Historical Context - Post 2

Info about origins, family(/), relationships, the world he lived in, questions surrounding his work

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor. His work is famous as he is known as "England's National Poet", and the "Bard of Avon". The date in which is traditionally given for his birth is 23rd April 1564. He was the eldest child of his parents, John and Mary Shakespeare. He had 5 siblings; 3 younger brothers and two younger sisters. One of his younger sisters, Anne, died at age 7. Neither of his parents came from a poetic or writing background - His father worked as a leatherworker, alderman, and town bailiff, and his mother came from the infamous Arden family. An idea of what got Shakespeare into writing could be because Stratford's grammar school, which had a heavy focus on Latin classes, including memorization, writing, and acting in classic Latin plays. In late 1582, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway - Shakespeare was 18 and Anne was 26. When they got married, they were already expecting their first child (Born 6 months after their wedding). Their first child was Susanna, and they had twins 2 years later named Hamnet and Juliet, named after Shakespeare's friends; Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11.

One major question surrounding Shakespeare's work is 'Was Shakespeare Bisexual?'. This question is mostly asked when discussing Sonnet 18, a love poem directed at a man ('The Fair Lord'). This question has no answer however is still debated now with numerous people uncovering new information however it still remains unanswered. Another question surrounding his work is whether he actually wrote his plays since he had a very limited education, as well as limited life experiences. Relating to this question, while also linking to our performance, is that people question whether Shakespeare wrote Titus Andronicus on his own or was he helped by George Peele? Although people still debate this for numerous reasons, scholars now state that Shakespeare wrote it wholly himself.

By 1610, Shakespeare had already written the majority of his 37 plays along, with his poetry. He owned a very big house in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was also owner and landlord of a lot of other property, showing his wealth and success. As well as this, William Shakespeare also co-owned two theatres in London, where his plays were often performed. 

Animal Research

MUTIUS

Bull Terrier

When looking at the character of Mutius, the first animal that I can think of, 

linking to him, is a Bull Terrier since he is a bloodthirsty and aggressive animal. 

They were bred to fight - Since Mutius has just come from the war, this links to a Bull Terrier. Also, Mutius is one of Titus's sons, whom all fight, therefore further linking to the Bull Terrier as if he technically was bred to fight.

They have high energy levels - This fact links to Mutius since he is a character who moves around a lot and is always ready to attack; at the beginning of the play, Mutius has a great want for killing Tamora and her sons so I show this by moving around the stage a lot therefore showing high energy levels

Main Characteristics:

The under-jaw is deep and strong. 

The body is full and round, with strong, muscular shoulders. The tail is carried horizontally.

Salt-water Crocodile

Another animal that I looked at is the Salt-water Crocodile. This is for several reasons:

The animal that are most likely to eat a human - Although Mutius does not eat anyone, this shows how vicious this animal is.

Also to show how vicious this animal is, they'll feed on anything the can get their jaws on and also, they explode from the water without warning and grasp their victim before they drag it back in, holding it under until the animal drowns

Main Characteristics:

Their legs are held flat against their body or slightly out to the side while they swim because all of their propulsion comes from their tail. They can also leap out of the water from a stationary position at the water's surface. It is more effective in deeper water as the crocodile can position its body better in order to get maximum propulsion from its tail. 

NURSE

Cleaner Fish

For my other character of Nurse, I have decided to look at Cleaner Fish. The reasons for this decision is:

The Cleaner Fish is a very helpful fish (They go into larger fish's mouths and gills to remove parasites and diseased tissue) - Since the Nurse provides a service to help out other people, she links well to the Cleaner Fish.

They are also known as the "Doctors" of the aqua world - This also links to the Nurse since she has a medical occupation also. 

Main Characteristics:

The smooth, elongated body of the cleaner fish has very small scales that are brilliant blue with a band of black that runs from the snout to the tail.

This fish has a small mouth with protruding lips and teeth.

Lesson 4 - 23.03.16

Since we only had 2 hours for our rehearsal today, Ben made the decision that we were not to begin with a Side Stretch. Although I thought I was going to be happy not doing it (as it is quite demanding), I then realised that I wasn't as I did not feel like I was in the zone to rehearse some Shakespeare; my body did not feel warmed up nor did I feel like I had created a certain bond with the rest of the cast. By not starting the lesson off with a Side Stretch, I truly learnt the importance of it, as well as learning the benefits I could gain by doing it.

