to use the original pronunciation of the script and one thing they found is that the show was 5 minutes shorter than other productions! Because the actors were using O.P. several words that we today might use with move syllables of length became much shorter. AN example is the word ‘love.’ Today a RSC actor would be trained to use the letters much stronger, hitting the L with energy and lengthening the “O” sound. 400 years ago it would have been short, “luv,” getting to the “v” very quickly.
Giles so clearly is fascinated with words and of course meter. He told us that when iambic pentameter was first heard in the 1580s from Marlow and the like, it was considered dangerous in the same way rock and roll was considered dangerous in the ‘50s. The heartbeat rhythm, (i-am, i-am, i-am…) is the rhythm of life, they first sound we hear in the womb. The rhythm has a way of speaking from the heart. People were concerned that it would be too moving, that because blank verse doesn’t end with a rhyme that the nouns have a strength and starkness that could be too powerful. No wonder I love rock and roll AND Shakespeare;-) We discussed further how Shakespeare goes out of his way to preserve the pentameter- for example “Banished” vs “banish-ed.” He at times adds unnecessary words in order to keep the meter – ex “I do think” vs. “I think.” Therefore we must see that when Shakespeare strays from the pentameter by added extra syllables or having empty beats, there is an important reason. He is giving character and stage direction through the text. Personally I have always noted when Shakespeare leaves empty beats, it is clear that this is intentional and a direction to take a breath or a beat or an entrance of someone etc. However I have to admit I have never really been one to look for the extra beats. After all the character work I have done, it seems that perhaps I should spend a bit more time on meter. And now I have gone nuts with this! My script looks a mess from all of my diagramming, reading meter, finding troches etc…
At noon (this really was a packed day) we met with Peter McCurdy- the architect who built the Globe. (Interesting it was another Peter who built the first one Peter Street from the materials taken from “The Theatre” the first open air theatre in London.) Peter McCurdy has specialized in historic preservation and reconstruction. He and his team did several years of research about building and worked from what first hand and second hand documentation (letters, engravings etc) to work out how the build the structure. I really liked the symmetry of Peter M using oak that was over 400 years old, in other words trees that lived in the time of the original Globe.
In the afternoon we had our second small group rehearsal. I was a bit distressed, after spending time memorizing my script that Ann was considering changing up how the script was divided up and changing our lines, but it’s a short scene so I know it will be fine. We met in the oddest room, it looks like what you imagine a padded room would look like in a mental ward, has a tremendous echo and no A/C. I realize how spoilt I am in FL with A/C. Every day I go through the motion of dressing in layers and then peeling them off, adding some, taking off some more etc. I must work in 10 different climates through out the day. Our rehearsal was a bit stressful for me. It became clear pretty quickly that Ann had not spent any time working on the direction for our scene since last we had seen her. I understood that she had just been handed the script a moment before on our first rehearsal, but after several days I had hopes that she would have a sense of where we were going. However this experience is learning new techniques etc and so I pushed my hesitation to the side and worked through her VERY organic process. (To clarify I am all for organic blocking etc, but organic doesn’t mean you don’t do any research about the play and have a clear picture of what you re trying to articulate. But I try not to judge…) Ann has decided that the 4 Juliet’s are not just the different aspects of her psyche but that they are going to form a chorus when they are not playing Juliet. We spent a lot of the rehearsal doing character exercises for the Juliet monologue but did not have time to really flush out the idea of the chorus yet.
After dinner we saw our second production “As You Like It.” The show is sold out through September so it was great to have received tickets. The director Thea is very young and this has been her first production of Shakespeare. It is set in Elizabethan England and the costumes in the opening scene in Court were fantastic. Cecelia’s costume was very reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth and I thought could have been an interesting parallel to the cruelty in her court as to the cruelty in the Dukes. The acting was fabulous. The actor playing Touchstone was hilarious and took on the part in a way I had never imagined. I had a seat for the show but ended up standing as a groundling for the second half which I think is the far better way to see the show. Afterwards, as is becoming out custom we went to the Swan and ended up having drinks with the cast. As it turns out the guy playing Silvius has some friends in common with Allison back in NYC- small world the theatre. I was fascinated to learn when speaking with the actor who played Touchstone that this was his first Shakespearian role not withstanding some small scenes in drama school! He obviously did his research and had some interesting thoughts on Touchstone and his unease in the forest. Also he did such an amazing job on the monologue about rhetoric. Laura, who played Cecilia offered to try to get me some tickets to see the show again when Ryan comes to visit, which would be amazing seeing as it’s totally sold out. Again we closed the Swan down around 1 and headed home. Lucky for us we didn’t have class until 11am on Tuesday.
This trip just becomes more and more amazing.
Monday was also our first meeting with Giles Block, the Master of Words here at the Globe. Giles works with all of the shows each season on text analysis and speech. At first Giles was a bit esoteric for me, or at least it seemed he came with no agenda. But sometimes that is the way with many a learned person, teaching is not easy people! After a bit of abstract discussions we got to work on the use of blank verse vs. rhyming verse vs. prose. The ideas are ones I was familiar with, but Giles brought to it a fresh excitement. It is clear he really loves the text.
