Historical Context (11) (Elizabethan)

Today we completed my Elizabethan scene of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Below are the two ways I thought I could stage it and my reasoning for and against each (TF = Tom // L = Lewis // TS = Toby // D = Dan):

+ Audience fells involved and is part of the audience too
- Not a clear view of Tom and Lewis

- Can't see Toby and Dan's face and reactions

- Toby and Dan less audible as their backs are to the audience

+ Can see Toby and Dan's faces

+ Clear view of Tom and Lewis

- Audience less excluded

We began this lesson with Tom and Lewis running through their scene again to ensure they remembered all of their movements. Whilst they were doing this, Toby and Dan listened to them to work out when they could intercept and what they would say. I then got Toby and Dan to pause the action and say whatever came to mind when they were watching the piece. Dan did mention that the piece would be easier to understand "if we had a sign language person" (hinting at Ashley to come up and join in) once he had paused the action, but as funny as it was, I didn't want this as to ensure we wouldn't offend anyone (as none of us can actually sign) and I didn't want to overcomplicate the scene. However, I did suggest that they could rewind sections. We had to practise the rewind a couple of times to make it believable. I told them to remember their gestures and movements throughout the piece, as Toby could rewind the scene whenever and back to whenever he wanted. To show they have gone back in time I asked them to perform their gestures in reverse and travel backwards and also make elongated sounds, as if they were speaking backwards. Overall, I think the scene looked quite effective. I kept the traditional conventions of Elizabethan theatre with Tom and Lewis, yet made it appeal to a modern audience by adding in a layer between the real audience and the action - the layer being appealing to a modern audience as it is inspired by the TV programme "Gogglebox". If we were to do this scene again and if I had more time, then I could have considered costumes. I also could have given Toby and Dan the prop of a television remote. Unfortunately, Toby and Dan were not very loud on the recording so a lot of their dialogue is lost.