Shakespeare Coach Emily Staudt breaks down the Bard in a fun, approachable way
Showing posts with label perform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perform. Show all posts
Thursday
VIDEO - Speaking the Speech
Before you "speak the speech", follow these tips to make Shakespeare's language sound natural and authentic and like YOU!
Wednesday
Breaking Down the Bard - Tarry, rash wanton!
The first Shakespeare play I ever did was A Midsummer Night's Dream, when I was in sixth grade. I've done it several times over as an adult, and there is one line that was completely butchered - in meaning AND pronunciation - in two of the productions I've done: Tarry, rash wanton!
These are three words that are pretty much extinct in our modern world, strung together. It's not really surprising that it trips people up all the time, but since Midsummer is among the most popular of Shakespeare's plays in both schools and professional theatre, you should definitely know what it means.
Tarry means "stay". Rash means "hasty" or "impulsive". Wanton is not to be confused with the delicious Chinese food dumpling (wonton); and it is pronounced WAHN-tuhn. Wanton has a few different meanings, ranging from a wild and carefree person, to a tomboy, to a sexually promiscuous woman. If you want to learn how to use Alexander Schmidt's Lexicon, which can help you understand just about any word as used by Shakespeare in the contexts of his plays, I have a step-by-step guide here.
Each production can choose which interpretation of wanton they prefer, but a loose "translation" could be:
"Hang on, you reckless skank!"
Wanna step up your Shakespeare game?
Email shakespearecoach@gmail.com to schedule your first session!
Breaking Down the Bard - WTF is a Soliloquy?
The soliloquy. It's a crazy word that theatre peeps (and others not in the biz) throw around, knowing full well that it's going to go over the heads of some people, and then they, the person saying "soliloquy", will hopefully sound really, really smart for using this high-earning Scrabble word. I'm going to demystify this term, by letting you know what it means and some ways you can do it effectively onstage!
A soliloquy (pronounced suh-LIL-uh-kwee), is the sibling of the monologue. A monologue, in theatre, is generally defined as a prolonged speech by one character to another in a scene. A soliloquy is when one character is speaking while or as if they are alone. Macbeth's "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech is a monologue, because he is speaking to Seyton. However, Viola's "I left no ring with her. What means this lady?" in Twelfth Night is a soliloquy because Malvolio has made his exit and Viola is left onstage to discover that Olivia is mistakenly in love with her. In a soliloquy, the character might reveal more private thoughts than they would in the presence of others; I would argue that characters in Shakespeare do not lie to the audience, though they may lie to each other. If a character is alone onstage, they are speaking truthfully.
Shakespeare gives many of his characters these private moments to discuss their thoughts, and there are generally two different methods of attack when deciding how to stage these tricky speeches:
1. The actor is talking to him/herself, and is unaware of the audience.
The "fourth wall" is a concept that most theatregoers are familiar with, whether they know it or not. The actors on the stage are in their own little world of make-believe, and we watch them. They talk to the other actors onstage, but pretend we, the audience, don't exist - even when we laugh at their jokes or a cell phones rings from the 7th row during a climactic moment. That being said, this first performance option has gained popularity in the last 100 years or so, as audiences grow to expect the action onstage to be removed from the reality that there is, in fact, an audience in the same room as the actors. If the actor is talking to him or herself, they are usually trying to sort out a plan, or what to do next, which can be effective for certain speeches (Hamlet's "To be or not to be" is an obvious example).
2. The actor is speaking directly to one or more members of the audience.
In this scenario, which is considered to be more appropriate to the environment of Shakespeare's plays when they were written and originally performed, the actor delivering the soliloquy speaks to the audience. The audience is acknowledged as being "in on" the action of the play; they see everything, and therefore are often privy to insider info. When Richard III shares his plan to undo his brother, George, and to marry the newly-widowed Anne at the end of Act I, Scene 1, and then gloats to us in another soliloquy at the end of the next scene ("Was ever woman in this humor woo'd? Was ever woman in this humor won? I'll have her, but I will not keep her long."), we are made co-conspirators to his wicked plans - and it's a lot of fun to root for the bad guy! And when Prince Hal tells us of his plan to redeem himself from his wild ways at the end of Act I, Scene 2 in Henry IV Part 1, we are given an intimate view of the prodigal prince that he doesn't show to Falstaff or his father, the king!
