This week we did a full run through and filmed it. I was excited to perform but also a bit nervous which doesn't happen to me often. I think I was nervous because I feel this character is the biggest challenge I've had. I think this is due to the fact that its a completely new language to me and it doesn't feel like I would say these words, as I would say it in a much more modern way. This I will get to grips with and I will look at the translation and understand where Benedick is coming from.
I did my scene and I was nervous, I felt I started to overact a bit and tried to project my voice so I could be heard, at the time where I was reacting to what Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio was saying I felt I could have been more over the top, however I think that these reactions would come more naturally if the dialogue was quicker and the cues were natural, this will come from rehearsing this scene a lot and doing independent learning of lines. After the scene had finished I and the rest of the boys in the scene got feedback. I got feedback how I was playing it very over the top and my voice was very loud and didn't suit the character. I have noticed how I put on a voice for when I am on stage as I feel like I wouldn't project with my natural voice. After doing this the feedback I got was that I was saying the word 'love' as 'lav' which is out of character for Benedick. I hadn't noticed I said love like that, but I had noticed that I was over projecting. Sally said how I should tone down the character as the voice wasn't right for the part. I worked on this criticism and started to work with Matt on my voice, we tried many different things to get the right voice for the character. Firstly I wanted my own voice for the part so I suggested that I'd talk to Matt in a normal conversation and then go into the monologue. This helped a lot as I started saying the monologue in my own voice and the word love sounded right and the thought process came along more easily. Ever since then I have been practising the monologues in my natural voice and this has helped a lot. I thought I wouldn't of been heard in my normal voice but I projected well. I am happy that I got constructive criticism as it helps me to grow as an actor and continue to work hard to get the best performance I can, I believe that there is always room for improvement for any actor.
There was also feedback for the others in my scene, they were told how they needed to make more of an act of how they were talking about me but knew I was eavesdropping. They were told to laugh more and look for the lines where they are emphasising different words to show to the audience that they are tricking Benedick. I think this will come easier when the lines are learnt and also the cues. I also feel that if my first monologue has a lot of energy there scene will be more up beat as well as they can feed off my energy. I feel that there are a few bits that are excellent in our scene for example when Joe mimicks Beatrices character and when Milo is performing his song and the boys are dancing apart from that I feel that this scene can deliver so more and so we will rehearse this to reach the potential we know it has.
On Thursday I performed again, this time I was a lot better however I was told to look at the emphasis and find the words that should be emphasised. I also tried messing around in the scene more where I was reacting to finding out about Beatrices love, I did many different things like big facial reactions and even rehearsed with Nathan that the lid of a box would fall on my head, luckily the lid didn't hurt too much so I was able to use this as slapstick comedy and show the audience how much of a fool Benedick is.
Context
This week I decided to research the context of this play and the main plot and story before its set. Much Ado About Nothing is set in Messina which is in Sicilly near Italy, Don Pedro and his men are arriving home from war as a messenger tells Leonato, who is the governor of Messina. Benedick and Claudio are best friends and were companions to Don Pedro in war. Don Jon who plays the Antagonist in the comedy is the brother to Don Pedro and is jealous of Don Pedro and then goes on to plot that the wedding between Hero and Claudio is ruined which will embarrass Don Pedro.
I also looked into some facts about Much Ado About Nothing as it interested me about the histroy and who had portrayed characters in it. I found out that it was written in 1598-1599 by William Shakespeare, it amazes me and is a massive testimony to Shakespeare that his comedy is still contemporary due to its themes today over 400 years after it first came out.
I really enjoyed researching Shakespeare this week and getting constructive criticism.
This week I found that Phoebe would be playing the part of Beatrice, as Kennedy had left and that role needed to be filled. I was excited that Phoebe was Beatrice as I haven't had the chance to work with her much before and I think she is a wonderful Actress. To start off I hadn't learnt my lines for the part where I am with Beatrice (Phoebe) as I was focusing on my lines. I quickly started to learn my lines with Phoebe. We would run through the short duologue and every time I got a bit wrong she would tell me to do it again, this approach to line learning helped me learn the lines as I would be reading them over and eventually it would stick.
