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Lehrende/r: Michael A.C. Claridge
Veranstaltungsart:
Seminar
Anzeige im Stundenplan:
05.874.313
Semesterwochenstunden:
2
Credits:
8,0
Unterrichtssprache:
Englisch
Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl:
- | 30
Anmeldegruppe: ELC 313
Prioritätsschema: Senatsrichtlinie
Zulassung gemäß Richtlinie über den Zugang zu teilnahmebeschränkten Lehrveranstaltungen vom 07. März 2007.
Nähere Informationen hierzu entnehmen Sie bitte www.info.jogustine.uni-mainz.de/senatsrichtlinie
Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:
N.B. previous acting experience is NOT required for participation!
The title of this course points to our central focus: working with Shakespeare scripts not from some academic/theoretical viewpoint but as something living, something to be performed, something whose prime concern is with the audience and their reception of the script and the characters contained within it. We will perform close ‘detective’ work, exploring the evidence in the script, together with our own powers of imagination – the approach adopted by Shakespeare actors then and now. We will sift the script for clues regarding potential interpretations of the characters and their relationships and language, plot developments, and staging the play (note how few stage directions there are in any Shakespeare script!).
Our approach will be very hands-on, harnessing the very practical aspects of performing Shakespeare, and in particular the physicality of the language. Our central thesis – as in any detective work – will be the need
1. to be open to every potential idea and interpretation in our initial approach to the script, but ultimately focus on what the script itself, together with the practicalities of performing it, reveal as plausible
2. at all times to keep the other actors/characters (including the audience, our other, unpredictable, ‘fellow-actor’) in mind: how does our interpretation help us respond to, seek a response from, interact with not only others on stage but also the audience, assembled in a more than 180° arc around the stage and always visible to us onstage (and vice versa!)?
3. to convey to our audience all that they need to understand the appropriate environment and setting (place and time) of a scene, assuming we have the minimalist stage-set possibilities of a Shakespearean theatre.
We will start with a hands-on exploration of actors’ strategies when working with Shakespeare scripts, and then focus primarily on two plays, Richard III and Henry V (although a ‘reading acquaintance’ with Henry IV Parts I and II will also be needed). We will examine the scripts of our two core plays, and also video extracts of live performances. We will experiment with our own ways of staging some of the big speeches: how does one involve fellow-actors, and how are the speeches used to involve the audience? In small-group work, participants will then develop a possible staging of a couple of scenes from one of the plays, always ready to defend their interpretation on the basis of what is in the script. At the end of the semester, each group will perform their staging to the other groups, underlining how a number of different interpretations may well be equally valid.
As a secondary strand to our investigation, we will be examining how Shakespeare manipulates his historical characters and events for propaganda reasons – and why: his portrayal of key historical figures has been the basis of belief for generations of British citizens… and IF his portrayal is false (‘alternative facts’, perhaps?!), then WHY? Is it accurate to say that Shakespeare has ‘whitewashed’ Henry V, ignoring all the very questionable aspects of his behaviour as king? (This is where we will also need to consider his portrayal in Henry IV!) Similarly, is his depiction of Richard III effectively a ‘blackwash’… and, if so, why is he one of Shakespeare’s most popular characters?
We will be using some of the hours formally set aside for Self-Study in the module description as two full-day hands-on Saturday workshops, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The first session will be on Saturday, 30th November. The second session will be Saturday, 21st January.
You will need your own PRINT copy of the scripts of the two plays, in the RSC Shakespeare editions published by Macmillan and edited by Jonathan Bate & Eric Rasmussen (Henry V published in 2010, ISBN-10 number 0230243827, ISBN-13 number 978-0230243828; Richard III published in 2008, ISBN-10 number 9780230221116, ISBN-13 number 978-0230221116). New copies are currently available – e.g. from the most-frequently used online-retailing outlet – for €10-€11. Please note: get the PRINT edition, not the Kindle one – we need the SAME edition with the same pagination for in-class work, and you will probably need to pencil in comments and notes.
Questions? Drop Michael an email at mclaridg@uni-mainz.de
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