Twelfth Night work

During today's rehearsals we looked at our extract from Twelfth Night. Chloe who plays Olivia wasn't in so we focused on the beginning of the piece as that contained the characters Feste and Maria. As we have decided as a class to set this play in a school environment we looked as the concept of our extract and how we could change it to fit the theme. We decided that as the fool, Feste will remain the silly funny character but Maria will be a nerdy stuck up character which is easily broken by Feste's cheeky comical ways. This scene follows the theme of polar opposites as shown through the characters of both Maria and Feste and also OLivia and Feste in our extract. Firstly Maria is developed as quite a cruel character within this play but in our scene she is very ridged character in contrast to Feste who is full of folly and hasn't got a care in the world, Feste is a very humble fool who is extremely witty and down to earth, this contrast Maria at the start of the scene but as she relaxes and starts to banter with Feste a common ground is shown between servants. Olivia enters next and has a clear contrast to Feste not only in character but in status; we are depicting this through having her enter at the highest level on stage to show her power and ladyship in comparison to Feste being a servant. This theme could easily be modernized to suit a modern audience by fitting in with the school theme through having two characters such as a queen bee bitch character and a shy wall flower.

setting up

In previous rehearsals the set has been discussed and attempted but it was told it looked sloppy and not thought through. So today I decided to give it another shot and sat down with the people not dancing Andrew a sketch of what we thought the set should look like and how it could cater to both The Tempest and Twelfth Night.  In previous lessons the idea of Prosperous entering from behind a curtain on the same level as the highest rosters was a concept brought up last week so we solved this problem through having a Rostand stand behind the curtain with steps to get up to it so that Prosperous can step through the curtain with ease straight onto the highest level without and sloppy climbing and this also adds to the magical aspect of the work as it looks like he's come out of nowhere.   I saw the opening storm dance today and when I saw it on its own with the music I was skeptical as it looked very ropy and I couldn't see the potential in it but later i saw it with a strobe light and under the sound of a storm and waves and it looked very dramatically effective. I can now see real potential and can't wait to see the finishes article. We did note that it needs to be more manic and needs more people to give it the strong and forceful impact it can achieve. Due to the play opening in a storm and a shipwreck we added the concept of sailors in to the opening and as the singing and drums kick in in the music a single sailor step tour on stage and when lightening cracks the others come out creating a frantic group of people pulling ropes and fighting a storm. As a class we talked about using white sheets on ropes to act as sails and create a visually stimulating image on stage, I love this idea and can't wait to give it a go and see if it works well with the piece.

The first Tempest rehursal

We started this rehearsal going through the script as Dan my partner is still not secure on his lines and there is no point jumping into blocking when he doesn't even know what his lines mean. We went through the lines and looked at what they mean and what to think about when saying them, for example my line "do you love me" was seen completely differently by Dan than I saw it as he thought it was Miranda asking Ferdinand if he loves her as in the idea that he is superior and she is completely in love with him to the point that she couldn't wait to know if he feels the same. Whereas through looking through the lines previous we found that as a character she is very nice and she's not  consumed with swooning over him but rather she doesn't know any better and the only way for her to learn is through simply asking, so we deduced that  she is more inquisitive rather than stupidly falling over him, but it's all up to people's interpretations.  also after a class discussion we found that we are setting The Tempest work in the 40's/50's style so me and Dan looked at if we were going to do accents or not, we decided against it as it wasn't an accent Dan was completely comfortable sustaining through the piece. The time setting doesn't really change the context of the piece we decided that we are keeping the logs described in the extract and not changing anything other than the costume during our piece. By the end of the day we decided on our opening positions for the piece but there is much more to do in future lessons. Adam has kindly said he would step in and play Prospero for us in our work and we have placed his character at the highest point of the set to watch over the events and say his lines over us to highlight his status in the play.
11.12.2014
We have removed the character Prospero from our piece as he is not a vital part of the scene and he only acts as an over looker in the extract. The scene is still effect without this character and still makes complete scene. This hasn't pose a problem and in my opinion it has made it a lot easier to follow for both he audience and me as an actor. I personally think that this change allows me and Dan to create a connection between our character as there is no interruption through out. 

