Saturday 3 October 2015

Assignment 1 - Researching Classical Plays - Entry 1: The Original Staging and Performance Style of 'Much Ado About Nothing'

Brief Introduction:

'Much Ado About Nothing' is one of the comedic plays written by William Shakespeare during the middle of his career as a playwright, it has been considered by many to be one of Shakespeare's best plays in terms of its comedic stature.

The Original Staging of 'Much Ado About Nothing':

The first original performance of 'Much Ado About Nothing', during Elizabethan times, would have been performed in the original Globe Theatre in London. The setting of the play is set in Messina and takes place mainly within the grounds of Leonarto's estate.

One thing that Shakespeare didn't have, which we do, is stage elements such as Lighting and Set. Performances of all plays would of mainly started at mid-day, since that's when the sun is overhead and can shine its rays into the open roof of the Globe Theatre. Although there tends to be lots of scenes that take place during night-time, the actors on-stage signify this to the audience by bringing out sources of light such as candles/lanterns. Other than using simple props, there would have been lines said by the characters within that certain scene to refer to the weather/time of day that is occurring within the play. This also brings the participation of the audience into the play, as they would have to imagine that it is night-time in order to get the full effect. The same goes for the set, the characters can say lines that feature the appearance of an object/scenery even if it's not there to be seen by the audience. Thus, they would have to use their imagination again to get that full effect and to be drawn into the world of the play.

Costumes would have also been a huge deal during the time of Shakespeare. A sufficient currency was quite rare for the average folk, meaning that Shakespeare would have had limited resources to use in terms of costumes. Over the span of all of his plays, it would be quite common to see the same costumes being used, or at least a variation of it. For example, we could see Beatrice wearing a certain dress in 'Much Ado About Nothing`, but then see the same dress again in 'Romeo and Juliet'. By doing this, Shakespeare had saved quite a lot of money to use for other things such as more props/objects of interest, drinks/food for the cast members, to change the set of the Globe Theatres stage to match the theme of the play being performed, and to get background musicians/singers.

Traditional Costumes in Shakespearian play's would have looked like this:



Of course, depending on the status of the character, the costume would be designed differently. Much poorer people would have worn rags, or some form of cheap clothing. Whereas in this picture, which features quite noble looking people, their clothing is tailored and fitted to them in an expensive material.

This picture can be used as an example for costumes that poorer people would have worn:



The Architectural design of the original Globe Theatre looks a little bit like this:


















As we can see, each area of the theatre has it's own special purpose. Let's delve into the key areas of the original Globe Theatre so we can get an informed idea as to what they would of been, or still are, used for, like in plays for example.

The Yard:

 Also known as 'The Pit', this area of the Globe would contain the poorest of the poor to watch Shakespeare's shows. To think of how it must of been for these people to stand for hours upon end watching these plays is indescribable. People in Elizabethan times would of only had to pay 1 penny in order to stand in the Yard to watch the performance. This area was typically known to be quite dangerous, as it was right in front of the stage where the action is contained, and if, for example, props were thrown around the stage, the people in the yard are more at danger of being hit by these props as there is no safety rails.

This area of the theatre typically contained a large crowd. So much so that there would be people in rows of lines shoulder to shoulder. The bad thing about this is that whenever someone would, for example, need to do their 'business', they had to do it where they were standing, as there was no room to get out of the theatre. As we can gather, this area of the Globe Theatre was pretty untidy back in the day of Shakespeare, there are numerous safety hazards to think of here, not to mention the many risks people would have gone through standing right next to each other. Diseases and hygiene were a big deal during these times.

One of the main bad things about standing in The Yard, is that it's below an open air roof, meaning that if it were to rain during a performance, people standing in the Yard would obviously get wet. The ground was also covered with litter, so there would have been plenty of rodents coming out to snatch potential wasting's during performance times, putting the audience in this area at risk of disease.

When the weather is much warmer with clear, sunny skies, the people standing in the Yard would of been commonly referred to as the 'Stinkards' - meaning "smelly people" in a sense. Audience members in the Yard would have crowded around the entire stage in a square shaped fashion following its structure.

