A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare's Globe performance and analysis

GOING GLOBE-AL

Shakespeare's infamous Globe Theatre was home to his plays and was generally the public hot-spot for entertainment in the 17th century. Its no-roof rounded and intimate setting made it so that performances were almost that of a pantomime, what with entrances even for 'goodies' (those seen as the protagonist with socially acceptable ethics) and 'baddies' (characters who defy the 'rules' regarding religion and law), named heaven and hell's mouth respectively. The stage also has multiple uses with trap doors scattered around centre stage, acting as graves or if someone appears from beneath; an example being the ghost of Banquo in 'Macbeth', where he comes back to taunt the title character and provide a horrific moment for the audience in order to draw them in. In addition to this, another trap door is placed above the stage and 'godly' like characters might make their way down to symbolise their authority and so the audience would know instinctively their position in the play's hierarchy, much like with heaven and hell's mouth.

Traditionally, Globe performances are held at approximately two o'clock in the afternoon as that was when the day was at its peak weather-wise and therefore would provide the stage with a sufficient amount of light for the actors and audience to see what was occurring. Furthermore, candles would be time-consuming to light up all that was needed and would be a fire hazard as well as expensive because wax was in the 17th century.

The stage from a gentleman's balcony view

Treatment of actors was monumentally different in the days of Shakespeare as they were usually lower-middle class men as women weren't allowed to perform, compared to nowadays where actors are seen as pampered celebrities and are treated with the utmost respect. Actors in those days were given a literal 'role' as, for a part in a play, they were given a scroll consisting of their cues and character lines to avoid any leaks of the script itself. Moreover, if you were an actor in role as someone of a higher class and were caught outside the theatre, you were arrested. The stuttering difference in treatment of actors may be down to the profession getting more popular over time, thus one would have to be more qualified to get a certain role that he or she wanted as there would be more competition.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S THEME

'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was written by William Shakespeare around the year 1600 and is one of his most celebrated and well-known; it is set in Athens, Greece and involves a clash of three 'worlds' or three very different sets of people- The Athenians, The fairies and The rude mechanicals. The play is is popular for its key themes; Magic, Power, Obsession, Love and Lust.

Magic
The play is heavily based around the idea that the more magic you have in your possession, the more powerful you are; as is the idea with Oberon as he almost conquers the fairy and human world through Robin "Puck" Goodfellow, a mischievous fairy. The only flaw to this theory is that Oberon isn't in full control of Puck as he likes to 'stir the pot' so to speak; and the fact that Titania is full of magic and yet she is fooled into sleeping with Nick Bottom in his Ass form by Oberon's magic.

Power
Power is an incentive. And that still is very much the fact in this play. The battle of power and wits is on between the fairy gods Oberon and Titania as they fight over a child Titania has in her possession, who has been passed over from the child's mother, a worshipper of Titania. So this theme could potentially link to jealousy and could then involve part of the relationship between Helena towards Hermia and Demetrius towards Lysander. Both examples linking to Love and Lust.

Obsession

Oberon features again in this theme as he is seen to be obsessed with competing with Titania about the child she has in her possession. This theme could be seen as a weak characteristic in a person as it often drives the character mad and ultimately leads to a sort of downfall on their part. However, in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', key characters like Demetrius and Helena,in theory, get what they want as they end up marrying each other; despite the fact that Demetrius is obsessed with Hermia, he could really just want to spite Lysander and retain the respect he has from Hermia's father, Egeus. Lastly, I think Puck might share this flaw with the others as he has an obsession with mischief; he contributes a lot to the action/ potential problems that arise in the play.

Feminism
Many examples of feminism feature in the play, despite common beliefs at the time that being a defiant woman was unlawful and wrong and that they were in every way inferior to men. This could be, if popular rumour were true, that Shakespeare was an enthusiast on this matter and tried to support his beliefs in his plays.

Hermia is an outstanding example of this as she is defiant towards many powerful men in the play; she defies Demetrius of his false love and her father for his allegiance to him and, simultaneously defies Duke Theseus of his advise to 'think your father as a god'. This shows strength in the character and provides a contrast to Shakespearean times as arranged marriages were non-negotiable, yet all the supposed 'lovers' make it out marrying the one they love. Helena, for instance, is probably the most defiant character in the play as she goes against popular belief that men should be chasing after the women (much like Lysander does as he is desperate to marry Hermia) and then pursues Demetrius against his will and is perhaps the reason, beside Oberon's influence, why the lovers do end up with their preferred other halves.

SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Historically, Titania serves as a very important character as she can be linked to Queen Elizabeth I through her appearance and characteristics. There are references towards her virginity as quoted "vestal throned by the west" and the fact that she is independent and does not rely on her husband for anything and instead defies him strengthens the link. Furthermore, The rude mechanicals can be seen as a parody of Elizabethan actors as Flute plays a woman in 'Pyramus and Thisby', the play within a play; along with Bottom thinking he is higher status than he is, both linking to typical attitudes of actors in their time. These comparisons could have been inputted for the queen's amusement as it brings a special light to the country's 'darkness' and empowers supposed weak characters to differentiate theatre and reality; therefore 'The Globe' acting as a play-on words as it is as if you are escaping to another world.

