Spotlight! E-news from Theatrefolk
Issue 11 - The Year in Review, June 2006Welcome!
Welcome to our eleventh newsletter, completing John Minigan's excellent article on scripting plays with students. Also, a look at some of our favourite articles from the past year.
In this issue:
- SCRIPTING ORIGINAL PLAYS WITH STUDENTS: THE WORKSHOP PROCESS PART 2
The second part of John Minigan's article. - CREATING AN IMPROV PLAY
Lindsay Price gives some tips for creating your own play. (From Issue 5) - FIGHTING WRITER'S BLOCK
Exercises to get writers out of a rut. (From Issue 8) - COACHING MONOLOGUES
A theatre teacher and a competition judge share their thoughts. (From Issue 1) - STARTING FROM SHAKESPEARE - USING THE TEXT TO FIND CHOICES
Allison Williams offers some useful tools for working on a Shakespeare scene. (From Issue 6) - HOT OFF THE PRESS
Announcing the long-awaited release of Allison Williams' latest play,Drop Dead Juliet! - CONFERENCE ALERT
Meet us in person. - IN THE NEXT ISSUE
What you can expect next. - STAY IN TOUCH
Contact info/Read our blog.
SCRIPTING ORIGINAL PLAYS WITH STUDENTS:
The Workshop Process Part 2
John Minigan is an expert in both Creation and Adaptation - he's adapted Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night for our catalogue withAs You Like It, or What You Will coming out in the fall.
Here is Part Two of his article on creating work with your students. Enjoy!
You can refresh your memory on Part One by clicking here .
STORY AND CHARACTER — The Next 12-15 Sessions
I begin this set of rehearsals by putting the following on a white-board or chart:
“_________ is the story of _____________, who ___________ and, after __________, finally _________.”
All that is required of the next 12-15 sessions is to fill in all the blanks and use that information to set up a scene structure. The first “blank” is the title of the show, and the least critical blank to fill in. The second “blank” is the name of the protagonist and the third can be an inciting incident in the story or a reference to the character’s objective in the play. The fourth “blank” is the crisis in the story structure and the last is the climax of the play (or, alternately, the denouement). Having specific points in the story fit into the five blanks is actually far less important than using the sentence to focus discussion and decision-making; this stage of the process is the most challenging—it requires great focus and the ability to make decisions.
By now, students generally have a sense of several directions the story of the play might take, and they can start to express their story ideas. It’s useful early on to keep lists of possible ideas around the rehearsal space on oversized paper so that the group doesn’t lose track of ideas. Our group also sets up an online forum/message board for students to use to reflect on the developing story — students in the group can access the forum before and after rehearsals as ideas occur to them.
Decision-making is a tough part of the process. The goal is to find the most compelling story elements from among the ideas generated, but kids quickly learn that a decision to pick one idea automatically eliminates others. It’s important to keep focused on the notion that there are more ideas generated than can be used and that the ideas dropped might be just as good as those picked, though maybe not best for the given group. The role of the teacher-director is key at this point in the process; groups are often unable to reach consensus, and the teacher-director should intervene when decision-making bogs down.
One of the first key questions to answer is “Whose Story Is It?” The group may have a sense of a story emerging, but it can be tremendously focusing to decide who the protagonist is before too much time goes by in this stage.
As protagonist and story line develop, I tend to map out the story using large sheets of paper in the rehearsal space, with one sheet for each major plot point. We also use the papers to write individual scene “keepers” or “what we know” lists, as well as lists of characters in the scene. We have found it essential to create a strong chronology of plot elements for our stories, but also to acknowledge both that we may have fewer scenes in the play than plot elements and also that the play itself need not proceed chronologically. “Beginning, middle, end” is essential for us to understand the story behind the play we’re shaping, but it might not be the way the final piece is shaped.
It is also useful to remember at this stage that decision-making and discussion don’t always go hand-in-hand. Discussion can be discursive, meandering. Students may argue doggedly for an idea without a sense of how the idea will actually “play.” Our motto at this point becomes “The Proof is on the Stage.” Sometimes quickly staging an idea will be very effective in telling the group if the idea works, and it can save hours of discussion.