After finally learning the lines, me and Phoebe went through the scene, at first I found it difficult to be confident when addressing Beatrice in a flirtatious manner as it was awkward, I quickly got past this and started to play the scene more and more confidently. As this started to happen, me and Phoebe gained a bond and the scene started to become more fluent and started to experiment with the scene and deliver the lines in different ways. For example at the end of the scene, where I am confident Beatrice is in love with me, 'If I do not take pity on her, I am a villain, if I do not love her, I am a Jew, I will go get her picture.' In this I tried many different ways of delivering it to see which worked best for the character and for where it is placed in the scene. To start off with I said the lines very naturalistically as if I was thinking over what I was going to do about this love that I perceive. I then tried saying the lines as if I was really excited and that I was going to rush and show her love as soon as the line ended. This delivery I felt was much better and much more fitting to the character and where it was placed in the scene. I feel like Benedick firstly acts cool in front of Beatrice but then gets really excited when she is gone because it all comes out at once. I think that it would give my scene a greater impact if I played it excited because it is the end of the scene and so I want it to end with a big impact of emotion.
After doing this scene I got feedback from Nathan and Frank, Nathan said that he enjoyed the way I delivered it, he said I needed to slow down in areas and gather the thought process, overall he said it was about a 6 out of 10, which I'm happy to get considering its Week 3. Frank also gave me some feedback, he said that I should make Benedick more of a lad, and also bring him down to earth and make the lad elements more naturalistic but still keeping it funny, he also gave me some great advice to say the double meaning line 'there's a double meaning in that', really excited as if Benedick is completely blinded by love and is getting excited. He also showed how its the first time that Benedick believes this love has been proven by Beatrice so he needs to be very animated.
Much Ado About Nothing Adaptation
We watched David Tennant and Catherine Tate take the stage to adapt Much Ado About Nothing, Tennant played Benedick and Catherine Tate played Beatrice. I enjoyed the modern adaptation it was set in Gibraltar and Benedick and Claudio have just got back from the Falklands War. This adaptation of Beatrice and Benedick was much more over the top and this may have been because it was an on stage adaptation. Compared to Kenneth Branagh's version and adaptation seemed slightly more naturalistic and memorable. I preferred Branaghs adaptation as I found it more believable. When watching the David Tennant version I didn't enjoy how Beatrice was portrayed by Catherine Tate, I feel that she didn't really give a brilliant adaptation as she was playing herself. After looking back at Branaghs version I enjoyed the chemistry Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh had. I hope to achieve this same chemistry when portraying Benedick as it is a massive part about this character. This is probably due to the fact that at the time Branagh and Thompson were married.
I enjoyed looking through my monologues this week and getting feedback that I can act on.
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
Social Status as a child: Benedick was a popular kid and always craved attention.
Economic Status as a child: Rich and spoiled.
Social Status as an adult: He has some close friends always a clown, seen as immature.
Economic Status: Rich and spoiled.
Occupation: A soldier under Don Pedro.
Other Actors who have played Benedick
Many other characters have played Benedick and I will look at how they approached the character before I approach the character in order to get a better knowledge of this character.
Kenneth Branagh played the character in Much Ado About Nothing (1992):
I felt Branagh played the character in a very cowardly way when approaching Benedick and also in a pompous way, this may have been due to the well spoken English accent of Branagh. I feel that Branagh plays this character well, I enjoyed his delivery of Benedick's monologue when professing his love towards Beatrice, which I in fact will be playing when adapting this Shakespearian play. Branagh would change the tone of different lines to give a whole new meaning to the character. In the video below I think its brilliant at 4:57, after Benedick has said 'I will horribly be in love with her, I may by chance have some odd quips and remnants of wit broken on me', in this short space of time the mood of the place dynamically changes to show how Benedick is so excited to hear Beatrice's love to him, to questioning himself.
Damien Lewis played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (2005):
I felt Lewis played the Benedick in a much more flirtatious manner, when confronted with Beatrice. I feel throughout this adpatation Bendick is shown to have a love towards Beatrice but only reveals so when finding out about Beatrice's love. This Modern adaptation shows Benedick as a cocky news anchor who believes in himself to have a winning personality. This is much like the cockiness shown in the Branagh adaptation. I enjoyed this modern interpretation as it helped me to bring this character that was born in the Elizabethan era to a present time. Along with the modern language I also got a better understand for Benedick's view on Beatrice relaying his thoughts on her.
