WEEK 5 - SHAKESPEARE TODAY

Recently I've seen two productions of Shakespeare plays. The first one I saw was a production of 'As you like it' at the Globe Theatre. I also saw a production of Richard II, Henry IV (part 1 & 2) and Henry V all at the Barbican Theatre.

The performance of 'As you like it' at the Globe Theatre was probably more true to the performances in Shakespeare's time than the performances at the Barbican. This was mainly because it was performed in the reconstruction of the same theatre. Two significant differences between the plays were that the performance at the Globe was in the open air and the actors interacted with the audience whereas at the Barbican the performance was on a conventional proscenium stage and the audience felt quite distanced from the actors.

However, even the production I saw at The Globe would have been an extremely different experience to watch than a production in Shakespeare’s time. There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, the performance I watched was in the evening and used artificial lighting. However in Shakespeare’s time the performances would always take place in the afternoon as there were no adequate forms of artificial lighting and so if the performance was too early, it would be too bright and if the performance was too late it would be too dark.

Secondly, in both of the performances, which I saw, the audience were well behaved and quite quiet. Whereas in Shakespeare’s time the audience were more unruly and if they didn’t enjoy a performance they would make there feeling known, by doing things such as throwing food at the actors or damaging the theatre. Also, fortunately the audience nowadays are much more sanitary and make sure that they have a shower at least a day before going to the theatre and use the public toilets. This is because in Shakespeare’s time the audience would smell extremely bad and the groundlings would go to the side of the area to relieve themselves.

Another major difference between the performances nowadays and the performances in Shakespeare’s time was that in Shakespeare’s time there were no women actors and young boys would play the female roles, which is quite strange considering that the country was run by a female.

Actors in Shakespearean times probably wouldn’t have been as prepared for the role as the actors nowadays. This is partly because they didn’t have as much times to rehearse as they do nowadays. Also, they got a scroll with only their own lines and their cues on them, this was because of the high cost of ink and paper.

However, very often the actors would go on tour with the same company for a number of years and so the chemistry between the actors would’ve probably been better then nowadays as actors usually only work together for one or two plays. Also, Shakespeare would’ve created the different characters with a certain actor in mind, for example the role of Dogberry was written with William Kemp in mind. Obviously these actors are no longer able to perform and so occasionally the actors may not fit the role as well which makes the casting experience much more important and in the power of the director. Also, actors these days would be more respected whereas in Shakespeare’s time actors were seen as a danger to a peaceful society and not of as high a status as they are nowadays.

Another thing, which I noticed when watching the plays at the Barbican, was that the fight scenes were not as realistic as I would imagine the fight scenes in Shakespeare’s time to be. This is because, in Shakespeare’s time to be an actor you had know how to sword fight and it was the weapon of choice at the time and so the actors would be more familiar to it.

Nowadays the performances may not highlight certain things that would’ve been relevant at the time. For example, there may have been certain political references that nowadays, we wouldn’t be aware of.

In Shakespeare’s time the productions would’ve been aimed towards most people and would have a wide target audience. This is because, in Shakespeare time, you did not have to be educated to understand was being said and so many people could enjoy it. However, nowadays, Shakespeare production are targeted to a more educated audience because generally more educated people would want to go to a Shakespeare performance, which is a shame.

Nowadays the acting is much less melodramatic, because of influences from theatre practitioners such as Stanislavski. This means that occasionally it is harder to hear the actors nowadays because they often think less about their voice projection. However, in Shakespeare’s time the performances were probably less realistic but would involve the audience more and therefore the audience would find it easier to understand the dialogue.

Finally, nowadays some of the words used by Shakespeare may not be relevant as so they often are interpreted in different ways. For example, in some performances the word ‘sword’ would be used but the actor would be holding a gun. Therefore because of the language Shakespeare’s plays have to be studied in order to be fully understood whereas in Shakespeare’s times the plays would have been understood by everyone straight away.

WEEK 4 - Playhouses and Actors

QUESTION: What were the theatres or ‘playhouses’ of Shakespeare’s time like and how were plays staged in them?