I took a picture at the Globe Theatre in London showing what the full Globe Theatre would look like:


The 3 Levels of Galleries:

These 3 areas of the Globe Theatre belong to the people that paid a little bit more than those standing in the Yard. To put it into a modern, realistic perspective, say there were 3 price ranges for the seats in the Gallery. The bottom Gallery costs £3, the middle costs £5, and the top one costs £7. To compare these prices to that which would have been in Elizabethan Era, they would change to the bottom costing 2 pennies, the middle costing 3 pennies, and the top costing 4 pennies.  The higher up you are in the gallery, the more recognized you are, especially in Elizabethan times, as it would have signified that you were richer than the people sitting below you. There are two sets of stairs outside of the theatre which would lead up to each level of the gallery.

Unlike the Yard, the Gallery does have a roof which would cover the audience from the rain (if it were to occur during a performance). Each gallery going up has 3 rows of seats, with each one going back being longer than the one before to follow the shape of the Globe Theatre. Sitting in any area of the gallery would had obviously given you a much better view of the performance compared to the people standing in the Yard, which is a compliment and a reason towards the higher price.

Here is a picture I took of all 3 levels of the gallery:


The 4th Gallery AKA The Stage Gallery:

 There is one area in the original Globe Theatre's design that was very special, This area is called The Stage Gallery. It follows the same concept as the 3 Levels of Galleries, but this area was specifically designed to seat the richest of the richest, which would of been the royal family at the time. These rich people will be on-stage above the actors whilst they perform, meaning that everyone standing/sitting in front of the stage will see them as well as the actors.

In certain scenarios, such as Juliet's balcony scene in the play 'Romeo and Juliet', the rich people sitting on the Stage Gallery will be right beside the actor performing their lines in the scene, which allows them to perceive the scene in a much different way than everyone else in the entire theatre. Musicians in the performance would have also been placed within this area.

The Gentlemen's Room:

Much like the Stage Gallery, although this area isn't on the stage itself, the Gentlemen's room was an area specifically designed to sit the more posh people within Elizabethan society. These rooms are located on the upper left and right side of the stage, being the same height as the 3rd Gallery and they were private areas only to sit very posh people. Just the same as the royal family, the people in the Gentlemen's room would be seen by other spectators in the theatre.

This area of the theatre would have also cost 4 pennies, possibly the same as the 3rd level in the gallery, but this area came with complimentary cushions to sit/lean on.



The Stage:

The stage of the Globe Theatre in the Elizabethan Era would have been quite large, probably the same size as the modern day version. The stage is made of wood and, depending on the play, would be covered with leaves, flowers etc.

The stage is also quite tall, here is a picture that I took of the modern day Globe Theatre stage just so you can get a visual representation:


The steps in front of the stage are for the sole purpose of the performance being shown. The stage wouldn't normally have these steps, but you can get an idea of how tall the stage is just by imagining it without the steps.

Here is a picture without the steps: https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=622&q=the+globe+theatre+gentlemens+room&oq=the+globe+theatre+gentlemens+room&gs_l=img.3...1000.7325.0.7614.33.14.0.18.18.0.98.1017.14.14.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..14.19.1072.vsdRZYI29hU#imgdii=dCNvTpq93IVcVM%3A%3BdCNvTpq93IVcVM%3A%3Bt3UxV1PIiGtcgM%3A&imgrc=dCNvTpq93IVcVM%3A



Trapdoors (Hell And Heaven):

There is a trap door located on the stage itself, and the purpose of this is to create dramatic visual effects such as smoke, people being hanged, creatures raising from hell, and sometimes ghosts of evil characters would spawn from this doors. This trapdoor in particular wasn't just simply called a trapdoors, it was eventually given a specific name: Hell. This does make sense since it's below the stage and there were also plenty of situations in plays where creatures, or some sort of hell spawn, would come up from this trapdoor. Examples can be the ghost of Hamlet's father in 'Hamlet', and Caliban in 'The Tempest'. There would have also been quite an atmosphere coming from this area, since Shakespeare also used sound effects. He did this by way of having instruments being played slightly, actors pretending to be certain animals and also making creepy noises to signify the entrance of a ghost.


There is also another trapdoor located on the Globe Theatre stage...right above the trapdoor for hell on the canopy. This trapdoor was specifically given the name: Heaven. Again, for the simple reason that actors would come down from above to the stage. Instead of creatures and ghosts, there were angel's/fairies. There would have also been stunts performed to get the actor off stage quickly. There is rope and several rigging lines above the roof of the stage that allows the actors to fly around the stage after entering from above.

