Twelfth Night Logbook
- Tanya Lebedeva
- 24 окт. 2020 г.
- 17 мин. чтения
Обновлено: 21 дек. 2020 г.
In this logbook, I am describing preparing for my role in the play Twelfth Night written by William Shakespeare. Here can be found rehearsals and exercises we were doing in class or at home, also my thoughts about the chosen play and the characters.
When we were trying out different classical pieces, we watched The National Theatre version of Twelfth Night.
I liked the performance and when we needed to make a decision which shows to stage it was an easy choice. The play was modernized and set in the 1950s or about that time. We hoped it would make it more understandable for the audience. The character I remembered the most was Olivia. She was the only one who acted in a modern way.
In our version, the plot is about Malvolio and the fact that he is annoying everyone because he tries to look better in Olivia's eyes. After the scene with the letter, where he discovered that Olivia probably in love with him, he appears in front of her in yellow stockings. When Olivia sees him, she thinks he is crazy and lets her uncle Sir Toby deal with him. Sir Toby locks Malvolio in prison. Feste tricks him, pretending to be Sir Topas, but in the end, helps him to write a letter with excuses to Olivia. In the end, Olivia decides to release Malvolio, Fabian confesses about the trick and Malvolio promises to revenge on everyone.
In the reduced version, the main character seems to be Malvolio and Maria. The whole plot is about their hate for each other. It changed the central meaning of the play. If in the original play, it would be about the class system and love. Then in our version, there is no love story. It became a play about morality where Malvolio is punished for his desire to be a good worker in the boss's eyes.
For some characters, their motivation changes. For example, with Olivia, we cut her romantic part of the story. And then we could not see her transformation from mourning into happiness (because she fell in love, etc.). For Sir Andrew, Kieran created additional physical scenes to show his character's true nature, cowardness (in the original version, he called a fight with another challenger for Olivia's hand and then runs away in fear).
Luckily, my character, Feste, it does not affect it at all.
In the following week, we had auditions. And I was auditioning for 3 roles - Maria, Olivia, and Feste. The part I was hoping to get was Feste because I found this character funny and challenging. Last year I played the role of a young widow in Chekhov's "The Bear" and the role of a young woman in mourning was familiar to me.
AND I GOT IT! I was so excited to get this part!
At the next rehearsal, we did an exercise which is called Hot Seating. It is one of the Stanislavsky techniques. During this exercise, I needed to focus and imagine that I am the character.
I knew my character, but because we decided to stage the play in modern settings, I was not sure what exactly Feste would be in the modern world. This is why I did not apply any special gestures or voice for my character.
This video shows the rehearsing process of Act 1 Scene 3.
The result of the day was controversial. On the one side, we quickly put the set on, I prepared a shorter version of the script (it was more comfortable for rehearsals) and we staged the first scene on the very first day. But on the other side, we did not analyze the script being a result we did not exactly know what the scene was about.
After this, we worked on a transition from the office set to the garden set.
Firstly, we discussed what and where is going to be moved:
Then Jess found a great song that is associated with the morning. And I suggested during the transition act like fairies or magical characters. So it would look funny and refer to another Shakespearian play.
In the last video, we added a little bit of a story. Fairies transform into birds, and then Malvolio comes and scares them away.
In this video, we are working on the transition from Act 1 Scene 5 to Act 2 Scene 3. We decided to create freeze frames that show the stages of the party.
For basis, we took poses which we have done during the Shakesperian workshop. Then, Ed found the music, and we finished the transition with him dancing.
The next scene was Act 2, Scene 3. In this scene, Feste, Sir Andrew, and Sir Toby continue the party and being loud, even though Olivia is sleeping. When Maria comes to tell them off, she changes her mind and starts having fun with them. After another song, Malvolio comes and lectures all of them. Maria sets a plan on how to take revenge on Malvolio.
Again, we made similar mistakes. We staged the scene and decided where everyone goes, what we do. But I did not reassure that everyone is familiar with the script and understand it fully. Also, it feels like it was important to me to stage as many scenes as possible because I was thinking that we are going to be short on time.
