RESEARCH: Research your own Shakespeare play: Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, Measure for Measure. What is the play about? When was it first performed? Find a contemporary production of the play you can get an idea of and research it in terms of concept, style, design, casting. Give some attention to your own character and their role in the play.
The play my cast will be performing is Hamlet which was written between 1599 and 1602 and first performed in 1609. The way in which we chose to adapt the play of Hamlet was not only because we already used an adapted version by Kelly Hunter but because we chose to perform it much like the whole thing was a nightmare and also making the show very live music orientated using the music of Nirvana and Joy Division. We also decided to adapt the way in which the theme of mental health plays the most important theme in the play and how this seems to affect Hamlet with the contribution of the music which consists of lyrics essentially describing the mood of the play.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare is set in Denmark and is simply about the revenge Prince Hamlet is called to inflict upon his uncle Claudius who is now the King of Denmark and has horribly murdered Hamlet's father who used to be the King of Denmark. The tragedy of the play begins straight away as Hamlet's mother is so quick to marry straight after her husband's death. Hamlet, confused and angry, wants his mother to realize what cruel man Claudius is and wants to know why his mother didn't mourn so much other her husband's death like he did but instead married Claudius straight after the funeral. Hamlet's depression affects not only him but the people around him; Gertrude(his mother), Ophelia(his girlfriend), Polonius(Ophelia's father) and Laertes(Ophelia's brother).
The character I play in the show is Hamlet's mother, Gertrude who even though doesn't have many lines in the play, plays the most significant part as she is the one who in my opinion essentially creates and erupts the whole tragedy.
My character profile of Gertrude:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ON1xLudfEUeWHRakrAaQFaOYevrcQsdIJL4koPr7sKQ/edit
A version of Hamlet that I have seen is David Tennant's 2009 film, Hamlet, directed by Gregory Doran. The theme and setting of this version still stays faithful to Shakespeare's text while also adding a modern edge to the film making it even more interesting to watch. I also believe that Tennant's approach to the character of Hamlet is very bold and interesting to watch because it's different and unique to others who have taken the role of Hamlet so it is clear that Tennant made some bold choices with the character of Hamlet. The rest of the cast members; Mariah Gale, Penny Downey, Patrick Stewart, Oliver Ford Davies and Edward Bennett) also make extremely brave choices with their characters. I would say especially Mariah Gale as Ophelia who really goes out and explores Scene 15 where Ophelia goes mad over her father's death.
This version of Hamlet is also very cinematic with it's defined actions, implementing set and costume usage to give us a feel on the time and mood in convincing fashion. Doran's piece finds a balance between Shakespeare's presence in the play and the use of film-like stage and atmosphere that makes Hamlet feel current, unforgettable and reflective.
QUESTION:
Analyse contemporary Shakespeare productions with reference to live performances you may have seen or clips or footage available online. You should comment on what you notice about them and how they differ from what you know about the original performance conditions of Shakespeare’s work?
Consider how these productions are employing all the techniques, technology and resources of modern theatre.
Recently I have seen two contemporary Shakespeare productions which were Twelfth Night directed by Simon Godwin and Taming of the Shrew directed by Jacqueline Defferary.
One of the first things I noticed was that there were female actors in both of these plays which is something that would be shocking to a Shakespearean audience. This is because women weren't allowed to act in theatres therefore men would play the female parts. If contemporary audiences were to see a theatre where all the parts were played by men and it didn't fit the context then I feel there would definitely be a negative response from the audience and confusion among them to why all the parts where played by men.
I also noticed,especially in Twelfth Night that the music played throughout was music that we hear today. It was interesting as well how they used the music in Twelfth Night like for instance one character in Twelfth Night sang Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' speech and also how in one of the scenes instead of singing the lyric 'We need some more boys in here' instead they sang 'We need some more girls in here' which created humor for the audience. Furthermore, in Taming of the Shrew, all the characters sang 'Price Tag' by Jessie J close to the end of the play. This is clearly different to how they used music in Shakespearean theatres as they didn't obviously didn't include obvious songs but instead mostly played instruments whilst the action of the play was going on.
The use of lighting and technology was definitely evident in Twelfth Night at the National as lighting was used to emphasise a scene change,a dramatic moment etc. this was different in Shakespearean theatre because lighting wasn't used because the actors would rely on natural light for their performances.
In Twelfth Night the set was extraordinary and so detailed which I believe helped create the atmosphere the actors wanted to create for us as an audience. One example of this was when there was a Jacuzzi in one of the scenes which the actors used as part of their performance. I feel at times however the set was too much and even though it added to the action taking place it also slightly took away from it as at times I would focus more on the set than the actors.
Having a detailed set in Shakespeare's time,was seen as nonsense to Shakespearean audiences. Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights wrote in a way that encouraged the audience to imagine the sets.
