Theatre in Education (9) - Scripts, Monologues & Accents

Scripts:   Over half term, I have been trying my best to learn all of my lines! I have been reading the script repeatedly, gaining a better understanding on what is going on. Although the descriptive details the characters use, I felt Titania's section to Bottom was too much - I have decided to cut this down as to reduce the risk of our younger audience getting detached, as this was a fairly large section of dialogue. It is better to lose some descriptive detail in order to maintain their concentration, rather than doing the full script and them getting bored or lost.

Monologues:   As we were missing Rob today, we broke off into pairs and worked on our monologues. I went with Ollie, whilst Lewis and James went together. I did my Hermia monologue - where she wakes up after a bad nightmare to see that Lysander has disappeared. My first step was to add in pauses and work out my intentions - in such a short monologue, she goes through a few different emotions.

Help me Lysander! Help me! Do thy best
To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast!
Ay me, for pity! What a dream was here!
Lysander, look how I do quake with fear.
Methought a serpent eat my heart away
And you sat smiling at his cruel pray.
Lysander! What, removed? Lysander! Lord!
What, out of hearing? Gone? No sound, no word?
Alack, where are you speak, an if you hear;
Speak of all loves! I swoon almost with fear.
No? Then I well perceive you all not nigh
either death or you I'll find immediately.

The first two lines are her waking up, still in fear and in her nightmare. The next four lines are her describing her nightmare and a bit emotional and shaken, but clearly relieved. The last section is her panicking about where Lysander is, and then a new panic as she fears for her own safety.

Accents:   Whilst Ollie and I were working on our monologues, Lewis and James worked on some Puck and Oberon scenes. They tried this out in a variety of different ways but decided that they needed to make these characters clearly different from everyone else, but similar to each other (to show that they are from another world - they are the fairies). They realised the best way to do this was through use of accent. To make the characters different from the others, and to make them a bit comical too, we have got the fairies to speak with a New York / gangster accent! This also shows the children that Shakespeare isn't all heightened and over-the-top melodramatic British speaking, but it can be whatever you make of it - we have made our piece original. Whilst the fairies speak with New York accents (to show they are completely distant), the lovers shall speak like us (to make them relatable), the higher status character (like Egeus, Hippolyta and Theseus) shall speak with exaggerated RP (to show their high position in society) and the mechanicals speak with a variety of different British accents (to make them comical).