When we chose that play, I had the vision to put a modern setting on. The idea was to look at the relationship between characters in the present time. Then, question ourselves, is that relationship right, should it exist or not in modern time, or can we see examples of it around us. Also, I thought this idea helps our audience (college students) understand the plot better.
Sometimes, when I watch a play in an old setting, I challenge the moral more. I ask myself, how relevant is it to present life?
However, in Twelfth Night, one of the central themes is a class system. Servants want to get married to nobles so that they could have a better life. If we took a modern-day setting based in England, it would not apply to present England's reality.
Initially, the concept was to set the Twelfth Night in a hotel, where Olivia was a company owner, Sir Toby vice president, Maria office manager, Malvolio executive manager, Sir Andrew, another company owner, and Feste party, planner.
My classmates had concerns about that. For some characters, such as Sir Toby, who would have been a Vice President in the company, a drunk person's behavior would not be tolerated in modern society, even though he held such a high post. Same for Sir Andrew, who is called stupid, but at the same time rich.
However, those characters could exist in the 1920s and 1930s period. Also, Jess had ideas for the costumes and set.
At the next rehearsal, we changed the concept and setting time from the modern world to the 1920s or 30s.
In the new theme, the characters change their positions too.
Props on the stage stay almost the same they were before.
Also, we decided to spend time reading through, discussing the scene before and after the staging. So we can talk about things that went well and the moments we need to work.
Overall, it was one of the turning points at the rehearsals.
The video below shows our discussion of Act 1, Scene 5. That technique is called Given circumstances, one of the Stanislavsky techniques. The main goal was to find as many clues about characters and the relationship between them in the script. This information will help to understand small details to make characters more real.
In this scene, Feste comes back to Olivia's house after being away for a long time. It shows a variety of reactions from different characters towards Feste.
At this point, I was still struggling with my character. The role of the fool was understandable in the past. Rich people needed someone who could make them laugh, even though the jokes were cruel. But in the 1920s or 1930s what kind of job will require this skill?
I was thinking of a jazz singer or a dancer.
It was necessary to discuss before we went to stage the scene. The reason is we had an opportunity to share our thoughts about our characters and their relationship with each other.
During the reading, we tried one of the exercises which I saw on the page of National Theatre when one actor following the other one while acting. The feedback from our classmates was good, so we decided to use it in the performance.
Staging
The outcome of this rehearsal was positive. We staged this scene. Also, I had advice about my character from my classmates. It was about being crueler towards Malvolio. I disagreed with their opinion at the start, because I have not seen the reason for that. But then, during the home study, I have realized that they were right. In my first scene, when Feste comes back from the war, Malvolio challenges his professionalism, tells Olivia that anyone could be a jester, and compares him to Zanni (stupid servant). For Feste, it is vital to keep that job because it feeds him. Furthermore, that was the reason why Feste wants to keep torture Malvolio.
After we created a short introduction that was going to be before the first scene:
The main idea was to create 3-4 actions with one subject that go continously. This scene is an allegory for office and office routine.
Next video shows the discussion of Act 4 Scene 2. The main characrters of the scene are Malvolio and Feste.
We discovered what happened before and after that scene, how characters behave and transform during it.
At the start of the scene, Feste takes this trick on Malvolio with a lot of enthusiasm. Same as Sir Toby and Maria. But then, Sir Toby got scared that his niece would be upset with him if he does not stop the trick.
Feste, being at the start of the scene heartless and cruel to Malvolio, might feel compassion for him in the end. Or it might be because Feste is going to be well paid if he helps Malvolio.
The video below shows the staging process of the same scene:
In my opinion, changing voice worked well. I liked working with Ed because he is very creative and always trying new things. Another thing I liked about him is that he seems to try new ideas easily. He puts 100% of himself into the character. I felt comfortable working with him. Also, he gave me enough energy back, so the acting looked balance.
On the other hand, we still needed to work on the transition into the scene and transition after.
Discussion Act 3, Scene 4 after Malvolio's dance and Olivia exits
On the same rehearsal we read and discuss Act 5 Scene 1, the last scene in the play. We spoke about the staging process. The main topic of discussion was about characters who does not have lines. One of the option was to have a scene on the background where Sir Toby and Maria are celebrating their wedding. But then we declined this idea, because we did not show the process of marriage, so it would disorientate the audience.
