Theatre in Education (3) - Pages 22 to 36

Pages 22 - 30:   This scene contains Puck, Oberon, Titania, Demetrius and Helena. The scene starts with Puck on stage as Oberon and Titania enter. We spent some time on Puck's monologue to bring out all the comedic potential in it - it ended up really comical, as James acts out all of the characters he speaks about. Oberon and Titania have been arguing for some time. To make their argument clear we had to really use our body language, tone of voice, facial expressions and proxemics. We enter from stage right and we get in each other's faces. To ensure we knew exactly what we were saying, we looked up translations on the "No Fear Shakespeare" site - by Sparknotes. Titania and Oberon are arguing about honesty and loyalty. They have both cheated on each other. Our spacing for this scene fluctuates from being really close together, in each other's space to being on opposite sides of the stage. When Demetrius and Hermia enter, they are also arguing - Demetrius is fed up of Helena following him. When they first did this scene, it was good but a bit messy - their tone of voice was great, but their movement / blocking was untidy. By working on the blocking, we managed to evoke more sympathy for Helena and make Demetrius come across as more horrible.

Pages 31 - 36:   This scene begins with Titania telling the fairies to sing and do their jobs whilst she goes to sleep. As we have cut this section down (as it is not all necessary for our version) it is very short, so I say this as I walk out from behind the left of the flat, round the front, to the go back behind the flat on the right side. Oberon then enters from where I entered and follows my path, stating the effects of the liquid he is going to put in Titania's eye - that she shall fall in love with the first thing she sees, no matter what it is. Lysander and Hermia then enter (so Lew and I will have to do a quick prop or costume change behind the flats before we enter) and Hermia is very tired from walking. Lysander is flirtatious and tries to get her to give in to him - she rejects him sweetly and goes to sleep (upstage centre), whilst he goes to sleep in a different place in the space (downstage right). Puck enters and puts the potion in Lysander's eyes and leaves. Demetrius and Helena enter arguing and Demetrius leaves. Lysander is awakened by Helena and falls instantly in love with her, due to the potion that Puck put in his eye. She thinks he is taking the micky out of her and leaves. Lysander then has a monologue stating how he hopes Hermia never wakes up and that he'll be with Helena. After he leaves, Hermia wakes and claims she has had a terrible nightmare - she then realises that Lysander has gone so she leaves to look for him. Our main focus of this lesson was to sort our blocking and to ensure we understand what we are saying. It is important that we know what each lines means so we know what parts to emphasise and how to deliver each line to help our young audience understand.