Classical Monologue 3 - Hamlet

Play: Hamlet

Playwright: William Shakespeare
Character: Ophelia 
Part of the Play: Act 2 scene 1
Setting: In a room in their castle, alone
Play's Context: King Hamlet has recently died and his brother Claudius has taken his throne and King Hamlet's widow Queen Gertrude. King Hamlet's son (Hamlet) is visited by a ghost of his father and he says that he was killed by his brother Claudius. Hamlet there forth seeks revenge on his father's death and slips into a melancholy state of madness. Polonius believes that Hamlet is in love with his daughter Ophelia so Claudius sets up their marriage but Hamlet doesn't love her and wants all marriages to be banned. however when Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, Ophelia drowns herself in the river and Hamlet confesses he did love her. Hamlet's uncle then gets Ophelia's brother to duel with Hamlet out of revenge and the blade is poisoned inevitably killing Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius and Ophelia's brother.

Ophelia's Monologue:
'My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd,
No hat upon his head, his stockings foul'd,
Ungart'red, and down-gyved to his ankle;
Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other,
And with a look so piteous in purport
As if he had been loosed out of hell 
To speak of horrors- he comes before me. 
He took me by the wrist and held me hard;
Then goes he to the length of all his arm,
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face
As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so.
At last, a little shaking of mine arm,
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk
And end his being. That done, he lets me go,
And with his head over his shoulder turn'd
He seem'd to find his way without his eyes,
For out o' doors he went without their help

And to the last bended their light on me.'

Ophelia's Character:

She is a very young and sweet girl who is confused by two fronts. her father and brother believe that Hamlet is only using her and when they are married she would be pushed aside however Ophelia believes that Hamlet does truly love her even though he swears he doesn't. of course she was right because Hamlet grieves her death and he confesses his love for her. She is one of the purest Shakespearean characters as she dies a virgin and she leaves the world due to grief and love for her father. 

My View:
I really like this speech as it is one of the few times that Ophelia actually speaks. I like how the monologue expresses her true feelings towards Hamlet but it also shoe her true vulnerability as well as her true love for Hamlet. I don't believe that she would be overly emotionally unstable and she is mainly explaining what had happened in order to make it make sense in her own head as well as they other characters around her.

Contemporary Monologue 3 - The Table Laid

Play: The Table Laid

Playwright: Anna Langhoff
Character: Galina Duvidowitsch
Part of the Play: page 157
Setting: A kitchen of a German refugee hostel in the early 1990's
Play's context: The story follows many different refugees who explain their past of illegal border crossing, corrupt officials, crooked migration agents, beatings and abuse demonstrating the magnified problems of unemployment and racial intolerance for woman and their families in the post communist period.

Galina's monologue:
"Serb. Croat. What is that? What difference have you found? What is your shit problem? Maybe you know? But how can I explain to my son. His grandmother still wore a veil. Had both her arms covered down to her wrists even on the hottest of days. She understood no Russian. In her house there was no water. She brought it from the stream. Day by day. The buckets were heavy. But then the men came. And girls in light blouses. They laughed loudly on the dust track. Shoes stained grey. The men and the girls. They called meetings in the village square. Made speeches. Said. Moscow is ruled by the working class. It is a revolution! But Moscow was distant. My grandmother hadn't even noticed the revolution. Still. Everyone there knew that in dark kitchens. They would bring water and electricity. Women called one girl. Are like men. Have the same rights and same duties. Women can't flee from the new age. No longer shall you wrap in veils to inhibit and bind you. The veils fell into the dust. From now on laughed grandmother. Men must give birth to great pain. Must bleed and be alone. Have their stillborns ripped from their guts."

Galina's character:
Galina is a Russian refugee from Moscow. She is married to a Jew called Michail and she is also a mother to a young son. She is strongly against war however she has been caught up in a conflict that has made her have to leave her home to move to the German refugee hostel. Galina ran away from her home with her husband with false documents so she has to hide is German as a fugitive. She dreams of her life before she moved and how the idea of a revolution was wonderful but now it all seems like a mistake.

My View:
I personally think that Galina is a well lived character and there is a lot of depth and grit to her life. So I feel that I would need to play Galina with a very earthy and grounded voice as she has lived through tough experiences. I also will need to put on a Russian ascent in order to show her thick heritage from Moscow.  Even though this is only an extract of the original monologue, if feel that Galina goes on an emotional journey as she starts of arguing with another man, then she reminisces  on her grandmother, then she expresses the hope of the revolution but then she drops down to express the realisation of her life.