David Tennant played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (2011):
Another modern adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing is a staged version that I recently saw on Digital Theatre, it contained David Tennant and Catherine Tate. I love the comedic way Tennant plays this character and I thoroughly enjoyed the difference between when we first see Benedick to when we find out later on that he is in love.
I think I will mostly model my character after Branagh's version but as its the funniest in my opinion while still staying faithful to the meaning of the script. I will however only look at things Branagh has done as I want to bring a fresh interpretation to Benedick.
Scenes
Throughout Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick appears in many scenes, I will be splitting the part of Benedick with Lewis who is in the Act 1 Scene 1. I appear in Act 2 Scene 3 and Matt appears in Act 4 Scene 1. Within these scenes we first see how Benedick is completely against Beatrice in Act 1 Scene 1 as he is insulting her 'what my dear lady disdain! are you yet living?' This translates to 'look its my dear lady disdain! aren't you dead yet?' This shows how Benedick is so sick of Beatrice that he tells her that she is irrelevant. There is then a argument between Benedick and Beatrice where they continue to throw insults at each other.
After this is my scene where at the start I am against the idea of Beatrice and then by the end I profess my love for her. In my first monologue I am against Claudio even though he is my best friend as he is in love and I profess against it. I think the reason Benedick is so against love at the start is because he was bullied as a kid as being spoilt. I think Benedick also has had bad relationships from the past that he views woman as all the same.
I'm going to go into depth into my monologues to understand what my character wants and the meaning behind each thought:
'I do much wonder that one man, seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicated his behaviours to love, will, after he hath laughed at such shallow follies in others, become the arguments of his own scorn by falling in love; and such a man is Claudio'.
In this line Benedick mocks Claudio and says how he is wrong that he has fallen in love and that he is a fool for doing the thing he once despised. This is funny as this is what Benedick does later on in the scene.
'I have known when there was no music with him but the drum and the fife, and know he had rather hear the tabor and the pipe'.
For this thought Benedick misses his old friend and is saying how he has changed. I think I will deliver this line as if I believe the tabor and pipe are terrible by saying them in a higher and fairy type voice which isn't seen as manly.
'I have known when he would of walked ten miles afoot to see a good armour, and know he lies ten nights awake carving the fashion of a new doublet'.
Much like the line before, Benedick still is annoyed that Claudio isn't a man like he is and is staying up to play with clothes instead of wear armour into war.
'He was wont to speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier, and now is he turned orthography; his words are a fantastical banquet, just so many strange dishes'.
Benedick at this point keeps harping on about how Claudio is now a completely different man, and saying how he is dishonest, this also shows how being in love is this strange thing and fantastical thing that is a mystery.
'May I be so converted to see with these eyes?'
At this point Benedick wonders if he will ever fall in love foreshadowing his second monologue.
'I cannot tell; I think not'.
He is being very one minded at this time and is not thinking towards the future, he truly believes that he will never fall in love.
'I will not be sworn but love may transform me to an oyster; but I'll take my oath on it till he hath made an oyster of me, he shall never make me such a fool'.
Benedick swears how he will never be made a fool and will never fall in love, as he has seen Claudio fall for that trap.
'One woman is fair, yet I am well, another is wise, yet I am well, another is virtuous, but till all graces come into one woman, one woman shall not come into my grace'.
I will only ever love a woman if she is perfect otherwise I do not want her near me is what Benedick is going along the lines of. This is the first bit of hypocrisy in this scene that we see from Benedick as he just said how he would never love any woman. For the delivery of this I will say 'yet I am well', in a different way each time to give a comedic element to the scene which Shakespeare most likely envisioned.
'Rich she shall be, that's certain; wise, or I'll none; virtuous, or I'll never cheapen her; fair, or I'll never look on her; mild, or come not near me; noble, or not I for an angel; of good discourse, an excellent musician, and her hair shall be of what colour it pleases God'.