During this part of the process, a range of possible characters will emerge, and there may be more or fewer characters than actors. In our process, we are committed to having all the students in the group perform, but sometimes there is an ensemble of players not taking specific roles. In Escaping Alcestis, one group of actors played rather small roles in early scenes and later returned later as “Death’s Chorus” in our strange, comic underworld. In Chairs, eleven of the eighteen cast members were simply “The Progeny,” a group of beings in black business suits who seemed at first merely to manipulate scenery but who gradually became more involved in the action. Our goal was that the audience slowly realize that The Progeny represented aspects of the central character’s psychosis. One-character-per-actor might be a useful ratio to have in mind as you work through the shaping process, but there is no way to guarantee that the process will yield that number of characters, and the integrity of the piece might suffer by trying to satisfy the desire of all the actors to have a single, well-defined character to play. Central to the process is the play being created, not creating roles for actors to perform.
HITTING THE WALL
It doesn’t happen every time through the process, but even with as many as eighteen creative students and a creative teacher-director guiding, “writer’s block” can develop. At those moments, I usually go back to notes or postings on our online forum to see if there is an element we’ve overlooked that might get us back on track. And I’m a big fan of writer Paddy Cheyevsky’s “Laundry List” of questions for writers to ask, especially these three:
- Where is the love story?
- When does the villain kick the dog?
- Where is the generosity (toward all the characters)?
In the end, most “creative blocks” are really failures to make decisions. If necessary, the teacher-director should make the decisions necessary to keep the process moving. And the sense of movement itself is important once the group is past the Exploratory Rehearsals. I end every rehearsal in the “story shaping” portion of the process by creating a list of “What We Found Out Today.”
CASTING
My least favorite aspect of the self-scripting process is that I have to cast twice — first, I have to cast the ensemble of 16 to 18, then, within that group, I have to cast the specific roles. When to cast within the ensemble? Given that individual actors will put their own stamps on the roles, it is important to cast the show before scripting begins. Sometimes the whole show can be cast at once, and sometimes casting is best accomplished in “waves.” For The UncertainTea Principle, I cast the twin protagonists first and then gradually cast the rest as the scene structure evolved. Escaping Alcestiswas cast in one fell swoop. For our first workshop piece, Last Night at Lorenzo’s, set on the final nights of an Italian restaurant, I cast many member of the ensemble simply as “customers” or “wait-staff” and worked with students to create specific characters within those groups, casting specific roles in the groups once they’d been created. I have had days when I try out several kids for a key role as part of the rehearsal, to get a sense of how a specific actor will develop a character. We accomplish this as part of the working process—I make sure that kids know what role I’m looking at and who should play that role in a particular group. Students are all aware of who is “up” for specific parts when this happens, and that helps to focus their thinking about the characters and the way the piece is developing. This also makes casting decisions easier for many kids to understand.
On the other hand, because kids can become very attached to characters as they develop them through improvisation, it can be more difficult than for a scripted show for some to accept casting decisions. My approach is to tell kids ahead of time that I will do my best to make them all happy with the casting decisions—but that I want to make them happy as playwrights, not as actors. My decisions are based on developing the cast that will best show the play they are writing.
SCRIPTING—Four to Six Sessions
Different directors approach the process of committing a script to the page differently. Some have students work in small groups to write the scripts. My preferred approach is “technology heavy,” but it does move the script forward quickly. Once the scene structure and casting are complete, I have several groups improvise each scene multiple times and assign cast or crew members to each scene as scribes, typing dialogue into word processors as quickly as they can. Students can rework a scene several times quite quickly and thereby produce several “drafts” of scene dialogue before sitting down with the teacher-director to pull the drafts into a working version. A small group of students (cast and crew) and the teacher-director can be assigned to create the “master draft,” pulled together from all the scene work created. We have pulled a working draft together for a forty-minute play in three or four two-hour rehearsals. The script can come together quickly, especially if several groups improvise simultaneously, even though that makes the compilation of the “working draft” more complex. I always wait until after casting is complete to script, and I continue to have each role improvised by several actors, all contributing to creating the dialogue for all the characters.