Robin 'Puck' Goodfellow and the fairies are characters from English folklore and were seen in Halloween events in Medieval times and were seen as pagan and mischievous and as a result were not approved by the puritans - perhaps a further blow to the religion as theatre was also frowned upon and banned when Puritans were in power shortly after the death of Charles I.

ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY?

In today's society, many more things are socially excepted in performance, especially key changes such as women actors and sexual versatility; supported by the modern adaption of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' which could also be seen to perhaps have its flaws. This is suggested in the idea that the play has been modernised yet they still enforce the idea of arranged marriage in which the parents of the children are organised by; with Egeus (Katy Owen) still furious with his daughter's relationship with Lysander (Edmund Derrington). This gives me the impression that they have only modernised it to assist with telling the difference between the three worlds and to reach out to the audience to explain authority through clothing (eg. Oberon with his expensive shades and flashy, fashionable suits, Bottom (Ewan Wardrop) with how he wears his 'theatre staff' uniform and his prepared gear that he wears on his journey from the mechanicals to spending a night with Titania). However, they may have also done this to preserve the play's stakes and it's resolution as to the words of director Emma Rice.

In addition, I would heap praise on how they created Bottom's donkey head as with the complex wooden stick design, they made it possible for us to recognise that it was still the same character and the actor was still 'in the moment' as Nick Bottom.

The performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was vibrant as it was eye-opening. Themed in a middle eastern setting, the play focused on a modernised version of itself; with the human and fairy worlds being separated by the obvious difference in clothing - modern costuming representing the human world and Gothic medieval garments in the fairy world. Double cast characters such as Oberon (Zubin Varla) and Titania (Meow Meow) were pivotal to this as they played their equals Duke Theseus and Princess Hippolyta in the human world. Their appearance was brief as the latter therefore they were accustomed to eccentric tudor-like gowns, with Oberon's appearance influenced by how mad he is driven by his jealousy of Titania for having a child in her care; his eye make-up is smudged throughout and his shirt unlaced. Titania's costume is based upon her sexual inclination and appeal as she is always seen in a tight-fitting dress or garments and 'Madonna's Bra'-esque pointed brassiere; perhaps a nod to her overall likeliness to the pop star.

The costumes for Puck and the fairies were an interesting choice as you would not typically liken them to ones of a stereotypical Tinkerbell fairy, however they provided a terrific contrast like that of both Varla and Meow's characters. Puck was seen in all green body warmer and tights with sparkly trainers and horns to perhaps foreshadow the mischief she creates in the play- which actress Katy Owen captures brilliantly; acting as a handful from the very beginning, squirting the audience with her water gun and having to move constantly otherwise bored - giving the impression she has 'ants in her pants'. Her stage presence is duly noted as the audience tended to react positively around her - as she frequently would find herself floating in and out of the standing area to find her way on and off the stage or when action was taking place on the white tables dotted around the 'penny stink-hards'.

The fairies, however, were dressed in extravagant exotic tribe like gear, with materials ranging from ripped up clothing to leaves and flowers. This supported the play's adopted middle-eastern theme as it delivered a fresh insight into a 'fairy world' and their dedicated singing and dancing attitude. Face make-up was also a factor to why I loved their costumes as it appeared as war paint with black stripes across the bridge of the nose; having an affect on me as I would liken their active dancing and threatening appearance to New Zealand's 'Hakka' ritual.

The rude mechanicals were clothed as if they were part of the crew at The Globe and that provided a useful tool for people to understand what their role in society and how their company works. It was an interesting addition that saw them make various puns about their setting to perhaps appear instantly more likeable to the audience as they are a comedic group that provide most of the humour in the play.

Staging was a major piece of why I loved watching this adaption of the comedy drama; its minimalist set left the setting open to the imagination. This was then up to the actors to present to the audience where they were through movement, use of the stage and proxemics.

The people of Shakespeare's day would have seen the original, a completely different version of what I saw at The Globe. Firstly, conditions were much worse back then with no toilets, no interval and a risk of disease or fever as the people were not and could not be as hygienic. Additionally, the performance would have been much heightened in its deliverance as audiences were not as educated and drama was fairly new to them. The idea of homosexuality and sexy, revealing costumes would have baffled past audiences as there were laws against both in public and was even punishable by death. Therefore, they more than likely would not have taken too kindly to the recent adaption of the play.

