Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mrs. Bradley.

Welcome back to Drama, our lesson two in the Evaluating Stagecraft unit.

If you're ready, we'll continue.

In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or some paper to write on, and you'll need a pen to write with.

So, I hope you've done the intro quiz because that will have recapped some of your prior learning from the previous lesson.

We will just go over today some key terminology that we're going to use in this lesson.

And we'll be then watching an extract from a play.

When we've watched the extract, we will be exploring how what we are looking at today is a contemporary interpretation.

So we'll focus on that for this lesson and then we'll analyse and evaluate how successful the contemporary interpretation is.

And that will take us to the end and then don't forget, there's always an exit quiz which will just check your progress from this lesson.

Our keywords for today then.

We're going to look today at what an ensemble is.

So an ensemble is when a group works together for a collective goal, such as a group of actors or an ensemble of musicians.

We're going to look at an interpretation.

So an interpretation is a representation of something, perhaps in a new or unique way.

And we're going to be looking at context.

So context is the setting or background to a play which helps us understand it.

And the aims for this lesson are to explore a contemporary interpretation of a Shakespeare play.

And we're going to be analysing and evaluating the success of this contemporary interpretation.

Alongside this, we'll be continuing to develop your skills in describing, analysing, and evaluating live theatre.

So let's get started.

The play we're looking at is "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

You may know this play already, you might have seen it, read it, or watched it on TV or a film, but let's do a quick plot summary.

So, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Shakespeare.

It's a play about fairies and lovers.

It's a comedy.

We have the King and Queen of the Fairies, Oberon and Titania, and we have the four lover characters.

But there's also a group of Mechanicals.

So the group of the Mechanicals, they're a group of labourers who live in the local area and they're putting on a play, very much like an amateur drama group.

So the play within a play that the Mechanicals create creates a lot of comedy.

So we watch them plan and rehearse their play, not very successfully at times.

And that's a large part of the comedy within the play.

We're going to look at a key scene, which is when the group of Mechanicals are planning their performance.

So because this is Shakespeare, before we watch the scene let's just look at the text.

So here are the lines from the scene that you're about to look at.

In this scene, the six Mechanicals are discussing when they should perform their play because they want to have moonshine in the play.

So they want to have the moon shining as part of their story.

And what they're discussing here is, is the moon shining that night? And so what they want to do is look in a calendar and see when the next full moon is scheduled because the more moon is on display, the brighter the moonshine will be and they think they can maybe use that in their performance.

So here's the dialogue from the original Shakespeare text.

Doth the moon shine that night we play our play? A calendar, a calendar! Look in the almanack.

Find out moonshine, find out moonshine! Yes, it doth shine that night.

Why then, may you leave a casement of the great chamber window where we play open and the moon may shine in at the casement.

So that bit of text is just a suggestion of what we're going to see.

And Bottom, the character, is suggesting we look at a calendar, we look at if the moon is shining.

Quince has a calendar and we work out that, yes, the moon is going to shine that night.

And then Bottom suggests that if they leave a window open, the moon can shine in on their play.

So we're going to watch an interpretation of this scene.

And so now you understand the context of the original scene, we're going to look at if the context has changed.

So we're going to watch this clip together.

And I want you to look at how the interpretation of the scene is now different.

And what effect does this have? So as we watch, or perhaps just after you've watched it, make some notes on what you notice about the interpretation.

This is the 2019 Nicholas Hytner production.

So directed by Nick Hytner, performed at the Bridge Theatre and filmed by National Theatre Live.

So let's have a look at this clip.

Doth the moon shine that night we play our play? A calendar.

A calendar? A calendar? Calendar.

Calendar? Oh, a calendar! A calendar.

A calendar, a calendar, a calendar.

Apple, Android! Google.

A calendar, a calendar! Got an iPhone? What, mate? Do you have a calendar? Android? Ah, yes, yes.

Galaxy! Got one, got one, got one, got one, got one, got one, got one! Unlock your calendar, I beseech you.

Look in the almanack, find out moonshine, find out moonshine! 24th of June, 24th of June.

