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Saturday 1 June Day of Talks

/ findlaya

Open Day of Talks    Saturday 1 June 2024, Lancaster Suite, Lancaster Castle

 ‘Cry God for Harry, England and St George’ Henry V and English Patriotism.

10.00 am (Introduction to the play  Professor Alison Findlay (Lancaster University)

10.45-11.00 Coffee

11.00-12.00 Henry V in production (Professor Chris Fitter, Rutgers University)

12.00-12.45 Henry V and Lancaster Castle (Colin Penny Curator of Lancaster Castle Museum)

1.00 pm Matthew Panesh (performance poet) ‘St George’

Lunch break and Mummer’s play (West End Players)

3.00-4.00 pm Staging Henry V  in Shire Hall

Q and A with Director (Emma Rucastle) and members of the Company

 

A student perception of reading Shakespeare in parts (early modern drama)

/ Layla Allton

In this blog we will be looking at our experience in reading Shakespeare in parts, from the perception of three first year students (Layla, Xinyi and Charlie) with no prior experience of this method of reading scripts.

 

Layla’s perspective –

In this extract I will be discussing my experience as an English literature student reading early modern drama in parts, specifically, Shakespeare’s Henry V. Throughout the four weeks I was assigned the roles of ‘the boy’, ‘the messenger to the French king’ and ‘the duke of burgundy’. Reading in parts was a new and daunting experience for me on the course. It felt unusual to have to listen out for the last three words of the previous persons lines, so I knew when it was my turn to speak. Focusing so intently on waiting for my cue made it difficult for me to focus on the storyline and understand who my characters were and the experiences they were having. However, it felt appropriate and insightful to know that we were reading the play in the same way that it would have been performed in one of Shakespeare’s plays. I think that while reading a play in parts, it is important to have a general understanding of the plot, and Alison allowed us to do this as a group by assigning us roles early on into the module which meant we could read over our script and annotate/research any confusion. There was also a large amount of group discussion which helped us understand each other’s role and what impact other characters had on our own. In week three we were encouraged to take part in a group activity which allowed us as readers to get to know each other better and establish who was reading each role. We were encouraged to tell each other something about our characters and asked if we could recall any information about anyone else. I found this session incredibly helpful as it allowed me to establish a place for my character in the text. After week three, I was always aware of who was talking and when the conversation involved my character, which helped me learn when it was my time to come in. At the beginning of the module, I found that reading in parts was incredibly difficult and more stressful than just reading a modern-day script. However, by week 4 my confidence with not only knowledge of the play, but comfort with my peers around me and my reading confidence had significantly improved. Talking to my peers about my own character allowed me to develop a further understanding about the roles they have in the play, for example I discussed with the group what I knew about ‘the boy’ in doing this I learnt about his interactions with other people’s characters and the way people has perceived him in relation to their own. Two characters I learnt a lot about when discussing ‘the boy’ were ‘Pistol’ and ‘Bardolph’. I learnt about their professions as thieves from the way the boy talked about them in his dialogue in act three where he states “for Pistol, he hath a killing tongue and a quiet sword”.

 

Xinyi’s perspective –

I’ve been engaged with a rehearsal process of the Early Modern Drama Henry by Shakespeare during the last four weeks. It’s been such a pleasure to explore how a play was originally produced in Shakespeare’s day. To add some interesting historical backgrounds, the text actors received only contained their individual parts and was made into a roll, on which the text was presented. Aiming to have a authentic experience, we replace rolls with two sticks to present the script in the form of a scroll. Here’s a little bit taste of our attempt to present early modern theater practice. If you find it interesting, please go ahead! The following blog will gain more insight into what we’ve done to make the early modern theatre alive and will discuss my personal reflection on the whole experience.

I play the role of Earl of Westmoreland and Governor of Harfleur. Westmoreland is one of Henry’s administrators and noblemen. He comes on to stage on Act two, strengthening the King Henry’s determination to launch a war against France. Governor of Harfleur is another interesting character who plays a vital role in Act three when France faces the challenge of defending the English soldiers. Among all the lines that that have been delivered, his speech impressed me most by his concise but powerful words. Despite facing the potential of being defeated, he insists on a fight and did not surrender to France, which manifests his courage, as well as his loyalty and commitment to his nation.