In Shakespeare’s time there were outdoor playhouses and indoor playhouses. They were both very different and so they attracted different audiences. The first playhouse was built in 1567 by John Brayne and many more playhouses opened between the 1570s and the 1620s. Therefore the public must have enjoyed going to them, as it was a major form of entertainment.

Many of the playhouses were built outside of the city walls and therefore south of the Thames. They did this in order to avoid interference by the officials who ran the City of London. This is because they thought that the playhouses were noisy and disruptive and that criminals were attracted towards them. The south bank was outside of the city walls and there were already many forms of entertainment available here, for example bear baiting arenas. There were also brothels and taverns (which inspired Shakespeare when creating the character of Falstaff), in which people could buy food and drink, therefore people often travelled to the South Bank for entertainment.

                                               

  A picture of the Rose Theatre playhouse

All outdoor playhouses had:

• a central yard that was open to the sky;

• a raised stage sticking out into the yard;

• a roof over the stage, which was called ‘the heavens’, although the first Rose theatre (1587-92) may not have had one;

• a tiring house behind the stage with a backstage area, where actors dressed and waited to come on. Above this were lords’ rooms, rooms for storage, and a room level with ‘the heavens’ to work the special effects from;

• galleried seating all around the yard, on several levels, which was roofed.

Most playhouses had a brick base with timber-framed walls. The gaps between the timbers were filled with sticks, hair and plaster. The roofs were made from

thatch or tile.

(information taken from http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2015/04/playhouses.pdf)

Businessmen often sponsored and supported the building of the playhouses. They did this because they realised the increase of the popularity of playhouses and of the touring acting companies. These businessmen often had a lot of money and so this would be a very good investment, which could help them to increase their overall wealth. What the businessmen did was they bought some land and built a playhouse on top of it, and then rented it out to acting companies for a number of years. The company then paid the businessman half of the takings.

QUESTION: Who were the actors of Shakespeare’s plays and how did the experience of being an actor differ from the experience today?

In Shakespeare's times actors usually started off their careers as young boys. They often chose to join a company as an apprentice in which they would not be paid but would learn the craft and be taught by more experienced actors within a theatre company. In Shakespearean times actors needed to be able to sing and dance, be able to move around physically and sword fight et cetera as well as being able to remember their lines well.

Elsewhere in Europe many women would act on stage, however in Shakespearean England this would never happen. Therefore acting was a profession, which was only available to boys and men. Women were not able to perform in public theatres in England until 1660. Therefore in Shakespearean times young boys, whose voices had not yet broken, would play the female roles instead of women and occasionally men would play the parts of the older women.

During Shakespeare's lifetime what an actor went through on a daily basis changed drastically. When Shakespeare was young actors toured with theatre companies. This involved travelling around the country to perform in different cities, towns and in private venues for example Inns and the homes of rich people. However, towards the end of Shakespeare's life there were many different permanent theatres in London in which actors could perform regularly, which would draw in much larger audiences than before.

However, even though theatres were a very popular pass time, actors were not thought of very highly and they had quite a bad reputation. They were seen as reckless, disorderly people who put the dream of having a peaceful society at risk.

Shakespeare started out his career as an actor. Some people say that he played the part of the Ghost in Hamlet.

Most theatre companies had a shareholder system in operation. The shareholders of the company earned more than the actors and the hired men. Shakespeare was a shareholder of the King's Men, and the Chamberlain's Men, which meant that he shared both the expenses and the profits. How much the actors made would also depend on the location in which the show was playing. For example, a theatre company would make more money in London than in the country and so they could pay the actors higher wages. And example of this was that in 1597 the actor William Kendall was paid 10 shillings a week in London but only five shillings in the country.

Usually actors would perform in the afternoon, this was because they needed natural light in order to be seen and if they performed too early, it would be too bright and if they performed too late, it would be too dark. Therefore, generally actors would spend the morning rehearsing and then perform in the afternoon, and so they did not have much time for rehearsals. They would have to be used to learning several different scripts at one time.

The most famous Elizabethan actors were; Richard Burbage, Edward Alleyn, Robert Armin William Kemp and Nathan Field. Obviously there were many more actors than this but these were some of the most famous ones.