Earthquakes in London

EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON

 

FAMILY AFFAIRS

 

For our first class for our preparation towards our performance of Mike Bartlett's catastrophe play 'Earthquakes In London', our group were introduced to a workshop revolving around relationship- mostly on characters relationships with one another. Firstly, we were put into small groups to form the Crannock family before and after the Mother (Grace)'s death- through a series of tableaux- with half in the naturalistic style of Stanislavski/Chekhov and the other in the exaggerated and truthful Brecht style. I had the idea that everything should pan out as a family photo shoot to see how character's feelings towards each other change as we could experiment with space (perhaps becoming less close towards one another as time goes on to show a physical disorientation in the family. We also enforced my idea of Freya and Jasmine relying heavily on I (as Sarah) as they did so in their younger years, we demonstrated this during our presentation by (during the Brechtian tableaux) the girls getting closer to Sarah after the passing of her mother, although directly after we staged her death, I thought it necessary that Sarah would be reaching out threateningly towards her father whilst her siblings would be reaching out also, but in need of support as they are blinded by the death of their mother to see the true colours of their father. Therefore, our tableaux could be seen to base themselves around the family dispute from Sarah's point of view.

 

'PERSPECTIVE'

 

We were then asked to create an emotional response to the play; for example how we feel about the characters and any symbolic drawings to display our personal connection with the play and then give it a suitable title. I focused on the views of each character as I drew a 'family chart' and placed Robert on top, staring helplessly at a diagram of the world burning. On it was his beloved wife Grace, saying her line 'How hot am I?'- this indicates that Grace is Robert's world and that she dies with Robert's happiness.

 

Underneath Robert in the family chart were his children, with Sarah looking up towards her father in disgust as she utterly despises the man and would do anything in her power to disown him; under Sarah is Colin, Carter and Simon as they are the characters in the play that she seemingly looks down upon throughout, as they all look up at her in dismay. Beside Sarah is Freya, looking in the same direction as her father as she is focused on the annihilation of the world and is manipulated by Robert's views into believing that she should kill the baby. I have shown this further in my drawing as she lets go of Baby Emily to stress about what she is seeing- with Steve then below her; trying his best to catch Emily and save her from his wife's delusion. Then, next to Freya is Jasmine with Tom by her side. Jasmine appears unsettled, looking down and unsure- uninterested with everything that is occurring as she is in the play; she is cynical and careless, much like her father.

 

Above Robert in my drawing is 2525 drawn with treble clefs around it as it is frequently mentioned in the play; with it first appearing in 1968 in the cafe scene with Robert and Grace, then again with Freya and Steve then finally when Freya meets Grace in a sort of purgatory world where Grace states the year is 2525 and that the world was saved by 'Solomon'- which she then mistakes for Sullivan and thinks she has changed the world for the better and therefore need to return.

 

Furthermore, next to the family chart I drew Parliament and the River Thames with a figure appearing on it, without any footwear as it is addressed in the play that in “mankind's greatest hour of need, Solomon came; a young woman accompanied by only one faithful companion, packed her bag, and came to the city of London. After three days, walking barefoot, she arrived on the bridge across the river, at the centre of the earth, and she spoke.”

 

The questions proceed: who is the young woman? Freya or Emily? Who is the faithful companion? Peter or Tom? So my drawing is open to interpretation as I thought this was the case until I knew when I was reading the play.

 

Therefore, I labelled my drawing 'Perspective' as it clearly shows the main character's feelings towards each other and is, as I say, open to interpretation.

 

James also appeared to have used the same theme of a physical representation of global catastrophe- however just focusing on the earth and represents the catastrophe through spilling the contents of a large coffee cup all over the planet. I thought this a clever insight from James as coffee is another recurring thing in the play. He demonstrates understanding as he has taken extracts from the play that mention coffee and toyed with the idea of it being so popular.

 

THE RELATIONSHIP WORKSHOP

 

Next, we were instructed to pair up with a person who shares a scene with us- therefore as all of my scenes are with Katrina, we paired up and began working on our first encounter- where Carter is frustrated with Sarah's policies and opposing views, and intimidates and patronises her in order to get under her skin to get what he wants. Karen then said to work on dividing our scenes into at least eight still images, four revolving how the characters want to look around the other and the other four about how they actually feel. For this, Katrina and I settled on 6 tableaux that clearly mark the main events in the scene. The main examples include our introductory sequence where we first meet and we act professional to each other’s faces however we would rather not be in each other’s company therefore we transition ourselves from almost ‘plastic’ happy to low energy and unenthusiastic body language (e.g. I roll my eyes with hands to hips and slouching).

 

Our penultimate sequence revolved around Carter being certain that he could persuade her to change her mind about their ‘agreement’. This entails my character offering biscuits as a sarcastic gesture and Sarah being taken back by it. We showed this in our body language this time by showing what was happening in the first sequence then we went on to show authority through physical embodiment as I stand tall over her, a hand gesturing towards the biscuits. Finally, we came to the end of the encounter between the two and focused purely on who thought got ‘one up’ on the other (It being Carter of course) and showed this in our last tableau through movement; the sequence sees me running off in confidence while Katrina is left with a busy mind.

 

I felt that this workshop was useful as it enabled me to see more dynamics to my character and his relationship with Sarah and how I can fully embody Carter for when we enter the rehearsal stage.