Apart from reading out and listen carefully to the lines in order to piece the whole plot together, certain skills of performance, such as the use of props and costume and the application of body movements and facial expression also make the whole rehearsal vibrate and help us build a better understanding of the role. For example, in the Act 3 of siege scene, classmates gathered around the center of the classroom and carried all kinds of probs, such as crown and sword. After listening to King’s call to defeat France, they shout together “God bless Henry, England, and St. George!!, to motivate the English army to attack the city. It is entertaining and educational for us to wear all kinds of different props and perform it. By immersing ourselves in this text and arousing our sense to engage with it, such as performing the drama with the props to visualize the whole text and closing our eyes to just listen and feel it, makes the rehearsal more vivid and therefore help better shape a dynamic character image. You can see a wild and unmatured image of the King Henry in his youth, as well as a strategic, intelligent and noble monarch when he gets older.

Another intriguing fact relating to the rehearsal progress of the early modern drama is the way of acquiring the whole storyline. One of the biggest distinctions between reading a text and listen carefully to each other to get clues of drama is that you have to learn about different characters through depiction of others’ characters. Along the way, you have to listen to the whole story and then to presume what’s going on. So there’s no surprise that there are lots of incorrect assumptions of relations between characters and draft mistakes. At the same time, I find difficulty understanding some old English vocabulary and some French words in this progress. Then I look up for the dictionary for the words’ meaning, which is a good opportunity for me to learn.

 

 

Charlies perspective –

The group exercise of reading through William Shakespeare’s Henry V was fascinating and engaging. We were distributed a variety of roles in the play to ensure that everybody had a part to play and engaged with the story at hand, and it really did feel as though we were coming together as a group around the play. Group exercises were employed to further strengthen the sense of community that was being built around the rehearsal. Our task involving asking each person who they were playing by first asking their names and referring to them as their characters whilst standing in a circle, and moving towards them, was an effective way of drilling the cast into our heads, and kept us active and engaged in the process as it garnered a level of interactivity that wouldn’t exist if it were simply us reading the text around the table. Though we did do this. Although it was a challenge on occasion to follow along with the text as we read due to archaic language, that involved me having to consult a transcript of the play on occasion to ensure I understood what was said, it was still an enriching experience to read through the play as I had never read the play before, and in a comedic way the practice of reading around a table brought back memories of doing so back in school. Though we found ways to make this more engaging too. Certain scenes, like Act 3 Scene 1 where we see Henry lead English soldiers into battle in the siege of Harfleur, we used rudimentary props like ladders and wooden swords to create a small battle-like atmosphere that we all enjoyed and it certainly made the experience more immersive. The reading process also allowed us to think about the characters that we played. I assumed the roles of Bardolph, Macmorris, The Duke of Burgandy and Pistol (In Act 5 Scene 1), all of whom were interesting in their own way. Although they may not have had much dialogue (with the exception of Burgandy) they all played a role in the narrative and I still felt I was contributing. Bardolph allowed us to learn about Henry’s pragmatic side (though his character is contested on this front) and the importance of religion in this period, wishing not to execute him after his theft. The dialogue from Pistol I read wherein he insults Fluellen’s leak allows for an interesting note about cultural differences at this time, with Gower informing Pistol that other cultures should not be made fun of being an interesting note. Burgandy’s soliloquy in Act 5 Scene 2 in which he uses decaying natural imagery to define France was interesting because it implies that England’s treaty would restore France to its former glory, as England has lain waste to it in the war. Macmorris allowed us to learn a little bit about racial conflict in the early modern period, as Macnorris’ offence to Fluellen’s remarks could be indicative of insecurities of being Irish due to amnesty that existed at the time, or due to a feeling that his background is problematic, scorning his nation as a “villain”. These  example characters fell into wider discussions about the play and its messaging. Finally, we discussed whether or not the play romanticises war and conquest or whether it is critical of such things and whether or not Henry is a hero of the Hundred Year War or a tyrant expanding their territory.

 

 

Our Experience with the Recreation of Early Modern Drama Rehearsal Practises: Shakespeare’s Henry V

/ Jenell Png

An Introduction To Parts

     In Early Modern Theatre (EMT), actors were not given the complete script of the play they were to perform. Instead, they received parts that were specific to their roles. This practice helped prevent Shakespeare’s plays from being stolen and was economical, considering the length of his works. Parts took on a definition beyond being the role that an actor had to embody, coming to represent the written script, often presented in a scroll that contained the actor’s lines. They omitted the lines of other characters, containing just the actor’s speeches and cues. This fragmentation surely made the process demanding for rehearsals. Join us as we take you through the process of learning parts and translating it to our rehearsals.

