Historical Context - Post 6

RESEARCH: Research your own Shakespeare play: Much Ado About Nothing, Love's Labour's Lost or Titus Andronicus. 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.

My play this term is Titus Andronicus. 

Titus Andronicus is a hard play to give a short summary for. According to S. Clarke Hulse, there are "14 killings, 9 of them on stage, 6 severed members, 1 rape (or 2 or 3, depending on how you count), 1 live burial, 1 case of insanity and 1 of cannibalism--an average of 5.2 atrocities per act, or one for every 97 lines." 

This is Shakespeare's most violent plays. 

What is it about?

After ten years of war, Titus Andronicus, who is a Roman general, returns with only four out of his twenty-five sons. He has captured the Queen of Goths, Tamora, and he sacrifices her eldest son, leading to a never-ending hatred and 'promise of revenge' from her. The play is about Titus's cycle of revenge with Tamora.

Tamora and Aaron then plan to frame two of Titus's sons for the death of Bassianus, who is Saturninus's, the emperor's, brother. Titus's sons are beheaded. Tamora's sons then rape Lavinia and cut off her hands and tongue so that she can't tell of what happened. Lucius, Titus's only remaining son, is then banished.

Tamora tries to trick Titus so in return Titus kills them and makes them into a pie, which Tamora is then fed. Titus then kills Tamora and Lavina, which then leads to multiple killings. Lucius, Yound Lucius, Marcus, and Aaron are then left. Lucius has Aaron buried alive.

Lucius then becomes the new emperor of Rome.

When was it first performed?

Titus Andronicus was first performed on the 24th January 1594 (First recorded performance). The play was then performed again on the 29th January and the 4th February. The assumption is that it was performed at The Rose (Theatre), which was an Elizabethan theatre - the fourth public theatre to be built (also the first playhouse to have staged any of Shakespeare's plays).

Contemporary Production of Play

In 2013, Titus Andronicus was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Lavinia was played by Rose Reynolds. One of the main differences between a Shakespearean production of this play and a contemporary one is the costume, make up, effects, etc. When Reynolds would go backstage, the makeup team would all be ready to transform her into a tongueless and handless victim. To make it look like she had no tongue, she had to keep chewing black liquorice to give the illusion of a 'black hole'. According to one of the make up artists, 'When Lavinia walked on stage after the rape the audience began fainting. “Up to 10 people went down each night, and some vomited, too,”

This adaptation is quite different to others as it contains a few scenes that have no violence. The rape was not fully shown in this adaptation but instead just showed Lavinia walking back on after the rape. 

There was a lot of fake blood used in this performance. When Lavinia got her tongue cut out, there was a blood ball in her mouth, contained in clingfilm. Also, when Chiron and Demetirius died, big sacks of blood were used to show their bodied being 'drained'. Also, there were stage knives that squirted out blood when used.

The casting of Rose Reynolds in this production was a really good choice in my opinion as her blonde hair and fair skin really captures the character of Lavinia being this young and innocent girl. Although Titus is a man, when watching the trailer and seeing Stephan Boxer (whom apparently was amazing) as Titus was a bit strange for me considering that we had an all-female cast therefore I can only picture girls in this play. 

The main negative comment that I can find about this production is that the blood at point was 'too much', making it seem like a 'parody', which I can completely understand (especially when people have said that when Tamora's throat was cut, the blood squirted six feet into the air).

After researching this production, I do wish I went to go and see it as it does look like it was really good!

Brighton

Today was the day we performed in Brighton Fringe Fest. Since we did two really successful performances last Thursday, we all felt like this performance wasn't going to be very good as we felt as if we had all 'peaked'.

After arriving at the performing space, we all were told what was going to happen before the teachers let us go around Brighton for a while. 

When we came back, we got changed in the public toilets (which was weird because the public were all coming in wondering what was happening) and then we went to Ben who then told us to do side stretch and warm up in front of everyone. Some members of the public were joining in as they didn't know it was a serious thing and most, if not all, people were all watching us and taking pictures. We weren't allowed to wear shoes, which sounded like a good idea before I remembered we were performing on gravel!!