Here is a picture of 'Heaven': https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1034&bih=851&q=globe+theatre+heavens&oq=globe+theatre+heave&gs_l=img.3.0.0.3456.9112.0.10285.25.17.3.5.6.0.133.898.16j1.17.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..0.25.914.RGBcQvVAt8k&safe=active&ssui=on#safe=active&tbm=isch&q=globe+theatre+heavens















The Stage Pillars:

There are pillars located on the Globe Theatre stage that are primarily used to help support the canopy of the stage. These pillars also play an interesting role in all of Shakespeare's plays, for example, in Act 2 Scene 3 of 'Much Ado About Nothing', Benedick withdraws from the main stage to hide from Don Pedro, Leonarto, and Claudio as they enter the scene after his monologue. While the scene transpires with the three characters, Benedick is in the background behind the pillars to hide his presence. These pillars can also be imagined as a piece of scenery, such as trees for example.




The Original Performance Style of 'Much Ado About Nothing':

'Much Ado About Nothing' is one of Shakespeare's more uniquely notable plays since the majority of the dialogue spoken between all of the character's in written in Prose. Shakespeare had moved between both Verse and Prose in his writings to add more realism to each character, increasing their purpose and individuality within a scene/play. It also gives his plays a much more rhythmic pattern, making it much more interesting to read as each line flows fluently and creates a much better imaginative picture.

The Iambic Pentameter:

These are the three forms of The Iambic Pentameter William Shakespeare had used in his plays:

Blank Verse:

When William Shakespeare used the Blank Verse form for The Iambic Pentameter, each line began with a capitalized letter, even if the line ended with a comma instead of a full stop, the next line was to begin with a capitalized letter. This was still done without regarding the standard rules of capitalization. Blank Verse is employed in a wide range of situations, because this form comes closer to the natural speaking rhythms of English but will also raise it above the ordinary without sounding artificial. Blank Verse, opposed to Prose, is used mainly for passionate, lofty or momentous occasions and for introspection; it may suggest a refinement of character. Many of Shakespeare’s most famous character speeches were written in Blank Verse. The plays include 'Macbeth', 'Henry V', 'Hamlet' and 'The Tempest'. A speech or scene written in Blank Verse may end with a single rhyming couplet known as a capping couplet. It is mainly used to lend a final punch, a concluding flourish or a note of climax to end the speech or scene.

Rhyme Verse:


The Rhyme Verse is often used in ritualistic or choral effects and for highly lyrical or sententious passages that give advice or point to a moral (for example, the Duke’s speech at the end of Act 3 in 'Measure for Measure'). The Rhyme Verse will also be used for songs written in the plays (Amiens in 'As You Like It'; Feste in 'Twelve Night'; Ariel in 'The Tempest', and Balthasar in 'Much Ado About Nothing'). In examples of bad verse (the Pyramus and Thisbe scene in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream', and Orlando’s bad poetry in 'As You Like It'); also being contained in Prologues, Epilogues and Choruses of plays (the Chorus in 'Henry V', Pucks Epilogue in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'). in Masques (Hymen In 'As You Like It', Iris, Ceres and Juno in 'The Tempest'). And plays within plays (Pyramus and Thisbe in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream', the Mousetrap play in 'Hamlet'), where it distinguishes these imaginary performances from the ”real world” of the play. It is also used for many manifestations of the supernatural (examples like the witches from 'Macbeth', the fairies in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'; Ariel in 'The Tempest'), but it will not be used for Ghosts/Spirits in plays (examples like the ghost of Hamlet’s father in 'Hamlet'), who retain the human use of Blank Verse.

An Explanation of Prose:

Shakespeare had designed Prose to be much different than Verse. Instead of having beats to each syllable (Iambic Pentameter), for example, da-DUM / da-DUM / da-DUM / da-DUM / da-DUM, Prose would be notable with lines that just go on like modern day people speak. There would be no form of rhyme within the line, and there would be little to no use of correct punctuation, such as commas and full stops.

Prose is used whenever a line seems more bizarre than others. Scenes that use Prose more commonly is in the play 'Macbeth', since some of the characters in this play have scenes where they actually go mad (examples include Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth). There are also other plays that use Prose. For example, plays like 'Hamlet', 'Ophelia', 'Edgar' and 'King Lear'. Some audience members at the time of Shakespeare considered Prose to be too regular and orderly for expressing madness. Prose would mainly be used in cynical commentary (examples range from Jacques and Touchstone in the play 'As You Like It', Edmund also in 'King Lear'). It is used for simple exposition, transitions or contrast (used in the first scenes of 'As You Like It', 'The Tempest', and 'King Lear'). It is used also in scenes of everyday life (Bottom and company in 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream', Corin in 'As You Like It', and William, Bates and Court in 'Henry V'). Furthermore, Prose can be used for bantering, relaxed or unbuttoned conversations happening in plays (Celia, Rosalind and Touchstone in 'As You Like It', Gower, Fluellen, MacMorris and Jamie in 'Henry V', Prince Hal and Falstaffin in 'Henry IV', and Beatrice and Benedick in 'Much Ado About Nothing').

