WEEK 6 – YOUR PRODUCTION

RESEARCH: Research your own Shakespeare play: Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, Measure for Measure. What is the play about? When was it first performed? Find a contemporary production of the play you can get an idea of and research it in terms of concept, style, design, casting. Give some attention to your own character and their role in the play.

Hamlet

What is it about ?

Hamlet is a shakespearean tragedy set ancient Denmark, which is based around a teenage boy named Hamlet. In the play, this father dies, and Hamlet later finds out that this father was murdered by his uncle Claudius, his father’s brother. On top of that after the death of his father, his mother goes on to marry this uncle Claudius. During the play Hamlet is visited by the ghosted on this dead father who tells him that it was his uncle who murdered him by pouring poison in this ear. Finding out this information takes a toll on Hamlet, and he is unsure who to trust, so feels he can’t to anyone about it. In my opinion the play is about the downfall of Hamlet’s mental health and the effect it has on his relationship between friends and family. For example, in the play you see the breakdown of this relationship with his girlfriend Ophelia, he starts to miss treat he, and sexual abuse her, with ends up making her become mentally unstable. The play ends with Hamlet murdering everyone or them committing suicide, all because he wanted to seek revenge for his father. To sum it up I think Hamlet is about the mental health of young people.

When was is first performed ?

I can not find a definite answer as to when Hamlet was first performance, it was in the early 1600’s, but some accounts say it was in 1607 on an East India Company’s ship.  However another account says in 1601 by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, it is also believed to be performed in 1608.

Contemporary performance

A contemporary version of Hamlet which took my interest is the Royal Exchange theatre’s production of Hamlet in 2014.

The most noticeable thing about this production of Hamlet is probably the casting, unlike many production of Hamlet, Hamlet as well as Polonius is played by women. I think this is a really interesting casting choice, and also one that I really feel worked. It was an extra selling point and it would have sparked conversation and interested in their production of Hamlet, as this hadn’t be done before. From the clips I have watched and the rehearse I have done, the female Hamlet worked well, I think it did make this Hamlet different to any other because the mannerism was different, and the relationship with other character’s was unique to others, which I feel was something really cool to see. I would have thought it before but changing the gender of Hamlet adds a slightly new dynamic to Hamlet, which I haven’t seen before. For example in the small clips I was able to watch, her portrayal of Hamlet was more fiery, and I could see a sly rudeness and mischievous, to her. Saying that, I don’t only think that Maxine Peake’s Hamlet had a different dynamic to the normal portrayal of the character’s. Also the character’s seemed a bit more edgy than what I have scene before, and just from the clips I saw of the products it look like the had clear intentions and character choices, which I thought was cool.

I also really liked the design of the play really complimented the acting as well.  I don’t want to repeat myself by using the same worlds but, but I feel the style and design of the play, had a real secret, edge and mysterious vibe to it. In the clip I saw they used dull lighting, there was no pop of colour, it look slick and set out. One particular thing that I really liked was the hanging bulb lights. It help create the atmosphere, and in my opinion in created this feeling of intimacy, because they lights wasn’t too bright and exposing, so as and audience member, i think it would make you feel more involved and like you’re in the room with the character’s a involved.   

I thought the style was really good as well, it felt really modern and enjoyable for a contemporary audience, they didn’t have the change the language or anything, it was just the way the performed it. There was not over the top Shakespearean acting, it just felt like pure acting with emotion and from the clips I saw it look like you could connect with the character’s and story.

From looking at the review and some scene footage i’ve watched on youtube, the portrayal of Hamlet was wonderful, and it was really helpful for me to watch because I am also playing a female Hamlet. I think there was so much passionate in Hamlet, and you could tell she wanted to seek revenge for her father, her portrayal of Hamlet was fearless. I don’t think she overplayed it either with is an easy trap to fall down when playing such a heavy and emotional role as Hamlet, it just feel natural and honest.  

Overall I think this contemporary production of Hamlet was amazing, it concept of modernising it, and the the twist of gender roles was something cool and unique, and I real  do wish I could have scene it at the Royal Exchange to see how it all pieced together.

WEEK 5 - SHAKESPEARE TODAY

QUESTION: Analyse contemporary Shakespeare productions with reference to live performances you may have seen or clips or footage available online. You should comment on what you notice about them and how they differ from what you know about the original performance conditions of Shakespeare’s work? (Don’t be afraid to point out the obvious).

Consider how these productions are employing all the techniques, technology and resources of modern theatre.

National theatre: Twelfth Night

One contemporary production of Shakespeare, was the national theatre’s modern interpretation of  Twelfth night. As soon as the production started, you could tell it would be action packed and exciting. From the set to the acting a lot of money had gone it to this remediation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Differ from the original

I believe the main difference between this version of Twelfth Night and Shakespeare original version, is the set and the lighting. What I’m by this in Shakespeare original production the set was very minimal and bare, unlike the national theatre’s where the set, and lighted played a heavy part in the show, they used intricate set, with the 360 rotation stairs, and the lights that were used to set the mood and tone. Set and lighting is often used in modern day theatre because it helps create the desired atmosphere, I think it adds more intensity and believability to a performance, and overall make the experience more enjoyable for the audience.  However this wasn't available during shakespeare’s time, so they had to rely pretty much solely on the actors, to create the world of the play, as they couldn’t use set and lighting for atmospheric effect.   

Another difference between this production the original is the audience, in the National theatre productions, the audience, only had to performance, in one direction, as the audience only slight curved round to the side, but only by a tiny bit. Unlike in the original production, and the audience would have been located in 3 sides around the stage, a thrust staging. Also there was no ‘Yard’ for the audience to watch the play from, they were all sitting in seats throughout the performance. This means doing shakespeare production, the actors would have need to be more warey about the body language on stage, to make sure they are not blocking for on side of the audience.

 

Midsummer Night’s Dream- Tiff (festival 2014)

Another modern adaptation/production of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night’s Dream. From watching a Clip of youtube, I can tell that their version of Midsummer Night’s Dream, is very different to the original. From the short clip, I could see that the direct took more of what I would call an ‘ modern artistic’ approach to the play. They was use of multimedia using projects,music, and movement.

Differ from the original

One of the more significant difference, which common in contemporary shakespeare, is that they had women actors as, well as men. This is something you would never see in shakespeare’s version, you would have the men playing the women. This because they felt that acting was a job only for men, and at the time, not something a women had the rights to participate in. Obviously time has moved on since then, and more time’s than not women will be playing female roles, unless it is for comedic effect. I think that having women play female parts make it more believable and more relateble when watching it.

From watching the clip I also think they used a lot of physical movements, to create the production, which as far as I know wasn’t used in Shakespeare’s original productions. I don’t think Shakespeare used it because it hadn’t yet be discovered as a way to tell/show theatre. I think adding physical theatre to the production, will add more depth in the performance, and will make the show more interesting as the will be more than one way to portray something to the audience.  

Another notable difference in the multimedia used in it, which I briefly mentioned before. In their production they used, projected onto the back, which showed loads of different videos with a sort of graphic design feel to them. The projects were used to add to the scene, and increase the mood, and create more of a tense atmosphere. The technology to do this wasn’t available during shakespeare time, which meant they could take advantage of the use of technology like Tiff could.