There are other ways to tackle the soliloquy that can be surprising:
In 1988, Sir Derek Jacobi directed a production of Hamlet and had Kenneth Branagh deliver "To be or not to be" directly to Sophie Thompson, who played Ophelia, bringing her onstage before her traditional entrance at the end of the speech. Turning the soliloquy into a scene between Hamlet and Ophelia was an inventive way to stage this insanely famous speech.
Turning a soliloquy into a voice-over can also be an effective storytelling tool, particularly in film. We can get the idea that we are inside the character's mind while they continue about their business onstage (or onscreen) and their voice relays their inmost thoughts.
So, how do you know the best way to handle your soliloquy? My best advice is to try it out in rehearsal every way you can think of!
Benedick's "This can be no trick" in Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, Scene 3 could be to himself, or to the audience, who has just witnessed the ridiculous plot laid by his friends to convince Benedick of his love for Beatrice. If the show is being played as a particularly broad comedy, it might be better to involve the audience in this conversation - but it depends entirely on the production!
On the other hand, when the novice nun Isabella weighs her choices about how to proceed when she is propositioned by Angelo to save her condemned brother's life in Act II, Scene 4 of Measure for Measure, it might not serve her so well to ask the audience "Did I tell this, who would believe me?" because we would believe her - we were there! Again, this is something to test in rehearsal to see what works best for that individual production, taking into account the pros and cons of talking to oneself or to the audience!
A soliloquy (pronounced suh-LIL-uh-kwee), is the sibling of the monologue. A monologue, in theatre, is generally defined as a prolonged speech by one character to another in a scene. A soliloquy is when one character is speaking while or as if they are alone. Macbeth's "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech is a monologue, because he is speaking to Seyton. However, Viola's "I left no ring with her. What means this lady?" in Twelfth Night is a soliloquy because Malvolio has made his exit and Viola is left onstage to discover that Olivia is mistakenly in love with her. In a soliloquy, the character might reveal more private thoughts than they would in the presence of others; I would argue that characters in Shakespeare do not lie to the audience, though they may lie to each other. If a character is alone onstage, they are speaking truthfully.
Shakespeare gives many of his characters these private moments to discuss their thoughts, and there are generally two different methods of attack when deciding how to stage these tricky speeches:
1. The actor is talking to him/herself, and is unaware of the audience.
The "fourth wall" is a concept that most theatregoers are familiar with, whether they know it or not. The actors on the stage are in their own little world of make-believe, and we watch them. They talk to the other actors onstage, but pretend we, the audience, don't exist - even when we laugh at their jokes or a cell phones rings from the 7th row during a climactic moment. That being said, this first performance option has gained popularity in the last 100 years or so, as audiences grow to expect the action onstage to be removed from the reality that there is, in fact, an audience in the same room as the actors. If the actor is talking to him or herself, they are usually trying to sort out a plan, or what to do next, which can be effective for certain speeches (Hamlet's "To be or not to be" is an obvious example).
2. The actor is speaking directly to one or more members of the audience.
In this scenario, which is considered to be more appropriate to the environment of Shakespeare's plays when they were written and originally performed, the actor delivering the soliloquy speaks to the audience. The audience is acknowledged as being "in on" the action of the play; they see everything, and therefore are often privy to insider info. When Richard III shares his plan to undo his brother, George, and to marry the newly-widowed Anne at the end of Act I, Scene 1, and then gloats to us in another soliloquy at the end of the next scene ("Was ever woman in this humor woo'd? Was ever woman in this humor won? I'll have her, but I will not keep her long."), we are made co-conspirators to his wicked plans - and it's a lot of fun to root for the bad guy! And when Prince Hal tells us of his plan to redeem himself from his wild ways at the end of Act I, Scene 2 in Henry IV Part 1, we are given an intimate view of the prodigal prince that he doesn't show to Falstaff or his father, the king!
