Classical Stage Evaluation

CELIA

As You Like It is a comedy by William Shakespeare, it was believed to have been written during 1599 or like the early 1600s, the first publication date was in 1623 which was the First Folio. As You Like It is about Rosalind, in this case which was played by Esther Asabi who flees from persecution in her uncle's court to the Forest of Arden where her Dad is. Alongside her is her cousin Celia who I play.
The play remains a favourite in the midst of audiences and has been adapted for radio, film, and Musical Theatre.
I performed this piece on the 23rd of October 2013, I personally thought that I done the most I could do with that character. My main intention was to play the scene, in-order for me to have achieved that I had to use strong facial expressions, big gestures and at the same time be truthful and show the versatility in my character's emotions. I was un-sure at first of how my piece went when I finished I went completely blank. So I asked fellow mates that came to watch of how I done the feedback I had received from people were my energy and reactions on stage were very good and also when I was not being spoken to I still stayed in character. Cashauna also said that I should perform my piece in the Globe Theatre as well as the fact that  she wants to be like me in her second year. Which really made me smile. Kevin said my piece was Hard felt and  since he really knows me he noticed that I came out of my comfort zone and surprised him with some of the things I done. Especially in the beginning, when we done more of a traditional Shakespeare where we got ready to play our characters and dress up on stage. He was shocked when I came out  onto the stage with my bra and leggings.
I have no weaknesses there are things I just need to improve on. I need to carry the feeling more sort of like a mask of a happy face, after the part when Bicton Watson who plays Duke Frederick, Pushes me forcefully to the ground.

There’s two things I need to work on in-order to improve and be heard on stage which is my clarity and projection. The reason why I need to work on my clarity is, as I speak people tend to hear the first few letters, vowels and miss the end of the word. For example when I say words such as ‘word, what, cupid … ‘ when I say word no one ever hears the d sound at the end but when I hear myself speaking I think I say it clear enough for people to hear and understand me.

Modernising Shakespeare 1 and 2 & Research

Modernising Shakespeare Part 1  

Romeo & Juliet

Modern Adaptation in 1997

One of Shakespeare's most popular and recognised plays is Romeo & Juliet. It was modernised after the original publication. It was directed by Baz Luhrmann. This time it was intended to educate a particular audience of the ages sixteen to twenty-five. During 1997 there were a lot of Gang Violence going on and as a result to that the Government had the idea that if they used famous relatable attractive personalities in the play the audience could: easily grasp the storyline, learn a lot more from the play; realising it's intentions. After the modernised version of Romeo and Juliet came out parents started to question their children just to make sure they were not involved in such acts. The play was then very successful and so Gang Violence dropped a big percentage after the film. They changed the setting to Verona Beach in the US instead of Verona in Northern Italy.

Coriolanus

Modern Adaptation in 2012

In his debut, Ralph Fiennes plays the character from the obscure Shakespearean play- a warlike Roman general whose pride keeps him from winning the favour of the people in his town and earning high civilian office. When a group of senators unite to have him exiled, he vows vengeance and joins his former enemy as they move towards Rome. Fiennes is the star of the film, his anger alternating between a taut, below-the-surface well of tension and a boiling, spewing rage. The locations ,mostly, really look like underprivileged Eastern block wastelands, and the film is modernised to make use of modern martial attire and current technology. That aspect is often continuous, but it can also be rough and forced.

Richard III
Modern Adaptation in 1995
Starring Ian McKellen as Richard III, as the sociopathic Duke of Gloucester, he is able to attain a terrifying presence that even Al Pacino, who was physically built for the part of Richard III, could not quite conquer in the half-documentary half-fiction Looking For Richard. McKellen is less evil, but he is more sinister energy reaches the depths I imagined. Director Richard Loncraine modernises the film and uses disguised Third Reich imagery as a backdrop to Richard’s forces. He actually takes many liberties with Shakespeare’s text, most of them were successful, which proves that being faithful to the script is a delicate virtue. King Richard’s most famous line, the one about kingdoms and horses, is re-contextualised brilliantly in the modern setting that you tend to get the feeling William Shakespeare himself maybe would have been envious. Richard III thrived as it mixed reality and fiction to solve the problem of  clarifying English royalty's complicated lineage to a 1995 audience.