STAGING, DESIGNING, BUILDING—Four to Six Sessions
One great challenge of the self-scripting process is in getting the piece on stage in a very short period of time. For directors used to working with scripted material, the idea of going from first working draft of a script to a fully staged production in three or four rehearsals is terrifying, and it also scares kids new to the process. But student-scripted “workshop” shows are unique in their ability to “come together” quickly. Because the entire cast is aware of the process of creating the story and characters from scratch, students are remarkably able to learn lines and blocking quickly, even while continuing to revise the script. For our most recent workshop play, Chairs, we blocked the piece four days before we were to open and then had our first run-through the next day. At the end of the run-through, with 15 minutes left in rehearsal, we realized that what should have been the central scene in the play did not yet exist! We spent five minutes brainstorming what the event of the scene needed to be and then improvised for ten minutes (furiously typing dialogue). The next day, the scene — the longest in the play — was on its feet and working well. The show that had looked like a mess seventy-two hours before opening suddenly made sense.
Our stagings tend to be simple, especially since we take our self-scripted productions on the road to our state drama festival. Fortunately, the end of our process coincides with a week-long school vacation the week before production. We use that time to design and prepare sets, costumes, lighting, props, etc. It is a creative “rush,” but it fosters quick and clear decision-making. Fortunately, the process often results in contemporary settings that are relatively easy to create and costumes that are often straightforward and easy to establish. Our first two workshop shows had only street clothes, though the settings were elaborate and the properties involved a lot of specific and sometimes difficult detail. Our two most recent pieces have involved abstract choices that were more challenging to costume, but the settings and props were much simpler.
PRODUCTION AND REVIEW
Nothing teaches a cast about its show like an audience, and we review, rewrite and revise after every performance. Sometimes our changes are significant — we have thrown out and re-created the endings of almost all of our pieces after opening night — and sometimes they are subtle. Students become acutely aware, though, of what aspects of a piece are working and are always eager to revise to help bring the pieces to their most successful form. Like many directors, I am always eager for a cast to “take over” a show. I find that when a cast takes ownership, students are more focused, more effective and happier. One of the great benefits of the workshop process is that students really have full ownership of the work. As we move into production, it is possible to step back somewhat from the teacher-director role and participate as a collaborator as the work moves through performances. That provides me with great satisfaction as a teacher.
SUMMARY
I used to create plays with my students — generally adaptations of existing literature — every other year. Since we have started using the workshop process to create fully original plays, my students have demanded that we go through the workshop process at least once a year. I’ve discovered that moving students through the workshop process is one of the most powerful learning experiences I can provide. Not only do they learn about the creative process and about story-telling and dramatic structures, they learn to collaborate authentically, to give and process feedback selflessly, to create without ego and to look at their own work and the work of others with more keen critical eyes. I have even used the workshop process with scripted pieces — our recent production of Shakespeare’s late romance Pericles, Prince of Tyrewas staged through the workshop process, with students trying out staging concepts through improvisation and discussion.
Taking the plunge and attempting this self-scripting process is an intimidating idea, and I still value the skills students get from working on scripted plays, struggling to realize the vision of a playwright. However, the growth I have seen in my students as they go through the workshop process has made the choice to risk it a choice I would make again without hesitation.
Creating an Improv Play
On more than one occasion we have had teachers call us up with the following scenario: They had the idea that they would improv a play with their students, but a month later it's not working out at all and they need a play pronto.
Creating an original work with a class is a great idea, but definitely a great challenge. It's not as simple as playing a few improv games with a script magically falling into place.