There are other ways to tackle the soliloquy that can be surprising:
In 1988, Sir Derek Jacobi directed a production of Hamlet and had Kenneth Branagh deliver "To be or not to be" directly to Sophie Thompson, who played Ophelia, bringing her onstage before her traditional entrance at the end of the speech. Turning the soliloquy into a scene between Hamlet and Ophelia was an inventive way to stage this insanely famous speech.
Turning a soliloquy into a voice-over can also be an effective storytelling tool, particularly in film. We can get the idea that we are inside the character's mind while they continue about their business onstage (or onscreen) and their voice relays their inmost thoughts.
So, how do you know the best way to handle your soliloquy? My best advice is to try it out in rehearsal every way you can think of!
Benedick's "This can be no trick" in Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, Scene 3 could be to himself, or to the audience, who has just witnessed the ridiculous plot laid by his friends to convince Benedick of his love for Beatrice. If the show is being played as a particularly broad comedy, it might be better to involve the audience in this conversation - but it depends entirely on the production!
On the other hand, when the novice nun Isabella weighs her choices about how to proceed when she is propositioned by Angelo to save her condemned brother's life in Act II, Scene 4 of Measure for Measure, it might not serve her so well to ask the audience "Did I tell this, who would believe me?" because we would believe her - we were there! Again, this is something to test in rehearsal to see what works best for that individual production, taking into account the pros and cons of talking to oneself or to the audience!
Wanna step up your Shakespeare game?
Email shakespearecoach@gmail.com to schedule your lesson!
Click here to get my FREE cheat sheet on the Top 5 Mistakes Actors Make in Shakespeare Auditions!
Click here to get my FREE cheat sheet on the Top 5 Mistakes Actors Make in Shakespeare Auditions!
Monday
My First Broadway Audition
I
was 19, and auditioning all the time. This is back when I was attempting
to get my "big break" (whatever that is) in the musical theatre scene. I
had arrived ridiculously early at the Actors Equity building, and had
been waiting all morning with hopes that whatever I was auditioning for
would have time to see me. After a few hours on the wooden benches, the monitor came to us to let
us know that there would not be time for us to be seen, BUT, the audition for
the upcoming Broadway production of Wonderful Town was wide open.
The
audition for Wonderful Town was being held at Chelsea Studios, which is
20 blocks (about a mile) from Equity. It was a beautiful day, and I
figured I could walk over, which would be faster than the train due to
construction. I wanted to be quick, in case word got out that the
audition was empty and every actor in New York decided to head that way,
too. I didn't even change my shoes, in order to save time.
I
walk/jogged to Chelsea, signed in, and was seen right away. As I walked
to the piano, the Casting Director was staring at my shoes, which were
these tan platform things that were new, clunky, and didn't really match my dress. As I sang, the Casting
Director kept looking at my feet, and I was beating myself up about
wearing the "wrong" shoes. I don't remember how well I
sang or acted or anything... Both the CD and I were clearly thinking
about my unfashionable footwear.
Puzzled, I gathered my stuff and got as far as the bathroom when I saw it: thick, crimson, blood was all over the side of my tan wedge shoe, and still continuing to pour out of my left foot, right where the strap and buckle were digging into my flesh. I hope I wasn't making puddles on the floor of the studio as I auditioned. In my excitement to audition for Broadway, the adrenaline pumping through my body, and my knowledge that sometimes shoes need to be broken in, I didn't even feel the tear in my skin that was upstaging me during my audition! I was horrified, but I shrugged it off as a memorable first audition for Broadway; comforted by the thought that my future auditions for the "Great White Way" would probably be less gory.
Do YOU have a crazy/memorable/embarrassing/hilarious audition story?