Classical Monologue 2 - King Lear

Play: King Lear

Playwright: William Shakespeare
Character: Goneril
Part of the Play: Act 1 Scene 3
Setting: Goneril's house
Play's Context: The play follows a man and his three daughters. King Lear has three daughters Goneril the eldest, Regan the middle and Cordelia. He is deciding to split up his land between his daughters so he asks each of them how much they love him. Goneril and Regan are hungry for Lear's power so the lie to his and say they love his with everything however the youngest Cordelia says that she can only love him as much as she can because she must also love her husband. Because Lear thinks Cordelia doesn't love him he sends he away. In doing so he gives his land to Goneril and Regan who abuse this power as they chuck their father out of their life. He goes made but Cordelia returns with an army to help return her father to the throne but she is killed and later King Lear also dies. During the play Both of the other sister's die due to their manipulation of power and the only people to survive is Cordelia's husband and King Lear's Best friends son Edger. 

Goneril's Monologue:

"By day and night he wrongs me. Every hour

He flashes into one gross crime or other

That sets us all at odds. I’ll not endure it.

His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us

On every trifle. When he returns from hunting,

I will not speak with him. Say I am sick.

If you come slack of former services,

You shall do well. The fault of it I’ll answer.

Put on what weary negligence you please,

You and your fellow servants. I’ll have it come to question.

If he distaste it, let him to our sister,

Whose mind and mine I know in that are one,

Not to be overruled. Idle old man

That still would manage those authorities

That he hath given away! Now by my life,

Old fools are babes again and must be used

With checks as flatteries, when they are seen abused.

Remember what I have said.

And let his knights have colder looks among you.

What grows of it, no matter. Advise your fellows so.

I would breed from hence occasions, and I shall,

That I may speak. I’ll write straight to my sister

To hold my very course. Go, prepare for dinner."

Goneril's Character:
Goneril is the oldest of three sisters. She only really wants power and she and her sister Regan both deceive their father in order to get it. Goneril is married to the Duke of Albany and they both are just as manipulative as each other as they both assist in taking out Gloucester's eyes and Goneril even goes as far as killing her sisters. Goneril is defiantly one of Shakespeare's evilest women as she kills her sister Regan with poison so that she can have an affair with Edmund even though she is already married. However her grief does catch up with her because when Edmund's half brother Edger mortally wounds him, Goneril runs off and commits suicide.

My View:
I believe that Goneril is so angry and hungry for power due to the fact that she is a woman in a man's world and she feels that she has been neglected by her father for so many years. She is also jealous of what her sister Regan and Cordelia have which is love so there forth her jealousy leads her to do horrible thing. I think the only way to make her natural to me if I was to play her would be to play on the idea that she actually is a very hurt and troubled person and she believes the only way to feel better is by going to the extremes. I i was to play her as just being angry fro power I think I would not find the characters truth as I am not angry for power. 

Contemporary Monologue 2 - Dying Light

Play: Dying Light

Playwright: D M Larson
Character: Jenny
Part of the Play: Act 1, Scene 3
Setting: A hospital ward
Play's Context:  the play follows the story of two young people (Tom and Jenny) who are both suffering from cancer. Both characters are trying to deal with their own morality and their struggles with cancer but they do it through satirical comedy and on going chats with each other and their nurse. There is only three characters in the play so most of the play is performed in duologues and monologues. 

Jenny's Monologue: 
'Glioblastoma.  That's what they say I have...  Glioblastoma.  Sounds like 
some kind of science fiction laser.  My Glioblastoma is set for kill.  Just 
give the word Captain and I will vaporise the alien beast.  'Course it's not 
from Star Trek or Star Wars or Star Blazers.  It's from real life.  But like 
one of those types of movies it seems like some kind of alien.  It snuck 
inside my head and began eating my brain.  It's no secret that it's set for 
kill either.  A Glioblastoma is probably the worst type of tumour you can 
get.  Nope, I wasn't lucky enough to only get one little tumour.  Instead I 
had a cluster of the damn things.  Every time I had an MRI - that's like a 
CAT scan but better - they managed to find a new one.  So three 
operations and a ride on the radiation rollarcoaster later, I'm still here.  It's
strange the way people treat you when you're dying.  My Mom try's to 
pretend nothings wrong...  Maybe that's for the best.  Recently a doctor 
told me I should consider putting my estate in order.  Estate in order! 
What's that?  Some clothing, make-up, and a beat up bicycle.  I'm not 
going to be leaving a whole lot behind to prove I was here.  Cancer!  
Brain surgeries!  You wouldn't believe how hard it was in high school to 
deal with all that crap.  You wouldn't believe how hard it was for a girl with 
no hair to find a date to the prom.  Nobody asked me.  Nope...  Nobody 
wanted to take the bald chick out.  No big deal.  Ended up having to hire 
someone to go with me...  Just kidding.  Actually I ended up asking Henry 
Schlatman.  The guy had glasses that were about a foot thick and he still 
couldn't see.  On the night of the prom he complimented me on my hair.  I
didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't have any.  Well at least for the 
time being I have hair again. Well, I'm still alive.'