When the performance started, I realised we had a smaller performing space than in the New Theatre so everything was very cramped. When we were running around, my feet were in so much pain that I really felt like I wasn't fully committing to my movements. When I was projecting, it sounded loud to me however everyone thought the same thing about themselves, making me worry that none of us were loud enough (at the end, Ben told us all that we were the best group at projection, which made me feel really good about the performance).

I think the performance went okay (although the audience all said it was very strong) because it wasn't like the ones at school. When I came on as Nurse, I forgot that there was no screaming anymore so I forgot my cue however Shanay really helped me out and went straight into it. When she killed me, because we had little room to perform, I fell forward and hit my head really hard on the staging; I really wanted to break character but then I remembered it was a real performance and if I did, it would make the play worse for everyone and not just me. The blood still got in my eyes so I couldn't see.

Overall I do think it went quite well and I'm happy that we successfully took our performance somewhere other than school that brought in a large and very attentive audience. If I was going to do it again, I would suggest wearing shoes/socks so that my performance doesn't suffer due to my feet being in pain.

Evaluation

Tonight was the night of our two performances. We smashed them!!

Half an hour before the first performance started, Ben left us. This was massive for us since we had no one to relax us or warm up with us apart from each other. I was excited however this excitement soon turned to incredibly nervous!! We were warming up and then I decided to sit in one of the audience's seats so I could see the cast on the stage; this made it all that bit more real for me therefore my heart started beating very fast! Also, wearing costumes made it feel so real as this is one of the first plays I have ever been in where we have had someone else make the costume for the purpose of the show. I went around to my other cast members for assurance but everyone was panicking!

Once we heard that we had five minutes, we all began to get into place in our maggot pile. I was lying in a good position however I had Katie's helmet right next to my side therefore I feared it would get in the way of me getting down from breathing up and sinking. As soon as I could hear the audience coming in, my heart rate began to slow and I began feeling a bit more relaxed. Since Ben had told us to randomly sit up and then sink down but we had not rehearsed it, we were all unsure about how long to wait between each one, which left us doing it one after another at a quick pace. I didn't like how fast this was however we had to keep it consistent so it looked intentional.

The lights then lowered and I could hear the buzzing sound effect, indicating that the play was starting. I was ready. When we went into the Hacca, there was an incredible amount of energy in the room that it was as if we were transferring it to one another, which was really helpful since our play was different to the other two in the way that it was a highly physical play, which used our own style as it was experimental and non-naturalistic. It was clear that the audience were intimidated by it as they didn't laugh like Ben warned us; also, by looking at the expressions on their faces, there was clear shock that an all-female cast would be behaving in this way.

Everyone's projection was amazing (so much that audience members after the show were even coming up to us to tell us). When I was speaking my lines, I felt so confident in them as I now knew them really well (no more slip ups) and I felt like I delivered them in a well-projected manor. Also, as an ensemble, I found that we were all really good at getting around the difficult Shakespearean words. A really good thing about our line delivery was that each of our lines said something and was often also said with physicality therefore everyone understood the play so there was no one unsure about what was going on. Moreover, I think it was also a lot easier for the audience to understand because we all wanted the play to go well so we went even further with our efforts and pushed ourselves to stay committed and have high levels of stamina. There was a clear pull from everyone with high energy levels, working hard, while we were also having fun.

When it got to the 7:30 showing, I was a lot more relaxed and I had little to no worries. Unfortunately, I missed out on the warm-up before the performance, which I really thought would affect my performance, as I had to redo my French braids as they were all covered in blood and they were coming out. When I entered the room, we were all getting into position, which did worry me slightly however I knew that we were going to be fine. Because I knew that my dad and my sister were in the audience, it pushed me even more to want to do my best as I didn't want to disappoint them (or the rest of the audience). Our sitting up and sinking was slightly better this time as they were paced out more evenly. While the audience was coming in, I could hear so many phrases coming out of their mouths like 'Wow!' 'Look at that!', therefore showing their excitement.