 

ONE OF YOUR OWN, PLEASE

 

Like the first task, we were introduced to a workshop involving performing in a naturalistic and Brechtian style; this time involving one of your own memories. For this, we were put into small groups and each told a story describing an event in our lives. Pau gave an example about witnessing a suicide attempt and firstly told the event then put it into action, acting as all characters involved in his story, including the victim. The story was of course more interesting and even added a humorous tone to the obviously serious content, however it just goes to show that the delivery of a story has an impact on how it is received.

 

Next, I told the story of my eventful plane journey home from Florida, and how, in the early hours of the morning, everyone was awakening from the sudden turbulence that rocked the plane. Drinks were spilled, people feinted and I remained in my seat, continuing to watch my third film in a row. Of course, this is a slightly light-hearted story, but when my group came together to recreate it, we brought it to life. Karen then spun it on its head and said to repeat the story but stop when there is anything of note to keep as a tableau, to notice how it also changes the audience perspective on the scene.

 

CHARACTER TYPES

 

We then were introduced to the typical character types by Karen and discussed who could represent these in 'Earthquakes in London'. Firstly, there is more or less a Protagonist in every play- a character that is usually central and drives the action forward. The Protagonist can have high status but always has to make a decision that leads to their demise. Most of the class had no second guesses that it would be someone other than Freya as the story is almost a journey to her demise, however it can be argued that Steve and Robert could be contenders too- as I thought the action follows Steve for a majority of the narrative and he makes the decision to go to Scotland to see Robert, which leaves Freya alone and vulnerable and to her death- acting as his demise also.

 

Adversely, Robert could act as the Protagonist but only as an anti-hero as when his wife Grace dies, he makes the decision to abandon his children as he has been pretending to love them in order to feel normal. This then leads to him turning into a lonely old man with only Mrs Andrews, his maid, to keep him company. This is ultimately his downfall yet it can be argued that the important decision he makes is when he accepts the offer from Roy and Daniel to lie about how gases and emissions will have little or no effect on the environment as he could have alerted the government and not have solely been interested in keeping his family’s financial troubles at bay forever with the massive fee given to him as an incentive to the project.

 

Furthermore, we were introduced to the role of the Antagonist- a person who has opposing views of the Protagonist and contributes to conflict. There was only Robert and Carter mentioned for this role, however Peter could also be on the shortlist for Antagonist as he troubles Freya throughout the play and leads her to grow confused as Peter turns into her unborn daughter Emily and says that in the future, there is nothing but pain and suffering for everyone, and mentions that her and Steve split as she “Only sees Dad on Saturdays”. This throws Freya off the rails and ultimately leads her to her suicide.

 

The Foil shows the opposite traits of a/the main character and as a result, provides a contrast. There are many examples of this in ‘Earthquakes in London’, such as Peter to Freya, The Businessman to Steve and Steve to Robert. I think Steve and Robert serve as the most dramatic contrast as Steve would do anything for his child that hasn’t even been born yet while Robert found it hard to love anyone other than Grace.

 

Finally, the Raisonneur is simply the mouthpiece for the playwright, alerting the audience to what they think is an issue in modern society. In this case, it is both Robert and Tom who serve as the mouthpiece as they address the audience (via Steve, Sarah and Carter) to alert them about the worrying environmental issues that desperately need undertaking or it means the end of humanity.

 

CAN YOU SMELL THAT?

 

In our next session, Karen asked us something peculiar that would then lead on to a mini-workshop; we were asked to introduce smell into our minds when thinking about the play then to think about the themes. For smell, I could only think about Freya's journey in the play and therefore the scent of wet concrete came across my mind as typical London weather would be rainy and, in her trek along the capital, she walked barefoot which made me think only of how the floor would feel like under her feet, leading me to think about wet concrete.

 

We were then asked to consider the themes of ‘Earthquakes in London’ and combine it with how we think the play would smell and come up with a small devised piece focused on both. In the piece, we recreated Waterloo Bridge (Jack saying that he could smell burning and the rotting sea); with four people acting as the bridge and two as the water beneath.

I thought we could have a transition into over working ourselves so then the bridge would crumble due to excess use (a metaphor for the planet) and we would rise in canon to say how we as a species could rise from the ‘mess’. However, due to time constraints, we opted to rise one-by-one and throw scrunched-up paper at the remaining person and, with each throw; we would state a factor of global warming, with most turning out to be key themes in the play.

 

SO, THIS IS TENSE

 

After our first blocking session of Act Three, we (in groups of 3) were asked to draw a diagram of an Act we were assigned to form an 'Action/Tension chart' to realise how the scenes pan out and relate to one another. Logan, James and I were given Act Four to Study and we considered all aspects of emotion in the scenes. Arguably the act with the most action, Act Four or 'Thomas Hood' as its known explores in depth the action of every character's interactions with one another and is the steady build up to a big finale.

