Today’s class, held in the Masonic building rather than the Blackfriars Playhouse, got the students up on their feet, which I think they enjoyed once they got over their nervousness. Dr. Ralph talked a bit about Taming of the Shrew to start off. Fortunately, all of the kids had seen our production. I didn’t realize that Taming has remained one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays and is today one of his biggest moneymakers. In the current production, Kate and Petruchio are very much in love, and he’s teaching her that, if she makes believe that things are a certain way (eg. the sun is the moon), she can win and have fun with it. The more interesting productions show the two of them in love, says Ralph.
The students broke into groups of two, each group having a few lines from Kate’s final monologue. Then one partner would perform it as a powerless woman and the other would perform it as powerful. I found the powerful portrayals generally more interesting. Many of the powerless ones were quiet and had no sarcasm. Kate would often look over at Petruchio (played by the silent Maxim) to check in with him, make sure he approved of what she said. Ralph said to pretend that if she got it wrong, he would beat the hell out of her afterwards. That definitely helped them seem powerless! Less hyperbolically, she looked to him for protection.
The powerful ones relied a lot on inflection and focus. One of her biggest sources of power was interaction not just with Bianca and the widow, but with women in the audience. She could use her blocking for power: sometimes she would stay still, sometimes she would draw near the audience, and sometimes she would stand behind her husband and look down at him when she was being sarcastic. And when she was out of his sight, he had no power. By the end, her power reached the level of pulling his hair while talking about being weaker and then putting her hand under his foot to push his chair over. I think everyone preferred a non-sexist interpretation of the text.
We ran out of time before we could do a similar exercise with a scene from Othello, the one where Emilia and Desdemona discuss the double standard for fidelity. I hope the other groups get to perform those scenes next week. It should be fascinating.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
PEG Lecture 9/10/10
Today Dr. Ralph and his three assistants examined power in four scenes from II Henry IV. He also told them a little about the play, it’s plot, and Sir John Falstaff. Shakespeare originally called him Oldcastle, but the Oldcastle family demanded that he change it to Falstaff. Censoring art is a great example of power. Here are the four scenes:
Falstaff before the Chief Justice: Gower enters with a message for the justice, and Falstaff keeps trying to involve himself, asking questions. The justice ignores him completely. Ralph pointed out it’s much like high school, when the unpopular kid asks the popular group what’s up and the popular group drifts away without responding. I remember some experiences like that in high school, but it more reminded me of how people in power don’t have to respond to phone calls or letters. Ever tried to talk to a celebrity, or the head of a large company, or a prospective employer? They have the power, and they don’t have to reply when you contact them. Falstaff does keep some measure of power by repeatedly inviting Gower to dinner when the justice is trying to leave, annoying them and making it clear he knows how the justice is taking his power.
Falstaff in conscription mode: Ralph showed how relevant the scene was by telling us about when he was a young man and could have been drafted for Vietnam. I wouldn’t know about drafts—being blind has its perks! Of the six soldiers Falstaff can draft four of, two of them have their own power: money. They bribe Falstaff through Bardolph to pick poor soldiers less fit for the job than them. One tries to gain power through sympathy, but it’s the two pound bribe that carries the weight. There’s never truly an even playing field, explained Ralph.
Falstaff vs. Colaville of the Dale: Ralph had always envisioned this as a comic scene featuring a fight in which the cowardly Falstaff gains the upper hand over the bold rebel. His brilliant assistant, Brent, convinced him that it should be a serious scene. Colaville yields to Falstaff because he has heard so much of Falstaff’s (completely undeserved) valorous reputation. Although they both have swords, a base level of military power, the man with the power of reputation wins over the one with more military power. When Prince John enters, Falstaff tries to increase his power by making a big deal of his prisoner. John has no respect for him and uses his higher power to nullify Falstaff’s, sentencing Colaville to execution. Falstaff does pull out the power of the poet, saying that if John does not acknowledge he captured a noted rebel then he will have a ballad written in which he exceeds John. That was my favorite part. I have made use of that writer’s power before, mainly when I wrote an Aristophanic comedy about my college! Most people find subtle ballads and songs preferable.
We only looked briefly at the banishment of Falstaff. Now Hal is in absolute power and strips Falstaff of his. Powers higher still, however, Hal’s obligation to the kingdom and the law, force him to do so. Ralph notes that after Hal leaves, Falstaff acknowledges a debt for the first time in his life.
The day ended with Sarah assigning groups of students scenes to study from Love’s Labours Lost. I wonder if they’ll be performing those at the end? That play has some hilarious power scenes. Now I’m remembering the great production I saw this summer in the first session of YCTC.
