PERF104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, The Old Vic, Apple Inc.
PERF104 Lecture Notes Wednesday 15th March 2017
Staging the Classics
- Use them to convey a message
- Make them contemporary
- In any modern performance, the director needs to consider many things
o When was the play set
o When it is being performed
o What are the different cultural attitudes today compared to back then? What
do we value? What aspects of society exist? What influenced the play back
then? What has happened since that may offend people.
o E.g. the merchant of Venice and the holocaust. Is very critical of the Jews
Time
- There are, at least, three time zones operation in any performance:
o The time inhabited by the characters;
▪ E.g. Hamlet is set in Denmark at a different time but will be viewed by
the Eglish i Shakespeare’s tie.
o The time inhabited by the audience;
o The time the author and its original performance.
The Role of the Critic
- Plays are influenced by the critics who interpret them.
- Critics highlight issues in the plays that are relevant to their contemporary social
environment.
- Their interpretations have influences subsequent readings of the plays
Interpretation
- You have only got yourself to trust when you read a play text or performance text
- Actors can change the meaning of plays by their interpretation of character, their
delivery of lines, and their relationship with other characters.
o E.g. in a performance of the merchant of Venice two characters were kissing
on stage. This is not written in the script explicitly but if you read between
the lines in the play text, there is homoerotic themes between these two
characters in the play.
- Shakespearian interpretation has been evolving over the centuries except in the 20th
century which slowed down due to the development of cinema. Anyone can see it
whenever.
- Shakespearian theatre received the reputation of untouchable cinema in the 20th
ciea. Because it does’t chage ad is preserved forever it akes it see like this
is how it is.
- Audiences were brainwashed into thinking that this is how it was performed back in
Shakespeare’s tie i the 20th century.
Shakespeare in England
- The Old Vic Company
- The Stratford Memorial Theatre (the royal Shakespeare company)
- They dedicated their companies to performing Shakespeare.
For theatre to survive:
- Make it contemporary
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
What has happened since that may offend people: e. g. the merchant of venice and the holocaust. There are, at least, three time zones operation in any performance: the time inhabited by the characters, e. g. Hamlet is set in denmark at a different time but will be viewed by the e(cid:374)glish i(cid:374) shakespeare"s ti(cid:373)e: the time inhabited by the audience, the time the author and its original performance. Plays are influenced by the critics who interpret them. Critics highlight issues in the plays that are relevant to their contemporary social environment. Their interpretations have influences subsequent readings of the plays. You have only got yourself to trust when you read a play text or performance text. Actors can change the meaning of plays by their interpretation of character, their delivery of lines, and their relationship with other characters: e. g. in a performance of the merchant of venice two characters were kissing on stage.
