On 22nd March, at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, I saw 'The Knight Of The Burning Pestle' by Francis Beaumont, directed by Adele Thomas, a production I found interesting in comparison with 'Much Ado About Nothing' which I saw on 3rd May at Shakespeare's Globe, directed by Max Webster. Two actors who struck me particularly were Matthew Needham as Rafe and Hannah McPake Mistress Merrythought in 'Pestle', and Emma Pallant as Beatrice and Simon Bubb as Benedick in 'Much Ado'.
Matthew Needham interpreted the character of Rafe to be a timid, guileless young man, uttering a barely audible 'peace, mistress', when trying to quieten the citizen's wife, hesitantly touching her shoulder but quickly retreating. We, as an audience, instantly understood his low status. This contrasted with McPake's Mistress Merrythought, who came across as a proud, vain and rude woman, who I found instantly hilarious but dislikable. When she refused to bless her son Jasper she swung her arms around fancifully, without much direction, showing her to be full of hot air. Pallant's Beatrice was instantly assertive, spending much of the first scene stage left, away from Leonato. She is not moody, however, but fiercely independent, lowering her pitch on 'I know you of old', making the tone more serious, informing he audience that she has depth. Bubb's Benedick was unconvincingly brash, as if he was using his comedy as a front, as can be seen when he is taken aback by Beatrice, before physically composing himself, smiling, speaking his first line.
All styles of acting were naturalistic, although somewhat stylised so as to achieve comic effect. When Rafe is brought onto the stage in the prologue, his arms hang limply and straight at his sides and his wide eyes dart nervously about stupidly. The audience all laughed audibly, finding it humorous that one so unprepared had found himself in that situation. Michael Billington made reference to 'Needham's guileless Rafe' in the Guardian, which was a very apt word choice. Merrythought's physicality was equally odd, but more confident, such as when talking to Michael she would turn direction mid-speech and swoop across the stage with apparent purpose, which I found a particularly amusing aspect of the play. This corresponds with Billington's reference to her performance as 'boisterous', which is true, though I might have chosen a less aggressive word. Pallant's physicality was stern; she would step heavily across the stage, evidently with resolve, something which would excite the audience, expecting a confrontation. Bubb was much more reserved, tending to stand further upstage, and making less sudden movements, often moving his arms before his legs in hesitant gestures.
In Rafe's stilted heroic monologue, Needham achieved a staccato effect, adding ridiculous emphasis to the rhymes in the couplets to a comic effect for the audience: this showed him to be an inexperienced actor, a difficult role for an actor to play. He also characterised his social low-standing by his omission of 't' in many words, and pronouncing 'th' as 'f'. Dominic Cavendish in the Telegraph described this as a 'have-a-go knight errant', which I found observant. By the time of his blank verse he has come to grips with acting somewhat more, lowering his pitch to a growl on 'my trusty dwarf', raising it on 'distressed damsels'. He also regulated his tempo, giving enough time for complex sentences to be understood. Mistress Merrythought used her voice often to comic effect, such as when she put emphasis on 'Michael' each time, softening her voice to a sickly doting, exaggerating her preference for this son. When she says 'I have lost my money in this forest', she raised her pitch to comic proportions, clenching her fists, her voice breaking somewhat with the frustration, something I found indicative of her character.
Thursday 22 May 2014
A comparison of the stage design and other technical aspects of two production that I have seen.
On 23rd March 2014, I saw the Rose Theatre's production of 'The Massacre At Paris' by Christopher Marlowe, directed by James Wallace, which I found interesting when compared with the design concept of Cheek By Jowl's 'Tis Pity She's A Whore', seen at the Barbican Centre on 24th April 2014, directed by Declan Donnellan and designed by Nick Ormerod. Both designers chose to remove the plays from the Elizabethan and Caroline eras respectively, as well as playing down the significance of geographical setting, France and Italy respectively, in favour of a stylised realism with expressionistic elements. Massacre had a 1950s Hollywood vibe which served to comment on modern desensitisation to violence, whilst 'Tis Pity was set in generic modern bedroom, to emphasise the importance of Annabella's experience over the locale.
Both productions were staged in black box theatres, with the front row of the audience on the same level as the actors, the rows behind tiered, and used their stage design to explore a humanist theme, rather than the original context of the play. In Massacre, whilst the stage was only four meters deep, the railings at the back looked out across the foundations of the old Rose Playhouse, which served as an acting space representing distance, such as for those who fled Paris after the purge. The props onstage were a modern leather stool upstage and a high square wooden table with a three-tiered wedding cake and knives. The stripped back nature of the design was appropriate in terms of the production's focus, which was the effects of intense violence, rather than the historical event itself. In 'Tis Pity, the play also sought to explore the main theme more than the historical context of the play. The setting was clearly Annabella's bedroom, with a wall upstage, reaching only as high as an ordinary wall covered with teenager's posters to make the scene feel domestic. Set in the wall was a door upstage left, to the bathroom, and upstage right, to the hall. Stage right there was a wardrobe, and a table stage left. Annabella's bed was positioned centre stage, around which the majority of the action took place.
Lighting was used to set the tone of the plays: in Massacre, during the massacre itself, the main lights were turned off and torches were shone into the faces of the audience. This changed the mood to a frightening one for me, as well as indicating the time of day as being night. It also contributes to the composition of the scene, as the torches are shone onto the victims momentarily as they die. Here we see only small, fragmentary aspects of the scene, making the audience feel disoriented. Miranda Fay Thomas, writing for What's On Stage, remarked that "Wallace's production [...] revels in the play's carnivalesque atmosphere of slaughter and maniacal despotism". Low lighting was also used in the scenes where the Duke of Guise was alone, giving us the location and time of day as being inside his house in the evening, and allowing us selective visibility only, of the Duke. It also set the mood as solemn, scaring the audience. 'Tis Pity also uses lighting to establish mood, however in a more expressionistic manner. The opening sequence was bathed in a harsh red light, unrealistic and therefore setting the style as somewhat expressionistic. It also foreshadowed the copious amount of bloodshed to ensue, and was described by Paul Couch as the 'churning crimson sea of Nick Ormerod's retina-straining set'. This best describes the reaction evoked in the audience members, a sense of stomach-churning nervousness.
