Shakespeare's play featuring the music of Brandi Carlile
CONTENTS
Featuring the music of Brandi Carlile, this is going to be unlike any other production of Romeo and Juliet.
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We hope that our fresh take on Shakespeare's work is relevant, compelling, and engaging to you.
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Below is some insight into our production and information we have found to be useful and interesting in regards to Shakespeare, his writing, his time, and the play.
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If you want to learn more, we urge you not to stop here. There is so much material available...
About the Playwright
A Quick History
William Shakespeare, also known as "The Bard," is the most famous playwright and poet in Western culture. To this day, he is the number one most produced playwright in America.
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Some scholars theorize that Shakespeare was actually a collection of writers, who created "William Shakespeare," a persona that would represent their work. Others believe that he was not the man who was born in Stratford-upon-avon, but actually a noble who was writing under a pseudonym.
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The most conventional understanding of his life follows, in an illustration by the Classic Stage Company in New York...
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*Follow this link to download the image as a PDF
His writing is often in meter, and usually in iambic pentameter. While this leads some people to conclude that, during Shakespeare's time, everyday people spoke to each other in iambic pentameter, that is not the case. That would be like if people today used freestyle rap in everyday conversation.
This use of heightened language requires advanced skill from the performers. Careful attention needs to be paid to the breath, punctuation, stressed and unstressed sounds, and more.
For more information on how to speak Shakespearean text, follow the links below...
Resource Links:
Words, Words, Words...
Shakespeare created a words and phrases by the score. Many we still use today.
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If you've ever heard the words "assassin," "elbow" (as a verb, "lonely", or the phrase, "forever and a day," "green eyed monster," "wearing your heart on your sleeve," or "wild goose chase" then you have heard one of his many inventions.
His insults are particularly popular: while it is one thing to call someone a villain, what about calling them a craven maggot brained toad? The following resources will let you craft your own Shakespearean insults...
The Music of Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile is a 3 time Grammy award. She lives with her wife and daughter. Her album Bear Creek (2012) was the inspiration for adding an American twist on this retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The album was created out in the woods of Bear Creek, WA. The rural inspiration of the album is felt throughout the production.
Click on the following links for more information.
Elizabethan Theater
Historical Context
Shakespeare wrote in two eras. Romeo and Juliet was written during the Elizabethan Era which lasted from 1558-1603 C.E. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the solidification of England as a world power, the end of the Tudor dynasty, and the start of the British Empire defined this period.
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During this time, theatre flourished because plays were finally starting to include material that was considered edgy, vulgar, or common. It became attractive and entertaining to the elite nobility as well as the common people.
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Performances were held in theaters like the globe theater, featured below. Large open-air structures with seats available in levels around the stage, as well as standing room by the base of the stage. The people standing there were called "groundlings."
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Admission
Ticket prices were kept low and, because of that, the theatre in Shakespeare's time was accessible to a wide range of classes. "Groundlings" could pay one penny for a standing spot in front of the stage (the equivalent of about $3), and the nobility could pay up to three pennies ($9) for seats on the upper levels, around the walls of the theater. (Shown above).
The Writing
Shakespeare, Marlowe, and other contemporaries wrote in a way that would not only entertain the educated rich, but also entertain the groundlings, who often would not understand many of the references in his plays. They accomplished this often with rude humor and slapstick comedy. In the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, in the first scene, you will see two people their thumbs at each other. The equivalent of the middle finger today.
In the same vein, many plays of the time follow a pattern of serious dialogue broken up with acts of comedy. This allows the audience a chance to release the tension built up in the dramatic moments, and also for the playwright and actors a chance to reengage folks who stopped paying attention.
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For even more information, please follow the links below...
Plot Synopsis
(more by Classic Stage Company)
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Romeo and Juliet might appear as romantic and noble to our modern sensibilities, but at the time of its writing, many in the audience would have considered them extraordinarily irresponsible. Even Friar Lawrence would be considered to be suspicious for aiding them in their secret marriage.
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Below is a summary of the plot. Review it before the show begins! Having a rough idea of the story will make understanding the scenes much more enjoyable.
Behind the Scenes
While you watch, look for context clues to deepen your understanding of the story, body language in particular. The actors will be putting their full selves into conveying the story, physicality included.
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Please read the follow discussion of movement and choreography in our production by Kristin Nemecek to get a behind-the-scenes look into our work!
