Historical Background
1. Provide an overview of the times, perhaps focusing on period clothing
for women and men through slides or plates from books on period costume/fashion.
Point out the "eccentricities" and how fashion statements in the mid 1500s-early
1600s may have parallels to today's statements.
2. Discuss how clothing of the aristocracy would restrict and change
everyday movement, such as sitting in a chair, posing, rising, and walking
around the room.
3. Practice bows and curtsies. Simulate a member of royalty visiting
England and have everyone bow/curtsey to the visiting dignitary.
Acting on the Elizabethan Stage--"Dumb Shows"
1. Show a picture of the de Witt sketch, or a reconstruction of the
Globe Theatre. Discuss how the Elizabethan stage would place particular
demands on the actors. What would they have to do physically and vocally
to perform under the conditions of the theatre at that time period?
2. Discuss "dumb shows." If possible, see the dumb show in the video
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in which the story of Hamlet is performed
in 5 minutes without words.
3. Discuss how scholars disagree on the physical acting style of
Shakespeare's plays during the time period (realistic vs. stylized). Show
the gestures and actions charts from the Italian theatre. Speculate how
a repertory of gestures may have been used by Elizabethan actors.
4. Students, in pairs, put together an original exchange of six
gestures from the charts to construct a simple scenario -e.g.
1: "I beg"
2: "I dismiss"
1: "I beseech"
2. "I show impatience"
1: "I fight"
2; "I give money"
Students can also elaborate on the gestures with facial expressions,
body postures, period movement. Students develop and practice their non-verbal
scenarios for 5 minutes. Before they're presented, have them all practice
simultaneously to work out any last-minute details. Determine the order
of presentation beforehand; remind them not to end their presentations
with 'That's it," and to do their work slowly. Present each pair's work
with Elizabethan music playing in the background.
5. Repeat the presentations, but this time students
vocalize the gesture titles as they are doing them (e.g., "I beg," "I dismiss,"
etc.).
6. If interest is sustained (or if students are
at an appropriate level for this next step), have the pairs now practice
an exchange of improvised "period" dialogue that accompanies the gestures
(which can be elaborated) -e.g.:
1: "I beg thee for money, good sir."
2: "Get away with you, peasant, you're standing in my way."
1. "I beseech thee, sir--my family needs money to eat."
2: "Thou art trying my patience--be off!"
1: "I'll stab thee with this dagger lest you give me coin."
2: "Don't hurt me--take my purse!"
Shakespeare's Language
1. Discuss how Shakespeare's language affects
the contemporary actor. What are the "hang ups"? Examine Uta Hagen's advice
to act believably in period plays. People were net different "back then."
Customs, clothing, politics, etc. have changed, but people have always
felt love, jealously, happiness, etc.
2. Distribute short passages from Shakespeare's
plays to each student. Have them vocalize simultaneously the text several
times to get acquainted with it.
3. Explain "In Other Words," the exercise that
gets them to restate the Shakespearean passage in contemporary language.
Have them "translate," "decode," or "update" what they're saying to get
the true sense of the text--e.g.,
HAMLET/SHAKESPEARE: "To
be, or not to be--that is the question."
IN OTHER WORDS: "Should
I kill myself, or should I go on living? That's the choice I've
gotta make at this point in my life."
Return to the Shakespearean text after "In Other Words" has been
stated to see how it affects the interpretation. Switch back and forth
several times.
4. Encourage actors to now find physical actions
to accompany the text--suitable gestures, movement, etc. to make it more
alive, Practice several choices. Work for simplicity.
5. Ask actors to now find the key words in the
text that should get emphasis, and to work for believability. (Advanced
groups can also work to find the most appropriate volume, develop articulation,
etc.) Pair students so they can "direct" each other. The director can ask
"In Other Words" if he/she feels the actor is not making the Shakespearean
text clear. Practice for 5 minutes.
6. All return to present their work. Reinforce
that this is a "rehearsal," not a performance, and that applause is discouraged.
Actors can bring their directors to the presentation area with them to
have someone to speak "to" as they deliver their Shakespearean text.
7. Assess the work thus far.
Future Possibilities
1. Students can work on longer passages of text
(soliloquys, monologues).