In this thought Benedick is describing his perfect woman, for this part of the scene I will use emotional memory to really capture the love that Benedick has towards a special woman that Shakespeare would have wanted. I will picture someone who I fancy myself and who I believe near to be perfect to think about while delivering this line.
'Ha!'
At this point Benedick can hear that Claudio, Don Pedro and Leonato are approaching.
'The Prince and Monsieur Love!'
Benedick mocks Claudio by calling him 'Monsieur Love', I will deliver this in a way where I will elongate the word 'love' to humiliate him.
'I will hid me in the arbour'
The final line of the monologue points to how I will hide away from the men coming.
In the second monologue, Benedicks view of Love completely changes. We can see at the end of the first monologue that Benedicks view on love starts to change as he says he will fall for a woman that is perfect which I think is out of the ordinary for Benedick and he starts to think him and Beatrice may have love. The thought for the first monologue is that Claudio is a fool for falling in love. His view of love however completely changes and he hears from Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio that Beatrice loves him. Thus turning into a hypocrite and a fool himself. In the second monologue he triess to comprehend his actions for being a hypocrite, 'doth not the appetite alter?' 'When I said I'd die a bachelor, I never thought I'd live till I where married'
Relationships
Claudio
Claudio is Benedicks best friend. They have been friends for a long time and both were under Don Pedro in war. Benedick and Claudios friendship is proven when in the first scene Claudio goes straight to Benedick before anyone else to talk about how he has a love for Hero. Their friendship is also proven as Benedick is so annoyed when he hears that Claudio loves Hero that he calls him a fool however he still sticks by him. Benedick is also the best man when its Claudios wedding which shows there friendship, however Bendick is willing to kill Claudio when Beatrice asks Benedick to in a later scene, 'Kill Claudio'.
Beatrice
Benedick and Beatrice have a very juxtaposed relationship throughout the play. At the start of Much Ado, Benedick and Beatrice fight and say how they hate each other 'Well you are a rare parrot teacher'. These type of arguing between the two is funny as later on in the play they are in love. Later on Benedicks thoughts on Beatrice start to change as Benedick is led to believe that Beatrice likes him, as Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio play a trick on Benedick, 'I should think this a gull, but Leonato speaks it'. Benedick has a feeling that he might be getting tricked but he hears Leonato speak so and is shocked as Leonato is a much more mature character.
Throughout this play Benedicks feelings towards love changes throughout, I'm looking forward to playing this character as I feel like a detective tryin to work out how Benedick is feeling at given moments.
I was really excited to get the Shakespeare unit started, as I knew little about him and wanted to know more about one of the World's best playwrights. From doing a course at GSA I already knew a brief bit about Shakespeare, I learned a little about Iambic Pentameter and difference between verse and prose, but I was ready to learn more. We first started off by all writing two things on a post it note that we know about Shakespeare or something that relates to him. I put down about how I knew about Iambic Pentameter and simply put a couple of Shakespeares plays that I knew, like Hamlet and Macbeth. I really enjoyed this task as it enlightened me about Shakespeare and I got to view the brilliant playwright in a different way that I ever had before.
Practical
Our first practical lesson was a brilliant one as Sally showed us different elements in Shakespeares language as well as we got to shout Shakespearian insults at each other which was a lot of fun. It would come apparent to us later on that these insults meant a lot as we would be studying Shakespeares play Much Ado About Nothing which would often show arguments between Benedick and Beatrice the two main protagonists which despise each other at the start of the comedy. We were given different sheets which showed us loads of different insults and what they mean. I never knew how much language Shakespeare created and was used in his time and how different it is to todays language yet most of his plays are very contemporary. We also we're given a sheet that had other day to day words on it that were translated into Shakespearean, I enjoyed looking through this words to see how different it was in the Elizabethan times. What also interested me was how words that were used in the Elizabethan era are still used now like minx and cousin which still carry the same meaning. From two of the handouts we were given there were common words that were used on one sheet and less common words. The uncommon words were still very descriptive. For example one word that wasn't used much but would of been great for Much Ado About Nothing was the word fancy-monger which meant a lovesick man. I could see Benedick using this against Claudio after he finds out he has fallen in love.