Jenny's Character:
She is a 19 year old girl who has been struggling from Glioblastroma (brain cancer) for years. She uses satirical comedy to deal with her pain but she is also used to suffering as she has had the cancer for years. 

"Glioblastomas (GBM) are tumours that arise from astrocytes—the star-shaped cells that make up the “glue-like,” or supportive tissue of the brain. These tumours are usually highly malignant (cancerous) because the cells reproduce quickly and they are supported by a large network of blood vessels" 
http://www.abta.org/brain-tumor-information/types-of-tumors/glioblastoma.html?referrer=https://www.google.co.uk/

My View:
i really like this monologue because it deals with a very serious issue but it portrays it through comedic dialogue and so I therefore think that this monologue would be a great way for me to show some subtle comedy in an audition. for instance on the line "My Glioblastoma is set for kill. Just give the word Captain and I will vaporise the alien beast" I am going to use a Russian accent to show that the character has her own humour and that she has accepted her cancer for what it is. 

Classical Monologue 1 - Twelfth Night

Play: Twelfth Night

Playwright: William Shakespeare
Character: Viola/Cesario
Style: Classical
Part of the play: Act 2 Scene 2
Setting: Outside on the Path back to Orsino's house
Play's Context: Twelfth Night follows the story of a set of twins (Viola and Sebastian) who get shipwrecked and separated on the island of Illyria. Viola being a girl decides she would be safest if she pretended to be a man so that she would higher statues and so that she could work for the Duke Orsino. Orsino in in love with the Lady Olivia so he sends Cesario (Viola as a boy) to go and woo Olivia in his name. However, when Olivia first meets Viola she falls in love with her but Viola has now fallen in love with Orsino. The play becomes more confusing when people start to believe that Sebastian in Cesario but it all ends up as one merry case of confused identity. 

Viola's Monologue:
'I left no ring with her. What means this lady?
Fortune forbid my outside have not charmed her.
She made good view of me; indeed, so much
That, as methought, her eyes had lost her tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
She loves me sure; the cunning of her passion
Invites me in this churlish messenger.
None of my lord's ring? Why, he sent her none.
I am the man. If it be so, as 'tis,
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
Disguise, I see thou art a wickedness
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper false
In women's waxen hearts to set their forms!
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we,
For such as we are made of, such we be.
How will this fadge? My master loves her dearly;
And I (poor monster) fond as much on him;
And she (mistaken) seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,
My state is desperate for my master's love.
As I am woman (now alas the day!),
What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe?
O Time, thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me t' untie.'

Viola's Character:
Viola is basically a very scared and lost girl who finds comfort in her Master Orsino which gradually turns into a form of love.   However she also sympathises with Olivia as they are both women in love with someone that they believe or know that they cannot have. She therefore envies and pity's Olivia all at once as she would love to be her but she relates to her heart ace. She originally seen in her female garments as a young sweet lady but to insure her safety she dressed as a man in which she finds a new found freedom. She originally seen in her female garments as a young sweet lady but to insure her safety she dressed as a man in which she finds a new found freedom.She also is blessed that she has been able to have this freedom as a man as she can speak her own mind so when she is cruel to people she is only trying taking advantage of her new found freedom and she may not necessarily be intending to be mean to those people. She is also quite young (17-22 ish) so she is constantly making mistakes and shows a sweet vulnerability around the male characters.