Falstaff before the Chief Justice: Gower enters with a message for the justice, and Falstaff keeps trying to involve himself, asking questions. The justice ignores him completely. Ralph pointed out it’s much like high school, when the unpopular kid asks the popular group what’s up and the popular group drifts away without responding. I remember some experiences like that in high school, but it more reminded me of how people in power don’t have to respond to phone calls or letters. Ever tried to talk to a celebrity, or the head of a large company, or a prospective employer? They have the power, and they don’t have to reply when you contact them. Falstaff does keep some measure of power by repeatedly inviting Gower to dinner when the justice is trying to leave, annoying them and making it clear he knows how the justice is taking his power.
Falstaff in conscription mode: Ralph showed how relevant the scene was by telling us about when he was a young man and could have been drafted for Vietnam. I wouldn’t know about drafts—being blind has its perks! Of the six soldiers Falstaff can draft four of, two of them have their own power: money. They bribe Falstaff through Bardolph to pick poor soldiers less fit for the job than them. One tries to gain power through sympathy, but it’s the two pound bribe that carries the weight. There’s never truly an even playing field, explained Ralph.
Falstaff vs. Colaville of the Dale: Ralph had always envisioned this as a comic scene featuring a fight in which the cowardly Falstaff gains the upper hand over the bold rebel. His brilliant assistant, Brent, convinced him that it should be a serious scene. Colaville yields to Falstaff because he has heard so much of Falstaff’s (completely undeserved) valorous reputation. Although they both have swords, a base level of military power, the man with the power of reputation wins over the one with more military power. When Prince John enters, Falstaff tries to increase his power by making a big deal of his prisoner. John has no respect for him and uses his higher power to nullify Falstaff’s, sentencing Colaville to execution. Falstaff does pull out the power of the poet, saying that if John does not acknowledge he captured a noted rebel then he will have a ballad written in which he exceeds John. That was my favorite part. I have made use of that writer’s power before, mainly when I wrote an Aristophanic comedy about my college! Most people find subtle ballads and songs preferable.
We only looked briefly at the banishment of Falstaff. Now Hal is in absolute power and strips Falstaff of his. Powers higher still, however, Hal’s obligation to the kingdom and the law, force him to do so. Ralph notes that after Hal leaves, Falstaff acknowledges a debt for the first time in his life.
The day ended with Sarah assigning groups of students scenes to study from Love’s Labours Lost. I wonder if they’ll be performing those at the end? That play has some hilarious power scenes. Now I’m remembering the great production I saw this summer in the first session of YCTC.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
PEG Class 9/3/2010
After Sarah’s introduction to the history and importance of Blackfriars, she introduced Dr. Ralph as the main lecturer. This year the PEG class studies power in Shakespeare. Ralph talked first about money as power, discussing how Blackfriars cost more than the Globe and how the people in gallant stools and lords chairs had more power, even pushing a nearby actor out of the way if he obscured their view. He then got Sarah, Jeff, and Maxim to perform several scenes, while he explored the power dynamics in each.
- Othello tells Desdemona to go to bed. First they performed it out of context, and it looked like they wanted to sleep together—the power of the conjugal debt. Also, Othello has power because he’s the husband giving the wife an order in public. Then they performed two versions of it in the context of Othello having recently struck her and being full of menace. Now power came from fear. After each time, Ralph asked the students what the power was to get them thinking, as opposed to just telling them, a good choice.
- Brabantio begs the duke to punish the man who stole his daughter. As a friend of the duke, Brabantio has some power. The duke has the most, and even though he shares it with senators he promises to soak the man with everything in the book. Brabantio fingers Othello, and the senators and then the duke “basically say, ‘bye-bye,’” as Ralph puts it, showing their power over Brabantio. The reason: Othello has the most power because they need him to save the city from the Turks. Despite what he says, Dr. Ralph’s not a bad actor.
- The scene from II Henry IV with Falstaff’s mistress, Nell Quickly, and the beadle. On the surface, the beadle has the power because he represents the law. By the end, however, the whore leads him offstage. She feels power because of her pregnancy and because she knows Falstaff, a big buddy of the new-crowned king. She also uses the power of language, very important to Shakespeare, as she insults the beadle. To show the power of insults, everyone got to insult Jeff as a nuthook and a pasty-face. The students sure enjoyed that.
Then, unfortunately, we ran out of time, demonstrating the Power of the Clock. It seemed to me that after each scene they had a good idea of the power dynamics. I wonder what they’ll do next week?
David
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)