Modernising Shakespeare Plays Part 2

She's the Man-
As you Like It

The Taming of the Shrew
10 Things I hate about you

Lion King
Hamlet

West Side Story
Romeo and Juliet



HIP HOP History

They say the closet thing to Shakespeare is Hip hop. Hip hop came from black and Hispanic origin, featuring rap with an electronic backings.
Hip hop can relate to Shakespeare as it is also written in the same Iambic Pentameter style as Shakespeare wrote his plays. The Godfather of Hip hop is Gil Scott-Hero, then comes as DJ Kool Herc also known as Clive Campbell and then came Afrika Bambaataa .

Unit 12 Character Study/ Profile

Character Analysis

WEEK 1-3

Celia -  I am playing the role of the daughter of Duke Frederick and Rosalind’s dearest cousin but dearest friend. Celia’s devotion to Rosalind is unmatched, as evidenced by her decision to follow her cousin into exile. To make the trip, Celia assumes the disguise of a simple shepherdess and calls herself Aliena. As elucidated by her extreme love of Rosalind and her immediate devotion to Oliver, whom she marries at the end of the play, Celia in the play possesses a loving heart, almost excessive emotions.

Duke Frederick -  The brother of Duke Senior  and the one on the throne. Duke Frederick’s cruel nature and volatile temper are displayed when he banishes his niece, Rosalind, from court without reason. That Celia, his own daughter, cannot understand his anger this demonstrates the intensity of the duke’s hatefulness. Duke Frederick mounts an army against his exiled brother but aborts his vengeful mission after he meets an old religious man on the road to the Forest of Arden. He immediately changes his ways.
Rosalind -  Rosalind is the daughter of Duke Senior. She is considered one of Shakespeare’s most heroines, independent minded, good-hearted, clever etc. Rather than slink off into defeated exile, Rosalind uses her trip to the Forest of Arden as an opportunity to take control of her own destiny. When she disguises herself as Ganymede-a handsome young man-and then offers herself as a tutor in love to Orlando, Rosalind’s talents and charms are on display. Only Rosalind, for example, is both aware of the foolishness of romantic love and delighted to be in love. She teaches those around her to think, feel, and love better than they have previously.

Duke Senior -  The father of Rosalind and the rightful ruler of the dukedom in which the play is actually set. Having been banished by his usurping brother, Frederick, Duke Senior now lives in exile in the Forest of Arden with some loyal men, including Lord Amiens and Jaques. Some assumptions of the play is that Senior did not put up much of a fight to keep his dukedom, for he seems to make the most of whatever life gives him. Content in the forest, where he claims to learn as much from stones and brooks as he would in a church or library, Duke Senior proves himself to be a kind and fair-minded ruler.

Jaques -  A lord that accompanies Duke Senior into exile in the Forest of Arden. Jaques is a prime example of a stock figure in Elizabethan comedy. Jaques is much like a referee in a football game, he stands on the side lines, watching and judging the actions of the other characters without ever fully participating. Given his inability to participate in life, it is fitting that Jaques alone refuses to follow.

Touchstone -  A clown in Duke Frederick’s court who accompanies Rosalind and Celia in their journey to Arden. Although Touchstone’s job, as the fool, is to criticise the behaviour. Touchstone fails to do so with even a fraction of Rosalind’s grace. Next to his mistress, the clown seems hopelessly narrow-minded.
          

Oliver -  The oldest son of Sir Rowland de Bois and indeed the sole inheritor of the de Bois estate. Oliver is a loveless young man who dislikes his brother, Orlando. He admits to hating Orlando without a valid reason and goes to great lengths to ensure his brother’s downfall. When Duke Frederick tells Oliver to find his missing brother, Oliver finds himself living in despair in the Forest of Arden, where Orlando saves his life. This display of undeserved generosity prompts Oliver to change himself into a better, more loving person. His transformation is seen by his love for the disguised Celia, who he takes to be a simple shepherdess.