2. Students can work on short scenes between
two characters.
3. The class can develop a "dumb show" of a Shakespearean
play. Actual lines (perhaps the most recognizable) could be inserted now
and then. Integrate dance and original music for the dumb show.
4. Read a one-act version of a Shakespearean
play. Dramatize scenes or improvise with some of the characters-e.g.,
a. Macbeth: explore surrealistic
movements for the witches and choral readings of their
passages
b. A Midsummer Night's
Dream: create the forest creatures and spirits through
movement/dance
c. The Tempest: recreate
the ship at stormy sea and the shipwreck through movement/dance
QUOTING SHAKESPEARE
If you cannot understand my argument and declare "It's Greek to me",
you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against
than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad
days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than
in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property
has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have
ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if
you have played fast and loose, if have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength,
hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue
of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony,
danced attendance (on your lord and master) , laughed yourself into stitches,
had short shrift, cold comfort, or too much of a good thing, you have seen
better days or lived in a fool's paradise - why be that as it may, the
more fool you, for it is a forgone conclusion that you are (as good luck
would have it) quoting Shakespeare, you think it is early days and clear
out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the
long and short of it, if you believe that the game is our and that the
truth will out even if ht involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie
low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your
teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to
give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have tongue
in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good
riddance and send me packing, if you wish I was dead as a doornail, if
you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted
villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord!
Tut, tut! For goodness' sake! What the dickens! But me no buts
- it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare.
---Bernard Levin---
*** Here's something fun for your personal amusement.
FUN WITH "HAMLET"
(Dick and Jane version)
See the man. What a funny man. His name is Hamlet. are you sad, Hamlet?
"I am sad for my father has died," says Hamlet. was the king."
Where are you going, Hamlet?
"I am going to the castle." says Hamlet.
* * *
"Boo.'" says the ghost.
"What is your name, you silly ghost?" asks Hamlet, clapping his hands.
"I am your father," says the ghost. "I was a good king. Uncle Claudius is a bad king. He gave me poison. Will you avenge me, Hamlet?"
"Oh, yes," says Hamlet. I will avenge you. What fun it will be to avenge you."
On the way he meets a girl.
"Where are you going?" asks the girl.
"I am going to the castle," says Hamlet. "My name is Ophelia," says the girl.
"Why are you laughing?" asks Hamlet. "You are a silly girl."
"I laugh because you are so funny," says Ophelia. "I laugh because you are schizophrenic."
"I pretend I am schizophrenic," says Hamlet, laughing and clapping his hands.
* * *
See Hamlet run. Run, Hamlet, run. He is going to his mother's room.
"I have something to tell you, mother," says Hamlet. "Uncle Claudius is bad. He gave my father poison. Poison is not good."
"Oh! There is Uncle Claudius. He is hiding behind the curtain. I shall stab him. What fun it will be to stab him through the curtain!"
See Hamlet draw his sword. See him stab. Stab, Hamlet, stab.
See Uncle Claudius' blood. See Uncle Claudius' blood gush.
Gush, blood, gush. Ha. Ha. Ha.
But it is not Uncle Claudius. It is Polonius. Polonius is Ophelia's father.
"You are naughty, Hamlet." says Hamlet's mother. But Hamlet's mother is not cross. Hamlet is a good boy. She loves Hamlet. Hamlet loves his mother very much. Does Hamlet love his mother a little too much?
See Hamlet run. Run, Hamlet, run.
"I am going to find Uncle Claudius." cries hamlet.
*
*
*
On the way he passes a brook. Ophelia is drowning..
"Where are you going?" asks Ophelia.
"I am going to find Uncle Claudius."
"Glub . . glub... glub," says Ophelia.
* * *
Later Hamlet meets a man. His name is Laertes.
"Oh! Ho!" says Laertes. "Let us draw our swords. Let us duel!"
See Hamlet and Laertes duel. See Laertes stab Hamlet. See Hamlet stab Laertes.
See Hamlet's mother drink poison. See Hamlet stab Uncle Claudius. See everybody wounded and bleeding and dying and dead. What fun they are having!
Wouldn't you like to play like that?