Yes! The moon doth shine that night! Yes! Why, then, may you leave a casement of the- May you leave a casement of the great chamber window open, and the moon may shine in at the casement.

Aye, or else one must come in with a whoosh of thorns and a lantern and say he comes to disfigure or to present the person of moonshine! Ah, for this, your leave, much thanks.

Bottom! Hmm? Portrait.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, there you go.

So that was the clip and I'm sure you can see how now in this version, the interpretation is very different.

So if you need to pause here and make a few more notes, that's fine.

And then when you're ready, we will carry on and look at what we saw in this extract.

Alright, then so I've got some specific questions here for you to answer about what you noticed.

So I'd like you to pause here and answer these specific questions just to make sure you formulate your notes from what you saw.

And then when you're ready we'll go through the answers to these questions.

Alright, so the first question was how did this production make the scene contemporary for a modern audience? And so the answer that I've come up with here is that they needed to know a date, didn't they? So they borrowed someone's phone to look this up because more often than not these days, if we need to look at a date, our calendar would be on our phone.

So that leads on to the next question.

What was the contemporary interpretation of the calendar? So the calendar became a mobile phone.

So when they were saying, "A calendar, a calendar!", they were referring to a phone and they borrowed a phone from an audience member.

What else did the ensemble do in the scene which is not in the original script? So they ad-libbed additional lines.

So ad-libbing just means improvising lines which are not in the script.

So responding in the moment to what's happening on stage.

So they improvised by ad-libbing additional lines and they also took a selfie, didn't they, at the end.

So the selfie is definitely not in the script.

But they referred to that as a portrait, using a bit more of Shakespearean language and making that quite funny.

And so what effect did that have on the audience? So I've just said it was funny, wasn't it? So it was very funny.

It created a comic effect but it also made the scene more relatable and more relevant because we understood from watching that what a calendar was and what they were trying to achieve.

And I think the use of the mobile phone as a calendar just helped make the scene more relevant and easy to understand.

So they're my notes in answer to those questions.

If you want to pause here and add anything to your notes then you can do, and then when you're ready, we'll carry on.

So just a reminder, then, of our key skills because this is what we're focusing on in this unit.

We're looking at describing because whenever we look at something in live theatre, we want to be able to describe it by giving a detailed account of it in detail.

We then want to analyse what we see.

So analyse means to examine something in detail and explain why those choices were made.

We then are going to evaluate.

So evaluate means to come to a judgement overall about the success of something.

So, we're going to watch the clip again, and this time we're going to make more detailed notes.

This time focusing on the description of what happens in the scene and the analysis of why the actors do that and make those choices.

You can set this out like a table as I've done here or you can just make bullet point notes.

So I've given you an example here which you might want to follow.

So, one aspect of the scene.

I've said that Bottom, the character, played by Hammad Animashaun makes a hand gesture like holding a mobile phone, so he does this with his hand to his ear, making eye contact with the audience when he asks, "Do you have a calendar?" So he sort of does this gesture and says those words.

So that's my description of what happens.

But why does he do that? Remember that analysing is examining something in detail and coming up with why.

So he does this to change the context of the calendar to mean a mobile phone.

And this straight away creates comedy for the audience.

Making the hand gesture helps the audience understand what he means and it makes the meaning of the line, and the contemporary interpretation, a lot clearer.

So just from this simple gesture, we've got quite a lot of analysis because we can explain and examine in detail why he did that.

So.

We're going to watch the clip again to do that.

And here's where you need to make your detailed notes.

So watch the clip, but then do pause and take as long as you need either using a table like that, a description and analysis, or just making some detailed bullet point notes.

When we're looking at what the actors do, try and use some acting terminology, for example, refer to their movements, their facial expressions, their gestures, their proxemics, which means the use of space, and their vocal skills.

So here we go, watching the clip again for you to look at the specific use of acting skills now.

Doth the moon shine that night we play our play? A calendar.

A calendar? A calendar? Calendar.

Calendar? Oh, calendar! A calendar.

A calendar, a calendar, a calendar.

Apple, Android! Google.

A calendar, a calendar! An iPhone? What, mate? Do you have a calendar? Android? Ah, yes, yes.