Although both of our shows were really good, there was a moment that really stood out for me for a bad reason and that was the second Hacca. I think this really stood out for me as the first Hacca was so energy-filled, with the whole cast giving 110%, but the second Hacca had less people in it, which made it harder to make it more exciting. If I could add more direction into this second Hacca, I would definitely add more exciting moments into it to make it slightly different from the first Hacca and also add moments that the cast can work with more although you could still feel the passion in the room.

My death as Nurse went so well! According to Ben and other audience members, it looked really cool, which makes me wish I could have seen it. The only bad thing about this part was that the blood would go into my eyes so if I tried to open them, it would sting and burn; this made it hard to get up and walk over the mound when I exited as I couldn't see. The rest of the cast were so supportive as Sybil would be in the wings with tissue to wipe my eyes and, while I was offstage, they would each try to help me get the blood off. This really showed me that this cast is a really good cast who care for each other, which I do think is one of the reasons why we worked so well onstage (boys are hard to work with).

In conclusion, I am so proud of how our performances went tonight and I can't wait to perform it again in Brighton next week. We used practitioners, such as Peter Brook and Yoshi Oida, as inspiration, which really helped us to ensure that it was a bold play there were no dead moments. Since we had a balance between lines and physical moments, it made it easier to understand and take in (which is a real achievement since Shakespeare is usually really hard to understand for a lot of people) as well as bringing the play to life. Since we were all so grounded and so good at sharing with the audience, you could feel the passion in the room. Continuing with sharing with the audience, I think it was so good that we made it so clear when multiroling was occurring, with clear and distinct costume pieces, as audience members usually get confused when it happens. Not only was I happy with tonight's performances and the rest of the cast but I am very proud of myself as I would never have thought I would have been able to do that performance when we first recieved our scripts.

Thank you Ben.

Show Day - Final Rehearsals

Today was the day of our show! This meant that we had final rehearsals in order to ensure that our play was going to go well and also to make the final tweaks of our show to perfect it and make it the best it could possibly be.

We started the day at 11am when we met outside the New Theatre to collect our costumes and do our hair/make-up. When we were all in the room, there was an amazing atmosphere filled with energy and excitement. We were each doing French braids onto each other and doing our make up, which was a plain white strip across our eyes.

After getting ready, we went into the New Theatre and were welcomed by the set and lighting, all ready for tonight's performances. I felt as if I was in the zone. I was ready for this performance. We went into side stretching and warming up; when we were doing this, we were dotted around the bottom of the stage. This was not intentionally set up for any reason but because we didn't have enough space however this really taught me how much space I had to work with and where onstage I can/cannot be seen by the audience.

After doing some warm up exercises, we went into a rehearsal. This rehearsal went really well!! This really showed me how ready we are as a cast and how well we all work together! I feel as if being in costume and being surrounded by the world makes me feel as my character and makes the whole play feel that more realistic. While we were running the play, the bit that I really find hard to maintain is when we are Goths surrounding Delainey (Lucius) and we have to maintain a strong and sturdy squat. I find this really difficult to maintain as my legs begin to lose feeling in them or they begin to get tired therefore I really need to work on holding this position (or finding a way to rotate squat positions) so that it looks more professional and I look more intimidating and not shaky.

Ben gave us a few notes after the run where he just told certain people to tweak a few things to perfect their actions. One of the notes that Ben gave me was to practice rolling the blanket into the baby before the show as I am quite slow at this. At lunch, I went to practice with it however I still found it hard therefore I decided to go at a good pace and elongate my 'OH MY LORD''s and 'AARON''s.

I felt really ready for tonight's performances and I couldn't wait to get onstage.

Lesson 19 - 11.05.16

Today's rehearsal started later as Ben gave us a later start. We began by stretching however that was soon interrupted by talk of last night's show,  Love's Labours Lost. We had a discussion about the show, along with the highs and lows of the show.

