UNIT 3: SHAKESPEAREAN THEATRE - ROMEO & JULIET

Commedia dell’Arte and Shakespearean theatre are very different, but very similar in many different ways. Although both forms have various individual aspects, we can compare and learn form one, to move into the other. 

 

Commedia dell’Arte	Similarities	Shakespearean Theatre
Specially known for use of masks.	Actors essentially bring in their own costumes, which are their everyday clothes.	Costume would reflect social status, like if they were king or peasant.
Performances could take place anywhere, in a market, etc. Very minimal set and stage things.	Daytime performances, couldn't afford candles for night time.	Usually performed in a theatre, for example the Globe theatre.
Had Italian origins in the 16th century.	Fourth wall was constantly being broken, very audience interactive.	Had English origins in the 17th century.
Very comedic (lots of lazzi) and most of the play was improvised.	The audience could be anyone, from monarchs to peasants, but they were understandable	More focused on tragedy, horrible things happening in life, and the play was written with specific lines.
Women were allowed to act and were played. Essentially they were equal to men onstage.	Actors were hired for a specific role that they could play.	Women were not allowed to perform.
Used gromalot as language (if it can be called that)	The church was opposed to both types of theatre and thought they were satan worshippers.	Primarily in old english.
Stock characters were used, where one would have a basic idea of a character and go based on that.	Although they were performed differently, there was some form of rehearsal in both types of acting.	Different characters for different plays, although some characters may seem similar, each play would have a set of characters.
Sound was usually exaggerated and created by performers.	Important to project and exaggerate so that the entire audience could understand what was happening.	The sound was very important. Tickets would cost more if there was a better sound quality.

       

Sources:

Class work
Previous Commedia knowledge
Video watched in class (I don't have the link)

http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2014/01/costumes_cosmetics.pdf

The Love of Three Oranges

When I first attended the MS Play CCP, I wasn't sure exactly what we would be doing. Then I got my script and really read the story, and I loved it. In the beginning, I wanted to be the narrator, because I thought it would be quite an interesting role. But during auditions, I changed my mind. I no longer wanted to be that character, I wished to be Fata Morgana (dun dun dun), the dark, powerful witch. I thought I could do better at this role, and have more fun with it, as she is the main evil character. I was so excited when I found out I got the part.

The end process of putting together this play seemed a bit rushed. In the beginning, it felt like we had loads of time, but after auditions, it was a month and a bit. Then a month, then two weeks, and before we knew it, it was time for the show! I really tried getting into my character for this show. I would practice my inflection and projection, stand in front of the mirror and speak my lines to myself, randomly go up to Adhora and scare her, and overall try to be sinister and wicked.  Every rehearsal was a chance for me to become someone completely different onstage, and that was exactly what I intended to do.

On Wednesday the 26th of March, 2014, the cast and crew of The Love of Three Oranges had our first and only proper dress rehearsal, the day before the show. It did take us a reeeeeally long time, however I think I did quite well. I remembered almost every single line of mine, got really into character and made sure to project clearly, while going through my scenes at an appropriate pace. I would give myself an 8 because I personally think that I developed the skills I needed to learn really well and I was able to completely become my character. Also, my ideas were clear as my character and I think I did a good job at acting like the witch.

When I compare both nights, I think the first night was the better performance. Although the sound cues got messed up a lot, I think that made the performance itself all the more hilarious. Before the show I was so nervous, I think I started to hyperventilate a bit. But when I went on stage, I was comfortable in my character, and I knew what to do. When I finished my bit, I knew I could do the whole rest of the play, no sweat. In the end, I loved the play so much, and wished I could watch it some way. Everyone performed really well, however I think Rehnuma and Adhora did the best because Adhora completely became the prince, and Rehnuma was just plain hilarious the entire time. I would again rate myself an 8 out of 10 for the same reasons. I think this is what most of us would get, with the exception of a few, like Rey, Adhorra and Kheilah, who I would give a 9. I think the best part was the messed up sound cues because when I compare it to the second night, the first got us many more laughs.

The second performance was lass of a trial and more of a "we got this, we can do it" sort of thing. The sound cues were pretty good, which was the one big blip from the night before, but personally I liked the first show better. The second show I pooled my hair up like crazy so that I would look like more of a witch. I was supposed to wear a wig, but my character is sort of clumsy and falls twice, so when I practiced that with the wig it just didn't work. The second night was also worse for me personally because I forgot a line and had to make something up while I panicked, so I sort of skipped a few lines. I don't think the audience noticed, but for the rest of the night I was kicking myself for forgetting. Everyone did amazingly in the show again, and the grades I would give them would be the same, however, I would bring mine down one because I made the really obvious mistake in my opinion.

I really got into my character this time, which I was able to do easily. I am proud of  this because most of the time it doesn't happen that naturally (could be something to worry about, but whatever). I will take away a lot of my new learning about the 80's and this will be a show I will never forget. I would have to say, my favorite things about this were: my costume (loved it) and the part where I took over the story (felt very proud of my character).

I really learned how to get into character, but also how to interact with the others in my ensemble, age differences aside. I really liked the fact that it was ladies and Rafsan, because I think that made me feel more comfortable. Although they were long, I enjoyed some of the later rehearsals because it gave me a chance to relax backstage with my friends and overall have a fun time. For next time, I will try to fully memorize my lines, because that was the one big thing that really bugged me, because I forgot one line on stage, on the final night. However, overall this was an amazing experience and I really enjoyed it.

Evaluation-Final Commedia Performance

-What were the strengths of your performance? 

I think our performance was strong in the ways that, we had only one prop which was the chair. Also, we tried very had to communicate using gromalot, and we brought up audience members two times during the show. I tried to lead with open hips and stay down to earth, while also trying to remember to move in figure of eights. Especially with my gromalot, I tried to be very expressive and exaggerate my emotions. There were many mimed interactions with the environment and invisible props. The scene was slightly above two minutes which was in the discussed time limit. 


-If you were to score your performance, what would you score be? 

I would score myself a 30/35 or an 8/10 because I feel that I often attempted to exemplify my com media character (the witch) and think I was mostly successful. I think I had complex and varied exaggerated facial expressions and there were bold interactions with the audience, which included having them come onstage and feel comfortable, being able to lead them through. There were more than 5mimed interactions with the environment and I think they were all clear. As mentioned before we used fewer than 3 props. I tried to make my commedia status especially in relationship to the fact that I was a witch and Aditi was the First Actress. I believe the scene was a little longer than 2 minutes and so was within the discussed time limit. Finally, I think my gromalot was mostly understandable even if it was similar the entire time. 


-Overall, do you think you did your best in this performance? 

I think I tried my best but could have done better by being more clear about my actions in some parts of the act. I was also told that all my gromalot sounded very similar the entire time, and so I could have done better in that area. I remember trying to keep low and represent the witch, but continually forgetting that. 


-What could you have done to improve your performance if you had the opportunity to perform it again? 

If I were to do this performance again, I would practice a bunch more times, so that the main structure was completely learned, but so that a little bit was still slightly improvised, as I think that makes things funnier. I would also