 

After this I came across the English poet, Thomas Hood, whom Act Four is presumably named after and discovered that he wrote a poem exclusive to The London Magazine called “The Bridge of Sighs” which entails a young homeless woman throwing herself from Waterloo Bridge to her death. The poem describes the woman as having been immersed in grimy water, but having been washed so that whatever sins she may have committed are obliterated by the pathos of her death. Multiple clues in the poem suggest that the woman was pregnant in this act of suicide and had been thrown out of her home- linking very strongly with Freya's situation in 'Earthquakes In London'.

 

The poem is as follows:

Make no deep scrutiny

Into her mutiny

 Rash and undutiful

Past all dishonour,

Death has left on her

 Only the beautiful.

 

Sisterly, brotherly,

Fatherly, motherly

 Feelings have changed:

Love, by harsh evidence,

Thrown from its eminence;

Even God's providence

 Seeming estranged.

 

In addition, there have been many interpretations of this poem through art, with the most popular response from George Frederic Watts (below, left)in 1850, where the young and potentially pregnant woman is found drowned.

Although Thomas Hood (above, right) is usually regarded as a humorous poet, towards the end of his life, when he was on his sick bed, he wrote a number of poems commenting on contemporary poverty and saw this subject as a valid point to address at the time and as it is proven by 'Earthquakes In London', it still may be. However I think another point Mike Bartlett is trying to raise in their work is that both him and Thomas Hood are both writing about what they think is a relevant point that needs desperately addressing (in Bartlett’s case overpopulation and our ignorance towards human damage to the planet) - this would, as a result, suggest that we needed to, as performers, act in a Brechtian style to imply that we are performing Epic Theatre. This is suggested by the typical nature of a play in the style of Epic Theatre as it breaks the traditional linear pattern of storytelling, which Naturalism encased,  and of course to address a subject of importance so it has a major impact on the audience and makes them think further than the plot and acting and rather the recurring point that the playwright is trying to make.

 

THE START OF SOMETHING NEW

 

Today we started to block the beginning of Act One, after coming to a firm decision on staging for Part One (Acts 1-3) and Part Two (Acts 4&5). It was decided that we divide the stage into three catwalks with extra spaces in between them; at the back we shall have a projector with images shown on the screen relevant to the setting of a scene (for example a colourful image relevant to Young Robert as he is happy and full of joy whereas a bleak, colourless image would be suitable for Old Robert as he has lost his spark and the love of his life whilst developing a narcissistic and self- proclaimed version of himself).

 

It was clear that this first session was not so much focused on our approach to scenes but setting them up instead as it was vital that we organise ourselves before we go on to rehearsing. Karen therefore placed us individually on the stage to get an insight into how we could combine all the scenes as it does in the play. I was then stood behind Katrina on the central catwalk as our first scene together would then take place where James and Chloe are introduced; and my first line allows me time to reach the stool (acting as an office chair- however space is limited as staging is restricting) and toy around with our conversation as Carter is seen to have the upper hand in authority when the two first meet.

 

Although we did not have a great amount of time on stage together, I felt that Katrina and I had developed a good working relationship which I think is essential for these two characters to have as they spent a lot of time in each other’s company and I think it is good to have that contradictory mutual dislike of one another on stage. However, as I auditioned for Carter many times before and worked beside many people as Sarah, I thought Katrina was the strongest candidate as I think each person were judged on chemistry with me as it seemed that I had won everyone over as Carter- perhaps the fact that I have been complimented on my approach to playing an ‘Antagonist’ role as I was most suited to it and secretly had a passion of portraying these exciting roles.

 

OVER TO US…

 

To further our understanding of the play, we put ourselves into groups to explain all dynamics of ‘Earthquakes in London’ as if we were promoting it and trying to persuade an audience into investing in the production to be performed at the National Theatre. For this, we had to explore plot, characters and information surrounding the themes.

 

My first thought was to talk about the playwright, Mike Bartlett and his success with his other works to fixate the idea that we are trying to promote the play; and during this research period, I found something out myself. Bartlett had actually written the story to the BBC drama ‘Doctor Foster’- a six episode thriller that won Suranne Jones a NTA for best dramatic performance; alongside this, Bartlett had seen his plays ‘King Charles V’, ‘Love, Love, Love’ and ‘Cock’ succeed at the National Theatre and has been labelled as ‘One of the most exciting young playwrights around’.

 

After talking about the plot, I thought it would be a suitable time to mention the characters in the play and what role they play in it. Whilst thinking about this, I thought it would be appropriate to bring the characters to life and present our understanding of the play by acting as our roles in our production. This way we could explore the characters and chemistry between them. As Logan and I were in role as Carter and Roy, we could test James as Tom as we have very similar characters as they are in similar positions at different times. Furthermore, this altercation allows us the opportunity to speak about environmental issues and excess, themes that are vital and spoken about by the Raisonneurs of the play, Robert and Tom. And as we had James in character as Tom, it was simple for us to use this device effectively as we wanted a hard-hitting meaning behind our presentation and then exploit the ignorant behaviour of Carter and Roy and potentially our audience. I thought that this was fully justified during our presentation as we made the audience feel guilty for laughing at what was on screen as we used a picture of a tortoise in excruciating pain as it had a McDonald’s straw wedged in its nostril after showing comical images of animals getting stuck. Nonetheless, we stalled a little with pace due to some over-acting on all our parts as we had not long introduced our characters into the presentation before actually showing it.