My View:
I think the main reason I choose this monologue was because it is a very personal speech were she is trying to understand her situation by talking it through to herself and I believe I related to Viola in that sense as I also like to talk through things I don't understand and I often talk to myself. I also choose this monologue as she is of a similar age and I can relate to the idea of young crushes. Plus I like the fact that this monologue could be performed in a comedic way as she is ridiculing her own sex 'How easy is it for the proper false In women's waxen hearts to set their forms' She shows how women are easily persuaded into the idea of love and she is not only laughing at herself but also all women. I think the comedic element will be quite interesting to show as the piece is meant to be Viola's real meaningful thoughts but the comedy would need to be quite unrealistic in order for the audience to understand the joke. so I think this monologue will be an interesting challenge to do justice to. 

Midsummer Nights Dream - Globe Theatre Performance

Compared to the original performance of 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' there has been many modern adaptations since that have altered aspects of the performance to suit the modern era. our class recently went to see an adaptation of 'Midsummer' in the globe theatre which was considerable different compared to the original performances. 

One way in which the modern performance was different was through the change of culture. When it was first performed in the 1500's it was deemed acceptable for young nobles to be set up in arranged marriages where as now-a-days it is not as common and in some countries it is even illegal. So in order for the this concept to seem realistic in the modern world, they made the main lover, Hermia, who is being put in an arranged marriage a part of Indian culture. This is more plausible to a modern audience as some Indian families do set their children in arranged marriages due to their cultural beliefs. 

Furthermore, the Indian culture meant that they could change the music of the performance to traditional Indian music. In most of Shakespeare's plays there would have been songs or music in their performances however this music would have been of its era so it makes sense for the modern production to modernise the music. For intense they referenced modern pop culture through the use of the song 'Ring on it' by Beyonce to help explain that Lysander and Hermia were running away to get married. This not only made a joke for the modern audience but it also helped explain the context of the story. They also used a tradition sitar player that was seated on the balcony who accompanied through out the performance. the music not only heightened the atmosphere but it also helped represent the magic being used and it link the Indian heritage of some of the characters to the story line. 

Finally they made a drastic change to characters in the modern performance by linking the modern acceptance of homosexual couples. In the original, the are two couples of lovers, Hermia with Lysander and Helena with Demetrius. However in this adaptation they decided to change Helena to a boy and call him Helenus. By doing this it meant that there was not only a confusion of who everyone was meant to be in love with but also there was confusion on the lover's sexuality. this defiantly made it suitable for modern audiences as we have accepted homosexuality and it is currently all over the media. However if this was showed to Shakespearean audiences it would probably been frowned upon as it was illegal. So I think the use of homosexuality in the modern play shows our progression of acceptance of homosexuality over the years.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Historical, Social and Cultural Context

Historical Context:
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between the years 1589 to 1631 and his earlier plays were predominantly comedies or histories. A Midsummer Nights Dream was originally written in 1595 making it one of Shakespeare's first Comedies and one of the most well known as well.
It is believed that Shakespeare based most of the characters in "Midsummer" around other characters through out history. Here are some of the examples...

1. The characters Theseus and Hippolyta were thought to be based and inspired by Greek Gods
2. The character Titania, Queen of the Fairies, was apparently taken from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'
3. The character Oberon , King of the Fairies, was believed to be from the medieval romance 'Huan of Bordeaux'

The first ever performance was believed to have been performed at a country house in front of a young nobleman for his wedding celebration. This is a very interesting concept as it evokes the theory of Metatheatre. it is believed that Metatheatre is the concept that forces a challenge to the audience of a theatre to believe that it is actually real.

For example, when the play was first performed at the nobleman's wedding, Shakespeare was asking the audience to pretend that the setting of the play took place in a forest even though in reality is was probably performed in the nobleman's house. Shakespeare was asking them to use their imagination. Within the play there is a mini play within the play. So now this nobleman's audience is not only having to believe the play is set in a forest (even though its being performed in the nobleman's house) but  they are also being asked to believe that there are some actors who are rehearsing a play...
  "This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn-brake our tiring-house" Quince - Act 3 Scene 1
The audience are now being asked to believe that there is a stage upon a stage and where every part of the stage is in comparison to the mini play's rehearsal. Basically it questions the audience's minds on what is the real stage and what if the fake stage being used for the mini play. i know very confusing but a very interesting concept to be put forward to the performance.

Social Context:
Shakespeare was very clever in the way he related the Society of the Elizabethan Era to his play and Midsummer Nights Dream defiantly has some hidden references. Here are a few examples...