After this, we went straight into a full run. Before the rehearsal began, we all spoke of how our show is tomorrow yet we have not done a full run of the show without being interrupted by Ben's direction. Before we began, Ben announced that he would not be taking notes and he would not be interrupting us. Hearing this made me feel calmer running the show as Ben was not to be seen with his iPad to take notes therefore I felt as if I had more freedom to act in the way in which I want to without Ben's notes/judgements (although I do understand they are there to help).

This run went amazingly! You could really feel the energy in the room and how happy everyone was that it went well! The two lines, in which I kept tripping up on, came out fluidly, which completely stripped me of my fears of my performing in the play! As I was performing in the play, I used the opportunity of when I wasn't speaking to look around to see Ben's reaction to the piece; as far as I could see, he seemed very happy with how the play was going on!!

For the first time, when we were in the semicircle, everyone was engaging with their hands in a very interesting way therefore making the piece look more interesting. I have learnt so much from this lesson in the way that I can now see the errors in my ways previously in my attitude to the play as it is actually an amazing play and if I learnt my two lines better earlier on, the play would have been able to be more enjoyable for me and it would have flowed better.

Ben had no notes for us today but, in the afternoon, when we were trying on costume, he expressed to us how happy and calm he now feels about the piece and how he now has no worries about the progression of the play (He also pointed out how well I did in 'acing' those two lines, which makes me see that my efforts are not unnoticed).

I am very excited for tomorrow's performances and I know they are going to go really well if they are anything like todays!

Lesson 18 - 10.05.16

Today was not a good day for me in general.

We began the lesson by stretching. After stretching, Ben showed us a mockup of what he had made for an alternative for the blood packs. In a plastic bag, he had an orange sponge drenched in fake blood; he said that the blood would be in a bucket where there would be sponges swimming in them and we would get them out to squeeze onto one another. I think this would look a lot more effective as there would be a lot of blood being held inside of the sponge and also they would be a lot easier for us all to use.

After looking at the sponges, we started doing some vocal warm ups. Izzy led one of the exercises with the toffee in the mouth to exercise your tongue and jaw. Ben led an exercise where we would wave to someone in the distance and call out 'HELL-OOOOOO', speaking the 'HELL' and normal and then dropping the 'OOOOOO' down a tone and then beginning the 'HELL' next time with the lower tone and so on... When we got to the lowest tone in which our voice still felt comfortable with, we would squeeze out palms together and shake them while using the lowest tone to say 'EEEEEEE'. We then repeated it squatting down. I enjoyed this exercise as it taught me which tones felt more comfortable to me and which one was my natural resonant sound.

After some more exercises, like tongue twisters, we did a song all together that was led by Ben. The song was a call and response song where we stomped, clapped and tapped out thighs to create a rhythm. The parts of the songs I remember were 'Vi!' 'Vi Fi!' 'Vi Fi Fo!'. We repeated it in a faster way and in a more 'Hacca-type' way. This was such a crazy song that got me in the mood to create a play while also putting me in a good mood.

We then switched rooms and, using our warmed up voice, walked around the room speaking our lines. As there was a loud environment, I wasn't scared to experiment with my voice and ways to use it. 

Next, we did the first Hacca all together, using a YouTube clip of a Rugby Hacca was inspiration. We all did the Hacca the best we've ever done it! We were going crazy! I feel as if, by warming up in the morning and singing the song, it put us all in more of a mood where we were't scared to experiment.

Running Scenes

Ben said that he was going to be very picky with these scenes to perfect them however when Kate got two words in and he stopped her, it scared me what he was going to say to me when I still didn't know those two lines fluently. 

When it got onto my bit, I planned to go forward to Kit's face and grab it when I was saying some of my lines; because I was going to make a bold decision, which I didn't know when  was going to do it, my feet started moving a lot. Ben came over and held my ankles in place so there was no point at which I could grab her face as I was too far away from her. He then came over to me and started trying to teach me my lines, which I was grateful for but, for some reason I began getting more and more upset with these constant notes from the last few days. He then opened up the conversation to the class and Shanay came up to me saying 'Don't worry about it', which just made me cry and I just ran out of the classroom. As someone who doesn't like to cry in public, this was a big moment for me however Gemma, Yasmin and Nicole came to the toilet and made me understand what I need to do to improve, ensuring me that it wasn't because I was awful at Shakespeare.