For the next bit we got into lines and started to shout various insults at each other across the lines, I enjoyed this exercise because it showed me how Shakespeare isn't all about posh speaking and rhetorical devices which I foolishly first thought.
Inflexions and Thou/Thee
From the lesson and my own research I found the origins of why Thou was used and how it was used. Thou used to be singular and you was plural. You was then used as a singular term this was most likely due to the fact that they copied the French language. As vous means you. You would mostly be used when a servant addresses a master and thou would mostly be used when a master would address a servant. After looking at the script I saw how this would be used in Much Ado About Nothing, in the scene where Benedick and Beatrice talk about killing Claudio, Benedick would change between Thou and you this may show how Benedick changes his thoughts on Beatrice throughout the scene, not looking at the script too in depth I should think that Benedick starts to refer to Beatrice as Thou after Beatrice has asked for him to kill Claudio as Benedick is disgusted by such a question. Beatrice always refers to Benedick as you this may show how Beatrice looks up to Benedick or how she wants to have a more casual conversation.
Research
I have recently found out that next week we would be visiting the Globe and doing a workshop, I can't wait to go and learn about Shakespeare and the illustrious Globe Theatre so I thought I'd do some research before I went, to give myself a taster on what was to come. I think this is a good idea because it helps me get a better understanding of this great playwright and to learn about how Much Ado About Nothing would have been performed in Elizabethan times. This is an important issue as we have to respect what Shakespeare would of wanted as it is his material. I believe that once you start to respect the playwright then you respect his work and you get a greater meaning for what he wanted to accomplish writing it. I learned how The Globe was built in 1599 and how it burned down but was rebuilt some years later in 1614.
Casting
Today I found out that I would be portraying Benedick in Act 2 Scene 3 in which Benedick has 2 monologues and some odd lines while hiding away from Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio. I'm glad I got this part because the two monologues show a lot of variety and both have very contrasting objectives and features.
I'm looking forward to next week as I'm going to the Globe theatre, this will be shown in blog post 'Week 2 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing'
After finding out I would be performing exerts from 'Much Ado About Nothing', I thought it was only best that I research the Social, Historical and Cultural backgrounds to how this successful comedy was first showcased.
'Much Ado About Nothing' is a comedic play by the English playwright William Shakespeare. 'Much Ado' first questioned people about the poems or sonnets at the time. Sonnet 116 which is read by Benedick to Beatrice (two main protagonists of this comedy), says how love isn't really love if its not loyal. This is a main theme to this play as we see a love between Hero and Claudio that looks like it may not last as it doesn't seem to be as loyal as the love Beatrice and Benedick have at the end. This is due to the fact that Hero's marriage to Claudio is an arranged one and even though they like each other they don't know each other well, whereas Benedick and Beatrice have know each other for a long time and know what makes each other annoyed and happy.
Original Staging and Performance Style
Recently I watched a modern version of 'Much Ado About Nothing'. I enjoyed this adaptation as it brought a modern comedy element to it with the wonderful facial expressions of Catherine Tate, along with slapstick comedy like the smudging of Benedicks face with paint. Even though we have these slapstick elements like a tub of paint these props and different parts of staging wouldn't of been used for the original version that was showcased at The Globe. This was due to the limited resources at that time. After watching a modern version of Much Ado About Nothing with the cast of David Tennant and Catherine Tate I noticed how many things they adapted from the first version. For example in the original version Much Ado is set in Messina which is located on the island of Italy called Sicily. The version I saw was set in Gibraltar. The original version was set in Messina. In the original staging they would of had trapdoors. This would of been used to make special entrances. For Much Ado About Nothing, the trapdoor may have been used for when Benedick is hiding from Claudio, Lenato and Don Pedro when they talk about Beatrice loves him. I feel that they could of had Benedick come up for his line while the other character on stage could be in a freeze frame. This could also be the same for when Beatrice eavesdrops on Ursula and Hero. The trapdoor could also be used for when Don John enters to show that he is the villain in this comedy as it is as if he is coming from the underworld. The Globe was open air, as they didn't have the technology to have lights so they used natural lighting. This meant that they would have to continue to work even if the lighting wasn't right for example, if it was very sunny it would of been difficult to portray a tragedy like Macbeth. For Much Ado about Nothing, I think the actors would of wanted a sunny day for their lighting, as it would represent Messina in Italy well. With the Original staging going back to when Benedick is eavesdropping to Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio. They would probably be pillars on the stage, and this would of been what Benedick would have hid behind in the original staging, this would of probably been the same for Beatrice. The actors on stage would of performed quite quickly to get the audience entertained so they weren't standing in the pit too long, this was one of the reasons the aside was used so much as it kept the audience involved.
