Shakespeare in Action

Transcription

1 GAINESVILLE THEATRE ALLIANCE S REPERTORY COMPANY Shakespeare in Action Romeo and Juliet A Midsummer Night s Dream Macbeth Julius Caesar What s Inside: About the Performance Theatre Etiquette Shakespeare s Theatre A Brief Biography Lead ups to the scenes in the show Discussion questions Our Residencies Gainesville Theatre Alliance is a nationally acclaimed collaboration between the University of North Georgia, Brenau University, Theatre Professionals and the Northeast Georgia Community. 1

2 About the Performance The Gainesville Theatre Alliance Repertory Company ( Rep Company ) is a troupe of five of GTA s most talented actors who offer FREE performances to schools, community groups, libraries and hospitals throughout northeast Georgia every other year. The Rep Company rehearsed around 24 hours a week for four weeks and then 9 hours a week for three more weeks prior to starting their tour. They spent half of their time rehearsing their theatre for young audiences piece: Dragon Flights and half of their time rehearsing Shakespeare in Action. The Repertory Company performs three times a week for 18 weeks across the north Georgia area between October 2018 and March Shakespeare in Action performances are fast-paced, 45-minute collections of dynamic scenes from Shakespeare's most studied plays. Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night s Dream, and Hamlet. Performers (Clockwise): Celine Mansour is a senior BA Theatre major and scholarship recipient at the Gainesville Theatre Alliance! She is an alumni of Duluth High school. Michael Dotson is sophomore BFA Acting major on scholarship at Brenau University. He graduated from Pope High School in Roswell, GA. Lauren Hill is a Junior BFA Acting ma-jor and scholarship recipient at Brenau University. She graduated from Flowery Branch High School. Rachel Finazzo: is a Junior BFA Acting Major and Scholarship recipient at Brenau University. She went to Greater Atlanta Christian School and was in the 'Visions' acting troupe for 2 years. Alec Beard is a Junior BFA Acting ma-jor and scholarship recipient at the University of North Georgia. He graduated from Mill Creek High School. Theatre Etiquette Since many people in the Rep Company audience have never experienced LIVE performance, part of the Rep Company objective is to teach audiences how they play a critical role, and that each performance is different because each audience is UNIQUE. TEACHERS -- please brief students on the "ground rules" for this learning experience so they will understand the dynamic nature of LIVE theatre! Live Performance is different than a movie --The work is LIVE and the action that you see is happening right now, with people just like you. You should treat the performers as you would want to be treated if you were on the stage with a lot of people watching you, and use your imagination to create the setting the players are inhabiting. Theatre audiences are NOT silent - Feel free to laugh at funny things, to applaud when you like what you see. If they ask you a question, ANSWER it! You will SEE how your interaction with the story influences the characters just as it does the people at your dinner table! Don't talk to your neighbor during the performance - The Rep Company members have prepared a gift for you, and your attention and good manners are needed to receive it. 2

3 Shakespeare s Theatre Understanding How Shakespeare Brought his Plays to Life A trip to the Elizabethan theatre was an experience quite unlike a trip the theatre today; it was more like the rowdy crowd of a sports event than the calm ritual of going to theatre today. Audience members were from all walks of life and they were socially, and economically diverse. Many noble folk would come to the theatre, to see the show just as much as to be seen by other people. Peasants could pay a penny to stand in the pit in front of the stage to see the show. This was a rambunctious crowd: many people would all pack in close to one another. Often smelling horrible, since people often went months between baths. People standing in the pit were known as groundlings. People with more money, like lords and ladies of the court, could purchase tickets for bench seating in the circular galleries surrounding the stage. Shakespeare s Globe Theatre, is most well known Elizabethan theatre because that is where the Bard s plays would come to life. The Globe was polygonal in shape. It was at least three stories high, and around 100 feet in diameter. It could accommodate around 3,000 people, if everyone was packed in like sardines. The open space inside the theatre held the stage and the pit; there was no roof. The stage was a long, rectangular platform jutting into the crowd. The stage itself had hardly any scenery to adorn it, with just a playing space and two columns down in front. Surrounding the stage and the pit were multi-storied galleries where people could sit. 3