A self-portrait of Richard Burbage

There were only a few copies of each play and so the actor would only have their own part to learn. They were given a script with their cues and their lines.

Certain actors were known to specialise. These actors would often have parts written especially with them in mind. An example of this was that William Shakespeare wrote the part of Dogberry, especially for William Kemp because of the fact that he was very good at physical comedy.

A drawing of William Kemp

Therefore, as you can see, the life of an actor in Shakespearean times was extremely different from the life of an actor nowadays. Firstly, they were not seen as a celebrity and instead they were frowned upon. Secondly, an actor would have to learn several parts at one time and they wouldn't get a long time to rehearse, lastly they would not be able to read the whole script and so they would probably not  have known what the play was about and they would only be able to react at the time to their cue. I would conclude that the life of an actor nowadays is probably a lot more enjoyable than the life of an actor in Shakespearean times.

WEEK 3 - Shakespeare's London and Elizabethan Audiences

QUESTION: What was London like in Elizabethan times and who were the people attending the theatre?

In Shakespeare’s time London was very small, and the world of theatre within London was even smaller, and so everyone knew everyone. The area of the city was growing. Whilst Elizabeth was ruling the population grew from around 50,000 people to approximately 200,000 people. Many people migrated to London from over seas.

The wealth of London was linked the River Thames. This is because the Thames was a good source of food and water, a route of transport for goods and a sewer. However, the Thames would flood every spring. In 1598-9 The Globe theatre was rebuilt due to the Thames flooding. The Thames would also occasionally freeze over during the wintertime. This created a skating rink, and market stalls where set up on top of the frozen river.

The city was very dangerous as there were no street lamps and no patrolling police force. Therefore even the good areas were very dangerous at night. However the worse areas, for example Shoreditch, were extremely dangerous and overcrowded with criminals, similar to the world created in ‘Henry IV Parts 1&2’. In Shoreditch, visitors would be advised to wear a sword at all times.

People from different ethnicities started to migrate to London; therefore it was becoming more ethnically diverse. The Jewish community was growing and so was the amount of black people in the city. There were several thousand black people in the city and many of them were highly skilled workers, servants, entertainers, dancers and musicians. In 1601, as the population of black people grew, so did the resentment for them, and the locals feared the unfamiliar and foreign. Therefore, there was extreme prejudice towards black people. This same year, the black population was officially seen as an irritation and there were thoughts of having all black people deported. These events and their effects on society always found their way into Shakespeare’s work. Therefore “Othello” was written in 1602.

The Russian actor and theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavsky as Othello in 1896.

Between 10,000 and 20,000 people a week were attending theatres in London. The Globe Theatre attracted a huge variety of audiences. It brought the young and old, the male and female and the rich and poor, which was mainly because of the variety of the plays that were performed there. In 1607, the ambassador of Venice bought the most expensive seats in the theatre for a performance of Pericles. Companies of actors were often asked to perform at the royal courts of Elizabeth I and James I. However they wouldn’t go to the live shows and some people argued that no good citizen would be seen there. This is because it was extremely dirty and smelly, and as there were no toilets one would have to go to the toilet on the floor in the theatre.

The audience would get extremely involved with the play and would often ‘boo’ the bad characters and ‘cheer’ the good ones. There were quite a few thieves in the audience and quite often fights broke out. If the audience didn’t enjoy a play then they would make their opinions known. They did this by throwing things at the actors or damaging the theatre. Therefore the audience’s opinion was vital to the success of a play.

The audience had a wide range of seating options available to them. The cheapest ticket was for the “groundlings”, who stood crowded in the ‘yard’, around the stage for the entire duration of the play. They could buy food and drink during the performance such as apples, oranges, nuts, gingerbread and ale. The second cheapest option was the sit in the galleries and for an extra penny you would get a cushion to sit on. You could also sit in the ‘Lord’s rooms’. The most expensive choice was to sit on a chair on the actual stage. Although it was the most expensive, you were right up in the action, and so it was worth the money. Generally, however, the globe was quite cheap, which was one of the reasons why it was so popular.

At the Globe, two plays were put on each day, both in the afternoon. This is because any earlier and the sun was too bright and any later and the theatre would be too dark.