Week Seven- it's time

Week seven has come and gone, and it sure was a different week!

It has been a week of frantic line learning, concentration and complete change of timetable and rhythm for us 29 students.

We begin by splitting of the group into two lots of fifteen- the same groups we have had for majority of our classes and lines had to be learnt by this Wednesday. As I said in my last post, I have been, ah, fortunate in that I am playing a smaller character ( there are no small parts though, as they say hehe especially not in Shakespeare) and so, although a challenge, I have not had to learn as much as others as quickly. And of course it's not just about learning lines, but if that's not done, nothing else can happen. I don't know who said, someone well known in the arts, but they said in order for an actor to create , the lines must be learnt. If the lines are not in your body, there is no way you can truly be in the moment, create, or have spontaneity, because you will still be worrying about the lines. It's only then that things can start truly coming to life. And so, our director, Nick asked us to have them down as soon as possible.

We have had some stumbles, naturally in this process. Although we could not ask for any better prep than we have had for six weeks. Because we have been learning lines and working continuously, it means our brains and bodies are up to the task for doing an hour and half play within one week. But still, stumbles, and well, if you're going to have stumbles, having them at the Royal Academy of Arts is the best place to have them because you have the best people to help you through it. And that's what Nick has been doing. Or ie. Kicking our butts.

I have been taking short interviews with some in my class and one question I asked was what's the process been like from going to working on a five minute scene for 6 weeks, to working on a complete role for a hour and half production in a week?

Naturally the answers have been the same- spending six weeks on a five-seven minute scene means you can work on incredible detail. Time can be taken to learn lines properly in a far more organic way, you can play around a lot more and try and discover choices, you can really invest in every moment and find the layers in the work. And, well, in the end, I believe you can still do all that do that in a week and half, as Nick said, putting on a play now is the best thing we can really do, so we aren't thinking too much about everything we've learnt, because there is no choice, we just have to do it. All of those things we learnt “slowly” for six weeks now just have to throw in the basket and begin! And I think it can and will.

And in some ways, there are things which are “easier” about doing a whole show than just a single scene. You have a whole character arch. You go from A to B so speak. Within just a single scene, it's a different story.. You still have an arch within a scene- how does your character change from the beginning to the end? But to help you come to this, you ultimately want to read the rest of the play and understand the scene in context and come to conclusions- but sometimes as a scene as a performance on it's own, it can be quite difficult for an audience to get into it, and for playing the character, you really have to know your 'moment before' to enter the scene, otherwise you're coming from nothing.

Also, when we did scenes, some of the directors chose choices or suggested choices to those that may not necessarily fit in the context of the play, but as a scene on its' own, they were perfectly valid choices, because the responsibility of telling the whole arch of the whole character or story was not there.

I have been having a very fun time playing Sir Nathaniel, the local parish priest, Curate, Vicar. He has great layers that I am discovering. As I think I said in my last post, I always fear that the comic characters in Shakespeare, and I think are, often seen as “just the comic characters” that they're funny, and there for comic relief, and that's their purpose and the 'real' and the 'deep' story is those of the leads. I don't think any good director or actor believes in that- and in one way, Shakespeare is such a smart writer, you could actually play it as very stock characters against very real characters and it will still be a successful play, because the writing is so good. But, if you want more, if you want to go deeper, like I think most people who are in this business and want, then you need to find more than that. What side of humanity of Shakespeare showing? Often his comedies start in Tragedy...Viola and Olivia in Twelfth night think their brothers are dead, in order to survive, Viola chooses to dress as a boy to live, what a huge dramatic opening of what will be a comedy! In Much Ado about Nothing and Love's Labours lost, the men are returning from battle- these men are soldiers who have killed and seen death, just like Othello or Richard III- and I think that is often forgotten because it's a set-up of a comedy... and what about the beginning of 'A Midsummer Night's dream'- a father is unhappy because his daughter rejects the man he thinks she should marry. She runs away with her love because they believe they cannot love eachother if they do not run awat together- then they meet a lot of fairies in the forest, but wait a second, that's the beginning of a comedy? Isn't that awfully close to Romeo and Juliet? Tragedy and comedy are sooo close!

This is not by mistake! The only reason we can have a comedy is because of the very deep and human feelings and emotions that are true within the text, and the comedy can only come from such tragic events or moments. Without these, I suppose you simple get farce, which is in itself a complete other art and again, in no way less demanding than doing a three hour Macbeth. Because the thing about comedy, as we've been learning this week with Nick directing us, is that the timing and blocking is crucial for a successful gag or joke to work. And being Shakespeare, you already have half the audience not quite understanding everything that is being said,so that has to be allowed for too, it has to been made understandable, the gag must be set up for the audience to know a gag has been done- the conventions of the play decide this, and ultimately, I suppose that really comes back to a director and what there choices are in this.

So, anyway, playing the parish Priest, with School Master, Holoferens (played by Audrey), two older men who are very self important and like reciting a lot of Latin- which is all very funny because they do not recognise what they are! And what does it say about there lives? I think it shows perhaps they have both been very lonely. Perhaps it shows how much they have actually not experienced in life- the people who speak the most are often the ones who know the least. It's obvious that Nathaniel is a virgin and has such a naive mind about sex and anything remotely sexual. He is probably alone a lot, setting up his church by hiself ,doing talks and masses with the local school that Holofernes teachers at when he can and taking Sunday monring mass for the town. He also then desperately wants Holoferne approval, his only real friend. They enjoy eachother's company and having lots of jokes together, but Nathaniel is constantly that he will not say the right thing around Holfernes.

As Nick has said to us, they,Nathaniel and Holofernes and others are the community of the play. We have the court scenes of the King, Princess and their ladies and men attending. That is one world of Navarre, but then there is also the world outside of that, and that is where the heart of the play lies. Infact, one of Nathaniel's lines are, when Holofernes invites him to dinner “ And thank you too, for society, saith the text, is the happiness of life”
That line to me really sums up these characters and what they give to 'Love's Labour's Lost'.

Shakespeare has only one scene between the court and the community characters, when Holofernes and Nathaniel and co present a play for the court. The court men are incredibly rude and mean to the players, who have put a lot of effort in to put the show on. It shows to the women of the court, what the true characters of the men are, or that, their emotional maturity is far below theirs It is part of the reason why at the end of the play the women cannot be with the men, for they have seen this side of them, and many more reasons too. The community characters are certainly lower status, but they are the people of the town, and have a certain appreciation for things perhaps the court characters do not value, even though the men in the court have lived and experienced life in a way the others will never do. They are not nearly as thankful for what they have received in life, whereas it seems Holofernes, Nathaniel, Costard and Jaquenettta etc are very content with what they have received and are grateful for it. By the end of the play, Shakespeare does give the men the change to redeem themselves, and we as a audience hope that they will mature within the year they do not see the women and become worthy of them, while the women have the time they need as well.

Anyway, it's a lot more exploring to happen in three days, and tech rehearsal begins tomorrow- the fatest tech in my life I think! Then Wednesday and Thursday evening we perform for the current four week Shakespeare course that has begun, and on Friday we do a show to friends, family and staff.

It's going to be a big last week! My eyes smell onions to think this is nearly over!

xxClaire