How Your Musical Theatre Skills Will Make You A Kick-@$$ Shakespearean Actor
If you can "kick your face" and "belt for Jesus", I'll bet you already have a lot of skills that you could use as a Shakespearean actor! Did you know that musical theatre has a lot in common with Shakespeare? I'm not just talking about the adaptations of Romeo & Juliet into West Side Story or The Taming of the Shrew into Kiss Me, Kate. There are skills that cross over between the two art forms that you might not have realized!
Both Shakespeare and musical theatre contain scenes that have performance elements that elevate the production beyond what the audience experiences in daily life. If someone is singing at you in real life, you'd probably think they were crazy, and that guy spitting rhymes on the subway is probably not the next Kanye, BUT when an audience sees a show, they buy into the world of the play where these situations are normal! These activities would seem ridiculous if they weren't being done onstage, but skilled actors can pull it off. These actors can jump back and forth between normal, everyday speech (aka prose) and singing or speaking in verse at the drop of a hat, and when it's good, it is so good, amiright?
Another skill that artists in both types of theatre need is a facility with rhythm and meter. An actor who can tell a story through a song, where the speed and rhythm of the lyrics are predetermined, while still making it seem as though they are uttering these words aloud spontaneously is probably giving a memorable performance! This isn't much different from Shakespeare's verse, where the structure of the rhythm is given to a performer and it is their job to bring the words to life while maintaining the poetry in the text - it might actually be easier, since the actor may not have to belt a G simultaneously!
Not to be overlooked is the fact that there is often music and dancing in Shakespeare's plays. Performers with a background in musical theatre are at a distinct advantage here, as they are accustomed to telling stories through dance and song! There have been countless productions of The Tempest with Ariel played by a dancer, and although no one says that Ophelia is the best singer in Denmark, it certainly doesn't hurt to have a trained singer playing her when she goes mad!
So whether it's Othello or Oklahoma!, Hamlet or Hamilton, actors with these skills are some of the most versatile (and kick-@$$) around!
Christian Borle as Shakespeare in Something Rotten!
Photo: Joan Marcus
Both Shakespeare and musical theatre contain scenes that have performance elements that elevate the production beyond what the audience experiences in daily life. If someone is singing at you in real life, you'd probably think they were crazy, and that guy spitting rhymes on the subway is probably not the next Kanye, BUT when an audience sees a show, they buy into the world of the play where these situations are normal! These activities would seem ridiculous if they weren't being done onstage, but skilled actors can pull it off. These actors can jump back and forth between normal, everyday speech (aka prose) and singing or speaking in verse at the drop of a hat, and when it's good, it is so good, amiright?
Another skill that artists in both types of theatre need is a facility with rhythm and meter. An actor who can tell a story through a song, where the speed and rhythm of the lyrics are predetermined, while still making it seem as though they are uttering these words aloud spontaneously is probably giving a memorable performance! This isn't much different from Shakespeare's verse, where the structure of the rhythm is given to a performer and it is their job to bring the words to life while maintaining the poetry in the text - it might actually be easier, since the actor may not have to belt a G simultaneously!
Not to be overlooked is the fact that there is often music and dancing in Shakespeare's plays. Performers with a background in musical theatre are at a distinct advantage here, as they are accustomed to telling stories through dance and song! There have been countless productions of The Tempest with Ariel played by a dancer, and although no one says that Ophelia is the best singer in Denmark, it certainly doesn't hurt to have a trained singer playing her when she goes mad!
So whether it's Othello or Oklahoma!, Hamlet or Hamilton, actors with these skills are some of the most versatile (and kick-@$$) around!
Wanna step up your Shakespeare game?
Email shakespearecoach@gmail.com to schedule a lesson!
Click here to get my FREE cheat sheet of the Top 5 Mistakes Actors Make in Shakespeare Auditions!
Click here to get my FREE cheat sheet of the Top 5 Mistakes Actors Make in Shakespeare Auditions!
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