I have two plays that were created directly from improvisation. The first was certainly haphazard: I was with a group (a long, long, time ago) who was going to perform at a benefit. Of course we left the planning to the last minute! We knew we wanted short, snappy scenes. We started talking about our own answering machine messages, so we used that as our theme, which grew into phone calls in general. We brainstormed ideas and scenarios, then wrote them down in the car on the way to the theatre. That benefit performance was the genesis for This Phone Will Explode At The Tone . It was an incredibly short process! Luckily we had worked together a lot and had formed a effective and efficient working relationship: an absolute must when dealing with this form. When you are comfortable with your partners it's so much easier to develop ideas.
The second play was more planned out and purposeful. I was directing a play for a group but didn't get the right combination of numbers to cast the play I had chosen. Instead of letting go those who had tried out, I decided that we would do an original work: We would improv scenarios based on specific themes, which I would then craft into a play. This turned into Among Friends and Clutter . Each week I would come to rehearsal with one of the three themed sections of the play (friends, family, and love) we would have a discussion about the theme, and then break off into groups to create scenes based on the conversation. This format worked because the themes were narrow. It allowed all the actors to be on the same page and in the same frame of mind. Also, there was a definite leader in the group: it was always clear that I would have the final say of the structure of the piece.
So how do you use improv to create a play? Here are a few rules to follow:
1. Create a comfortable working environment
Students need to feel comfortable working together. There is a definite rhythm within an improv group. The more in-tune the group is, the more risks they will take, and the more interesting ideas will appear. Before your group starts working on a play, they should be very familiar with all the standard improv games and exercises.
2. Choose a specific theme
The more specific the better. That way, students aren't sitting around thinking of things to do - they have a direction. You can go even further and have a brainstorming session to create a list of ideas before you break into groups, and then give each group something on the list to focus on. Always start from a narrow place. This way your group can work toward success instead of floundering in too vague of an idea.
3. Choose a format
Are you going to do one twenty-minute, single-plot play? A variety of short scenes on one theme? Two themes? Three? Will there be a prologue and an epilogue? Will there be a narrator? The more specific you are about the form of the play, the easier it will be to focus on the content. Also, everyone will know ahead of time what they are working toward.
4. Choose a length
Seems like something obvious, but again it's all a part of specifying the form. If everyone is on the same page, it's much harder for things to fall apart.
5. Character and Story
Even in improv it's all about character and story. The more specific the characters are, the easier it will be to improv with them. The more specific the story, the easier it will be to take it off the page.
6. Someone has to be the leader
Improv plays don't write themselves. Someone needs to make the final decision on where the scenes are placed, if any additional material needs to be written, and is responsible for a log of what the group does at each rehearsal. Some tasks can certainly can be delegated to students (for example, voting on the use of a particular scene) but there should always be that “final say” person. It allows an project to keep moving forward. I would suggest that if a particular group does a scene that everyone agrees is going into the final product, then that group is responsible for writing it down.
Fighting Writer's Block
Writer's Block is that terrible moment when a writer stares at the page and the page stares back and nothing happens. You feel like your head is empty and you'll never figure out the problems and the play will never be finished and your life is ruined. Ok, maybe that's just me. I'm actually pretty good at dealing with Writer's Block. It truly is a mental hurdle. All you have to do is jump over, instead of slam into it. Here are a number of exercises to try when you come face-to-face with Writer's Block:
Write an Outline
Sometimes it helps to write out the story in point form. You'll learn pretty clearly where there are holes that need to be filled.
Write the Last Scene First
Write your play out of order. You don't have to go from beginning to end. Write a scene from the middle. Write the end first so that you have an idea of where you want to go with the play.
Focus on the Characters
The more you know about them, the more you can write about them.
- See the character journey exercise in the Book Report.
- Write a letter from one character to another.
- Write a character profile for each character. Some questions to answer:
- What is the character's full name?
- What is their age?
- What is the make-up of their family?
- Five favourite things?
- Five things they hate?
- Favourite memory?
- Least favourite memory?
- Childhood memory?
- Write a background scene showing the first time your characters met.