4 A Brief Biography Of Shakespeare's Life The exact date of Shakespeare s birth is a little obscure. There is a register for baptism of one Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakespeare on 26 April 1564, and it is generally accepted that he was actually born three days earlier, 23 April. Regardless of the date, we know for certain he was born in the town of Stratfordupon-Avon. His father John Shakespeare was a glover who sometime between 1556 and 1558 married Mary Arden. John would rise to become mayor of Stratford and become a gentleman. Unfortunately, there is little known about Shakespeare s life for two significant spans of time: and In 1578 he left grammar school and in 1582 he married his wife, Anne Hathaway. However in we can assume Shakespeare was collecting sources for plays and developing his dramatic skills. It is difficult to tell when Shakespeare began his career in theatre, but he was established as an actor by Soon after that, we have records of his first comedies and tragedies, and the rest is history. After a long career with the Lord Chamberlain s Men, Shakespeare died on 23 April The cause of his death is obscure, however one John Ward says: Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted. He remains buried at the Holy Trinity Church at Stratford. Shakespeare s Work Shakespeare wrote four kinds of plays; Comedy, Tragedy, History and Romances: Comedy is fairly straightforward: It typically revolves around a young man and a young woman who fall in love. Someone prevents them from being together, but they find a way to be together. Naturally, there is a happy ending, usually a marriage. Tragedy involves the fall of a great, noble character who has a fatal flaw that causes their downfall. The other two genres are more particular. History plays are self-explanatory: the subject matter was drawn from the history of England, dealing with the monarchy and the royal family. Romances are the most diverse genre and include the final four plays. These plays feature dramatic plots, sometimes hinging on tragedy, but there is always a happy resolution at the end. They are famous for their poetry and their plots which have a modern feel. 4 Did you know... Between September 15 and October 15, 1595, the Lord Admiral s Men performed 28 times with 18 different plays.

5 A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life A Lead Up to the Romeo and Juliet Scene In the streets of Verona another brawl breaks out between the feuding noble families of Capulet and Montague. Prince Escalus, the ruler of Verona, declares death to anyone who disrupts the peace again. Romeo, the son of Montague, runs into his cousin Benvolio, and tells him that he is in love with Rosaline, a woman who does not love him back. Benvolio advises him to forget Rosaline and move on. Meanwhile, Paris seeks Juliet s hand in marriage. Her father, Capulet, asks Paris to wait two years, since Juliet is not even fourteen. Capulet then sends a servant with a list of people to invite to a masquerade. He invites Paris, hoping that Paris will win Juliet s heart. Romeo and Benvolio encounter the Capulet s illiterate servant who has the list of invitations. Benvolio suggests that they attend. Romeo agrees to go with Benvolio, but only because Rosaline, whose name he reads on the list, will be there. In Capulet s household, young Juliet talks with her mother and her nurse about the possibility of marrying Paris. Juliet has not considered marriage, but agrees to look at Paris during the party to consider him as a love prospect. The party begins. A melancholy Romeo follows Benvolio and their witty friend Mercutio to Capulet s house. Once inside, Romeo sees Juliet from a distance and instantly falls in love with her; he forgets about Rosaline completely. Soon, Romeo speaks to Juliet, and the two fall in love. They kiss, not even knowing each other s names. Romeo quickly learns that Juliet is the daughter of Capulet his family s enemy he becomes distraught. When Juliet learns that the young man she has just kissed is the son of Montague, she grows equally upset. As Mercutio and Benvolio leave the party, Romeo leaps over the orchard wall into the garden, searching for Juliet. R + J Discussion The 1957 classic musical, West Side Story is based on Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet. How is Romeo s love for Juliet different from his infatuation with Rosaline? How are Juliet s interactions with and about Paris different from her encounter with Romeo? What do the language and structure of the initial exchange between Romeo and Juliet (Act I, scene 5, lines ) tell us about them? After watching the balcony scene, Who is in control of this conversation, Romeo or Juliet? Look for other examples in the text to support your idea of who is the stronger character. 5

6 The course of true love never did run smooth A Lead Up to the Midsummer Scene Theseus, duke of Athens, is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. While they are planning the wedding, Egeus an Athenian nobleman storms into Theseus s court with his daughter, Hermia, and two young men, Demetrius and Lysander. Egeus wishes Hermia to marry Demetrius (who loves her), but Hermia is in love with Lysander and refuses to marry Demetrius. Egeus asks for the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia s head if she flouts her father s will. Theseus gives Hermia until his wedding to consider her options, warning her that disobeying her father s wishes could result in her being sent to a convent or even execution. Nonetheless, Hermia and Lysander plan to escape the next night and get married in a nearby city. They tell Helena, who is Hermia s friend, their plan. Helena was once engaged to Demetrius and still loves him even though he jilted her after meeting Hermia. Hoping to regain his love, Helena tells Demetrius of the elopement that Hermia and Lysander have planned. Hearing this, Demetrius stalks into the woods after his intended bride and her lover; Helena follows behind him... Midsummer Discussion How are Hermia and Helena treated as more foolish in the play than Demetrius and Lysander? Is this a commentary on gender? How do we interpret the fact that Hermia and Helena seem just as foolish as the guys, though they aren't under an enchantment? This play presents many different views of love and marriage. How many can you identify? How are these different versions of love related to each other? Did you know... Many Northern European countries celebrate Midsummer near the summer solstice. In Germany this year, Midsummer celebrations took place on June 24th. Hermia and Lysander by John Simmons (1870) 6