Trees

We all got into a circle laying down, with our feet touching and keeping the circle together, not moving. Slowly, we would become more animated when using our right hands and using them to guide the rest of our bodies. I started raising mine and then moving it to my wrist, then moving it to my arm (etc) until, eventually, our bodies were getting off the floor and then becoming trees that interlinked with other trees, as if we were a forest that characters would walk through.

When Sybil and Lauren began to walk, we became chains of trees, so that once they passed us, we would then join the end and create a never ending path. I liked this illusion created although it was quite hard at first since there were so many of us, making it hard to get past each other and also find where the end of the chain is to then move to it. Another thing that made it harder was the fact that another pair joined so there were two chains of trees having to be created and you didn't know the difference between them.

To improve our techniques, we got into groups of five - two walkers and three trees - to see how we can use space and speed to create an effective looking path without it being too crowded. People in my group were rolling past each other and leaving space between one another so that it ended up looking very effective and ninja-like. I think if we all find a technique that works for everyone, we could end up having a very effective looking forest.

Big Tree Ideas

For the rest of the lesson, the class was split into two parts - performers who were rehearsing and people who were trying to find a way to create a big tree that Izzy and Tia could fall from (when they die) in a safe way.

It started off very good as there were a lot of ideas thrown around. Fifi had the idea that they could get on the backs of people down below and roly-poly off of their backs. Since I am too weak to carry any weight, I was the 'guinea pig' in this so I rolled off Fifi's back and I found it to be a really good idea however, when Izzy and Tia tried it, they found that they couldn't do it in a neat way. We threw around many ideas however they were all shut down when we remembered that they will be falling from a higher platform so it will be harder to bring them down in a safe way without them sitting on the edge first. At the end of this, we still did not have a definite idea but I think once we see the platform, it will be easier to work with it instead of just envisioning it.

Finishing the lesson off, we were still using the idea of a tree to create a way to hang one of the characters. Samara acted as the person being hung. We found a way to hang her by doing a cheerleading lift, as well as having two people grabbing each of her arms, and the rest of us creating the tree around this set up. Samara then had to push her weight down into her arms to lift herself up and perfectly distribute her weight across each person. This looked very effective and it was a really good way to make sure that her weight wasn't all on one person however the only problem might be maintaining the pushing of her weight.

Lesson 3 - 22.03.16

In today's lesson, we got a lot more work done. Although we only got a few pages done, we went into such detail that they are now properly blocked to the point that we won't have to revisit them again until closer to the performance day.

Side Stretch

Again, we started the lesson with a side stretch. This time, the class were so much more focused so that when it came to the 'HA', everyone was really in sync, showing that they were really on the ball.
I like doing the side stretch as I feel like it really focuses me and gets my body into the mind set of a bloodthirsty fighter in Shakespeare. Today, I especially felt it when we added in the 'sphinx', before doing the press up, which included us going into a cobra and turning our head slowly from side to side. It looked like a very sneaky move therefore it really got me thinking about how fighters in the war had to be so sneaky and sly.
After the warm up, I felt fully warmed up and ready to start the rehearsal!