Stream of Consciousness
Take a designated time period, (five minutes, ten minutes) and write. Your job is to not let that pen stop moving or your fingers stop on the keyboard. Don't self-censor. If you have to write about how you don't have anything to write about, write about that. Write about the play or something off topic. Use the senses. Describe in minute detail what you did this morning. The purpose is to get ideas flowing without an inner voice telling you to stop because it's bad. I would strongly suggest each writing session starts with a warm up or stream of consciousness exercise to loosen up the brain.
Stream of Consciousness Part 2
You can narrow the focus of your stream of consciousness writing. Come up with three lists of People, Places, and Things. Pick one from each list at random and then force yourself to write a scene that includes all three. Give yourself a time limit to complete the scene. The most important thing here is to get from beginning to end no matter what.
Change the Medium
Write your idea as a poem or a song. Approach it from a different angle. It will show you how clearly you understand your subject matter.
Research
If your block is directly related to your subject matter go back and do more research on it. But don't abandon your writing! Every time you find something interesting, be it an additional fact or headline, or detail, write a monologue, write a scene about it. Keep connected to the work.
Ask Questions
Who, What, When, Where, Why. Who are the people in the play? What are they doing? When are they doing it? Where are they doing it? Why? Why do they make the choices they do? Why are they making their choices at this exact moment? Why are they in the play? And lastly, why are you writing this play?
Writer's block only succeeds when the writer stops writing. Some of these exercises may work for you, some may not. Writing is an individual process. You have to find what works for you. Any and all writing is good. Just keep at it.
Coaching Monologues
Rob McCubbin, Head of Theatre at Widdifield Secondary in North Bay, Ontario, and Bradley Hayward, California-based monologue coach and competition judge offer some great advice based on their experiences with coaching monologues. Bradley is one of our new authors with two plays due out this fall: Apostrophe's and The Waking Moment.
Should teachers choose pieces, or let the students choose them?
ROB: I often have the students write their own first before moving on to professional works. I sometimes do an exercise where they do a monologue for an inanimate object, like a Coke Can. It allows them to make up a story, but not have to be on stage yet. They speak from behind the curtain. When it comes to professional work, I offer them a package and they choose from the package.
BRADLEY: I'm a strong advocate of allowing students to choose their own pieces. The hunt for great material is part of the fun. As an actor, I love the excitement when I read something I simply have to bring to life. That's when my imagination runs wild, and my heart becomes entirely invested in the piece. I find the same thing happens when a student comes across a piece they relate to. That said, I would steer clear of monologue collections. Not only are they overdone, but they are out of context. By encouraging students to read entire plays, they will not only understand the scope of the entire monologue, but they will be exposed to some fantastic scripts!
How do you coach a single student in a classroom of 20 students?
ROB: I have the students work in pairs and give each other feedback first. Then I, over the course of a five day period, work with individuals on their monologue. They have the rubric evaluation (ed. A point scale of established criteria) before we start, so I always use it for feedback. I am a very hands-on kind of guy, so I'm constantly feeding them new questions and working on their choice of position and their use of gesture. I find these to be the hardest to teach. Getting students to recognize the strength in stillness and the power in committed gesture is not an easy task. They see too many shrugs in movies and think it works in theatre.
BRADLEY: I think it's easier for students to recognize their strengths and weaknesses by evaluating the work of their peers. Whenever I coach multiple students, it's difficult to divide my time evenly. Therefore, I devised a plan that would allow for my complete attention, along with that of a dozen or so others. I have my students perform for each other so that everyone can offer advice and reactions. I continue to work one on one with each student, but make sure that at least once every couple of weeks we go through this performance ritual. It's very encouraging, for myself and my students, to see the progress each person has made from week to week.
What exercises are the most effective for improving monologue performance?
ROB: The exercise I use most to improve the monologue is an old standby. Run around the theatre and get tired out, so that you slow down your delivery and recognize the phrasing in a piece of text. I also try using gibberish, speaking to a 4-year-old, speaking to a blind child, and speaking to a deaf child. I learned these a number of years ago and they really work. You have to judge your idea based on the student you're working with.
