 |
Research |
How Does MSF Fit into the Original Practice Movement?
Who Else is Doing Original Practice Shakespeare?
An Evening of Discussion and MARCH 30TH 2008 at the |
Maryland Shakespeare Festival PARTNERS IN GREATNESS Join Artistic Director Becky Kemper and key members of
Maryland Shakespeare Festival's professional company for
an exploration of Shakespeare's great women: How do these women succeed in a man's world?
How do they compare to women in the real world: What can we learn? For more information call (301) 668-4090. |
_____________________________
Original Practices is a term used as short-hand for the recreation of one or more aspects of Elizabethan staging techniques by modern day theatre practitioners, based on the discoveries and deductions of historians and textual scholars.
It basically means doing theatre like Shakespeare and his fellows did,
at least in some ways.
What Ways?
Some of the Elizabethan staging conventions practitioners and scholars recreate include:
AUDIENCE CONTACT
A SENSE OF PLAY
(Shakespeare was a playwright who wrote
plays played by players in a playhouse!)
DRIVING PACE
(two hours traffic of the stage)
UNIVERSAL LIGHTING or VISIBLE AUDIENCE
MINIMAL SET
(the actors and action is what is important)
DOUBLING
(Twelve masterful actors creating a world of characters)
LIVE MUSIC and SOUND EFFECTS
ELIZABETHAN ACTORS
(Integrated emotionally, intellectually, and physically. Highly skilled at poetry, music, fight, and clown--GREAT ENTERTAINERS)
INTERLUDES
(No stuffy intermissions, but rather pauses in the action filled with music, dancing, and fun!)
TEXT-DRIVEN THEATER INFORMED BY 16TH CENTURY TEXTS
ELIZABETHAN REHEARSAL TECHNIQUES
3/4 THRUST or IN THE ROUND
Is that it?
The individual staging conventions open for re-creation are numerous, and many have yet to be explored. Perhaps the most basic requirement lies not in any of these individual components, but rather in the desire for discovery. The single factor uniting scholars and practitioners under the heading of the modern original practice movement is an understanding that there is much left to discover. Whether a company decides to explore one component or many; to produce Shakespeare, Marlowe, or to write new works for the original practice playhouse; the desire for discovery and the thirst for greater understanding unites them all in a growing and innovative movement, changing the way theatre is made.
________________________________________________
How does MSF Fit into the Original Practice Movement?
The Maryland Shakespeare Festival is dedicated to exploring the landscape of the intersection of research, theory, and practice. We believe that Shakespeare and his compatriots created fun, engaging, and brilliant theatre - arguably some of the best theatre ever created - and if we can discover as much as we can about how they did it, we can bring the best theatre to our audiences. If we start from the idea that Shakespeare knew how to put on a good show, then we can't go wrong doing it his way!
Long term goals of MSF include hosting an Original Practices Performance laboratory (an international theater consortium) workshop in Frederick that focuses on the use of original texts in rehearsal.
________________________________________________
Who else is doing Original Practice Shakespeare?
Like any exciting movement, original practices is spreading far and wide - many companies don't even know they've been doing it for years! Some of the companies at the forefront of the movement (aside from MSF, of course) are:
Shakespeare's Globe (in London)
Shenandoah Shakespeare's American Shakespeare Center
The New American Shakespeare Tavern
Shakespeare & Company
Waging Theatre
Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company
and, of course
Mary Baldwin College's M.Litt/MFA Program
where our Artistic Director, Becky, is currently working on two simultaneous Master's Degrees!
________________________________________________
For more information about Original Practices please visit
www.OriginalPractices.com
For more information about Becky's Graduate Program please visit
Mary Baldwin College's M.Litt/MFA Program
________________________________________________
For
More Information:
Email us at: info@mdshakes.org or call us at (301) 668-4090
Questions / Comments about the site? Email: webmaster