Rehearsal
Straight after the warm up, we went straight into rehearsals. 
You could tell that the cast were a lot more focused after the Side Stretch. We went into the Maggot Pile, and then into the Haka. We were all doing slightly different movements in the Haka, although it worked quite well in some bits, however I now know that is something I need to work on. I kept forgetting the next movement so I was watching Jamilah in the corner of my eye for direction of what the next move would be.
I started feeling a lot more confident as Ben was directing us this time so he was making sure that everything we were doing was correct and what he had seen in his vision.
After spending the week trying to learn my lines, I felt a lot more confident in my line delivery. I wasn't exactly sure how to deliver my lines so I just projected the lines towards Titus (Katie) however Ben then taught us not to do that; as Mutius is a bloodthirsty brother who wants to kill a lot of people, Ben said to work with that. With this information, I then started to move around and direct my lines in the direction of the prisoners, as well as Titus. I also began to articulate and stress some of the sounds to exaggerate his lines to then show character through my lines. This made me feel like I was getting better at understanding my character and the situations in the scene. I still need to learn some of my lines and cues however I already feel that I will be able to do it for Week 10.
When I say the line, 'Let's hew his limbs 'til they be clean consumed', we all freeze in the scene and Aaron comes on stage, pulling a blood pack from the cauldron and placing it into my hand. The dramatic drumming then begins and I walk in front of Jamilah, killing her. I think a visible blood pack is a very effective way in killing someone, instead of hiding the blood pack, as it is a visible representation of the violence the fighters would use, instead of hiding it underneath clothes and making it burst, making it more realistic; the bursting of the blood pack represents the anger the fighters had. 
We worked on the 'Love Dance' again. Gemma and I are partners and we have now got a good, repeatable routine, that we are not confident in performing. We have also perfectly synced our breaths in and out so it signifies unity and teamwork. When the scene restarts, we then all continue to do the Love Dance however we do it in very slow motion. This was quite hard, at first, to do as we were going at different tempos, and it is also very hard to do the movement very slowly as my body just wanted to hurry up and speed up although my I kept telling myself not to. This is something I need to work on.
Moving on to Mutius's death, we have staged it so that Titus holds me by the neck (holding the blood pack in the other hand), with the rest of the brothers surrounding me and lifting me up so that it looks like Titus lifting me in frustration, and then bursting the blood pack on my body and killing me (The brothers then place me back onto the floor). I really like this idea because it includes physical theatre into the death, which is really effective as it shows unity of the other brothers and Titus.
To finish off this rehearsal, we did a run through of everything we did that lesson. Shenay was on book for the lines however this really put me off because I was waiting for the appropriate time for pauses and she seemed to keep thinking that I didn't know my lines, which really threw me off so I ended up not knowing my lines very well. 

Hacca

Since we are now doing a Hacca, I have decided to look at Haccas online to see what they are usually like and also to see the energy and expressions they use in them.

The first Hacca that I looked at was at a New Zealand Rugby game. I can clearly see that they are used for intimidation and to make the opponents fear them. There are quite a few similar movements that they use, such as their starting positions. 

After looking at this video, I found a website that talks about the Hacca when it is performed at New Zealand Rugby games: (http://www.rugbysongs.net/Haka.htm)

Leader:
Ringa pakia! Slap the hands against the thighs! 
Uma tiraha! Puff out the chest. 
Turi whatia! Bend the knees! 
Hope whai ake! Let the hips follow! 
Waewae takahia kia kino! Stomp the feet as hard as you can!

Leader:
Ka mate, ka mate I die, I die, 
Team:
Ka ora' Ka ora' I live, I live
Leader:
Ka mate, ka mate I die, I die, 
Team:
Ka ora Ka ora " I live, I live,
All:
Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru This is the hairy man 
Nāna i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā ...Who caused the sun to shine again for me 
A Upane! Ka Upane! Up the ladder, Up the ladder 
A Upane Kaupane" Up to the top 
Whiti te rā,! The sun shines! 
Hī! Rise!

The haka is a war dance. The words are chanted loudly (shouted) in a menacing way accompanied by arm actions and foot stamping. A haka was traditionally performed before charging into battle. The Maori pronunciation is basically one vowel per syllable, with the vowels having the European rather than English sound.

The `wh' is aspirated almost like an `f' (f is good enough for most people).

As for what it all means, about 140 years ago, a particularly notorious warlike chief named Te Rauparaha of the Ngati Toa tribe (based just North of present day Wellington), was being chased by his enemies. He hid in a kumara pit (the local sweet potato, only much better) and waited in the dark for his pursuers to find him.

He heard sounds above and thought he was done for when the top of the pit was opened up and sunshine flooded in. He was blinded and struggled to see those about to slay him, when his sight cleared and he instead saw the hairy legs of the local chief (reputed to have been exceptionally hirsute) who had hid him.

Te Rauparaha is said to have jumped from the pit and performed this haka on the spot, so happy was he to have escaped. Undoubtedly, he also had in his mind to do a little pursuing of his own --- Te Rauparaha being that way inclined was he.