           

Silvius -  A young, suffering shepherd, who is desperately in love with the disdainful Phoebe. Silvius prostrates himself before a woman who refuses to return his affections. In the end,  he does win the object of his desire.

           

Phoebe -  A young shepherdess, who disdains the affections of Silvius. She falls in love with Ganymede, who is really Rosalind in disguise, but Rosalind tricks Phoebe into marrying Silvius.

           

Lord Amiens -  Lord Amiens is a faithful lord who accompanies Duke Senior into exile in the Forest of Arden. Lord Amiens is rather jolly and loves to sing.

           

Charles -  A professional wrestler in Duke Frederick’s court. Charles demonstrates both his caring nature when he asks Oliver to intervene in his upcoming fight with Orlando: he doesn't want to injure the young man and therefore loses favour among the nobles who actually support him. Charles’s concern for Orlando proves unwarranted when Orlando beats him.

           

Adam -  The elderly former servant of Sir Rowland de Bois. Having witnessed Orlando’s hardships, Adam offers not only to accompany his young master into exile but to fund their journey with the whole of his modest life’s savings. In the play he is the model of loyalty and devoted service.

           

Sir Rowland de Bois -  The father of Oliver and Orlando, friend of Duke Senior, and enemy of Duke Frederick. Upon Sir Rowland’s death, the vast majority of his estate was handed over to Oliver according to the custom of primogeniture.

           

Corin -  In the play Corin is a shepherd. Corin attempts to counsel his friend Silvius in the ways of love, but Silvius refuses to listen.

   

Audrey -  A goatherd who agrees to marry Touchstone.

William -  William is a young country boy who is in love with Audrey.

Brief Synopsis 

Rosalind falls for Orlando just before she learns she is soon going to be banished. Celia asks her cousin how she could possibly manage to fall in love with Orlando so quickly. Just then, Duke Frederick approaches and demands that Rosalind leave the royal court. He accuses her to be a traitor and threatens her with death- should she then be found within twenty miles of  the court. Rosalind does not know how she has offended the duke and pleads her innocence, but the duke remains quite firm. When Rosalind asked him to explain his decision to banish her, Duke Frederick replies that she is her father’s daughter, and that  alone is enough to banish her. Celia makes a plea on Rosalind’s behalf, but the Celia's father condemns Rosalind for her “smoothness” and “silence,” and tries to convince his daughter that she will seem more beautiful and virtuous after Rosalind is gone. Celia announces that in banishing Rosalind, Duke Frederick has also banished Celia, and the two women decide to seek out Duke Senior in the Forest of Arden. When they realised that such a journey would be incredibly dangerous for two wealthy, attractive young women, they decide to travel in disguise: Celia as a common shepherdess and Rosalind as a young man. Celia renames herself Aliena, while Rosalind disguises herself as self Ganymede, after the cup-bearer to Jove. The pair of them decide to convince Touchstone, a clown, to accompany the both of them on their journey.
This image is an image of Rosalind she is the one in the beige and Celia, my character is the one in the darkish royal blue.   Characters Name: My character is called Celia but then she is called Aliena when she disguises herself as a shepherdess.
Characters Age: My character is sixteen years old. 
Character Favourite Colours - Red, Royal Blue and Green.



Brainstorm Of Costume Ideas:

FINAL ATTIRE- A red net corset with a long black skirt, here is an image of how it looks like.

Below are images of the other characters that performed as well.
 Stella Katula on the left, I'm in the middle and Bradley Irish on the right

This picture was taken just before our warm up.

This picture was taken just when we finished with our curtain call and was told to wait behind to answer questions the audience had for us and to receive feedback from them. The feedback we received as a group were very positive as they understood our plays  through our body language and some words although we spoke in a completely new language to them which was Shakespearean.
SET DESIGN- 
Below are images of how the staging was like during the Elizabethan ERA, Shakespearean times!


















PROPS - A white wooden bench.