1. Shakespeare could have written the mechanicals as parodies of Actors that were around in the Elizabethan Era. Some male actors had to play female roles in Shakespeare's play. This is represented through the character Flute when he is told he must play " the lady that Pyramus must love" Quince - Act 1 Scene 2. Also Bottom's character is based around some actors who used to see themselves as higher status then they actually were.

2. It is also believe that the character of Titania was originally based around Queen Elizabeth 1st which makes sense as it was also believed that at the first performance of 'Midsummer' Queen Elizabeth was there.
"vestal throned by the west" This is said by Oberon about Titania. "Vestal" means virgin and it could be linked to the fact that Queen Elizabeth was known as the Virgin Queen.

3. Also there is a reference to Queen Elizabeth's almost assassination.
"But I might see young Cupid’s fiery shaft
Quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon,"
This line translates as...
"But I could see that Cupid’s fiery arrow was put out by watery, virginal moonbeams,"
It therefore once again reference Queen Elizabeth's virginity but also the arrow misses the person that cupid wanted to shoot like how the assassin missed the Queen as well.

Cultural Context:
The title of the play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, links to a traditional English holiday custom 'Midsummer's Eve' or 'The Summer Solstice' on June 23rd. Men and Women where known to have spent the night/evening outdoors and around bonfires, telling supernatural tales of fairies and witchcraft. The supernatural element is very apparent with in 'Midsummer Nights Dream' as they have fairies and Magic spells so it is very likely Shakespeare based some the characters from this celebration.

Also is is believed that Puck and the fairies are used as digs against the English Puritans of the Elizabethan Era. Their characters are believed to be taken from 'All Hallows Eve' or as we known it 'Halloween'. Puritans originally saw the 'Halloween' tradition as pagan practices which were considered as evil and mischievous. So the character's of Puck and the fairies are representations of what the Puritans believed to be devilish creature. As you could tell Shakespeare didn't like the English Puritans as they were very against theatre and so this would have been a very cunning way to get back at them for hating theatre.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Themes

There are many themes that are hidden in Midsummer Nights Dream. Here are just a few of them...

1.Order and Disharmony:
The order of Egeus' family is threatened when Hermia goes against her father's wishes to marry Demetrius. The problem is that it pushes the conventions of social class in Elizabethan era as it shows shows the disobedience from Hermia that would not have been acceptable in that era. It was common in Elizabethan era for girls to be set up in arranged marriages by their fathers as women were seen as property of men.
Theseus - act 1 scene 1 "To you your father should be as a god"
This line shows how men had higher status to women and that women were expected to know that they were seen as lesser humans. However having Hermia refuse her father, makes her father seem like the weaker figure even though he has the higher status and therefore it brings disharmony to the order of status in their family.

There is also a struggle with order in the fairy kingdom as both the King and Queen a arguing over a small Indian boy.
Puck - Act 2 Scene 1 
"A lovely boy stolen from an Indian king.
She never had so sweet a changeling.
And jealous Oberon would have the child" 
The text describes how the boy is a changeling which means that he is some kind of servant or follower to Titania (Queen of the Fairies). I think that this is very interesting as it means that 2 of the highest status characters in the play are arguing over a very low status which show how the order's have been reversed and this argument therefore causes a discord in the fairy kingdom as they are split to either the King or the Queen. It also suggests that their whole argument is a struggle for power as they both only want the boy to annoy the other one.

Therefore I believe that the main course for the disharmony in the play is due to the change in status through out the characters and that there is only real peace again when people are put back into their proper places.
In Elizabethan era status was very important as even in their theatres the higher and lower classes were separated. The lords and the ladies in the Globe theatre would have sat in the balcony looking down on the actors and they had seats to watch the performances. where as the lower status commoners (or known in the globe as groundings) would have been in the pit where they would have to stand for the entire 3 hours of performance. However now-a-days status is not as common as anyone is allowed to sit anywhere in the theatre as long as the pay for their place.

2. Feminism 
Another key theme is feminism which is shown in every female character is Midsummer Nights Dream. For example when we first see Helena and Demetrius in the forest, it is clear that she is almost trying to woo him.
Helena - Act 2 Scene 1 "You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant."
In this line Helena is almost trying to flirt with Demetrius in order to confuse and dis armour him. It is a very feminist move as instead of waiting for the man to make his move, Helena takes matters into her own hands and she defies all conventions on wooing. In Shakespeare's time it was only proper for the man to make the move so seeing these acts of feminism would have been quite scandalous to be seen as it could have put new thoughts into ladies heads. Where as now-a-days there are no rules to flirting and it is more common for both men and women to make a move no matter what sex they are.

