WEEK 6

RESEARCH: Research your own Shakespeare play: Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, Measure for Measure. What is the play about? When was it first performed? Find a contemporary production of the play you can get an idea of and research it in terms of concept, style, design, casting. Give some attention to your own character and their role in the play.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare at an uncertain date between 1599 and 1602. The play showcases Hamlet's revenge on his Uncle for the murder of his Father. His Uncle, Claudius, had murdered his own brother and seized the throne, also marrying his deceased brother's widow. It is Shakespeare's longest play and is considered one of the most powerful and influential. It was most likely one of his most popular works around the time it was written. Three different early versions of the play are extant: the First Quarto (1603); the Second Quarto (1604); and the First Folio (1623). Each version includes lines and entire scenes missing from the others. The play's structure and depth of characterisation have inspired much critical scrutiny. One example is the debate about Hamlet's hesitation to kill his uncle, which some see as merely a plot device to prolong the action, but which others argue is a dramatisation of the complex philosophical and ethical issues that surround cold-blooded murder, revenge, and desire. 

HAMLET AT THE ALMEIDA
A contemporary Shakespeare production I have seen recently is Hamlet, directed by Robert Icke. It was very different to works that Shakespeare himself would have produced. The production was quite high concept and used lots of multimedia like live video streams, pre recorded video and complex sets that were visually very minimalistic. Casting wise, there were some big names performing such as Andrew Scott (Hamlet), Juliet Stevenson (Gertrude), Jessica Brown Findlay (Ophelia), Barry Aird (Gravedigger/Francisco), Elliot Barnes-Worrell (Horacio) and Angus Wright (Claudius).

Hamlet as a character:
The prince of Denmark, and a student at the University of Wittenberg. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, has recently died, and his mother, Queen Gertrude, has married the new king, Hamlet’s uncle Claudius. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncle and disgust at his mother for marrying him. When the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and claims to have been murdered by Claudius, Hamlet becomes obsessed with avenging his father’s death but keeps thinking of reasons why he should wait before killing Claudius—then chastises himself for failing to act boldly. Hamlet is a character of contradictions. He admires characters like Fortinbras and the Player King, who behave passionately and even violently for no good reason, but is himself thoughtful, reflective, and philosophical. At times Hamlet is indecisive and hesitant, but at other times he is prone to rash and impulsive acts of violence.

WEEK 5

WEEK 5 - SHAKESPEARE TODAY

QUESTION: Analyse contemporary Shakespeare productions with reference to live performances you may have seen or clips or footage available online. You should comment on what you notice about them and how they differ from what you know about the original performance conditions of Shakespeare’s work? (Don’t be afraid to point out the obvious).

A contemporary Shakespeare production I have seen recently is Hamlet, directed by Robert Icke. It was very different to works that Shakespeare himself would have produced. Shakespeare would have had less technologically advanced sets. This modern production had frosting and unfrosting glass used as a curtain which was something I'd never seen before. Shakespeare would have only used curtains and the majority of his sets would have been made out of wood. There would have been no lights that Shakespeare would use so he would have had to use natural light. Any music would have been played live and certain sound effects will also have had to be made using a compromise sound source as electricity didn't exist. The modern Hamlet I saw used multimedia live on stage and used live camera feeds during the performance. This can really take an audience to a complete other level and really makes you feel part of the world of the play.
Another modern interpretation I've seen is Twelfth Night at the National Theatre. The set was outstanding and was very versatile. It span around and moved horizontally and vertically. There were working water features on stage which the actors interacted with. It was obviously a very expensive production. The costume was very colourful and featured a lot of sequins and feathers. This is similar to Shakespeare's time where they used many different and lavish colours for their costumes.
The actors costumes are also much different. Some productions use the classic English costumes, but most modern productions base their plays in a more modern setting and use modern costume. On average, a west end theatre actor today would be earning about £518-£633 a week. It depends on the show. So financially, it is less frugal than in Shakespeare's time. In both the plays I saw, there were women who played the female characters. This is different than Shakespeare's time as boys played the female parts. In Twelfth Night, a woman actually played a male character which is vastly different to Shakespearian theatre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xoRm8BGX0 - Here is a trailer for Twelfth Night at The National.

Shakespeare plays aren't just produced as plays, many have been produced into films with famous actors. Including Hamlet (David Tennant), Macbeth (Dame Judi Dench, Ian McKellen), Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh), Macbeth (Patrick Stewart, Kate Fleetwood0 and many more.

WEEK 4

WEEK 4 - THEATRES, ACTORS AND ACTING IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME

QUESTION: What were the theatres or ‘playhouses’ of Shakespeare’s time like and how were plays staged in them?

