Photo Friday
April 20, 2012 at 4:10 pm | Posted in Macbeth, On the Mainstage, Photo Friday, Theatre 101 | Leave a commentHooray for Friday! We are well into our run of Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth and it has gone well (mostly) so far! Here is a picture of a prop that gets loads of use in our production of Macbeth!
BLOOD!
Looks yummy, doesn’t it?
You can find the recipe for prop blood in our latest newsletter! To subscribe, just click here
Have a great weekend!
Post-Mortem
December 13, 2011 at 8:01 am | Posted in Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Theatre 101 | Leave a commentDid you know that once a show closes, the production and artistic team have a Post Mortem? Shakespeare in Action just had one for Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth this week.
Post Mortem – “done, occurring, or collected after death”. In the medical world an autopsy is an examination on a cadaver to determine or confirm the cause of death.
In the theatre world, a POST MORTEM is a critical assestment after the fact. When a show comes down (closes) the various heads of departments (management, design areas, and artistic) and others will come together to discuss what was done right and what was done wrong throughout the process and how it could be better done in the future. It usually takes place a week or so after strike.
Everyone loves closure. It’s a fantastic way to end one chapter in order to begin the next. A post mortem is a practice that can be applied to any ‘thing’ that has come to a close. It reminds us of the aspects in which we need to improve upon and the success and pleasures that were felt/exlpored while partaking in the particular circumstance/relationship/event/show etc.
Theatre 101: Aside
August 13, 2011 at 9:00 am | Posted in Theatre 101 | Leave a commentDo you know what the term “aside” means? How about in the world of theatre?
An aside is a remark, comment or even speech given by a character, and it’s made directly to the audience. This is often called “breaking the fourth wall” because it breaks the invisible barrier between actors and audience. As the audience, we’re supposed to implicitly understand that this remark is not being heard by the other characters in the play. It’s often used as a way to help the audience members relate better to the character who’s speaking. Sometimes, the remark is something witty and sarcastic. It usually comments directly on the action of the play.
Famous asides in Shakespeare plays include moments in Macbeth and Hamlet. If you’ve ever seen the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or the TV show Malcolm in the Middle, think about those moments where the main characters look directly into the camera and speak. That’s a version of an aside. Also think about the moments on TV shows like The Office where characters will look right into the camera and make a face, indicating an opinion about something that’s going on in the main action of the show. That’s a wordless aside!
Here’s a video that shows some of Jim’s looks on The Office:
Theatre 101: Blocking
July 21, 2011 at 9:00 am | Posted in Theatre 101, Theatre History | Leave a commentThis summer we’re all going to learn some theatre terms! Like any field or profession, theatre makes use of a lot of unique terms and vocabulary words that you don’t necessarily hear in the outside world. Your blogger didn’t have any theatre experience until she became an intern at Shakespeare in Action, so she’ll be learning some of these terms for the first time as well! (And if you happen to find any errors in these Theatre 101 posts, please be kind – and let us know at intern@shakespeareinaction.org!)
We’re going to start with an acting term – “blocking.” Blocking describes how an actor moves around the stage during a performance. The term was inspired by the 19th century director W.S. Gilbert, who used wooden blocks on a miniature stage to work out where his actors should be during a performance.
Directors usually decide on blocking during rehearsals, sometimes with help from the actors or based on the stage directions in the text of the play. Stage directions are things like “enter stage right” or “exit, pursued by a bear” (a strange piece of direction from The Winter’s Tale), notations in the text of the play that tell us where and when characters enter and leave. Sometimes stage directions can be very minimalist, as in most Shakespeare plays – meaning that there aren’t many directions. Sometimes, however, playwrights have a definite vision of where they want all their characters to be, and write in stage directions accordingly.
Directors will also work with lighting and set designers to figure out where actors should stand and move during the play. Good lighting is essential so that the audience can see properly, and if actors need to do anything complicated with props – like pretend to cook, for example – set designers will take that into account when they design the set and find the props.
Live theatre may seem spontaneous, but actually each performance has been carefully planned out and blocked (in traditional productions). Actors will move the same way from performance to performance – scratching their head at the same point of the play each night, or falling to their knees in a certain scene. Stage managers will make sure that actors follow the proper blocking, since directors are not always there to observe performances. It’s important to have a plan that everyone follows, otherwise actors would be running into each other or the sets as they moved about!
All of the areas of the stage have names so that everyone knows where they are supposed to be:
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