 

After our lesson, Katrina and Daniella’s presentation came to mind as I thought it was a very well-rehearsed piece that focused on the impact of Natural Disasters and Human consumption. However, it came across to me as if they were trying too hard to impress whilst explaining the plot - which Katrina timed herself  at and I thought it a pointless exercise and could have possibly came across as slightly patronising as they were speaking as if they were presenting to a younger audience. On the other hand, you could tell that they had revised the facts and figures that they presented us with and it was very impressive to see given the amount of time given to complete and submit their presentation.

 

BEING JOHN CARTER

 

For my role in 'Earthquakes in London', I play UK airline owner and entrepreneur John Carter. Carter is obviously very business-minded and orientated and shares his thirst for power and respect with that of his predecessors, named only as Roy and Daniel, seen with Young Robert in 1973 when they persuade him to do a 'study' for their airline. My character uses this as a tactic to get under Robert's eldest daughter Sarah's skin and manipulate her into approving a plan for expansion- introducing more runways and facilities to accommodate as she is the senior government official responsible for any environmental factors.

 

John Carter's 'Over the Top' and exaggerated persona engages audiences as, in the audition period heading up to casting, I played Carter frequently and discovered that I received a better response when presenting the character in a Brechtian manner (Playing him the way the audience would see a typical businessman e.g. cocky and arrogant, prolonging words and use of decadent dialect). I would also encourage myself to liken Carter to many other popular conniving pop culture characters such as Kevin Spacey's performance in 'House Of Cards' as he plays Frank Underwood, a conspiring presidential candidate who would do anything in his power to achieve his goal, to be President and to destroy anyone who gets in his way. This links very heavily with Carter as he is almost willing to conspire against Sarah and Tom to get his way and expand his airline- which is already the UK’s largest, as he says when he attempts to blackmail

Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood

Sarah into approving his plan into getting more runways.

 

In addition, I have also likened Carter to Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish from 'Game of Thrones' as actor Aidan Gillan's performance of the character is very impressive as he shines a light on how selfish and devious Baelish is and how he plays mind games in attempt to get his way- much like Carter with Sarah.

 

Aidan Gillan as Petyr Baelish

During rehearsals, I have been complimented on my approach to playing the character as Karen says my mannerisms are very good and suited to the character but I will have to learn all of my lines to get properly immersed into John Carter. My scenes with Katrina are looking more polished as the weeks go on and I am finding that I am in less use of my script each time.

Mike Bartlett Biography (without pictures)

Biography

Author of ‘Earthquakes In London’, Bartlett was born and raised in Oxford, England and has been active since 2002. The acclaimed catastrophe play, which was staged at The National Theatre in the summer of 2010 and was described by Michael Billington of the Guardian as an "epic, expansive play about climate change, corporate corruption, fathers and children". Charles Spencer of the Daily Telegraph called it "the theatrical equivalent of a thrilling roller coaster ride", delivering "a rush of invention, humour and raw emotion".

Other notable works

Bartlett's five-part television drama series Doctor Foster was broadcast in September and October 2015. The series achieved an average of 9.51 million viewers, and was one of the most viewed television drama series of the year. In addition to being a critical success, the drama won two awards at the 2016 National Television Awards in the categories of Best New Drama and Drama Performance for Suranne Jones. It's been announced that there will be second series that will begin filming in September 2016.

In December 2015, Polly Hill, the Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, announced a six 60-minute episode television series entitled Press that had been written by Bartlett. Commenting about the series, Bartlett said “From exposing political corruption to splashing on celebrity scandal, editors and journalists have enormous influence over us, yet recent events have shown there’s high-stakes and life-changing drama going on in the news organisations themselves. I’m hugely excited to be working with the BBC to make Press, a behind-the-scenes story about a group of diverse and troubled people who shape the stories and headlines we read every day.”

How Berkoff inspired our Greek Theatre piece

Nearly all aspects of our Greek Theatre piece were Berkoff orientated- with the majority of our movements being very grotesque and Berkovian as a result.

The Oresteia- Greek Theatre Chorus work

As a group, we were given a choice to what extract of the Oresteia script we wanted to do and as a result we were divided into 3 groups- with mine focusing on the chorus persuading Orestes to kill his mother in revenge.

For this, we decided it appropriate to base the piece in a modern day school, therefore fit for contemporary use. This theme, we thought, had lots of potential as we could make it dark and sinister or jolly and fluid (despite it's intentions, they could be perceived as fake or 'plastic happy'; a forced happy with a hidden agenda). The target audience therefore would be young teens (13-15) as it would have to be clear what we are doing as then the audience would have a vivid vision surrounding the themes of the piece. It is also a very mature performance so we were reluctant to speculate going anywhere north of 13.