The information about shows what the phrases mean that they speak. We use quite a few of these phrases in our piece! When Katie says 'HI!', I did not know that it meant 'Rise!'. There are quite a few different spellings of the 'Hacca' when I was looking online as some people spell it as 'Hacka' 'Haka' 'Hacca', etc.

When I Googled it with the spelling 'Haka', it came up with this on Wikipedia:

The Haka (plural is the same as singular: haka) is a traditional war cry, dance, or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment.^[1]

War haka were originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition, but haka are also performed for various reasons: for welcoming distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions or funerals, and kapa haka performance groups are very common in schools.

This makes a lot of sense why we are using it in our piece as the information above says that it is originally performed before a battle and we are using it in our play when they are coming back from one. 

This lesson, I have found it quite hard to learn it however, hopefully, after a few more tries, I will be able to learn and refine it.

Lesson 2 - 16.03.16

We had 2 hours today to sort out our opening for Titus Andronicus. Today was purely based on physical theatre and not lines, which I was thankful for since I still was unsure of my lines.

Maggot Pile

We began by on the floor, overlapping each other, to look like a pile of dead bodies (the image of 'after the war') with Lavinia standing, looking at the pile. There is a drum beat that makes us all start to move around, slowly at the beginning. As the drum beat gets faster, our movements become more stylised and expressive. According to Ben and Sybil, it looked like a 'Maggot Pile' and it looked really effective. Although it may have looked good, we were all hurting one another by stepping on each other's hair, lying on each other's heads, etc. It was very hard to move as my hair kept getting caught. I've taken this on board and I now know I need to tie my hair up and become more cautious for next time.

Lavinia then begins to take people out of the pile by holding her hand to their face and we follow with our faces as if she is using some kind of energy that our faces are attracted to. We also tried it if Lavinia held people's hands and took them out of the pile however the idea of the hand in front of the face looked a lot more effective as it added to the surreal-ness of bringing dead bodies back to life.

The last people to be taken out of the pile are the two actresses playing Titus Andronicus. While they improvise movements in the middle of the space, we all keep walking around the space. While we walk around the space, there is the idea of people slashing people's throats from behind, forcing them to fall backwards and then get back up. We did some work on how to fall backwards beforehand.

Slashing Throats From Behind

To safely work on falling backwards, we got into partners of a similar size to us and we worked on ways to fall backwards.

I was partners with Amber however I don't have any strength or trust in myself to catch anyone so I just fell backwards. Ben said the key so a successful fall is to have a strong core but bend your knees when you're close to the ground. This was a very good way to fall since I also had control so if there was any danger of me falling then my knees were bent anyway so I could just bend them more so I could then go into sitting position therefore minimising the pain I would experience.

We began by me falling backwards and she would hold her hands slightly behind my back and catch me. I was very scared about this catch because there was not much support. We then tried to do a trust exercise type of fall but Amber found that harder to catch me therefore we had to find another way.

After coming back from getting my measurements taken by TTA, Amber had found a new way of catching me. She would swipe my forehead slightly, to signal that I should go backwards, and I would fall while she had her arms cradled close to the ground. This was a lot more trusting and safer therefore I was not scared to fall backwards.

We then worked this into a group so we would all walk around the space and do a similar type of fall. Because anyone could do it at anytime, I had to make sure I was always on the ball so I could ensure I would fall safely each time.

Circle Around Titus

Moving on, we then created a circle around Katie (Titus), huddled tightly creating an 'ahhhh' sound. We would continue this 'ahhhh' until Katie rose up and we would make a 'hee!' sound and drop down to the floor. This movement was mainly just a transition as we then all move into the space, ready for our tribal movements.

Tribal Movements

Once Katie finished her prolonged sound, she would then say 'HA' and in response, we would all do two stomps in front with one foot, as if we were trying to scare our opponents (audience). We then took did one small, quiet step forwards and then another loud stomp after. We then hunched over, with our hands on our knees, and made our way to the floor We then rose upwards and began to quickly clap and stomp at the same time, coming closer and closer to the audience each time we stomp.

From this, we then lift our right arm up in a diagonal, using our left arm to slap our forearm below and above twice, which then brings us down to the ground and slowly (scarily) taking our hand to the floor (getting the mud) and putting it on our faces, with a dead look in our eyes as if we were staring out the audience. We then repeated the same diagonal arm movement as before however only slapping our arm once in each direction this time, bringing our right arm down to the ground slowly while saying 'heee' with a low voice.

This led onto rising up to standing and stomping twice. Straight after the stomps, we then, with both arms, slap the inside of our thighs, our chests, and then raising our arms to the sky, twice though. Following this, we then lifted our left arm in a diagonal, reaching underneath with our right arms, as if grabbing something, and then doing the same on the other side, and then gesturing the slitting of our throats while making a slitting noise and scary facial expression.

This was inspired by the Haka (traditional ancestral war cry, dance, or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand) , which is used to scare their opponents. 

I feel like, together, this will be very effective as a start to the play as it sets up the situation of the play, as it is set 10 years after a war, instead of just telling the audience, as we show them instead by instantly throwing them into this world.

Historical Context - Post 1

WEEK 1 - SETTING THE SCENE – LIFE IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND 

  

QUESTION: What sense do you get of what life was like in Elizabethan England? Try to include information on: The population, entertainment, religion, superstition, money, jobs, medicine, theatre. 

What sense do you get of what life was like in Elizabethan England? 

The Elizabethan period ran from 1558-1603. It all began when Elizabeth was crowned Queen in 1558. At the time, England wasn't the best place to live; with cottages housing 7-8 people in a small, dark place, it was difficult to have reasonable living conditions as you would go to sleep in the dark and wake up in the dark. Cottages had one room with an earth floor and a fire permanently lit, as that was the only way to have light inside, however this caused the room to fill up with smoke so there had to be a hole in the roof to stop people from suffocating. Candles were too expensive for poor families to afford. Also, windows let in the cold therefore they were small to stop the cold from entering.  They were also filled with vermin. To us, heaths, hills and wastelands are seen to be quite scenic however, in the Elizabethan time, they were seen as dangerous and horrific - anything but beautiful. 

There was a clear class system in place. You were the class that you were born into. Most countrymen fell into one of three categories:  Yeomen, Husbandmen, Labourers. Yeomen might own/rent his farm and employ workers. Husbandmen rents the lands that he works on. Labourers work on other people's farms. Poor people looking for jobs in the countryside had very limited options; their best bet was to go from farm to farm as a labourer, offering their services in hope that they might get hired and get to sleep in a barn. Their working day would start at dawn and finish at sunset; in return, their reward would be a Groat - a coin made of pure silver. The Groat would mostly be spent on Ale since the water was too polluted. 

London was different from any other city because it was a lot more populated and much richer. If someone wanted to go and do tourist-like activities, it would cost them around 12 weeks worth of wages. London was also the centre of government. During Elizabeth's reign, London's population went from 70,000 to 200,000; this caused houses to be so crammed together so, when they ran out of space to build, houses were built upwards (sometimes up to seven storeys supported only by timber wood). Because of the amount of waste, London smelt really terrible since they didn't have toilets! People dismissed this stench smell by saying, "The smell of sewage was the smell of progress". People would empty their waste into the street. To cross the river, there were River Taxis, which would cost you a penny to use. People believed that if you wanted the finer things in life, you had to be in London in order to get it (since most imported products would go be imported into London). Although London was a very successful city, there was one major downside to it - The Plague. With 70,000 Londoners who recorded to have died from it; it was a deadly disease - carried by rats. If you showed signs of the Plague, you and your family would be boarded up in your house for 6 weeks. 

  

Lesson 1 - 15.03.16

Today was the day that we started Titus Andronicus rehearsals. We were joined with the Technical Theatre students who will be creating our set and costume for our performance - in a way, this was quite intimidating since we had not previously rehearsed this play together and to have an audience for the first time threw me off quite a bit since I was very unsure of my lines.

Warm Up

To start off the rehearsal, Ben taught us a 'Side Stretch'. This began with us starting in a Warrior Pose, which is starting with our feet hips width apart, crouching with our bums tucked in and our arms stretched out at a 90 degree angle. Staying in this position really began to burn the inside of my thighs, meaning that I knew it was working and it was stretching the muscles in my thighs.

From the Warrior Pose, we then moved side to side (right way first) with our heads sharply turning to the side we were leaning towards 8 times. This looked quite ritualistic and warrior-type. I can also hear slight clicks coming from the top of my back, as well as hearing them come from my sides therefore warming up my back.

The next step of this warm up is to bring my right arm around to meet my left arm; I then straighten my right leg and bring both my arms slightly upwards so that my body creates a diagonal line. This stretches my legs and my arms as one leg is bent, so my legs and in a lunge, and my arms are suspended in mid air meaning that they need to keep themselves up there; together, this creates a stretch, not only for my legs and arms, but I feel a stretch down my side.
After this, I then do a down stretch, which involves my arms going onto the floor (on the inside of my bent leg) so that I further stretch out my straight leg as I can feel a pull and stretch on the muscles in my leg. When we then go into a press-up, I understand that it is supposed to work the arms however I find this quite difficult as I can't successfully do a press-up. We then tuck out right arm under our bodies and roll onto our backs where we rest for a few seconds; this acts like a reward for our bodies as they should be getting tired if we are doing the warm up properly.
The next step is going into a 'cradle' position, which is when we lift our legs and cross them by the ankles, at the same time as lifting our arms in a sort of ballet pose and lifting our heads up to look through our legs. This is very hard on the core so the only way to do it with minimal pain is to breathe through it. I find it quite hard on my neck as I do not think that I am successfully lifting my neck and I feel a massive strain on it while performing the move. We then get another moment of rest, which is very rewarding after the cradle.
Following this, we then roll onto our front and do a 'caterpillar bum', which is lifting our bum slightly into the air while keeping the rest of our bodies on the floor. This then leads into prayer position, which is really good in stretching out any muscles that weren't properly stretched beforehand. We lift our palms up to the ceiling and sit on our heels. This is called 'curve sitting' since we picture a circle running through us. When we feel the impulse, we seamlessly get up.
We are alive in the space and we are all connected so when we hear Ben shout 'HA', we all get into warrior position and say 'HA' at the same time. This shows how effective this warm up is, especially for Shakespeare as we are acting as ensemble a lot of the time, as it gets us all to connect with each other as well as our bodies. After repeating this exercise, starting in the other direction, it also ensures that my body is completely warmed up, which is also really good since this piece is very physical theatre based.

Leaning Lines
Since Ben wanted to do a run through with everybody off-book, we all had to make sure that we knew our lines. This was hard because I find Shakespeare very hard to learn as it doesn't make any kind of sense in my head. Because I struggled to learn the lines, Ben gave us a long break to go over our lines. I decided to sit on my own and learn them however I could only seem to remember one line. Since I have a small part, I started becoming really annoyed with myself that I couldn't even remember a few lines and cues. This made me worry even more since I'm in the first scene so I knew I was going to make a fool of myself (although Ben said an embarrassing experience will make me want to learn them even more).

First Run
Although Ben had the idea of doing a full run and then going back next week and blocking it out, it didn't exactly work out when we only got through 22 pages. I think one of the reasons that we didn't get through that much was because nobody knew their lines and also because there was no directing going on so nobody knew what anyone was doing.
I tried to do some lines without the script however it didn't work out when I didn't know my cue or anything past the first line. Because the TTA people were watching too, I didn't feel very comfortable trying to say my lines as a lot of people, including Theatre, started laughing however once I picked up my script, I felt a lot better.
At the beginning, Katie put her arms around myself and another person as she said her lines however, because Ben let us try to direct ourselves and I had no clue what was going on, I didn't know how to react and I was just staring blankly at her.
As the run went on, nothing really went as plan. Ben said that no one was really going for their death so when Katie stabbed me, I thought I'd just make some death noises. Because nobody was really taking the run seriously, it was quite hard for anyone to go all out because everyone was laughing at everyone, making it a really tough environment to work in. When I went offstage to watch what was going on, I still had no idea what was happening (although I had looked it up the play translation in the holidays) so when Fifi explained what was happening, I was so shocked since I really didn't see any of that happening in the play. This had taught me that I need to get more into Shakespeare and do extra research so that I am more prepared for this term so that I don't embarrass myself anymore that I did today.