The Performance style in the original would have been very melodramatic due to that naturalism wasn't popular till the late 19th century and naturalism if tried in the Elizabethan era probably wouldn't have been well received. The Actors would of said the words in a very dramatic way to convey there emotions to the audience. The Actors and the audience would interact through soliloquy's where the Actor would normally speak to the audience without any actors on stage, this is seen a lot in Hamlet. I think that through Much Ado about Nothing, there are many 'aside' stage directions. The asides could be if a character is speaking to one character if in a scene with many characters or it could be them talking to the audience. Many asides are seen in the scene where Leonato, Claudio and Don Pedro are talking about Benedick. Claudio has many asides some our to Leonato or Don Pedro is eavesdropping Bendick and the other asides are to the audience, to explain how they are playing a trick on Benedick and do this by breaking the 4th wall. Many modern interpretations of this dramatic effect are still kept, for example in Much Ado About Nothing with Catherine Tate and David Tennant, Benedick uses the aside many times, and also breaks the 4th wall in his monologue. The Actors wouldn't go into the pit but would talk to them from the stage. This is because there costumes where expensive and it would be to risky to have them near the common people in the pit.
Original Cultural, Social and Political Themes
Cultural
Image taken from 1993's version of Much Ado About Nothing. As shown by this contemporary version the costumes of the men returning from war are very elegant and prestigious.
In the Elizabethan Era, Queen Elizabeth 1st was on the throne, the Queen at the time loved the arts and recognized the importance of it. She would often go to the theatre herself and enjoyed the works of playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. The Arts were respected very highly, costumes would of taken ages to make and they would try to reuse costumes as it wouldn't take so much time and money. A company would spend £300 on costumes, that now would be at the amount of about over £35,000. The costumes would show the social status, for example the costume of a character like Don Pedro would be very elegant and look clean. The character of a witch from Macbeth may be in rags and would look dirty and swamp like, the actors would never step into the yard to interact personally to the audience as the costumes were too expensive and delicate.
In Much Ado About Nothing, we see the change in Benedick where at one point he is 'a proffessed tyrant' to the opposite sex to where he falls in love with Beatrice. We also see Claudio is falls in love with Hero straight after seeing her. I think Shakespeare was providing a vision on how society was at the time, how there would be characters like Claudio who would fall in love with the first beautiful woman they saw. I know this to be true as many of the sonnets before Sonnet 116 where about how women were beautiful and how they'd be compared to gods. I think Shakespeare went against this and showed this in Much Ado About Nothing as the couple of Benedick and Beatrice looks much more likely to last than that of Hero and Claudio. the Actors wouldn't be allowed to wear the costumes outside of the theatre as they would have been arrested for trying to impersonate someone of a higher level than them.
Social
Society in Shakespeare's time was very energetic. London's population was bigger than ever, between 1550 and 1600 the population had doubled in size. By 1650 it had once doubled again and was at the population of 400,000. This high number meant that at that time it was the largest city in the world. Because of the large population, the people of London wanted more entertainment and plays and so playwrights like Marlowe, Shakespeare and more were very popular. Entertainment at the Globe theatre was a very social thing.
The yard shown from the Actors perspective. Where audience members would stand to watch a performance.
With costs for seeing a show being the cheap price of a penny, many would turn up. The people wouldn't of wanted to stand up for long amounts of time, so they would of wanted to be entertained otherwise they would start to chat or shift around. It was the actors job at the time to keep the audience entertained and they would do this constantly by breaking the 4th wall and addressing the audience. A lot of Shakespeares plays contained high action. For example in Much Ado About Nothing. Hero dies of a broken heart. This sort of action would of kept the audience invested in the story and would want to see how this would progress. The yard were the common people would be would be havoc. There would of been arguments, sex, eating, dancing, roaring and many other raucous things happening as there wasn't much security. The actors would have to deal with all of this and continue to try and entertain. Shakespeare himself would often perform at the globe as an actor.