Another act of feminism happens with Hippolyta when she is for most of the play silence but in the final scene she gains her voice and she even makes fun with Duke Theseus, her husband.
Theseus - Act 5 Scene 1 "The best in this kind are but shadows, and the worst are no worse if imagination amend them."
Hippolyta - Act 5 Scene 1 "It must be your imagination then, and not theirs."
In this line Hippolyta is actually joking with her husband by saying it is his imagination and not the play that is interesting. This is very striking as not many women would have spoken so forwardly with their husbands without being belittle afterwards. She is also the only woman who talks in act 5 after the wedding which shows how perhaps she defies convention as in the Elizabethan era women were seen as men's property in marriage and it would have been common for the women's husbands to speak for them. However now-a-days everybody is equal and all women in modern society are allowed their own voice among people.

3.Dreams and Reality
Another key theme is Dreams and Reality. not only is Dreams referenced in the title, but it is also used as an excuse for all of the things that happen within the play.
Puck - Act 5 Scene 1 
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended—
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear."
In this final dialogue of the play, Puck states that if the audience believes that they have just dreamed the play in their sleep, then they shouldn't be too offended by what they have watched. It sort of suggests that dreams are not explainable and there is nothing that can be done to change them so we should just accept them for what they are. It also explains how none of what they have seen is real as they call the dreams visions which could be considered as false illusions.

The play also shows how dreams and reality can become mixed up by the mortals as they question whether the supernatural events that have happen are real or not.
Lysander - Act 4 Scene 1
"My lord, I shall reply amazèdly,
Half sleep, half waking. But as yet, I swear,
I cannot truly say how I came here."
In this line Lysander contradicts himself by saying is asleep and he is awake, so it shows how they are confused between the differences of dream and reality. also it shows how people just amused that the supernatural events must be explainable through something. And therefore it shows how deserving the mystic elements are due to magic and manipulation.

 I feel that this theme is one of the reasons that this play is considered as one of Shakespeare's comedies simply due to the fact that they cover up all of the distressing events through the idea that everything was just a dream. It sort of sugar-coats all of the play in a friendly and light setting. To a Shakespearean audience I think it would have been an interesting concept to watch as there was many things like diseases and science that people of that era wouldn't have been able to explain where as this play gives its audience an explanation. And i also feel that this play will work for our modern interpretation of the play as we doing children's theatre. I believe that having the dreams resolve the problems will make it easier for the children to understand and it would also add a bit of wonder to the performance. 

Contempory Monologue 1- Angels in America

Play: Angels in America, Part One - Millennium Approaches

Playwright: Tony Kushner
Character: Harper Amity Pitt
Style: Contemporary
Part of the Play: Act1 Scene3
Setting: Harper's Apartment, Brooklyn 1985

Plays context: Angels in America follows the story of two couples (one heterosexual sexual and one homosexual). after the funeral of Louis's grandmother, his partner Prior tell him he has aids. Louis tries to nurse Prior but he soon realizes he cannot handle the stress of pain of the situation. Meanwhile Joe (who is a closet homosexual) is offered a new job in the Justice Department which would mean that him and his partner Harper would have to leave their home. Harper suffers from anxiety, hallucinations and is addicted to valium so she doesn't want to move to Washington. It is also believed that Harper suffers from Agoraphobia.

Harper's Monologue:

"People who are lonely, people left alone, sit talking nonsense to the air, imagining… beautiful systems dying, old fixed orders spiraling apart…

When you look at the ozone layer, from outside, from a spaceship, it looks like a pale blue halo, a gentle, shimmering aureole encircling the atmosphere encircling the earth. Thirty miles above our heads, a thin layer of three-atom oxygen molecules, product of photosynthesis, which explains the fussy vegetable preference for visible light, its rejection of darker rays and emanations. Danger from without. It’s a kind of gift, from God, the crowning touch to the creation of the world; guardian angels, hands linked, make a spherical net, a blue-green nesting orb, a shell of safety for life itself. But everywhere, things are collapsing, lies surfacing, systems of defense giving way… This is why, Joe, this is why I shouldn’t be left alone.