Music was used often to create a mood, such as in the Duke of Guise's death scene when dramatic choral music was played. This was a moment of particularly effective staging, as the murderers stabbed the Duke in slow motion, and red confetti was thrown from the 'wounds' across the stage to symbolise blood. Here we had a mock-melodramatic death, which was still quite emotional for me. In the Massacre, fifties rock music was played as the onstage deaths occurred. This staging was particularly effective because it created an irony, as the popular music was playing to the violence, commenting on how both are now media products, both disturbing and amusing the audience. In 'Tis Pity, music was more a part of the play as opposed to overture, but it again was used in ironic instances. Tarantella music was played at the wedding of Annabella and Soranzo, which was humorous for me as the wedding guests were all dancing a clearly choreographed dance to the Italian influenced music in a bizarre situation. Dance music was played in the opening sequence, setting the tone of the play as dynamic and modern.
As for costume, both productions used mainly suits, as the majority of characters of the plays were mainly high ranking males, best portrayed in a modern production with suits. In Massacre, Guise wore a silver penchant round his neck, indicating him being very overtly religious, to extremes. In 'Tis Pity, the religious cardinal was portrayed by dressing him in the traditional ecclesiastical apparel, rather than a single symbolic accessory. This showed up the church as behind the times, since this is the only character who would be dressed the same in original Renaissance production. Annabella wore blacks and a checkered red cardigan, making her look particularly girly, with her hair tied up. Much clothing, such as shirts, blouses and even trousers, were often removed, contributing to the sensuality of the production.
Both productions were staged in black box theatres, with the front row of the audience on the same level as the actors, the rows behind tiered, and used their stage design to explore a humanist theme, rather than the original context of the play. In Massacre, whilst the stage was only four meters deep, the railings at the back looked out across the foundations of the old Rose Playhouse, which served as an acting space representing distance, such as for those who fled Paris after the purge. The props onstage were a modern leather stool upstage and a high square wooden table with a three-tiered wedding cake and knives. The stripped back nature of the design was appropriate in terms of the production's focus, which was the effects of intense violence, rather than the historical event itself. In 'Tis Pity, the play also sought to explore the main theme more than the historical context of the play. The setting was clearly Annabella's bedroom, with a wall upstage, reaching only as high as an ordinary wall covered with teenager's posters to make the scene feel domestic. Set in the wall was a door upstage left, to the bathroom, and upstage right, to the hall. Stage right there was a wardrobe, and a table stage left. Annabella's bed was positioned centre stage, around which the majority of the action took place.
Lighting was used to set the tone of the plays: in Massacre, during the massacre itself, the main lights were turned off and torches were shone into the faces of the audience. This changed the mood to a frightening one for me, as well as indicating the time of day as being night. It also contributes to the composition of the scene, as the torches are shone onto the victims momentarily as they die. Here we see only small, fragmentary aspects of the scene, making the audience feel disoriented. Miranda Fay Thomas, writing for What's On Stage, remarked that "Wallace's production [...] revels in the play's carnivalesque atmosphere of slaughter and maniacal despotism". Low lighting was also used in the scenes where the Duke of Guise was alone, giving us the location and time of day as being inside his house in the evening, and allowing us selective visibility only, of the Duke. It also set the mood as solemn, scaring the audience. 'Tis Pity also uses lighting to establish mood, however in a more expressionistic manner. The opening sequence was bathed in a harsh red light, unrealistic and therefore setting the style as somewhat expressionistic. It also foreshadowed the copious amount of bloodshed to ensue, and was described by Paul Couch as the 'churning crimson sea of Nick Ormerod's retina-straining set'. This best describes the reaction evoked in the audience members, a sense of stomach-churning nervousness.
Music was used often to create a mood, such as in the Duke of Guise's death scene when dramatic choral music was played. This was a moment of particularly effective staging, as the murderers stabbed the Duke in slow motion, and red confetti was thrown from the 'wounds' across the stage to symbolise blood. Here we had a mock-melodramatic death, which was still quite emotional for me. In the Massacre, fifties rock music was played as the onstage deaths occurred. This staging was particularly effective because it created an irony, as the popular music was playing to the violence, commenting on how both are now media products, both disturbing and amusing the audience. In 'Tis Pity, music was more a part of the play as opposed to overture, but it again was used in ironic instances. Tarantella music was played at the wedding of Annabella and Soranzo, which was humorous for me as the wedding guests were all dancing a clearly choreographed dance to the Italian influenced music in a bizarre situation. Dance music was played in the opening sequence, setting the tone of the play as dynamic and modern.
As for costume, both productions used mainly suits, as the majority of characters of the plays were mainly high ranking males, best portrayed in a modern production with suits. In Massacre, Guise wore a silver penchant round his neck, indicating him being very overtly religious, to extremes. In 'Tis Pity, the religious cardinal was portrayed by dressing him in the traditional ecclesiastical apparel, rather than a single symbolic accessory. This showed up the church as behind the times, since this is the only character who would be dressed the same in original Renaissance production. Annabella wore blacks and a checkered red cardigan, making her look particularly girly, with her hair tied up. Much clothing, such as shirts, blouses and even trousers, were often removed, contributing to the sensuality of the production.
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