Staging
The staging worked well in this scene. We did not have Ed at the rehearsal, so we went briefly through this scene. We tried out to put celebration of the wedding on the background, but it did not work out.
1st run through the play
Feedback and things to work on after the first run through
In this discussion we made a plan for following rehearsals. First of all, concentrate on the transitions. Then, worked again on the scene in the basement, go through with full cast.
Working with the script
As I mentioned before, for this show we decided to use a shorter version of the script. Scenes that were chosen:
- Act 1 Scene 3 and 5
- Act 2 Scene 3 and 5
- Act 3 Scene 4
- Act 4 Scene 2
- Act 5 Scene 1
In the next video I am talking about the play: the main plot, characters, ere, context.
I was working on the script at home and this is a video that shows the process of preparation for one of the scene
Despite the difficulties of the language I have discovered that I liked the words and their order. What I did was actually going through each word, translate it and transcript it. Even though, I had modern translation it was important for me to understand every single word. And after, I could apply gestures or movements over my words.
In Shakesperean plays there are 2 types of language - blank verse and poems. It is famously known that in poems when you read Shakespeare you need to read them in iambic pentameter (the rhythm of the heart ta-DAM-ta-DAM-ta-DAM-ta-DAM stressing second syllable).
But I did not know that for blank verse it could be used too.
In that article by BBC I have read that if noble character suddenly reads line in prose or otherwise than it means that something important is happening.
In this video from National Theatre is shown an exercise with stressing the words in the sentence and taping the leg.
I decided to recreate it in my 2 monologues in the play
During recreation of that exercise I have discovered that it does not suit to my lines. But for the future it might be useful.
Preparation for the role using acting techniques
Objective/Super objective
With objective/super objective Stanislavskiy technique I could understand a real motive of my character for each scene and the whole play. It gives me more information and keeps the character alive.
Play Super Objective
I want to continue be rich and popular performer again
Obstacle – Feste is being away for too long, Olivia's father (Feste's emloyer) died and Malvolio whispers to Olivia's ear that Feste should not get paid for his work, also he gets older and not as funny as he was
ACT 1 SCENE 5
I want to greet Olivia and make good impression, also I want to make her feel good. If she stops mourning, I will be in her favour
Obstacle – Malvolio thinks that I am not that funny anymore, he saw how I loose a battle of wits to another apprentice and thinks that my job could be done by anyone
ACT 2 SCENE 3
I want to earn some money of drunk Sir Toby and Sir Andrew
Obstacle – Malvolio comes and tells everyone go to bed
ACT 4 SCENE 2
Unit 1
I want to laugh at Malvolio and humiliate him
Obstacle – Sir Toby tells me to stop
Unit 2
I want to continue my revenge on Malvolio
Obstacle - I want to work on Olivia, therefore I should keep my word to Sir Toby, also Malvolio promised me a reward
ACT 5 SCENE 1
Unit 1
I want to build intrigue and make Olivia laugh at Malvolio's letter
Obstacle - she wants to understand Malvolio's strange behavior and she is not in mood for laughing
Unit 2
I want to show to Malvolio that it is his fault that he was treated badly
Obstacle - Malvolio is determined to revenge
Later working on the script I used technique that is called Given Circimstances to find more information about my role. In this technique I search in the script for everything that describes my character or other characters say about me
After that exercise I've discovered relationship between Malvolio and Fool. Malvolio tries to point out that Feste is no longer smart and funny and even other jester apprenticie won him in a wit battle. That scene gave me further motivation for being cruel to Malvolio.
In Act 2 Scene 3 I have discovered Feste monetory interest with Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. Sir Andrew seems to be a person that will give lots of money because of his wish to be like Sir Toby, nobel knight. And Feste uses it for his personal reasons. Sir Andrew is the only one character that get interrupted by Feste. It seems for me, that Feste does not respect him at all.
That exercise was one of the most useful for me. It took time to read chosen extracts through, but after that I understood the motive and relationships between them better.