 

Our Rehearsal Process

     The significant gulf in time between the Elizabethan period and the modern time means that there was some struggle adjusting to such a different style from the rehearsal practises that we are used to. During an Elizabethan rehearsal, parts would be used. That was a struggle for us to adjust because we would normally have a full script if we were performing a play using the modern style of learning roles. Much more attention must be paid when a scene is being read out as you do not know who will be saying your cue line or when they will say it. There are only a few words on the page as a cue so it’s easy to miss if your undivided attention is not focused on what is being said, as any line could end with your cue. This was especially difficult for some minor roles at times as they would not always be aware that they were in the scene and would have to scramble to find the line if our tutor indicated that they were supposed to be speaking. Personally, it was also much harder for us to pay attention and be ‘tuned in’ to the scene without a full script in front of us to follow along with what was being said and absolutely no way of telling how far into the scene we were. Our difficulty to stay tuned in was amplified especially if we were not in the scene and had with no kind of script for the scene in front of me to stop our minds wandering from what was being said.

Working With Scene Partners During A Site-Specific Rehearsal (Take Note of Our Minimal Use of Props and Set)

     Within our reading of the play, particular attention was naturally turned to the title character of Henry and if he could be classed as an honourable, good king or a bloodthirsty self-centred king. The dichotomy between these side of Henry is best shown in Act Four, Scene Six. Henry mourns ‘with mistful eyes’ for his fallen comrades, demonstrating the care he possesses for the men under his rule, but within the same breath gives orders for ‘every solider kill his prisoners’.[1] Henry tells his men to commit an entirely immoral act. Whilst the emotion clearly shown over his fallen men awards him the epithet of ‘good king’, his subsequent words immediately snatch it away.

     Lack of stage directions and mentioned props with the play made staging difficult but also fluid. Although each actor was provided with the list of scenes in which their character would be featured and a list of the other characters which would also appear in those scenes, there was little indication on blocking and which cue would correlate to which character. This initially made the process of performing a scene much more difficult but then allowed for the conversations between characters to flow more naturally than they perhaps would have done if each actor was simply given a conventional playscript. The use of parts forced each of us to engage with our roles. Without many stage directions to adhere to, blocking is almost completely up to the discretion of the director and, to a certain extent, the actors. This can also lead to immense differences between productions due to the amount left up to interpretation.

 

Learning Parts

     Although detailed records of theatrical practices from the Early Modern era are scarce, we can infer some methods from Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream to make informed decisions on learning parts. Quince orders his fellow actors to ‘con [their parts] by to-morrow night’ before their rehearsal.[2] Each of our parts were learnt in solitude, where in the EMT, actors would commit their lines to memory and internalise their character’s passions. We also had to develop our character’s super objectives and motivations prior to assembling for a rehearsal.

     Additionally, we would have to decide on the gestures and vocal delivery we would take on for our characters. This was to give space for meaningful rehearsals where each character in the play was already entirely or close to being fully realised and actors focused on ensemble work and interactions with their scene partner(s).

 

Cues

     When trying to understand our characters, we took instruction from our speeches and cues. Cues are ‘a motive’[3] and parts must cue changes in passions. They compel the character and allow the actor to discern the reason for the action. It is the final word(s) in the preceding speech and the cue-tail represents an actor’s anticipated moment. Therefore, it was crucial for us to be highly familiar with our cues during table read because if we were on stage, we risked breaking the illusion of the play. In the EMT, actors would have to commit to memory their lines and cues as a unit.

     We had the luxury of being scene partners in Act One Scene One, where we portrayed the Bishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely. Our cue scripts provided an idea of what scene partners had to expect:

Bishop of Canterbury

Bishop of Ely

My lord, I’ll tell you that self bill is urged Which in th’ eleventh year of the last king’s reign was like, and had indeed against us passed but that the scambling and unquiet time did push it out of farther question. 


— resist it now?

It must be thought on. If it pass against us, We lose the better half of our possession, For all the temporal lands which men devout by testament have given to the Church would they strip from us, being valued thus:“As much as would maintain, to the King’s honor, Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights, Six thousand and two hundred good esquires; And, to relief of lazars and weak age of indigent faint souls past corporal toil, A hundred almshouses right well supplied; And to the coffers of the King besides, A thousand pounds by th’ year.” Thus runs the bill.


— drink deep

’Twould drink the cup and all.

— of farther question


But how, my lord, shall we resist it now?


— runs the bill,


This would drink deep. 


— the cup and all.


But what prevention? 

 

Interpreting and Transposing Parts

     To achieve a coherent emotional journey, actors in the EMT needed to chart their character’s passions and transitions. Passions in the EMT became a ‘synonym for the embodying of emotion in acting’.[4] A well-rounded character comprises a spectrum of emotions, requiring the actor to identify the necessary passion for each moment in addition to textual cues and subtexts. Thus, once we had mapped the emotional journey for our characters, we had to transpose the passions during our rehearsals.

     The stage demanded acting beyond the modulation of facial expressions and the voice. It also required the manipulation of the body and gestures. Therefore, body language and vocal delivery were of utmost importance for an actor’s performance to be translated to their audience.