I’d like to go traveling. Leave you behind to worry. I’ll send postcards with strange stamps and tantalizing messages on the back. “Later maybe.” “Nevermore…” "

Harper's Character:

'Agoraphobia is the fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult of the help wouldn't be available if things go wrong.' - http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/agoraphobia/pages/introduction.aspx

In the simplest terms, she is scared travelling on public transport, visiting public areas with many people around her and leaving her home. This means that her character is a lot more closed in on herself and she could have frequent panic attacks where she may find it hard to breath. She is in her mid twenties so she still isn't in the most stables time in her life and this could mean that her character is slightly wilder compared to other characters in the play.

My View:

Personally I love this monologue, due to the fact that even though the whole speech is based on her condition of agoraphobia, it doesn't straight out say she has the condition and therefore I feel that this monologue would enable the person playing Harper for find her character idiosyncrasy's. for example she is afraid of being left alone and not having help so she would be a very nervous person which could make the actress want to play her by biting her nails and closing her body around her for support and comfort.

I also like this monologue as there is a change in the mood of the text when she says "I'd like to go travelling" I feel like this is a very interesting change to the text as she is avoiding her problem by changing the subject and therefore it I feel it would be an interesting experience trying to experiment how to change the mood so suddenly.

I feel this monologue is very well suited to me as it is in my age range and it would require me to used my natural accent to make it believable. I feel that I don't use my natural accent enough when I am looking at roles so I think it will be good to use it for this piece. I therefore think this monologue would also challenge me in some ways as I would have to research further into the condition, experiment with many ways of performing the text and I would try to find my own truth with in the text.

First Performance:
After performing the monologue for the first time in front of my class I received comments on what work and what did not. People said that the monologue defiantly suited me as they were able to see my own self through the character. I think that it helped that I used my own accent instead of the American accent from the play as it show more of me in the character. Also they said that it was a believable performance due to the fact that I small hand movements like rubbing my index finger to show nervousness. 

I think the idiosyncrasy's were the main way for me to show the character's emotions or hidden medical conditions so I defiantly want to keep those elements in my performance.  People also said that I was able to create an atmosphere for the performance which was able to draw the audience in. I feel like I was able to do this by stuttering on some of the lines to show how scared the character was and to make her as human as possible.

For the next time I perform my monologue, it was suggested to perform the piece without my glasses. I think this was suggested in order to show of my face more as I defiantly find myself hiding behind my glasses for safety. I think it would make myself more exposed and vulnerable to the audience and therefore would heighten  the insecurities of mine and the character.

William Shakespeare

Born: April 1564

From: Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England

Died: 23rd April 1616

Period: English Renaissance, Elizabethan Era

Occupation: Playwright, poet, actor, businessman

From what has been learn about Shakespeare, it is believed he has written 38 plays, 2 long narrative poems, some rhythmic verses and around 154 sonnets. He produced most of his known work between the time of 1589 and 1613. His earlier plays were predominately Comedies and Histories and then he wrote mainly Tragedies until about 1608. In the final six years of his known career he wrote tragicomedies (romances).


Shakespeare's Dialogue:

Singular Pronouns:
. Thou = You (subject) "Thou art my brother"
. Thee = You (object) "Come let me clutch thee"
. Thy = Your (Possessive Adjective) "What is thy name"
. Thine = Your (Possessive noun) "To thine own self be true"
. Ye = You (crowd/group) "Ye shall know me"

Verb Inflections:
. est - "Thou liest malignant thing"
. st - "What didst thou see"

Common Shakespearean Words:
. you - aye/yea
. no - nay
. until later - anon
. day - morrow
. why - wherefore
. maybe - mayhap/belike/perchance
. belief - troth

Iambic Pentameter:
 . It has ten syllables in each line
 . It is also known as Blank verse
 . It has five pairs of stressed and unstressed syllables
 . The rhythm in each line sounds like:
ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM

Rhymed Verse:
. It is also known as Calatectic Trochaic Tetrameter
. It has eight syllables in each line
. It has four pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables
. It usually rhythms at the end of each line
. The rhythm in each line sounds like:
DUM-da/DUM-da/DUM-da/DUM-da

Rhetorical Devises of Shakespeare:
. Alliteration - e.g silly sausage
. Single Syllables Words - (to be or not to be) naturally slows downs the dialogue
. End Words - important to get across the meaning of the line (text)
. Assonance - vowel sound that clash with each other
. Disonance - simular but not rhythming vowel sounds
. Antithesis - using opposites to get across their points
. Shared Lines - blank verse rhythm is shared over two characters dialogue
. Caesura - a full stop to end a character's thought

Midsummer Nights Dream - The Globe

The globe theatre was originally built in 1599 and again in 1613 in London. The site of the theatre is not dated in any scripture however they presume that it was located on the west side of southwark bridge road. The modern globe was in 1997 but in a different location about 750 feet away from the original site.