Iambic pentameter

Iambic pentameter is a form of verse, like a frame work on how to rhythmically say Shakespearian text. The words iambic pentameter means five sets of two syllable sections and is sometimes referred to as feet. Sometimes iambic pentameter is not used and replaced with rhyming couplets or no verse form is used and this is when the text is written in pros, following no form of rules.     Iambic pentameter follows a De-dumb De-dumb De-dumb De-dumb De-dumb rhythmic pattern with the occasional extra De at the end; this is called a soft ending. There is an emphasis on each dumb as they are stressed.         The typical way Shakespeare highlights the status of a character is if their text is written in pros or iambic pentameter. For example if you are a dumb comical character your text will be in pros whereas higher status character such as my character Miranda in The Tempest will speak in iambic pentameter but also used pros such as in her line 'oh heavens' with the occasional extra syllable at the end of each section, this highlights how she is a sideline character rather than a comical or main character.    Some say that iambic pentameter is used as it mimics the sound of the human heart are beat which is natural and produces a calming rhythm. Others say that it is used as is copies the way people speak everyday with its stressed syllables and variations. Through using iambic pentameter the text stays interesting and it eliminates and monotone aspects to the text and prevents it becoming dull.    Iambic pentameter has a specific purpose and it is to inform the actor that they need to come straight in with their lines to keep the rhythm flowing not let the pace drop. There is one rule when using iambic pentameter and it is to make use of the pauses in the text when punctuation occurs and not to stop speaking at the end of a sentence unless there is punctuation indicating you to.
Here's and example of Iambic Pentameter:

If music be the food of love, play on; -  this is a good example of Iambic pentameter as it clearly 
                                                               shows 5 sets of 2 syllable phrases.
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, -
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before. - this phase show the use of a soft ending.
O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, not withstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical.

The scene between me and Dan's work is more complex and highlights how iambic pentameter can move onto another characters speech.

O most dear mistress,
The sun will set before I shall discharge What I must strive to do. If you'll sit down, This shows clearly how iambic pentameter follows onto my character Miranda's lines. I'll bear your logs the while: pray, give me that; I'll carry it to the pile. Iambic pentameter workshop
During the first session looking at Shakespeare's techniques we completed a workshop in the rules of iambic pentameter and how to use it without sounding like a rhythmic robot. We were given a piece of text and told to turn at every bit of punctuation such as commas and full stops, this forced us to take a rest as we resigned the text when necessary. This was incredibly useful to me as it physically showed me how the rhythm flows and stops thought the text. We were also taught about stressing the second syllable and to cement this concept we were told to tap heavily on out led when a syllable is stressed, I found it difficult to keep up when everyone around me was doing it but it showed clearly how the way you say the text had different dynamics rather than it being monotone. If we filled these rules we would sound stupid and it would be teetering on the edge of some so we took away a monologue from the character Caliban and tried using these techniques in a realistic way to make the speech sound natural and flowing.
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Production meeting

During our first production meeting we spent Our time deciding on how we are going to structure the two pieces " The Tempest" and "Twelfth Night."  As a class we decided that we are doing  to kick off the show with a storm as both plays involve a storm as it seems logical to incorporate a common aspect to comment the two pieces and create a smooth flow. Also we have decided to incorporate physical theatre into the storm as we have been using this dramatic technique in the past and this is a good opportunity to incorporate it.   There was a small debate on how we were going to structure the different extracts of text as some wanted to mix "twelfth night" and "The Tempest" texts where as I and others wanted to separated them evenly and do each play separately to avoid confusion for the audience. We eventually decided to keep the plays separate to keep the work separate and uncomplicated.   Another topic covered in the meeting was the rehearsal schedule and how we were doing to work on our extracts. Many different ideas were put forward such as working on and developing one play first then the second after this, but I argued that when we start working on our second piece we would start to forget the first and it would produce sloppy work as it would have been forgotten. We decided on working on the separate texts together one in Mondays practical lessons and the other on Tuesdays lessons as this allows you to keep up with your work and not forget small nuances which we create in rehearsals..