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Movement and Choreography in Romeo and Juliet: Hard Way Home
By Kristin Nemecek
We communicate using movement in our daily lives all the time: through our posture, our body language, our facial expressions, our pace, and our rhythm, all without saying a word. The movement of the body is a language, and is a valuable tool for actors to communicate with each other and the audience. Movement plays an exceptionally important role in the storytelling of Romeo and Juliet: Hard Way Home, directed by Beth Lopes. As the assistant choreographer, I have had the opportunity to help shape and support the movement aspects of this production. When we hear the word “choreography” most people think of dance steps, and while dance is often a major component, choreography encompasses all movement on the stage that is pre-determined by the actors, directors, and choreographers, follows a specific rhythmic timing, or “counts,” and is repeated in the same way during each performance. In Romeo and Juliet: Hard Way Home, you will see fight choreography, dance choreography, musical staging, and intimacy choreography.
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The Fight Choreography, designed by Ezra Lebank, involves precise movements by the actors to give the illusion of physical violence. We create this illusion by placing actors at strategic angles on stage. Often times, the actor being “struck” faces upstage, away from the audience, while the actor doing the “hitting, punching, or slapping” is directly across from them facing towards the audience. The latter does the physical gesture of a hit or slap, but their hand remains a safe distance from their scene partner. Fight choreographers also use sound effects known as “naps.” Naps are often done with the clapping of the hands, usually by the actor receiving the hit or slap, but can be done on other surfaces of the body. Large “fleshy” muscle groups tend to be safest such as the thigh, chest, or back. Actors then provide dramatic vocals to raise the intensity of the scene. Grunts, screams, and heavy breathing all communicate to an audience that the characters are in a dangerous or violent situation. Each of the movements involved in stage violence are timed out with a defined rhythm and specific placement of the body. When actors first begin learning fight choreography, they go through the motions very slowly, so that they can be purposeful in their movements in order to keep their scene partner safe and create the most realistic illusion for the audience. As the actors become more confident in the specificity of their movements, they gradually begin to work faster until they reach “performance speed.” Actors do a practice run of their fight choreography before each performance, known as a “fight call.”
Dance elements are also incorporated in our production of Romeo and Juliet: Hard Way Home. While the actors are learning exciting, often intricate, dance steps, choreographer Andrew Pearson puts less emphasis on the technical execution of those steps, and more on how the various dance movements contribute to telling the story. This is when collaboration with the director, Beth Lopes, becomes essential. As the director, Lopes has a vision for a particular scene and an understanding of its importance in the story as a whole. It’s often the job of the choreographer to translate a director’s vision into specific dance steps or movements. For example, the show-stopping musical number “Raise Hell” takes place at the town ball and features dance choreography performed by the entire company. Because it is a social gathering, the actors must interact with each other and embody the dance steps in a way that establishes a party atmosphere and remains truthful to their character. When staging this number in rehearsal, Lopes and Pearson worked together, each contributing their unique perspective and expertise, in order to serve the overall storytelling of the scene.
In addition to dance choreography, Romeo and Juliet: Hard Way Home also features musical staging. Like dance choreography, musical staging is done to music, but does not include dance steps. Musical staging often involves stylized movements by the actors to a particular rhythm with specific timing, or “counts.” This can include walking, sitting, and posing on particular beats in the music. Choreographers often utilize varying tempos and qualities of movement in order to convey the story to the
audience through musical staging.
Intimacy choreography is a relatively new field. It is becoming more common in the theatre industry that directors seek out intimacy choreographers to work on scenes in which actors portray physical affection towards one another. By breaking down intimate interactions into choreographed sequences, all actors involved know exactly what is going to happen moment by moment. There are no surprises. It is the job of the intimacy choreographer to establish an environment in the rehearsal room where all actors feel safe to communicate their personal boundaries when it comes to physical touch. Throughout each step of the process, actors may give or revoke consent, and the intimacy choreographer makes changes accordingly. Intimacy choreography works in much the same way as dance or fight choreography. The intimacy choreographer, in collaboration with the actors, creates a sequence of movements that may include kissing, hugging, or touching, done in a particular order on specific rhythmic beats. In our production, director Beth Lopes and choreographer Andrew Pearson worked together with the actors to create the intimacy choreography you will see on stage, particularly in the musical number “Just Kids” featuring Romeo and Juliet.
As you watch Romeo and Juliet: Hard Way Home see if you can identify the various types of choreography used within the production: fight choreography, dance choreography, musical staging and intimacy choreography. No movement performed on stage is arbitrary or accidental. Director Beth Lopes, choreographer Andrew Pearson, and fight choreographer Ezra Lebank are all very purposeful in the movements they create. Each of these elements contribute to the development of the characters and the story being told. It is estimated that one minute of choreographed movement takes about one hour to create. While this is a generalization, it is a reminder of the many hours of work that go into the choreographed elements of a production. Keep this in mind as you watch, and show your appreciation with applause at the end of the show. Enjoy!
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