Giles has directed in the Globe in the past and did an original practice AND original pronunciation version of Romeo and Juliet several years ago. (Original practice means that they only used costumes and props etc that were created in the same way they would have in Elizabethan England, they only do the special effects as they would have at the time etc. Giles taught the actors to use the original pronunciation of the script and one thing they found is that the show was 5 minutes shorter than other productions! Because the actors were using O.P. several words that we today might use with move syllables of length became much shorter. AN example is the word ‘love.’ Today a RSC actor would be trained to use the letters much stronger, hitting the L with energy and lengthening the “O” sound. 400 years ago it would have been short, “luv,” getting to the “v” very quickly.
Giles so clearly is fascinated with words and of course meter. He told us that when iambic pentameter was first heard in the 1580s from Marlow and the like, it was considered dangerous in the same way rock and roll was considered dangerous in the ‘50s. The heartbeat rhythm, (i-am, i-am, i-am…) is the rhythm of life, they first sound we hear in the womb. The rhythm has a way of speaking from the heart. People were concerned that it would be too moving, that because blank verse doesn’t end with a rhyme that the nouns have a strength and starkness that could be too powerful. No wonder I love rock and roll AND Shakespeare;-) We discussed further how Shakespeare goes out of his way to preserve the pentameter- for example “Banished” vs “banish-ed.” He at times adds unnecessary words in order to keep the meter – ex “I do think” vs. “I think.” Therefore we must see that when Shakespeare strays from the pentameter by added extra syllables or having empty beats, there is an important reason. He is giving character and stage direction through the text. Personally I have always noted when Shakespeare leaves empty beats, it is clear that this is intentional and a direction to take a breath or a beat or an entrance of someone etc. However I have to admit I have never really been one to look for the extra beats. After all the character work I have done, it seems that perhaps I should spend a bit more time on meter. And now I have gone nuts with this! My script looks a mess from all of my diagramming, reading meter, finding troches etc…
At noon (this really was a packed day) we met with Peter McCurdy- the architect who built the Globe. (Interesting it was another Peter who built the first one Peter Street from the materials taken from “The Theatre” the first open air theatre in London.) Peter McCurdy has specialized in historic preservation and reconstruction. He and his team did several years of research about building and worked from what first hand and second hand documentation (letters, engravings etc) to work out how the build the structure. I really liked the symmetry of Peter M using oak that was over 400 years old, in other words trees that lived in the time of the original Globe.
In the afternoon we had our second small group rehearsal. I was a bit distressed, after spending time memorizing my script that Ann was considering changing up how the script was divided up and changing our lines, but it’s a short scene so I know it will be fine. We met in the oddest room, it looks like what you imagine a padded room would look like in a mental ward, has a tremendous echo and no A/C. I realize how spoilt I am in FL with A/C. Every day I go through the motion of dressing in layers and then peeling them off, adding some, taking off some more etc. I must work in 10 different climates through out the day. Our rehearsal was a bit stressful for me. It became clear pretty quickly that Ann had not spent any time working on the direction for our scene since last we had seen her. I understood that she had just been handed the script a moment before on our first rehearsal, but after several days I had hopes that she would have a sense of where we were going. However this experience is learning new techniques etc and so I pushed my hesitation to the side and worked through her VERY organic process. (To clarify I am all for organic blocking etc, but organic doesn’t mean you don’t do any research about the play and have a clear picture of what you re trying to articulate. But I try not to judge…) Ann has decided that the 4 Juliet’s are not just the different aspects of her psyche but that they are going to form a chorus when they are not playing Juliet. We spent a lot of the rehearsal doing character exercises for the Juliet monologue but did not have time to really flush out the idea of the chorus yet.
After dinner we saw our second production “As You Like It.” The show is sold out through September so it was great to have received tickets. The director Thea is very young and this has been her first production of Shakespeare. It is set in Elizabethan England and the costumes in the opening scene in Court were fantastic. Cecelia’s costume was very reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth and I thought could have been an interesting parallel to the cruelty in her court as to the cruelty in the Dukes. The acting was fabulous. The actor playing Touchstone was hilarious and took on the part in a way I had never imagined. I had a seat for the show but ended up standing as a groundling for the second half which I think is the far better way to see the show. Afterwards, as is becoming out custom we went to the Swan and ended up having drinks with the cast. As it turns out the guy playing Silvius has some friends in common with Allison back in NYC- small world the theatre. I was fascinated to learn when speaking with the actor who played Touchstone that this was his first Shakespearian role not withstanding some small scenes in drama school! He obviously did his research and had some interesting thoughts on Touchstone and his unease in the forest. Also he did such an amazing job on the monologue about rhetoric. Laura, who played Cecilia offered to try to get me some tickets to see the show again when Ryan comes to visit, which would be amazing seeing as it’s totally sold out. Again we closed the Swan down around 1 and headed home. Lucky for us we didn’t have class until 11am on Tuesday.
This trip just becomes more and more amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment