Festival Setting
To start off Week 2 we started to think about what setting we wanted to put our contemporary play in. Sally first said how she'd enjoy setting it in a festival type setting. We all liked this idea and we started to talk as a group about what we could do. We thought about how we could have a band and different sorts of acts. For example there would be a band with Benedick, Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio. Balthasar would also be an act as he sings a song later on in the scene I am in. For the character of Benedick I am playing I think he would be a guitarist, this is because I think he is someone who tries to look cool in front of his friends so he would play guitar to boost his reputation. I'm enjoying the festival sort of vibe because its something completely new and unique to me and I think it will make it easier to me to perform Shakespeare as its in a modern setting and it'll be easier for me to get to grips with.
Analysing Monologues
As I have recently said, I have been casted as Benedick in Act 2 Scene 3, in this scene I have two monologues both of which are Juxtaposed, this is great as it I will be able to show my emotional range as an Actor, as in the first monologue I am completely against the idea of love and almost despise my best friend Claudio for falling in love, when I have known what a strong independent man he is. In the second monologue my thoughts on love completely change as I find out that Beatrice loves me, I enjoy playing a loved up character as I can use one of my favourite and in my opinion most effective methods, 'emotional memory', a device created by Constantin Stanislavski in which the actor uses memories from his own life to give a more genuine and descriptive portrayal. For example if I am in love with Beatrice, I would think back to a time where I felt I was in love with someone else and would pretend to talk about them.
First Monologue
In my first monologue I talk about how Claudio is a fool for falling in love, "I do much wonder that one man, seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicates his behaviours to love...' he then goes on to say 'and such a man is Claudio.' Straight away we know that Benedick is not happy with Claudio, as he calls him out by mentioning his name and talks about him as a 'fool'. Throughout this scene Benedicks objective is to vent his anger towards Claudio. Benedick is in a tricky situation and is always first to speak his mind, however in this situation Benedick doesn't confront Claudio about his love because Claudio is his best friend and I think that secretly Benedick has feelings for Beatrice but doesn't show these feelings in the earlier acts and scenes. This is somewhat showed in this monologue but only briefly, "May I be so converted to see with these eyes? I cannot tell; I think not." that is translated to 'will I be changed like that, and see the world through a lover’s eyes? I'm not sure, but I don’t think so.' This I believe has been placed here by Shakespeare to foreshadow what Benedick would feel towards Beatrice in the later monologue. It also shows how Benedick feels love but quickly dismisses it as he would be a hypocrite and because he is unsure whether Beatrice feels the same way.
Second Monologue
For the second monologue the message is completely different, Benedick who once despised love is now in love with someone he once despised Beatrice. In this monologue, Benedick has just heard Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro talk about how much Beatrice loves Benedick loads, and how Hero has told them. 'They have the truth of this from Hero.' I believe this line shows how happy he is, considering that the love that comes from Beatrice must be real as Hero knows of it. I think I will deliver this line with complete excitement, I could also deliver it as if I was playing it cool but I don't think I shall as the line is at the beginning of the monologue and I believe Benedick goes through a journey in this monologue where he is excited at first but calms himself down and plays it cool for when Beatrice meets him at the end to bid him to dinner. This monologue I will approach in a way where I can use emotional memory. This will allow me to give a more genuine delivery. For example, when I am talking about Beatrices qualities 'They say the lady is fair, tis a truth, I can bear them witness, and virtuous, I cannot reprove it, and wise..' I will think about the perfect woman or a celebrity I like to get a descriptive emotional delivery.
Globe Trip
This week we got to go the Globe, take part in a workshop and look at the Globes museum. I was very excited for this outing as Shakespeare interests me loads as he is so renowned as the best playwright from England. I was also excited to look at stage at the Globe to see where greats have stood who have once performed Shakespeares fine work like Laurence Olivier and Benedict Cumberbatch. This actors like myself had an ambition to study Shakespeare and perform his work. After going to the Globe I found out how Much Ado About Nothing would have been staged. The scene which I am, would have been staged very different to how a modern interpretation may be staged, this was due to the lac of resources they had back in the Elizabethan times. In the original Benedick would have probably hid behind the pillars at the globe to eavesdrop on the conversation between Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio. This would of been very funny to the Elizabethan audience as they would of found the trick funny that Don Pedro and the others were playing along with the melodramatic reactions of Benedick. I'm sure there would of been many 'aside' directions in the original. An aside is when a character talks to the audience that the other actors on stage can't hear, this would of been used a lot for the dialogue from Benedick as he doesn't want anyone to hear except the audience, breaking the 4th wall which was also a big technique in Shakespearian times.
I really enjoyed the Globe trip, next week I will be talking about feedback after performing my monologues to my friends in class.
Phoebe is now beatrice, doing bits to monolugue thinking about festival vibe Globe trip watching shakespeare with Tennant and dother adpatation with damien lewis
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