In Shakespeare's time, plays had to be versatile as there were many different kinds of spaces to be performed in: Small indoor playhouse, outdoors, large theatres and even royal palace's! The playwright's used vivd words instead of scenery to picture the scene onstage. In 1576, James Burbarge built The Theatre just outside London. The Theatre was one of the first playhouses in England since Roman times. It was a multi-sided structure with a central, roofless yard surrounded by three stages of covered seating and a bare raised stage at one end of the yard. Audiences could pay for seating at different price levels and cheaper ticket bearers stood for the entire play.
All parts were played by men and sometimes the clown parts were played by famous comics as a sort of crowd pleaser. Some actors even had to fence onstage which required great skill. Costumes were not necessarily accurate and most were designed to be more easy on the eye than actually practical. The bare stages of Shakespeare's day had little or no scenery except for objects required by the plot, like a throne, a grave, or a bed. Actors could descend from the "heavens" above the stage or enter and exit from the "hell" below through a trapdoor. Characters described as talking from "above" might appear in galleries midway between the stage and the heavens.



QUESTION: Who were the actors of Shakespeare’s plays and how did the experience of being an actor differ from the experience today?

The life of actors in Shakespeare's plays changed dramatically during his lifetime. At first, they were in touring companies, travelling the country to perform in towns, cities and private homes. By the time Shakespeare died, London had several permanent theatres where the actors performed, drawing in huge audiences. despite the popularity of play-going, the acting profession had a bad reputation. Actors were seen as unruly and a threat to a peaceful society.
The profession was only open to boys and men. In the rest of Europe there were women acting but they weren't allowed to act in public theatres until 1660.  In an Elizabethan production boys would play the female parts, like Ophelia in Hamlet or Desdemona in Othello, whilst occasionally men would play the older women. Many actors began their careers as young boys. They could join a company as an apprentice and be taught by one of the more senior actors within the company. They were expected to be able to sword fight, sing and dance as well as a good memory for remembering lines. Company sizes varied depending on where they were based and how much money they had. A wealthy company, when working in a theatre, might have 8– 12 senior members called sharers, 3–4 boys, a number of hired players (hired men) and then stage hands, tiremen (who would help the actors dress back stage) and some musicians. Most companies were based in London and used permanent theatres. Sometimes the theatres were closed, for example when there was a plague in the
city, and so companies would then go on tour. Mostly they toured England, but companies did also go abroad, particularly to the Netherlands and Germany.
Many theatre companies operated a shareholder system. Shakespeare was a sharer of the Chamberlain’s Men, later the King’s Men, and so shared the costs and also the profits the company made. Companies made more money in London than in the country. In 1597 the actor William Kendall was paid 10 shillings a week in London but only 5 shillings in the country.

WEEK 2

WEEK 2 - SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE AND BIOGRAPHY
RESEARCH: Research Shakespeare’s life, ensuring you include information about his origins, family, relationships, the world he lived in and questions surrounding his work. 



William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, a farming town in the midlands. He was baptised on the 26th April 1564 but we don't know his exact birth date. He was born into a prosperous family. His mother, Mary, was the daughter of a local farmer. His father, John, was a glove-maker and wool trader with a large family house. When William was four years old, his father was elected Bailiff of Stratford – effectively the mayor. William was the 3rd of 8 children but he grew up as the oldest as two of his sisters died very young. In 1564 the plague killed 200 people in his town, which is 1 in 5 of the population. He was lucky to have survived.

From the age of 7, William went to a grammar school in Stratford which most boys went to. They learned to read, write and speak latin. They also had to memorise and perform stories from history - useful skills for an actor and writer. Shakespeare probably left school aged fifteen. A few years after leaving school, he married Anne Hathaway. They soon had their first child, Susanna. When they married, William was 18 and Anne was 26. In 1585, they had twins, Judith and Hamnet. Shakespeare's son Hamnet died when we was 11. For multiple decades, Shakespeare was an actor, playwright and a major business partner in a large theatre production company. He prospered financially from his partnership with 'The Kings Men'. He invested a lot of his money into real estate. He died on April 23rd, 1616. It is not known how he died, however his brother died a week before so it is thought it could have been an infectious diseases.

WEEK 3 - SHAKESPEARE’S LONDON AND ELIZABETHAN AUDIENCES
QUESTION: What was London like in Elizabethan times and who were the people attending the theatre?
You can start by reading the ‘London’ and ‘Audiences’ factsheets on the Globe website.