The text began with 'Let all who have prayed for Justice'- with our focus on 'justice' as we collectively thought this was the main pointer of the text. We discussed about basing the text around the deluded idea of justice and how it is misconceived, where in this case us being the chorus would act as Orestes' conscience and the battle between what is 'right' and what is honourable. Of course, with the chorus being such a major influence there would only be one outcome in the end, for Orestes to murder Aegisthus and Clytemnestra as 'justice' for his father Agamemnon.

Later in our rehearsal period, we thought it appropriate to incorporate some Berkoff-esque clockwork movement going into the scene, humming “ring a ring a roses” in a very sinister tone. Of course, this would be after we came into the setting in role as school kids, putting on a sort of Cockney accent to add to the grotesqueness of the piece, linking even heavier with Berkoff.

'See the throne of Argos today'

I wanted to adopt the idea that the throne should perhaps be the main focus point in this piece of the extract as it shows all the characters involved are almost all in for themselves, besides Orestes, and that is why the chorus play such a major part in this scene- they persuade Orestes to become as dishonourable as everyone else as he rises to his Mother's taunt. How we would present this in a physicalistic manner was easy as throne was seen as the word with the most physical potential. We went straight into position for this line as we wasted no time to really get into the scene.

'Return to the rule of justice.'

As I was seen kneeling in the first two lines, I thought it was time for my role in the chorus and with a powerful line there was no better time to do this I thought. As we planned for me to 'rise up' and everyone else fell below me, addressing the audience would be a key factor at this point as it would further engage them into the piece during a dramatic opening. At first, I was not physical enough in my movement to really add any effect, so Karen suggested to perform the line in a Berkovian manner, therefore I added a more grotesque tone to my voice and swayed side to side (whilst keeping my focus on the audience).

'Be strong, Orestes'

For this we introduced a strong, prominent stance as the rest of the chorus circled around me, with I centre stage.

'When you drive your sword into your mother'

This line my group discussed in depth as we had many ideas surrounding it. Firstly, we had to get me from the centre stage to joining the rest of the chorus, therefore the idea was that I am dragged towards the back on 'When you drive' and would then use Becca as a protagonist and would use the rest of us as 'swords' as we threw our arms forward in rapid motion in the underarms, shoulders and legs. And, as soon as I had the longest arm length and it was easiest for me as I stood at the back, I threw both arms on top of Becca's shoulders. Later, to ensure there was soundscape in the piece, we made the 'sharp sound' as we threw our arms forward and grunted when we took them back.

'With the death-cry of Agamemnon'

We saw it as essential to make the girls lower than the guys as we transition into this line; with every time they repeated 'With the death-cry' (x3) they would hold their stomachs (supposedly in pain/ acting as Clytemnestra) and drop to the floor, with us guys towering over them saying 'of Agamemnon' in canon to perhaps indicate our togetherness- or lack of it. Then, we thought a scream towards the audience would suffice thereafter.

'When she wails 'Orestes my child''

James firstly improvised this line with a dramatic swoon; however most of us thought this too good not to incorporate into the piece as it shows an understanding of melodrama and therefore can be connected with the likes of Jacques Lecoq and Steven Berkoff. After this, James would drag Becky after he is caught with his long swoon and cast her aside.

'Deafen yourself to her voice'

James again acted as the commanding voice on this line as it was almost as he was telling Becky that she should 'deafen herself', with the rest of us acting as the commanded, covering our ears in despair. Then, we would go on to introduce slow-motion into the scene as Becky makes her way into the centre, gradually being surrounded by everyone. Next, we decided to add more sound scape as James starts to pound on his chest with his fist and then I would join in on time, then Pau. This would provide a different tone to the scene as slow-motion can bring quality to a scene if it is done with accuracy and timing- therefore it was essential for us to be moving at the same pace.

'And shout: I belong to my murdered father'

Keeping Becky central, everyone looked down upon her as she rises up and we fall- her acting as Orestes rising up against his Mother.

'Kill her and be done with it'

Becky kneels back down as we whisper, coming to a standing position.

'Your sword is the tool of fate'

Us five swing our fists just before Becky's head...

'You cannot be blamed'

...and we fall around her, caressing her hair saying the line gently...

'Harden yourself, Orestes'

...then Pau, James and I come to standing quickly, dragging each girl with us as we go.

'Like the polished shield'

The girls stand in front, striking a strong pose with their arms

'That reflected the face of the Gorgon’

…then Pau, James and I come up behind them using our fingers as snakes- then all lean into Becca as she says…

'Do it for those who depend on you'

…

'For justice’

We all prop ourselves up at this moment, standing proud and bold as the word ‘justice’ would suggest.

'For the living and the dead'

For this, we presented the living as rising (Katrina, Becky and Becca) and through the gaps between them, the rest of us would fall through representing the dead.

'Do it for the house of Atreus'

James leads again as we all say our line in canon…

'With one twist of your blade'

…and the girls turn us round so they are facing the audience once again

'Dig out the root of the curse'

And then we stretch over the girls until our hands meet…

'Cut through the taproot of the vendetta'

…and James and Pau swing their arms down to mime an axe cutting down on them

'That opens deadly flowers at our doors and windows'

I say this, in the most grotesque manner as we all sway up and down to form a flower- until everybody creates an archway for me to go through and speak up to the audience.