Different Interpretations Of The Text

I watched different versions of As You Like It to help me understand the scene more as I am more of a visual learner. I have not interpreted some of their characteristics of Celia as I want to compare my own and that of theirs after I perform my piece. 

Here's the first link to As You Like It- Act 1 Scene 3

This version was performed by MMC. Mary Mount Manhattan College's in the fall of 2009. It is the production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It. 
Cast 
Erica Knight as Celia
Melissa Benoist as Rosalind
George Lliopoulos as Duke Frederick

This version was done by the Royal Shakespeare Company. This was published on the 3rd of October 2009

Cast
Mariah Gale as Celia
Katy Stephens as Rosalind 
Sandy Neilson as Duke Frederick

Unit 19: Principles of Acting- REHEARSAL PROCESS& Character Analysis

Unit 12: Classical Theatre Performance- REHEARSAL PROCESS & Thoughts

WEEK 1- 3

In most Shakespearean plays there are some themes of IDENTITY; For example As you like it. Before my partner(Esther Asabi) and I began our rehearsal process; we wanted to get to know about our characters much more in order for us to play their roles effectively. So we decided to do the Iambic Pentameter to help us get the rhythm of the Shakespearean language then after that we annotated our scripts in the English version. After doing that,  we understood the scene that we were doing so we moved on to the Shakespearean version to get our mouths around the language.

Week 1-3
So far in rehearsals, Esther and I have been doing constant line through's so its an improvement from the first week, in-order for us to get the words into our heads. We have done some of our staging but that is as far as we have gotten.

I have set myself a target to  be off script but for now when I'm rehearsing I have the script in hand because of comfort issues. I love Shakespearean language

 I need to be less laid back and more assertive; alert. I watched Bradley Irish & Mahin Kassoire, Esther Honey, Tracy Lomanga & Sean Lennon, Charles Addae & Ahmed and last but not least Maurica Lewis & Brendan. We all had similar areas in which we lacked in but overall I thought as a group we fairly done okay.

To be honest, I feel every group done well but can play around with their scenes more. Nonetheless there were scenes I thought were really intriguing which was the scene between Tracy & Sean and Charles Addae & Ahmed.
I personally think it is research, you can clearly see they have done their homework and it showed me that I have to do more research and that I am not doing enough. To make my piece more I will need to rehearse with Esther and together play with the language and our roles more.

Week 3-4
My performance with Esther is getting there. All I need to do is be more bubbly and excited before the Duke enters so its the play much more depth and it allows the audience to understand the play more. At the moment, all my lines are on the same level and it only gets interesting when my father comes in basically I've rehearsed much more with Bicton than with Esther Asabi. Right now my main focus is on the introduction of the scene with Esther's character as Rosalind. I am going to go over the interpretations of the scene and see what I can add in to make the scene come alive much more rather than how it is now since it lacks in energy.  Some of the feedback  I had was:
From Penny, Maurica and Mahin it was Be bigger with facial expressions and with everything else. Claudia Dos Santos one was Yves. Be more bubbly, try take direction much more, try to continue the sane and get more excited, it is like you drop it for a while and then pick it back up again later on.

EVIDENCE

Celia -  In the Shakespeare unit that we are doing, as part of the curriculum;  I am playing the role of the daughter of Duke Frederick and Rosalind’s dearest cousin but dearest friend. Celia’s devotion to Rosalind is unmatched, as evidenced by her decision to follow her cousin into exile. To make the trip, Celia assumes the disguise of a simple shepherdess and calls herself Aliena. As elucidated by her extreme love of Rosalind and her immediate devotion to Oliver, whom she marries at the end of the play, Celia in the play possesses a loving heart, but is prone to deep, almost excessive emotions.

Celia's objective in the scene is to find out why Rosalind is not her usual self, but she comforts her first to lure her in-order for her to speak.

 Celia talks about two things her dads change of heart towards her cousin Rosalind because she finds her as a theatre to his current dukedom and also Rosalind's love interest Orlando. She shows this through, mainly, her words and a few of her actions and facial expressions.