BRADLEY: Perform in front a mirror and try to maintain eye contact throughout the entire piece. This sounds easy, but it requires a surprising amount of concentration. Then try the same thing with a friend. Stand face to face and recite the monologue, only breaking eye contact long enough to blink. It's important to maintain eye contact with the audience, and after this exercise, doing so for a large crowd will be a snap.
At what point in the semester do you recommend doing monologues? The beginning? The end?
ROB: I do monologues at the end of semester, because they allow me to evaluate the growth and understanding of a student in terms of how well they wrap themselves around text. I do them when we've already discussed choices and intention, and when the discussion of subtext has already taken place. I often link my monologue lessons together with vocal exercises. They compliment each other well.
BRADLEY: Monologues are great practise for actors of all skill levels, so I think it's best to start work on them immediately and continue throughout the year. Professionals are constantly honing their monologue skills in between productions, just like stretching before exercise. It keeps the creative juices flowing.
How do you grade a piece?
ROB: As far as measuring progress, I see the monologue performed at least twice before the big presentation. On most occasions, I measure the progress by the student's initiative in bringing in costumes and props, by recording blocking suggestions in their script, by experimenting vocally and not falling into the trap of doing it the same way every time. I record notes the first time and then cross them off as the student moves through the process. The more I can cross off, the better sense I have of the student improving their craft. I never force them to take my idea, but I do expect them to have one to replace mine. No choice is a bad choice every time.
BRADLEY: Like an entire play, monologues must have a beginning, middle and end. The biggest problem I find is actors who start far too dramatically. When you start too big, there's nowhere for the performance to go. It is much more interesting to watch an actor start smaller and then build to an exciting climax. Also, in a competition setting where there are time limits, 99% of the monologues I see are rushed. Rather than choose a 3-minute speech and cram it into 2 minutes, I'd much rather see a 1-minute speech where the actor is free to take his/her time.
What pieces do you never want to see again?
ROB: There is nothing I never want to see again. It may sound cheesy, but art never ends. Why should I put a stop to it? I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I really believe that.
BRADLEY: All plays by Christopher Durang (especially Laughing Wild), all plays by Neil Simon, The Coloured Museum, A My Name is Alice, Crimes of the Heart, and Feiffer's People.
Anything else?
BRADLEY: Avoid too much physicality. Let the vocal and facial performance speak for itself, rather than compensating with a lot of movement.
Never use one end of a telephone conversation. Very few actors do this well, and it completely excludes the audience.
Most importantly, students should NEVER apologize for their performance. No matter if they are sick, forget a line, or are just plain nervous, they should continue as if they are at the top of their game. Instead, encourage students to use these problems to their advantage. If the student is sick one day, so is their character. I've seen great performances ruined by apologies, such as "I usually do it so much better." As a judge, past performances don't matter. Confidence will conquer any and every flaw.
Starting from Shakespeare - Using the Text to Find Choices by Allison Williams ( Hamlette , Mmmbeth , Drop Dead, Juliet! )
As an actor or director, it can be difficult to figure out where to begin with Shakespeare’s plays. Especially when directing younger actors, it’s hard to ask them to do the personal rehearsal and thinking time needed when they are intimidated by the language or unclear on what to do during a long speech. When I write spoof adaptations of Shakespeare, one of my biggest intentions is to preserve and clarify some of the beautiful original text, while opening up the story with modern language and ideas. Often, I begin by looking at the plays as an actor, trying to figure out the logic and ideas in each scene. Here are some of the tools I use that can be a place to begin with an unfamiliar scene.
1)The power of the notebook
It’s important to have a notebook to record research and observations. You may want to make a copy of just your scenes, enlarged to make room for word pronunciations and other notes; or paste script pages into a notebook, with wide margins available to write in.