He was apart of a group called The Lord Chamberlains Men. They were a company that played at the globe, Shakespeare would write the plays for them and then he would help them perform them normally as a secondary character. For Much Ado About Nothing he may have played the character of Don Pedro or Leonato. In Don John scenes the audience may boo just like you would see at a pantomime today. This would of shown if the audience were invested in the play.
Political
Image taken from 1993's version of Much Ado About Nothing.
The Friar who is a man of god is the Priest for this wedding.
He is given the duty to marry these people as he is of most importance
in this environment.
The Elizabethan Era was when Shakespeare was around, Queen Elizabeth 1st was on the Throne. Elizabeth and most other royalty loved entertainment and loved the theatre. They would sit above the stage. They would go to the theatre for the entertainment and to be seen. They'd also be the highest people in relevance to the stage. This would show how they were nearest to the heavens and to state how they were royalty. If an Actor had a soliloquy or a monologue like Benedick has in Much Ado About Nothing they would also have to direct it to the royalty behind them, this would of been difficult because they have people watching from every angle and they all want to be kept entertained. If a Royal liked your work they would invite you to their mansion to perform and you would have been paid and fed and maybe even have a room to sleep in for the night. In Much Ado About Nothing, the friar at the end would have been of quite high importance and respected as he was a man of god. This was shown by the script Shakespeare had written as the friar would speak in verse which was seen as a form spoken by more higher class characters, while character like Dogberry would speak in Prose. This is due to the fact that verse is spoken in a rhythmic pattern and seemed heightened and to have more of a dramatical purpose than that of Prose. The Royals who would watch the performance may levitate to the characters of someone who speaks Verse as it would of been much nearer to their political class.
Contemporary performances
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare is very contemporary, with main themes of love and betrayal that still are big in today's society. Much Ado About Nothing will continue to be in the minds of modern audiences.
Much Ado About Nothing (Nov 2005)
Taken from 2005's version of Much Ado About Nothing. The wedding shown. The moment before Claudio disowns Hero.
I recently watched Much Ado About Nothing with Damien Lewis who was the most notable cast member. I really enjoyed this modern interpretation. It was set in an office environment that was about a news team with Claudio, Hero, Beatrice and Benedick being different hosts of different parts of the news. For example Claudio represented the Sport side of the news while Hero was the weather girl and Benedick and Beatrice where the two main anchors. I though this was a brilliant idea to have Beatrice and Benedick as the main anchors as we go to see the flirty yet sly behaviours of how Damien Lewis and Sarah Parish played these protagonists. In this adaptation directed by Brian Percival. They had the scene where Hero is meant to die of a broken heart, as her falling down and bumping her head quite badly and being taken to the hospital. I think this is due to the fact that a modern audience wouldn't believe that someone would die of a broken heart. Where that may have been more believable in Shakespeares time. What I particularly liked about this adaptation was how they changed the audience to suit a modern audience. I felt I got a better understanding of the story and I felt more emotionally attached.
Much Ado About Nothing (2011)
Taken from 2011's version of Much Ado About Nothing. Benedick played by David Tennant showing the slapstick element of this comedy.
Catherine Tate and David Tennant took to the stage for this adaptation set in Gibraltar. I enjoyed this adaptation, it was very comical like Shakespeare would of wanted it performed. David Tennant gave an enjoyable performance. What I loved about this adaptation was the use of modern technology and slapstick. At one point David Tennant had paint all over him as he got into a bad turn of events when trying to eavesdrop. Elements like the paint would of not been used back then as the costumes cost too much money to have paint on. There was also a moment in this adaptation where Beatrice is on a wire and being lifted up to the sky when the other wire with the painter on is at the ground much like a balancing scale or seesaw. I loved this bit of comedy as I liked to see Beatrice get annoyed as she had been so rude to Benedick before. This wouldn't of happened when the play was first set as they didn't have the technology to make that work. I think this was a wonderful way for Beatrice to listen in to the conversation of Hero and Ursula.