After break, we ran scenes people felt they needed more work on. Watching them practice the rape scene really interested me as the moves look really realistic. Although I am just sat at the back in that scene, I feel as if the audience will really enjoy watching that scene as their moves are now are refined and perfected.

I felt really awful that lesson because I think I kept saying 'no' too much. When we were practicing the Nurse scene, Ben suggested that I screamed, as he was scrapping the pig squeals, which I agree would have looked really good however I do not enjoy screaming therefore I just said no. Everyone was trying to get me to screams  I felt really awkward therefore I wasn't comfortable to scream. Ben then decided to change it to me deep inhaling and the ensemble scream. I much prefer this decision although I feel bad for saying no too much.

Tech Day - 09.05.16

Today was the day of our tech run. I went into the lesson with an excited attitude as I was excited to finally do a full run in costume in the space, and finally using the blood packs that we had been miming for weeks.

Unfortunately, the run did not go as I had imagined it to. It went terribly. There was a real lack of energy, which held the piece back a lot and stopping it going well. I don't know why this has happened as we were all ready and confident in our piece at our last rehearsal. When I was performing, I found myself being unhappy with my line delivery and with my attitude that I developed in the lesson.

The blood packs were very hard to use. We were told that we had to squeeze them before slamming them in to each other, which was actually harder than I thought. As I am the first person to kill someone, I was the first person to fail at the blood packs. The blood pack sat in my hand with the corners outside of my palm so when I went to squeeze the pack, the blood squirted sidewards and not directly onto Jamilah. They proved to be hard for most people as there were a few times, Esther killing Sybil is a good example, where the pack didn't burst so they had to improvise while they were trying to get it to burst. Ben said that we would either have TTA show us how to properly do it or he would figure out an alternate way to use the blood (He suggested cutting the blood however no one agreed to this!)

There was a moment that I was particularly disappointed with myself in, which was after Jamilah runs in a panic to each side of the stage and we all begin to do a slow motion hack-type movement. Although this should not be an excuse, I was very tired in this movement so I was not committing to it fully; while doing the movement, I sat down to do it as I had no energy for it (Ben was not happy with me at this point!!!).

I think that this negative and tiresome energy was contagious as, throughout the play, everyone, including myself, were slacking, which angered Ben.

Notes From Ben

After cleaning up and getting changed, Ben went on to give us notes. Due to how badly the tech went, they were mostly negative notes.

He said it was okay to be appalling now so that we can get the bad run out of the way and learn more form it so we can take it on to Thursday and be better! He said that we need to act more and we can be brilliant. We need to commit to a whole new level of committing for this new, large space for performing. Although most of us 'forgot how to act', Amber, Kit, Izzy and Hannah all turned up and made their characters larger as they used the space as an advantage to launch their characters further. I feel as if I need to learn from them how I can do a similar thing so that I can make my characters and my presence in general better. He said that Amber and Kit physically improved a lot. Also, we weren't sharing to the audience well enough as we were mostly acting to ourselves therefore we need to learn to be more open.

He then went on to giving me feedback about my lines. There are two lines that I keep fumbling over that hew said it is like I have now 'learnt the pattern of fumbling on'. Throughout the rehearsal process, I have really noticed this as I keep getting confused over' 'That so the shadows be not unappeased/ nor so we disturbed with prodigies on earth'. I need to learn these two lines desperately since after I get past them, I feel a lot more relaxed with the rest of the play as I feel as if I know my lines for the rest of the play.

The last biggest point that I took from that lesson was that we were all half-doing things. He said 'If you're going to do something, DO IT' don't half-do it. He pointed out that Hannah and Samara, when they hold Delainey back were both not fully committed to it so they didn't look as if there was a sense of urgency. For next time, I need to ensure that my actions are more committed so there is more of a sense of need.

Overall, I am really disappointed in myself this lesson and I need to make sure I am more on it tomorrow for rehearsals.