Role Feste
In Shakespearean plays there are only four that have fool character in it. In Twelfth Night, Feste plays important part in the plot. He seems to be respected by Olivia, the Lady of the house. Even though, everyone refers to Feste as a Fool he often is the wisest character of the play. He speaks Latin and quotes phrases from Ancient scripts. He describes events and takes part in tricking Malvolio.
Feste first time appears in Act 1 Scene 5 after being away for a while. He talks to Maria openly and compliments her brain. He tells that even Sir Toby could have marry her. Feste is first in the play who is giving this clue or suggests that there might be romantic relationship between Maria and Sir Toby. When Feste sees Olivia, he jokes at her (The Lady said take away the fool. Gentlemen take away the Lady). That moment shows the relationship between Olivia and Feste. They both seem to know each other very well, because Feste used to work for Olivia’s father. In this scene he is wisely comments that it is stupid to keep mourning for her brother and father, because their soul is in heaven. At the same time, Malvolio acts aggressive towards Feste. It might be because he is jealous of his privilege to speak openly about anything or because of his special relationship with Olivia.
As the play goes, Feste could be seen in different houses and with different characters. He does not look like he takes any side. His main goal is to earn money here and there.
Description of character – male, middle aged (worked before for Olivia’s father), knows Latin and English, great singer (Sir Andrew: “the fool has excellent breath”), his jokes are not always funny
My interpritation
Originally Feste was a fool, a joker. My thoughts was about, how could I modernise my character. In the first option, I was going to be a party planer. But then when the set was changed my character became party manager. Then Sonia suggested to try being old rich woman or a singer/actress. But then it suddenly clicked and I have decided to be a mind reader.
1st run through the play without the script (but some with)
On 6th of November we rehearsed the whole play again. We did not have full cast, but we ran succesfully through whole play. It was my first time when I was off the script. I feel that I need to concentrate more on the lines in the last scene.
After the run through we had a short discussion on which scenes we need to work the most.
Those scenes were - planning trick on Malvolio scene, scene in the garden and scene afterwards when Malvolio comes to Olivia in yellow stockings. So after a short break we worked on them. Also, I worked with Joshua on our dialogue in Act 1 Scene 5.
After that we decided that we all should focus on learning lines before the next rehearsal.
Month before the final performance we had another rehearsal. I performed first time one of the songs with microphone. It was more challenging than I thought. Because I heard my voice through the speaker I became anxious and forgot the lines. I am going to work on it.
After that short rehearsal I feel more comfortable to perform this song.
On the last 2 rehearsals of the week we concentrated on 3 scenes - scene in a basement, party scene and garden scene.
In the start we went through the script to understand how well we know the script
After that, we rehearse that scene.
Then, we had a quick discussion about our characters, acting and staging of the scene. Then we added a big white sheet that is going to be Sir Topas gown. Also, I decided to stand on a chair so Sir Topas would be imagined by Malvolio, as a tall man.
The first dress rehearsal
Discussion afterwards
After the first run through in costumes, there were some scenes and transitions to work on:
- the party scene
- transition to the party scene
- garden scene
This videos shows the rehearsing process of the party scene:
This is the final version:
To maintain the coronavirus free zone, Jess came up with backstage rules. All props were sanitized and labeled.
On the next rehearsal while one group was doing the garden scene, me and Catherine rehearsed the final song and create a choreography. The challenge was to build choreography but maintaining the social distance.
The solution was to place me in the center while other actors form a line and step into the front on certain songs ques.
Next video shows myself at home rehearsing my part:
During home rehearsal I stopped because I needed a drink. For an actor it is very important to look after the voice and voice chords, Last year I have learnt that it is easy to lose voice or damage the chords. Especially if you not only use your voice for dialogues, but also sing. Drinking hot teas or water regularly, warming up before rehearsals, using voice carefully in spare time (not scream for example), avoid stress those life hacks help me to protect my voice.
Besides, stretching before rehearsals help to relax the muscles and focus on breathing.
Last year I spoke about the importance of keeping fit on my acting page. Regular stretching exercises prevent injuries during the rehearsal. Moreover, it is an excellent way to tune yourself on the right note and concentrate on upcoming work.