As the duke Ferdinand daughter, Celia is quite- movement wise is graceful. graceful as a swan. When her emotions change you can see it within her eyes and body language. 
I need to be much lighter in my speech, I'm being too serious with it  I need to relax more and just like the words flow out of me. Gradually my performance has gotten better and better due to constant rehearsals on my character as an individual. I do a lot of independent research which helps me to play the role of my character really well and enhances my knowledge of my scene, the play and that of Shakespeare himself. 



Modern Translation of the script

As You Like It

ACT 1 SCENE 3

CELIA 
What’s going on, Rosalind? Cupid have mercy! You won’t utter a single word?

ROSALIND 
I don’t even have one to throw at a dog.

CELIA
No, your words are too precious to be wasted on dogs. Throw some of your words at me. Come on, throw your words at me like you would throw stones at a dog.

ROSALIND
Then there would be two cousins lying sick in bed: one hurt by reasons and the other gone crazy without any.

CELIA
Is all of this about your father?

ROSALIND
No, some of it is about my child’s father. Oh, this working-day world is full of thorns!

CELIA
They’re only burrs, cousin, thrown at you because you took a holiday from conventional behaviour. If we walk on the well-worn paths, they won’t get caught in our petticoats.

ROSALIND
Those burrs I could shake off my clothing, but these are in my heart.

CELIA
Cough them up.

ROSALIND
I’d try it, if I could cry “hem” and have him.

CELIA
Come on, take control of your feelings.

ROSALIND
But they’re siding with a better wrestler than myself.

CELIA
Oh, that’s a good wish! You’ll fight with him eventually, and
fall(Celia means both that Rosalind will be “defeated” by her affections for Orlando and that she will “fall” to him sexually.) But let’s put these jokes aside for a moment, and speak earnestly. Is it possible that you could have fallen in love with Orlando, Sir Rowland’s youngest son, this suddenly?

ROSALIND
The duke, my father, loved his father very much.

CELIA
Does that necessarily mean you should love his son? By that kind of logic, I should hate Orlando, since my father hates his father. But I don’t hate Orlando.

ROSALIND
No, please don’t hate him—for my sake.

CELIA
Why shouldn't I? Doesn't he deserve it?

ROSALIND
Let me love him because he deserves it, and you can love him because I do. Look, here comes the duke.
DUKE FREDERICK enters, with lords

CELIA
He looks angry.

DUKE FREDERICK
Madam, hurry as fast as you can get out of my court.

ROSALIND
Me, uncle?

DUKE FREDERICK

You, niece. In ten days time, if you’re found within twenty miles of the court, you’ll die for it.

ROSALIND
Please, your Grace, tell me what crime I have committed. If I know my own thoughts and desires, and I'm not dreaming or crazy—which I'm sure I'm not—then, dear uncle, I’ve never had so much as a half-formed thought that would have offended you.

DUKE FREDERICK
All traitors protest like this. If they could purge their guilt simply by saying that they were innocent, they’d all be as innocent as God Himself. I don’t trust you. Enough said.

ROSALIND
But your mistrust alone can’t make me a traitor—on what basis do you suspect me?

DUKE FREDERICK
You are your father’s daughter. That’s enough.

ROSALIND
I was his daughter when your Highness took my father’s dukedom. I was his daughter when you banished him. Treason is not inherited, my lord. But even if we did inherit it from our family, what does that have to do with me? My father wasn’t a traitor. So, please, my lord, don’t assume that I’m treacherous just because I'm poor, with no titles to my name.

CELIA
Dear master, listen to me.

DUKE FREDERICK
Yes, Celia, we kept her here for your sake. Otherwise, she would have been banished with her father.

CELIA
At that time, I didn't beg you to keep her here; you wanted her here, and you felt guilty. I was too young at the time to appreciate her value, but now I know her. If she’s a traitor, why then, so am I. We have always slept together, woken up together, learned, played, and eaten together. Wherever we went, we went together and inseparable.