Galaxy! Got one, got one, got one, got one, got one, got one, got one! Unlock your calendar, I beseech you.

Look in the almanack, find out moonshine, find out moonshine! 24th of June, 24th of June.

Yes! The moon doth shine that night! Yes! Why, then, may you leave a casement of the- May you leave a casement of the great chamber window open, and the moon may shine in at the casement.

Aye, or else one must come in with a whoosh of thorns and a lantern and say he comes to disfigure or to present the person of moonshine! Ah, for this, your leave, much thanks.

Bottom! Hmm? Portrait.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Great, so there's the clip again.

If you need to pause here for longer and make your notes about the acting skills, then obviously take as long as you need.

And then when you are ready, we'll move on.

Alright, then, so let's review your notes.

Here's some examples of what you could've written.

These are just suggestions and you might've written about different aspects of the performance and analysed that in a different way, and that's absolutely fine.

It's always important to remember that analysis is your opinion.

And so your interpretation might be different from my interpretation.

But just to help you along, here's just a couple of suggestions.

So I looked at the section where the Mechanicals huddle into a group centre stage to look at the phone, first of all.

But then they all come out of that huddle.

Bottom walks back to the audience member to say, "Unlock your calendar, I beseech you." So why does he do that and what effect does that have? So, what we get here is some comedy because of the juxtaposition between the Shakespearian language and the request for a phone to be unlocked.

So juxtaposition is when two things come together which contrast, and that creates an effect.

So here we get a comic effect.

So we get the side by side comparison, the Shakespearian language, I beseech you, and unlock your calendar, and that creates more comedy.

Then the Mechanicals huddle into a group again, centre stage, all with their heads down huddled tight together, to look at the calendar.

And then they all gasp in unison.

And then look back at the audience member in unison, again, who the phone belongs to and they give disapproving and shocked facial expressions.

So that's quite a detailed description of that particular moment.

And the analysis is that it sort of creates this effect that they've seen something rude or something shocking on that phone, haven't they? And this creates a comic effect for the audience.

They really laugh, don't they? 'Cause it's really funny.

I think what happens here is the audience laugh because they're glad it's not their phone.

Imagine the embarrassment, if the Shakespearian actors have seen something on your phone which wasn't meant to be there.

So, we get this really nice comic effect again from the gasp in unison, from the looks they give to that audience member.

So I've got description but then I've got why they've done that.

And this, because it's a comedy and this particular set of characters are comic, we've got a lot of things created here for comic effect.

Alright then.

So now it's evaluation time.

So, evaluating, don't forget, is coming to a conclusion overall.

So we're going to put all of our notes together from today to answer an exam style question.

So I'd like you to put your answers into paragraphs to answer the question that's here on the screen.

Describe how a production you have seen created comedy for the audience.

Analyse and evaluate the techniques used for comic effect.

So within the question are those key skills, describe, analyse and evaluate.

So when you're writing, you need to describe the use of skills, analyse why those choices were made and then evaluate how they were successful in creating comedy.

So, here are some sentence starters which might help you complete this task.

These are just optional, but might help you structure your writing.

There's eight different sentence starters and then I've also put some key words, which I've used today in the various aspects of the lesson, which I think would help make your writing really successful.

We should be referring to the contemporary interpretation.

We could look at context, the juxtaposition, the use of ensemble, the use of comedy, how it was effective, and how it affected the audience.

So they're some key words to use alongside these sentence starters.

I would suggest pausing the video here just to make a note of the key words and also write down the sentence starters which you want to use.

And then let's now complete the task.

So, use all of the notes from today to answer the exam style question.

The question's here again on the screen.

You may want to write about two or three different moments in the scene with an introduction at the start and a conclusion at the end.

And the conclusion is your overall summary of how the scene was effective in creating comedy.

So this is your task for the remainder of this lesson, take as long as you need, and then just resume when you're finished.

And brilliant work.

So it was, in a sense, a complex scene because we had a very different interpretation to the original text.

But I hope you were able to see how everything they did was structured to create comedy and to make the scene more relatable and more relevant to a modern day audience and how successful that was.

So great work today with your description, analysis, and evaluation skills and I'll see you next time.