'Split the source of the seed' 

With all of us lined up, we say this in canon…

'With your blade’

…and together we fade back into clockwork and then act as schoolkids enjoying a break until we line up to pull up a chair- then form a row of chairs in front of the audience as if we were in lesson (almost like Forced Entertainment in ‘Bloody Mess’). We would then return to humming “ring a ring a roses” one-by-one to get a very sinister feel at the end as then we would look up to the audience and drop at our final chant.

PERFORMANCE NOTES

- Our first performance was made immensely difficult by the absence of Pau at such short notice that we almost panicked, however recovered  very well as lines such as ‘Cut through the taproot of the vendetta’, I had to quickly join James into whatever the action was he would usually do with Pau.

-Our last performance was again difficult as Becca was made absent, however we had more time to incorporate ourselves into some scenes such as ‘drive your sword’- where Katrina had to step in for her.

Jacques Lecoq and his works

Jacques Lecoq is regarded as one of the twentieth century's most influential teachers of the physical art of acting. He was born in Paris on December 15, 1921, and participated and trained in various sports in his youth.

During World War II he began exploring gymnastics, mime, movement and dance with a group who used performance to express their opposition to the German occupation of France.

After the war, Lecoq then studied mime with Jean Daste, (a former pupil of the acclaimed teacher of mime, Jacques Copeau- perhaps his most treasured influence) who introduced him to masked performance and Japanese Noh theatre.

He left Grenoble and spent six months teaching mask work in Germany, before accepting another teaching position at the University of Padua in Italy. He spent eight years in Italy teaching and working as a creative practitioner and discovered the traditional and popular Italian theatre style of Commedia dell'Arte as well as the tradition of masked chorus work developed in Ancient Greek tragedy.

He opened his own school, the Ecole Internationale de Mime et de Theatre when he returned to Paris in 1956, which has had many homes in Paris over the years and has continued to attract large numbers of students from all over the world.

Lecoq also toured with demonstrations of his physical art of the actor and periodically conducted classes in Britain that had an enormous impact on the development of British theatre as well as influencing comedic acts such as Lee Evans and Michael McIntyre- with both have very similar physical approaches when it comes to their work

Lecoq's work and research has mainly been disseminated through the training he has conducted with the many students who have attended his classes and demonstrations overseas or his classes at his school in Paris. This may be why a myth is often circulated that suggests his methods were somehow secretive or reserved only for his students.

However, he has published numerous articles and interviews, edited a text in French entitled Le Theatre du Geste and his book, The Moving Body outlines a number of his philosophies and approaches. The texts he has produced also indicate why it is so difficult for students to pass on his teachings.

They explain that the training is very practical and very specific for each student because every actor's body and mind has accumulated different tensions and conditioned responses.

Lecoq's training methods therefore focus on releasing preconditioned views of acting and bringing an actor's attention back to ‘playing.'

In his last publication he explained that: “There is a huge difference between actors who express their own lives, and those who can truly be described as players…They have learned not to play themselves but to play using themselves. In this lies all the ambiguity of the actor's work.” The strong emphasis on improvisational activity at the school reinforces the central significance of play and students are introduced to physical exercises, masks and popular theatre that reinforce the distinction between playing and being.

Lecoq and those who now direct training at the school work on the premise that: “A true understanding and knowledge of theatre inevitably requires a profound experience of play”.

Like Konstantin Stanislavski, Lecoq created a place to teach what he believed were important principles of acting. Lecoq described his research into the human body and its movement as his ‘passion' and he pursued this work throughout his life. 

He saw his teaching as ‘a path to his own greater knowledge and understanding of movement' and said that his work with students helped him to discover that ‘the body knows things about which the mind is ignorant'. 

Masked work had a powerful influence on Lecoq's approach to performing (perhaps inspired by his time in Italy from when he discovered and studied Commedia dell'Arte) and he was intrigued with the simple and direct way masks could amplify the physical aspects of a performer and be used to communicate with all kinds of audiences. 

His research and analysis of masks, movement, body language and gesture has had a huge impact on the development of contemporary theatre and his work has popularised genres such as the clown, Commedia dell'Arte, tragedy, and melodrama.

How it relates to our work

Jacques Lecoq was very 'Over the top' physical when it came to portray an emotion- links to our work as, for example, in our piece, there was a section where you could clearly see Katrina, Becky and Becca were distraught as they lowered themselves into an almost foetal position to present their grief. Another example would be when James says 'When she wails 'Orestes my child'' as he over exaggerates portraying the same emotion, however at a more drastic scale.

Lastly, I think our experimentation into placing tights over our heads for effect was done very much in the style of Lecoq as he too loved to play with how he would present a mask. Despite this experiment being unsuccessful in our quest for effect, we are glad we tried this out.