Also, for the last song I discovered that I short on breath in some moments of the song. To increase my lungs capacity I am going to do at home Alexander Technique and breathing exercise, that I have learnt last year. On the video below is shown my mourning routine:
On following Thursday we had proper run through. Before we started we did a quick warm up exercise for the voice
We skipped few dialogues, but overall we were off the script. Also, Catherine was self-isolated that day because one member of her family got Corona virus. But, quickly we found the solution. Catherine was phoned on Face Time and then during the rehearsal she was doing her lines from the phone. One of us was always holding her in a place where she supposed to be.
Surprisingly for all of us, that day was one of the best rehearsals, when we went through whole play without major stops. After that we worked a little bit on final song.
On the following weeks we continue to go through the play and polish the scenes, transitions that we were thinking needed to go smoothier.
Unfortunately Jamie went to hospital and could not attend the rehearsals even by the phone. We quickly made a decision about the lines and which characters are going to replace his part.
After that rehearsal we fell more confidient in our performance. In the garden scene, I did not need to learn new lines. I hide the script and read them aloud when it was my turn.
On the following week, media students came to us and helped us with recording the whole performance. Surprisingly, it was shorter than we expected (just over an hour).
In this video we share our feedback with each other:
Honestly, I was very happy to have some sort of final performance. Even though, I forgot some lines my classmates were very professional to respond them correctly. Especially in the last scene, when I handle to Keiran a letter with wrong script. But he used Stanislavskiy technique "What if" and improvised beatifuly on the stage.
To finish with, we decided to do exercise "Hot seating" again. When I just got the role, I have not done enough research. Therefore, I did not understand fully the character history. But after so many rehearsals and going through the script I finally was close to become my character on the stage.
The second version of hot seating became like a new Brechtian performance where our characters continue to live out of the play.
That exercise helped me to build my confidence that I understand my character and relationship on the stage well.
After that, we had a few rehearsals when we did a whole run. We did not make any big changes. And when Jamie fell better, he joined the rehearsals. We gave back to him his lines. Collectively, we decided to have me in the garden scene, because it looked more harmonious.
Final performance
On the 10th of December, we held our final performance with the live audience. We invited six people from different departments to watch it. Performing in front of the live audience made a difference for my classmates and me. We spoke before about the audience boosting our acting capability. It fell right when I heard laughs at the moments that I prepared to be funny.
We received great feedback from the audience. They were missing live performances too.
"Just to say thank you all for a fab show it was absolutely brilliant. I have seen twelfth night a few times at the tobacco factory in Bristol and I have never laughed so much. The students did amazingly , thank you so much for inviting me and congratulate the students they were absolutely fab and give Shakespeare at the tobacco factory a run for their money".
In contrast this is Brechtian version of the performance:
In this version, we used the next techniques: use of placards, narration, third story narration, applying multi-roles, playing one character by multiple actors, stage directions, give feedback about the character.
It was a fun experience. Afterward, Sonia gave us feedback. She underlined how professional we were. Also, she mentioned that we worked very well as a team.
For me, it was fascinating to follow my classmate's improvisation. I think that the modern version and Brechtian techniques are more relevant to the modern audience.
Overall, I find Stanislavsky's techniques beneficial to me, especially improvisation (what if), working with the script, and hot seating. For Shakespeare, I would say that Stanislavskiy works only in dramatic performances when it is unnecessary to interact with the audience. In comedy, some jokes are funny if actors are approaching the public. Also, to apply the Brechtian acting style, I would rewrite the drama or improvise to make a kind of parody but with deeper meaning or bold statement.
I truly enjoyed performing Shakespeare. It was challenging at the start with finding the motivation of the character and the language. However, then, I found its own pace and beauty. And after, I realized that it was probably easier to speak in old English because the audience will not understand you 100%, and I have to put extra meaning into my words. Besides, the comedy sometimes was so bold, so it did not bother us too much when we overacted.
I think, if we decided to perform the original full version, we would fail. It worked well on the National Theatre stage with all those props and changing the scenery, considering the play lasts about 3 hours. But, on the student stage, with a minimum budget, we did the right thing.
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