Day 3: Don’t Speech-ify the Speech

Day 3: Intro to The Tempest

            Monologue Workshop

            Henry VIII

            Monologue Presentation on the Globe stage

            Intro to The Tempest with Henry Schvey

            In addition to acting and other performance-related classes, we’re also taking a literary class with our theatre historian from Wash. U. It’s not unlike one of Jay’s play reading classes, where we read the play, and sit to talk about it for two hours. He always recommends to “read with the eye of an audience member or a director.” I really liked this comment, because how else are you going to view it objectively?

            Main topics discussed:

·      The Tempest is atypical because it’s considered completely original (Shakespeare did not collaborate)

·      How would a female Prosper[a] change character dynamics? How does Ariel fare as a man or a woman?

·      Chain of Being (Tillyard): the Elizabethan belief that beasts are basest, then man, then the heavens. Also, the fear of chaos. In this play, the order of “nature” is completely turned on its head, with Prospero playing God.

·      Civilizing Caliban, and colonialism. Whose eyes do you see the play through?

·      Forgiveness above all.

            Monologue Workshop with Jane Lapotaire

            Jane Lapotaire is a former RSC member who worked with John Barton. She is featured in his Playing Shakespeare series, which I’ve used in both Acting Shakespeare classes I’ve taken at NWU. Barton is a god. Jane also won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Actress as Edith Piaf in Piaf. Just sayin’.

            She had us start by simply saying our first two lines, and finding the antithesis. For example:

            “When he that is my husband now came to me as I followed Henry’s [corpse]…”

Here, “he” goes with “me,” “came” opposes “followed,” and “my husband now” depends on “Henry’s corpse.” These will guide the text, and when the character is in the text, antitheses will guide a character. There is no secret Shakespeare will keep from you; it’s all on the page.

            Eventually, never standing, we simply spoke our monologues aloud, using the text to tell the story. She told me mine was not speech-ified, which was a fantastic note after 13 speeches before me. She also liked the change in tactic in the last two lines (a twisted jab at the Queen’s ambivalence to the gravity of Anne’s circumstances).

            Jane hates tennis shoes: “They take away your foot’s connection with the ground.”

            Jane likes women in skirts: “You move differently in them.”

            Jane hates fidgeting: “When an actor is onstage struggling with a line in rehearsal, the last thing they want to see out of the corner of their eye is someone jiggling their foot!”

            Henry VIII Performance on the Globe Stage

            Keeping in mind this is mostly Fletcher, and not so much Shakespeare, Henry VIII is not one of the strongest or most popular plays written. This production in particular moved so quickly, I missed a lot of what was said sometimes. And when we get into the Act 3 politics, this is really rough.

            HOWEVER!!! It was a FANTASTIC overall performance! Catherine of Aragon was outstanding. We were completely on her side. There was a scene where she rips Henry apart, saying she was always a good wife to him, and at one moment, all focus shifted to Henry to see a response. Cold as stone. It was this moment that won us over to Catherine. If not for this, anything thereafter could be arguably reasonable for Henry (“Well, he does need a male heir…”), but not this time. Also, Anne Boleyn was portrayed fantastically, not as a slovenly mistress, but as a courtesan that was sort of sucked into Henry’s romance. Even Henry we can’t entirely hate. He brought new justice to his character when he goes to his new Anglican council and tears them up for not being unified for the country, after they’ve turned on one of their own.

            Staging impressed me completely. Always moving, and on such a small stage with minimal scenery, I never questioned where to look or where they were. Excellent director’s work. There are two incredibly difficult elements in directing: music and dream sequences. Music was used so therapeutically, particularly for Catherine, and Catherine’s dream scene was horrifying. She is ill and has just heard of Anne’s newborn girl, is wrenching in her chair, finally falls asleep, and sees a child (excellent puppet work) come out of a box on the thrust. The servant that was seen with the child throughout the rest of the play slides out next, then the counselor that betrayed the Pope to work for Henry. They glide over to Catherine to barely brush her hands and hair, before being sucked upstage center into the tiring house. Keep in mind, there is no light change; all is done by the director and actors only!

            Monologue Presentation on the Globe Stage

             This stage is so big, and so intimate at the same time. You play side to side, but also vertically, which is a very new concept. Parts of the stage make you feel small, but as soon as we walked on the Henry VIII thrust…wow. It gave you such a feeling of openness and power. It’s not hard to be heard, and you can’t hide anything. The audience can see every tiny thing you do—a nose scratch becomes a moment staged—which we learned watching one another. I fought so much proscenium technique; I knew exactly when I was blocking out a part of the audience, but couldn’t figure out how to open up instinctively! Second shot tomorrow night though!