The Theatre Design:

The theatre has a very iconic circular shape. it means that where ever the actors are placed in the theatre the will be able to be seen by the audience. The theatre has 3 tiers of of bench seating that are under a sheltered thatched roof. In the Elizabethan era those seats would have been used by the nobles or people with high statues in society.

For the commoners they would have paid 1 penny to stand in the pit. Now-a-days they have converted the original 1 penny to modern currency which is £5 so every groundings has to pay the same but it is considered to be a lot cheaper now-a-days. The pit does not have a roof and therefore the commoners (also known as groundings) would have been at the mercy of the weather. The pit was considered to be an unhygienic place as there was no toilets so many groundings would have gone to the toilet in the places that they were standing in. Also the Shakespearean plays that were performed at the Globe lasted for about 3 hours so the groundings would have been crammed together in the pit for long periods of time with disease all around them. The audience in the Elizabethan era would have been incredible rowdy and rude towards the performances and were even known to have thrown things onto the stage whilst the actors were acting if they were not amused by the acting.

The Theatre also has many trap doors hidden in the stage. There is one the is in the centre of the stage and in the Elizabethan era this door would have been considered as the door to hell as it lead down and it also sometime could have been used as an entrance for a ghost or spirit character. There is also a trap door in the roof of the stage that would have been used to show the door to heaven. around the trap door there is also paintings of angels and clouds to signify heaven above. In a modern production of A Midsummer Nights Dream that we watched, they had the queen of the fairies fly down in a harness from the heaven trap door. I think that this was a good use of the trap door as it emphasised the high magical essence of Queen Titania.

It was also believed that the entrances of the actors could determine the personality of their character. for instance if a character had bad morels or was going to do a bad deed and could all together be seen as a baddie, they would enter from stage left where as it they were a goodies they were more likely to enter on the right side of the stage. this derives from the medieval theatre were pageant wagons had a bad side (left) and a good side (right).

Compared to the original theatre, the globe has kept most of these original design features. However for safety reasons, the globe today does have more fire exits as the first one was burnt down. Also the Theatre does have toilets which can be used by the audience and nowadays the plays have intervals that break up the long duration of the Shakespeare plays. It is clear that today that our audiences have more respect for the actors and performances that they are watching as audiences don't talk through the performances and they don't trow things onto the stage. Overall the theatre experience is a lot more civilised compared to the Elizabethan theatre.

Actors:
Originally actors were mainly frowned upon by most people due to the fact that the theatre was considered a common and dirty place to go. all of the actors were male so they had some young feminine looking actors go to special schools to learn how to act like women before they were able to perform in Shakespeare's plays. when the actors were given a part in a play, they were handed a role of paper with only their characters line on it. it meant that it would have been quite hard to know when their cues were in the play but it was done so that nobody could steal the play as there was only one full copy of the script. Most of the actor's costumes were shared costumes for other productions due to the fact the theatre didn't have the offer of vast costumes and many of the costumes were mended from very fine fabrics. Also in the Elizabethan era the were some very controlling laws over people wearing clothes that reflected their statues. The actors had to leave their higher statues clothes in the theatre as if they were found wear clothes above their statues, they could be arrested for fraud.


Compared to the actors in the Elizabethan era, today they are considered as celebrities and are held in very high esteem. Both women and men can now act on the stage and there are no rules around gender swapping in plays. As technology has progressed as well it is now easier and quicker for actors to have copies of their own full script which means that actors can easily learn their lines and understand the plays they are performing. As for costumes, people are now able to hire and obtain them by either buying them off the internet or by going to professional seamstresses. Also the costumes used in today's modern Shakespeare performances can be very traditional but can also be from different eras such as 1950's America to 21st century India. I personally find it is really interesting when Shakespeare is played in the style of a completely different era as it completely changes the view of the plays culture, society and atmosphere just by changing the costumes and music.