7 Something wicked this way comes A Lead Up to the Macbeth Scene At a military camp, the Scottish King Duncan hears news that his generals, Macbeth and Banquo, have defeated two separate invading armies. Following their battle with the enemy forces, Macbeth and Banquo encounter witches in the forest. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will be made Thane (a rank of Scottish nobility) of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. They also foretold that Macbeth s companion, Banquo, will beget a line of Scottish kings, although Banquo will never be king himself. The witches vanish, and Macbeth and Banquo question if the witches were correct or crazy. Then some of King Duncan s men come to congratulate the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell Macbeth that he has indeed been named thane of Cawdor. The previous Thane was executed for treason. Macbeth is intrigued by the possibility that the remainder of the witches prophecy that he will be crowned king might be true, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits with King Duncan, and they plan to dine together at Macbeth s castle, that night. Macbeth writes ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has happened. Lady Macbeth after reading her husband s letter suffers none of her husband s uncertainty. She wants her husband to be king, and desires that status. Lady Macbeth murmurs that she knows Macbeth is ambitious, but fears he is too weak to take the steps necessary to make himself king. She resolves to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan in order to obtain the crown. Once Duncan arrives to the Macbeth s castle, Lady Macbeth greets the king hospitably. After dinner Duncan wishes to meet with Macbeth, so Lady Macbeth goes to retrieve Macbeth, who is a wreck at the thought of committing treason and murdering Duncan Macbeth Discussion Macbeth, Sir Patrick Stewart, looks on at his wife, Lady Macbeth, played by Kate Fleetwood, after she commits her terrible deed in the Great Performances production of "Macbeth." Discuss how the following influenced Macbeth's actions in the play Macbeth: the witches, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth's own ambitions The three witches, the weird sisters, are also often blamed for planting the seed of treachery in Macbeth's mind yet the root of the word "wyrd" goes back to the Anglo Saxon word for "fate." Does thinking something is fated make it happen? How much personal agency do we have against fate? Macbeth has been adapted in India and Japan; it's been set in the Chicago underworld, the Melbourne Mafia, and in smalltown Pennsylvania. What makes Macbeth's themes so universal? Where would you set it? 7

8 Beware the ides of March A Lead Up to the Julius Caesar Scene Two tribunes (Roman officials), Flavius and Murellus, find plenty of Roman citizens wandering the streets, neglecting their work in order to watch Julius Caesar s triumphal parade: Caesar has defeated the sons of the deceased Roman general Pompey, his archrival, in battle. The tribunes scold the citizens for abandoning their duties and remove decorations from Caesar s statues. Caesar enters with his entourage, including figures Brutus, and Cassius... Caesar Discussion Reconstruction of Julius Caesar and a portrait bust of him from the collection of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden The Residencies... 8 Compare what we know of Caesar s actions in the play from what he is accused of by Casssius and Brutus. Was he a threat to the republic or not? Research the life and actual events that we know about Caesar s murder. How much artistic license did Shakespeare take in his play? Is Cassius responsible for turning Brutus' thoughts to murdering Caesar? That's usually the claim, but we know that Brutus is vexed by some personal issues before Cassius even brings up the idea of murder. Is there any indication in the play that Brutus had already been thinking about killing Caesar? Why would he? This is a new opportunity to bring immersive workshops straight to your classroom. You can book our Rep Company teaching artists to visit your class to activate Shakespeare s themes and language. Words and Witches: Shakespeare s Verse Kindle a lifelong love for the beauty and boldness of Shakespeare s language through this interactive approach to understanding Iambic Pentameter. Featuring scenes from Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. Swords and Soliloquies: Performing Shakespeare Garner the basic skills necessary to embody Shakespeare s courageous characters. This acting masterclass focuses on applying action/objective work to Shakespeare s text and features scenes from Julius Caesar and Macbeth. Bodices and Breeches: Gender in Shakespeare Dive into the cultural context of Shakespeare s world and how it helped shape his surprisingly modern approach to gender. Students will discover and voice some of Shakespeare s most dynamic and inspiring characters, exploring how they buck the norms to become their best selves. Featuring scenes from Macbeth, A Midsummer Night s Dream, and As You Like It.