In the Elizabethan times London was the richest city in England and was home to multiple permanent playhouses. Many wealthy traders and manufacturers and their workers lived there. These were the kinds of people who had the money to go to the theatre. By 1600, more than 20,000 people a week went to these theatre's. London was the home to royalty and many noble families and many noblemen became patrons of the theatre's, They gave financial and legal support to these theatre's. From 1603 to 1613, Shakespeare’s company played at the court of King James about 15 times per year. London was also growing extremely fast due to migrants from the countryside and from Europe. It is estimated that between 1550 and 1600, the city grew from 50,000 residents to 200,000. Every available space was being built and suburbs were also slowly being built creeping out into the countryside. However, the dark streets attracted thieves and the overcrowding attracted unknown diseases. The plague struck most summers and in 1593 it is estimated 10,000 people were killed because of it and all the theatre's were closed.

Just about everyone in London society went to the theatre, generally more men than women. Sometimes even servants and apprentices spent their time at the theatre. In 1607, the Venetian ambassador bought all of the most expensive seats for a performance of Shakespeare's Pericles. Royalty didn't go the theatre however, they had private performances summoned to their courts. In open air theatres, a groundling ticket (on the floor standing) cost £1 (there were 240 pennies in £1) and for another penny you could have a bench seat in the lower galleries which surrounded the yard and for a penny more you could sit more comfortably with a cushion. The most expensive tickets were in 'The Lord's Rooms'. Admission to indoor theatre's started at about 6 pence. 1 penny was about the cost of a loaf of bread, so the fact that it was so cheap was a reason it was so popular. The groundlings were very close to the action and the floor there was no toilets and the floor they stood on was made up of ash, sand and nutshells. Some people said that the pit smelled of garlic and beer and that no decent citizen should be seen there. So the wealthy would pay more to get a sheltered seat and maybe a cushion. Today, the place where you buy your theatre tickets is called the Box Office. In Shakespeare’s day, as people came into the theatre or climbed the steps to their seats, audiences had to put their money in a box. So the place where audiences pay became known as the box office. Some of the audience went to the theatre to be seen and admired, dressed in their best clothes. But these people were not necessarily well behaved. Most didn’t sit and watch in silence like today. They clapped the heroes and booed the villains, and cheered the special effects. Thieves were common in the audience and sometimes fights broke out. In 1612, magistrates banned music at the end of plays at the Fortune, saying the crowd had caused ‘tumults and outrages’ with their dances.

WEEK 1 - Setting The Scene - Life In Elizabethan England

http://historicalcontextshakespeare.blogspot.co.uk/?m=0

What sense do you get of what life was like in Elizabethan England? Try to include information on: The population, entertainment, religion, superstition, money, jobs, medicine, theatre.

Elizabethan England was predominantly ruled by the rich and powerful. This was only representative of a small portion of the population however.  Most people who lived in the countryside were very poor. There was much more empty land around then. A quarter of England was uninhabited by humans. These areas were dangerous, there were no roads, tracks or paths and you would not be able to find shelter very easily. There are sometimes small thatched cottages dotted around but they were very rare. The sort of families that lived in these kinds of settlements were very poor. There might often be 7 or 8 people living in them. The cottages were always dark, 24 hours a day. Inside it is a basic layout, 1 room with an earth floor. In the middle there would be a single fire, that is always lit. There would be a small chimney-like opening in the roof to stop you from suffocating. The windows were just holes in the wall. There was no glass in them so they let in the cold constantly so they are normally small. People were much more vulnerable to diseases because of this. Candles were expensive and a poor family wouldn't afford them for light. A typical poor families possessions would consist of: a few pots, some spoons and ladles, a basket and a bench. They would sleep on the floor, or if you were lucky, on a thin straw mattress. 

Elizabethan England had a strict class divide, Your class was decided by what family you were born into (ascribed statues d and it was very hard, if not impossible to be able to move classes. Most people fell into three categories: Yeoman - A yeoman might own his own farm and employ workers. A husbandman - a husbandmen rents the land he works on. Labourer - a labourer would simply work for other people. For poor people looking for work it was difficult. Your best bet was to go around to lots of different farms to see if they had work. 

The main religion in the Elizabethan Era was Protestantism.This had been declared the national religion one year before Shakespeare was born in 1564. However, the Catholic church was still popular within some of the noble families. During her reign, Elizabeth was able to re-establish the English language mass and Protestant bible. Protestant communities could be found among the seaports and larger English towns. She did not persecute Catholics during the beginning of her reign, in an attempt to tone down the religious violence in the country. 

Elizabethan music was an important part of the entertainment industry to the people who lived in the Elizabethan Era. A lot of music were sung in villages and fields to ease the monotonous tasks that workers would be partaking in. The importance of music to the Elizabethans was reflected in the plays of William Shakespeare who makes more than five hundred references to music in his plays and poems.
The most famous Elizabethan theatre was Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Theatre's were as popular as cinemas and movie showings were in the the modern 20th century. Vast amounts of money was made and the inn-keepers increased their profits by allowing plays to be shown on temporary stages erected in the yards of their inns.+