DUKE FREDERICK
She’s too devious for you. Her smoothness, her silence, and her patient suffering appeal to the people, and they pity her. You’re a fool. She’s robbing you of the attention you deserve. You will seem even brighter and more virtuous when she’s out of the picture. So be quiet. The sentence I’ve passed down on her is firm and unshakeable. She is banished.

CELIA
Then lay that sentence on me too, my lord. I cannot live without her.

DUKE FREDERICK
You are a fool.—You, niece, prepare to leave. On my honour and by my word, if you outstay the ten days, you will die.

Exeunt DUKE FREDERICK and lords

CELIA
Oh, my poor Rosalind, where will you go? Do you want to exchange fathers? I’ll give you mine. I insist, don’t be more distressed than I am.

ROSALIND
I have more reason to be distressed.

CELIA
No you haven’t, cousin. Please, be cheerful. Don’t you realize the duke has also banished me, his daughter?

ROSALIND
No, he hasn’t.

CELIA
Oh, he hasn’t? Well, then, you don’t have the affection that would teach you that you and I are one. Will we be separated? Should we part, sweet girl? No. Let my father find another heir. So, help me plan how we’ll escape, where we’ll go, and what we’ll take with us. Don’t even try to take this all upon yourself, bearing your grief alone and leaving me out. I swear by the heavens, which have grown pale in sympathy with us, I'm going with you, whatever you say.

ROSALIND
But where will we go?

CELIA
To the Forest of Arden, to find your father.

ROSALIND
But what danger we’ll put ourselves in, two young, innocent women travelling so far! Fresh beauty attracts thugs and thieves even more than money.

CELIA
I’ll put on some poor and ragged clothes and smudge my face with dirt. You do the same, and we’ll be able to travel without attracting any attackers' attention.

ROSALIND
Wouldn't it be better—since I'm unusually tall for a woman—to dress myself like a man?
I’ll wear a big sword in my belt, carry a boar-spear in my hand, and hide all my womanish fear in my heart. We’ll maintain a swaggering, warrior look, like so many cowardly men, whose manner has nothing to do with what they’re feeling.

CELIA
What should I call you when you’re a man?

ROSALIND
I’ll take no lesser name than that of Jove’s (In Classical mythology, Jove, king of the Gods, fell in love with the mortal boy Ganymede and carried him to Mt. Olympus to be his cup bearer.)Jove’s own servant. So call me Ganymede. And what will you be called?

CELIA
Something that refers to my current state. Instead of Celia, call me Aliena.

ROSALIND
Cousin, what if we brought that clownish fool of your father’s court, Touchstone? Wouldn't he be a comfort to us in our travels?

CELIA

He’d walk the whole wide world with me. Leave me alone to go convince him. Let’s go gather our jewels and money. We’ll figure out the best time and safest route to avoid being found out by my father’s guards, whom he’ll send out as soon as he discovers I’ve gone. Now, we go contentedly to freedom-not banishment.

They exit.

General Thoughts
I love Shakespeare but I do not particularly love to do it. I feel it is not for me, so at the beginning, when I got this script I was not enthusiastic about it. But when I started to research about the play I was more intrigued to do it. I'm not saying I'm in love with it but I like it much more than I did before. For, the language makes much more sense to me now then how it did when I done my first milestone.
 I then asked my fellow classmate( Pierce Tomlinson) for help on my character, as I always love to get a second opinion so I have an idea of what to improve before I have my next class. Although I know what my play is about and what the scene is about, it's not really coming across. Since, Shakespeare's language is different from how people speak today, it will be harder for people to understand if I do not make them understand.

Rehearsal NOTES

WEEK 1- 3
It has often been said that rehearsals the only place a performer can mess up. I am not in a rush to things right the first time then I will have nothing to improve on.
PEER FEEDBACK-
Some people in my class suggested for me to be louder and lighter; as I was approaching the text in the opposite way. It was my first go at the Shakespeare text as you like it so, personally, I felt I done reasonably well. It could of gone way much better than it done but rehearsal is where I can make mistakes.
Peer Feedback
Bradley Irish said I should make the conversation lighter and more girly then said "Go away and get it right". Also Alex said I need to be much more clearer, so I need to work on my Diction and Projection.
Project more and relax even more.
Since I have to start the scene off it is vital that I engage the audience, as of now I am not engaging as much as I should do.


