Playing Catch Up - Shakespeare & His Contemporaries - Session 3

Rubrics:
1. Intense Warm-Up
2. Commedia Work
3. Kim’s talk on Unrehearsed Shakespeare

Our first full class. Mick started by splitting up the PostGrads and the UnderGrads so he could lead the UnderGrads in his own warm-up and the PostGrads could do there own thing. A lot of people did stretching. While stretching is a fine warm-up it would have been much better to do more to get the blood flowing. Thankfully, our one true athlete, the other Adam, knows better and got us all sweating.

Mick then led the whole group through some Commedia style exercises paired with some Viewpoints-esque technique, getting us moving with different body shapes, leading with different parts of the body. This led wonderfully into an intro to Commedia Dell’Arte and the Lazzi. He took us through various Lazzi:



These stock characters present themselves all over Shakespeare’s works. See handout on Commedia.

Kim Carrell then led a presentation on the Unrehearsed Shakespeare technique. Working on theories of Patrick Turner and Tiffany Stearn, about the very limited rehearsal process that must have occurred in Elizabethan Theater. Basically, everything you need to know can be found in the First Folio Text. All the clues are in the text, which I agree with I’m just not sure that those are the only clues that one can/should use. Theater has evolved since Elizabethan times, why would you ignore that fact? I have no doubt that this “Original Staging” Practice work but I have yet to be convinced that it can work well or be compelling theater to watch.

But I am interested in learning more about it.

Playing Catch Up - Shakespeare & His Contemporaries - Session 2

Rubrics:
1. Intro to Twelfth Night, or What You Will
2. Introduction to Iambic Pentameter
3. Name Game
4. Discussion of Shake-A-Day and Scholarship

The PostGrads started our session an hour into class and Mick began by reading to us one of the earliest reviews of Twelfth Night. In it the writer focused much more on the Malvolio subplot that the main love triangle (or quadrangle as it were) of Orsino, Viola/Cesario/Sebastian, and Olivia (quadrangle and a half?). Mick commented on that Twelfth Night, the date itself stands on the day when festivities are coming to a close and people are getting back to business after the Christmas celebrations. He mentioned this idea encapsulated by the painting below - Peter Brueghel’s The Battle Between Carnival and Lent. Things are pulling in different directions, it’s Hendenism versus Rationality, embodied perfectly in the play between Malvolio and Sir Toby.



Mick then led a basic intro to Iambic Pentameter which was fun. Always good to have a refresher in these basic principles. He broke us up into groups and had us create first just basic iambic pentameter lines and then insults. When he had a member of each group stand up and hurl the insults at another it was quickly clear those who have experience speaking the iambic pentameter text. He mentioned a great quote that I’m still trying to find by Ted Hughes, saying something to the effect that Shakespeare wasn’t super difficult but rather super simple. Shakespeare goes straight to the point whether the language takes him there or no.

We then did some basic getting to know you things. Mick split us up into groups to talk about what ‘Theater Games’ we knew and liked. I’m am pleased to say that they know Big Booty over here as well. Awesome. We also play a Name Game and some Hugging Name Tag. Yes, it’s pretty much exactly what you are thinking.

We ended class by taking about the Shake-A-Day project, basically 24 Hour Theater but with Shakespeare and the Edwin Rudd Scholarship. Definitely participating (Shake-A-Day), definitely applying (Scholarship).

Playing Catch Up - Research Methodology - Session 1 - 6 October

Rubrics
1 Introduction
2 Assesemtns
- Peformance Analysis
- Annotated Bibiliography
3 Research Interests

The Resarch Methodology course, which is required for all first year post graduate drama students, is taught by Jerri Daboo. She began by introducing the class and going over what our first few sessions would be and what we would be assessed on.

We have two assessments for the course:
• Performance Analysis – basically a critical look at a performance we see or have seen. We’ll start looking at this in week 3. It’s supposed to be around 2000 words.
• Annotated Bibliography – a detailed bibliography. Not due to February… Brit schools are weird.

Daboo then went around the room and had us all introduce ourselves and what our research interests were. Thankfully I was near the end of the circle so I had some time to think… some of my MFA StageShax class mates clearly had to quickly bullshit somethings up. Thankfully we’re all pretty intelligent PostGrads so our bullshit sounds pretty legit. I managed to write some of them down.
• Daboo – Michael Checkov
• Richard K – ‘Punch-Drunk’ performance style, creating the theater around the play, audience immersion
• Kathrin R – Women in Shakespeare
• Adam C – Language (?)
• Ian C – Shakespearean Villiany
• Steven – Meisner background, performance
• Marcus – Philosphy, Music in Shakespeare, Authority in Shakespeare
• Sharanya – Shakespaer Adaptations, Intercultural
• Bec – Contemporary Peformances of Shakespeare
• Kel – Contemporary Adaptations (?)
• Kim – First Folio & Early Performance Practice
• Nic – RSC Initiative (?)
• Ellie – Original Staging Practices
• Evelyn – Outdoor & Touring Shakespeare

For my own part, I said I was interested in Contemporary Shakespeare Adaptations, Devised Shakespeare Production, Violence in Theater/Shakespeare, Multimedia and Shakespeare. Or at least that is what I’m more and more convinced I am interested.

Playing Catch-Up - Shakespeare and His Contemporaries - Session 1 - 5 Oct (first hour only)

Rubrics:
-Commerical Theater
-Assesments
-Relationship between Practical/Academic

This marked our first official class... and it pretty much summed up what we had done the day before in our MFA Staging Shakespeare Intro session. We got to “meet” the undergrads, and by that I mean we got to hear their names as Mick (Magan, the instructor for the course) read them off of the roll.

We then briefly discussed our assesments for the class. The first being a Practical Production/presentation that incorporates multiple texts from the reading lists. It’s still unclear as what this is actually going to turn out to be. Most likely an exploration of theme or type of character, either way it will be good practice at combining texts for my “Heavy Lies the Head” production concept. The other part of our overall grade is what I am writing now. A journal/diary/random thoughts of class going session by session. This will be 4000-5000 words long and just be our own reflection. I’m going to be attempting to do this for all my classes and post it up on my Musings from the Motherland blog.

Finally, the postgraduates ended our session with Mick briefly discussing why he doesn’t ask for us to attend class in black/neutral movement clothes. It is his belief, and an opinion with which I happen to agree, is that by putting on that ‘uniform’ sets a tone and a mindset that, “I’m here to move, not to think and produce.” He still wants us in clothes that we can move in so that we can still do all the work we have to do on our feet.

But it just confirms for me that this is the right program for me.

Playing Catch Up

So I've been a real shit on starting this blog.

I had meant to do it before I left Chicago. I had a ton of posting ideas that I have been writing just not posting for some odd reason. Oh, I know the reason, I was moving to a foreign country for two years.

Then I got to said foreign country and had to settle in. It's going well. I've started my classes (as you'll read), meeting new people and adjusting to British Culture.

It's not exactly 'Culture Shock' but it is a difference. I'm adjusting what I make for food, what I buy for food, adjusting to school life again, adjusting life w/o a car... it all adds up.

Fortunately, I can say I'm having a blast. The classes are fascinating and the one I think I'm going to enjoy the most hasn't even started.

Over the next week I hope to 'Play Catch Up' with my posting. Posting class journals, thoughts on what I'm reading, performances, life in Exeter... you know anything that interests me.