2)Visceral response
First read the scene aloud without stopping, commenting, or discussing. Hard words should be sounded out as much as possible, but it’s not about ‘getting it right’ at this point (No-one can prove how Shakespeare actually said the words, anyway). Everyone should look at the actor who is speaking—it’s better to have a moment of silence and realize ‘it’s my line!’ than to be focused on waiting for a turn to speak. Do this two or three times in a row, responding in your notebook each time. Starting questions could be:
- Were there lines or words that made you feel a certain way?
- Were there times when you felt connected to your partner, or when you felt that they understood you?
- When did you feel disconnected, or like they didn’t understand?
- Did you start to feel any emotions?
Each time you read, try changing how you speak the lines, and see if the responses change.
3)Basic researchFind a summary of the play that the scene is from. It’s best to read the whole play if you have time, but a summary can get you started, and give you a story to latch onto as you start learning the language. Discuss where in the play the scene falls, what’s already happened, and what’s going to happen. Remind the actors that they know the end of the play, but the character does not, and their knowledge of the end can’t color the scene they are in now. For example, in the balcony scene, Romeo doesn’t know that Juliet is going to be dead at the end of the play—he’s still happy and excited!
4)Word ResearchAsk the actors to go through the scenes with their partner(s) and mark in the margin of the script or list in their notebooks any words whose meaning they don’t know or are guessing. Then look up the words, writing a definition or synonym for each one.
- First, try a regular dictionary.
- Then try an unabridged dictionary.
- Then use Shakespeare’s Lexicon , a book which lists every word Shakespeare uses in his plays.
Look for similes and metaphors. Often, Shakespeare’s characters will express their feelings by comparing themselves or their emotions to something in nature or mythology. The actors can note these in their script. Perhaps ask the questions:
- What similes and metaphors does your character use? Why did they choose each of them?
- What literal meanings do they have?
- What characteristics of the compared item is the character using to exemplify their own behavior or feelings?
Check through the lines forunfamiliar grammar. Look for verbs in odd places (especially at the beginnings of sentences), adjectives after nouns, and anything else that seems different than modern sentence structure. Figure out which nouns the descriptions go with, what the subjects are of the verbs, etc.
After figuring out the words, it can be fun to write aparaphrase of the whole scene in modern language, with each actor doing their own lines (or actors with shorter parts helping the longer ones). What modern slang would the characters use? Read this out loud and see if everyone now understands what they’re talking about. Then go back to the original language, and after reading the scene, talk about anything new that happened now that the language is clearer.
5)Up and at ‘em.
OK, so you’ve read the script a bunch and you finally understand the language - how do you start putting it on its feet? Fortunately, Shakespeare meant his plays to go up with very little rehearsal time - it wasn’t unusual for actors to put up a play in about a week of rehearsals, while performing three or four other plays. So he wrote clues into the scripts to help the actors know what to do.
Look for stage directions in the text. Do you say “I weep” or “I laugh” or “I wring my hands”? Does someone tell you to “stay” or “come in” or “keep seat”? We know from reading the script that Banquo’s ghost nods his head at Macbeth, because Macbeth says, “If thou canst nod, speak too.” We can guess that Macbeth indicates that he may commit suicide before he says “Why should I play the Roman fool, and die on my own sword?”
- Do you describe your behavior?
- Does someone else in the scene describe your behavior?
- Does Shakespeare give any stage directions that describe your behavior?
Once you understand the language, it all gets easier. Remember, research leads to learning, learning leads to understanding, and understanding leads to being able to make fun of great literature.
Hot Off the Press
At long last, Allison Williams' latest Shakespeare spoof is available.
Drop Dead, Juliet!by Allison Williams
4 Men, 13 Women, 30 Minutes
Juliet has had enough! Enough with the poison, enough with the stabbing, and especially enough with the dying. She wants a new story and she wants it now. More parts for girls! More romance! Less death! "Romeo and Juliet" will never be the same - or will it? Not everyone's so keen on the changes. And why is Romeo sneaking off with Rosaline?
Get it today at: http://www.theatrefolk.com/store/play/87
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In the Next Issue
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