In Shakespeare plays, Prose would be used more commonly by lower classed characters so that they differentiate from the higher class, which would use Verse. This would not always be the case, however, since 'Much Ado About Nothing' features mostly higher classed characters but the majority of the script is written in Prose. I guess this is what makes the play stand out above all other Shakespeare plays since nearly all of the characters are relatable and I personally feel that using Prose more than Verse makes me more inclined to watch the play as I have a better understanding of the language used.

By taking the formal language from Verse and putting it into Prose for the majority of 'Much Ado About Nothing' also adds a lot of comic value by the form of Dogberry and his crew. These characters can be seen as lower class citizens, yet they are using formal language which would be used normally by people of higher status. Shakespeare plays around with this however by having real lower classed characters, such as Dogberry, use formal words but not pronouncing them correctly or using them in the wrong context.

For example, when watching the adaptation of 'Much Ado About Nothing' starring Catherine Tate and David Tennant, and also reading the script, Dogberry had this line to say in Act 3 Scene 5 whilst he was talking to Leonarto:

"One word, sir: our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two aspicious persons, and we would have this morning examined before your worship."

What Dogberry is meant to be saying in this scene is the words "Apprehend" and "Suspicious", but for the reasons as said above, it proves to be a memorable moment of comic value within the play.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to include the same adaptation of 'Much Ado About Nothing' in this blog, but I can include a link to a YouTube video containing the scene that I've just spoke about. Dogberry says the line at 1:52: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zmOn6uSDyI

The actors in this video don't use it to the same effect as the one we watched in class, but nonetheless, Dogberry says the same line and it's funny as it makes no sense.

Shakespeare had used a whole bunch of rhetorical devices within the play, this may have been done because he mostly used Prose rather than Verse. By using this language technique, Shakespeare had made his characters connect to the audience, whether that be within a scene with several characters or in a soliloquy, to evoke an emotional response such as laughter, sadness etc.

Here are some of the more eye-catching Rhetorical Devices he had used in the play:

Rhyming - Different words that sound the same. For example in Act 5 Scene 2, Benedick has this song to sing. The rhymes will be in Bold:

"The god of love,
That sits above,
And knows me, and knows me,
How pitiful I deserve,--
I mean in singing; but in loving, Leander the good
swimmer, Troilus the first employer of panders, and
a whole bookful of these quondam carpet-mangers,
whose names yet run smoothly in the even road of a
blank verse, why, they were never so truly turned
over and over as my poor self in love. Marry, I
cannot show it in rhyme; I have tried: I can find
out no rhyme to 'lady' but 'baby,' an innocent
rhyme; for 'scorn,' 'horn,' a hard rhyme; for,
'school,' 'fool,' a babbling rhyme; very ominous
endings: no, I was not born under a rhyming planet,
nor I cannot woo in festival terms."

Repetition - Saying the same word multiple times in a sentence. This rhetorical device is used frequently in 'Much Ado About Nothing' since repeating a word or phrase draws more attention to it. For example, in Act 5 Scene 2, Beatrice says this line:

"Foul words is but foul wind, and foul wind is but foul breath"

The word 'foul' is repeated six times in just three lines. I think this was done because Shakespeare wanted the audience to draw more attention to how unhappy Beatrice is at this point in the play.

Alliteration - When saying multiple words that start with the same letter in a sentence, for example "Aardvarks are awesome". Let's stay on topic, in terms of the play, I do have an example. In Act 1 Scene 1, Beatrice and Benedick are trading insults to each other and then Beatrice says the line:

"A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours."

Notice how she is using the letter 'B' to essentially be contemptuous toward Benedick. Seeing that it's a line that flows well with the tongue, in my opinion, I consider it to be the most impactful insult in the scene between the two characters.

references: https://www.digitaltheatreplus.com/study-guides/much-ado-about-nothing/language/prose-less-naturalistic-than-verse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing#On_stage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Theatre, http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/

http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/globe-theatre-interior.htm

http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-globe-theatre-structure.htm
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)