The End of the Globe
Well that's us finished our time at the Globe and it has been, I think it would be fair to say, a life changing experience. The knowledge that I have gained, not particularly in Shakespeare but more in directing in general, had been massive and will be applicable on everything that I go on to do - from Uni work through to youth theatre through to, hopefully, working with pro-actors.
It was very helpful that Shakespeare was not held up as some impenetrable force that could never be tackled, but was looked on as just another playwright. The methodology works for him just the same as it would work for any other playwright.
The most important thing that has come out of this for me is the idea of atmosphere. It can make a huge difference to what is going on in the scene and can really influence the actors and makes everything ultra-clear for the audience. It's such a simple concept that it's hard to believe I hadn't really thought of it before. It does require a great deal of imagination from the actors, but when you get that then the scenes really ebb and flow and come alive.
Given circumstances have been very important as well. Is it cold? How late is it? Where has X come from? Etc etc. Once the scenes had the shape we then worked on different points of focus which is a useful exercise to keep things fresh.
The actors were asked to play the scene focusing on: "the moon" "the tasks" "the relationships" etc. This managed to bring the scenes to life, even after they had been rehearsed multiple times, and the actors brought out new ideas and the scene kept changing and never repeating itself. Blocking was only ever used in extreme cases where certain major events had to be placed in a particular place, but these moments were few and far between and really made the play feel fresh every time.
The performance went very well with a great turn-out and the actors were extremely focused and really delivered. Feedback was extremely positive.
So after a absolutely exhausting four weeks we are getting ready to head back to Glasgow, today has been spent at the Tate Britain and then a little boat trip down the Thames, back to the Globe, for our final feedback session.
******
The feedback session went extremely well, I was told to watch out for being over-efficient. A habit that i have picked up from years of deadline watching at Youth Theatre. This is something that I have been aware of for some time and am really glad that Tom pinpointed the problem (bit of a harsh word) for me. There is always detail to add. Always something new to explore.
I have really appreciated the way in which we, as directors, have been treated as equals and mature enough to discuss our fellow actors in detail with Tom. This means that as the year progresses we really know what to look out for and, hopefully, to raise the game of everyone. It's been a great month, very challenging to start with but - once the theory had sunk in - directing became so much easier and each scene so much clearer to see what needed to happen b
www.andyrmcgregor.com
It was very helpful that Shakespeare was not held up as some impenetrable force that could never be tackled, but was looked on as just another playwright. The methodology works for him just the same as it would work for any other playwright.
The most important thing that has come out of this for me is the idea of atmosphere. It can make a huge difference to what is going on in the scene and can really influence the actors and makes everything ultra-clear for the audience. It's such a simple concept that it's hard to believe I hadn't really thought of it before. It does require a great deal of imagination from the actors, but when you get that then the scenes really ebb and flow and come alive.
Given circumstances have been very important as well. Is it cold? How late is it? Where has X come from? Etc etc. Once the scenes had the shape we then worked on different points of focus which is a useful exercise to keep things fresh.
The actors were asked to play the scene focusing on: "the moon" "the tasks" "the relationships" etc. This managed to bring the scenes to life, even after they had been rehearsed multiple times, and the actors brought out new ideas and the scene kept changing and never repeating itself. Blocking was only ever used in extreme cases where certain major events had to be placed in a particular place, but these moments were few and far between and really made the play feel fresh every time.
The performance went very well with a great turn-out and the actors were extremely focused and really delivered. Feedback was extremely positive.
So after a absolutely exhausting four weeks we are getting ready to head back to Glasgow, today has been spent at the Tate Britain and then a little boat trip down the Thames, back to the Globe, for our final feedback session.
******
The feedback session went extremely well, I was told to watch out for being over-efficient. A habit that i have picked up from years of deadline watching at Youth Theatre. This is something that I have been aware of for some time and am really glad that Tom pinpointed the problem (bit of a harsh word) for me. There is always detail to add. Always something new to explore.
I have really appreciated the way in which we, as directors, have been treated as equals and mature enough to discuss our fellow actors in detail with Tom. This means that as the year progresses we really know what to look out for and, hopefully, to raise the game of everyone. It's been a great month, very challenging to start with but - once the theory had sunk in - directing became so much easier and each scene so much clearer to see what needed to happen b
www.andyrmcgregor.com
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