     To provide an example of how we interpreted passions, here is short excerpt of Fluellen in Act Five, Scene One, one of the characters one of us played in rehearsal, and the interpretation of the transition of his passions:

 

Speech

Passion

There is occasions and causes why and wherefore in all things. I will tell you ass my friend, Captain Gower. The rascally, scald, beggarly, lousy, pragging knave Pistol, which you and yourself and all the world know to be no petter than a fellow, look you now, of no merits, he is come to me and prings me pread and salt yesterday, look you, and bid me eat my leek. It was in a place where I could not breed no contention with him, but I will be so bold as to wear it in my cap till I see him once again, and then I will tell him a little piece of my desires.

’Tis no matter for his swellings, nor his turkey-cocks.—God pless you, Aunchient Pistol, you scurvy, lousy knave, God pless you.

(Fluellen is Welsh and thus pronounces his ‘b’s as ‘p’s.) Fluellen is very much offended by Pistol’s insult to the culture he is extremely proud of. Therefore, he is bitter and resentful that Pistol gained the upper hand on him. I would spit (not literally) and over-enunciate the words ‘The rascally, scald, beggarly, lousy, pragging knave Pistol’ to convey his disdain and drag out the insults. However, he is more hurt than angry at this point. I would also already be holding a stick and practicing hitting it. The thought of getting back at Pistol excites Fluellen. My tone would convey playfulness and malevolence in a little piece of my desires.

To Gower, still bitter.

To Pistol. Fluellen would probably be extremely unhappy that Pistol dared show his face in front of him after offending him. Fluellen has a penchant for repeating ‘lousy’ and ‘knave’, this is one of his germs (not literally.)  

I would be yelling at Pistol, my body would be leaning forward. I might also shake my fists at Pistol to let him know how truly mad Fluellen is.  

 

     An actor in the EMT would also need to study his part to make informed decisions on transposing his speeches to the stage. We thus needed to pick the appropriate words and phrases to emphasise. Actors paced their speech according to the metre and prose, where a switch between verse and prose can indicate a change in a character’s passion. This intricate process of interpreting and performing their parts allowed actors to deliver compelling and emotionally resonant performances despite the fragmented and solitary nature of their initial preparations.

 

Props

     Elizabethan plays often featured simple set designs and minimal props, primarily for practical reasons, as acquiring elaborate props and sets was expensive and not feasible to maintain. Isolated set pieces represented locations such as a throne constituting an entire throne room. In Henry V, this implies that ‘[p]racticable tents still afford a convenient camp background’ for the French and English camps, possibly distinguished by the respective nation’s flag.[5] We also practiced using swords, which would have complimented the character’s costumes in the camp scenes to signify their status as soldiers in a war. Often, objects and scenery mentioned in actors’ speeches were not physically present on stage, relying on the audience’s imagination to visualise the setting and props.

 

Our Concluding Words

     The Early Modern Parts project aimed to, through our reading of a slightly abridged version of Henry V, recreate Elizabethan rehearsal practises. Albeit we could not entirely replicate the rehearsal process due to the constraints of time and the barriers that were created. Whilst it is impossible for us to entirely replicate the Elizabethan rehearsal process, our attempt gave us an insight into how Shakespeare plays would originally form and has allowed us a new avenue to explore when analysing his plays in the future.

Honey and Jenell

 

[1]William, Shakespeare. The Life of King Henry V (Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue Editions, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, 2016) p. 115.

[2]William, Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue Editions, a Division of Lerner Publishing Group, 2014), p. 19.

[3]Simon, Palfrey. Shakespeare in Parts, 1st edn (United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2007) <https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199272051.001.0001> [accessed 16 May 2024] p. 96.

[4]Palfrey, p. 313.   

[5]E.K. Chambers. The Elizabethan Stage, Vol. 3 (Project Gutenberg) <https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/67462/pg67462-images.html> [accessed 16 May 2024] p. 107.

 

Bibliography

Chambers, E. K. The Elizabethan Stage, Vol. 3 (Project Gutenberg) <https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/67462/pg67462-images.html> [accessed 16 May 2024]

Palfrey, Simon, Shakespeare in Parts, 1st edn (United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2007) <https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199272051.001.0001> [accessed 16 May 2024]

Shakespeare, William, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue Editions, a Division of Lerner Publishing Group, 2014)

Shakespeare, William, The Life of King Henry V (Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue Editions, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, 2016)

Smith, Hal H. “Some Principles of Elizabethan Stage Costume.” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, vol. 25, no. 3/4, 1962, pp. 240–57. JSTOR, <https://doi.org/10.2307/750809>. [accessed 16 May 2024]