FORWARD PLANNING/ GROUP MEETINGS

Week 1 -3
We have not had any group meetings outside our time-tabled classes as when I'm free she is either busy or when she's free I am either busy. But I have been able to make time for our rehearsals this week and next week in-order for us to connect with our characters and the piece itself to the best of our abilities. Analysing the script again to see what I missed for the fourth week then going back to rehearsals but dressed as my character. I also want to make the scene more truthful although it is quite over the top at times.

Universal Themes are themes that humans can reflect and relate to within a social context. Here is a list of universal themes:

Life
Hate
Pride
Murder
War
Love
Sex
Poverty
Greed
Death
Humility

Here is a list of Universal Themes in the play that I am in As You Like It
Love
Hatred
Greed
Wealth
Good

Unit 19: Principles of Acting

1. Understand how much to interpret and realise text
2. Be able to use acting and rehearsal techniques to develop a performance.
3. Be able to perform as an actor.

Unit 12- Social & Cultural- As you like it.

As You Like It was expected to have been written between the 1598s and 1600s. It was in fact entered in the Stationers' Register on August 4th, 1600 nevertheless no edition followed the entry, therefore leading to the uncertainty of the publication date. Two contemporary references have been used by scholars to claim 1599 as the date of writing, but even this is the conclusion only. For instance, Francis Meres, a contemporary of Shakespeare, listed the plays known to him in September of 1598 and did not include As You Like It amongst them. The first known publication is in the 1623 which indeed is the First Folio, taken either from Shakespeare's prompt-book or less likely from a literary transcript of the prompt-book.

The origin for the plot of As You Like It is derived from Thomas Lodge's prose romance Rosalynde. Shakespeare knew the story quite well although he changed a great deal of the details and emphasised different things. Lodge, for example, did not have ducal brothers, Shakespeare chose to make hatred between brothers vital to the theme of the play. Shakespeare also chooses to make inheritance a target of his criticism by allowing Oliver to acquire everything, whereas Lodge had an equal inheritance between the brothers in his version. The clown Touchstone and Jaques are also both creations of Shakespeare.

The Forest of Arden is from Lodge's romance, and essentially describes an ancient woodland comprising parts of France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Shakespeare used the French setting through his choice of the French setting, "Arden". However, the First Folio indicates another spelling, namely the Forest of Arden, an Anglicized spelling that also corresponds to a forest near Shakespeare's birthplace in Warwickshire. This coincidence is indicative of the doubleness in the play; although set in a foreign kingdom.
The story of Orlando and Oliver comes from another source, that of The Tale of Gamelyn, a Middle English story of which a younger brother seeks revenge on an older brother who mistreats him. This story has to do with Robin Hood, the famous English outlaw who lived near Nottingham and poached the king's deer. Indeed, the opening scenes of As You Like It is basically the image of Robin Hood when Charles the Wrestler describes Duke Senior as a modern day Robin Hood with his band of nobles around him.
 The play actually takes place in a forest where the characters are hiding from treachery at court or injustice in the family. This pastoral tradition began with Theocrites in ancient Greece, whose writings explored the sorrows of love and daily injustices in a rural setting.
The pastoral tradition, in spite of taking many literary forms, conformed to a traditional set of rules. A typical story would involve exiles from the court or city going into the countryside and living either with or as shepherds. While in the rural area, they would hold singing contests and philosophically discuss the various merits of both forms of life. Eventually the exiles would return to the city having resolved their particular problems.
Pastoral works have frequently been used as social criticisms due to their ability to question the natural world versus the artificial man-made world. The characters often discuss whether life in the country is preferable to that of the city, usually focusing on such evils as cruel mistresses or the dishonesty of courtiers for themes. The simplicity of the countryside is always celebrated in a highly artful manner, imitating the Western literary tradition as it has gradually developed over time. Indeed, the pastoral genre provides authors with a way to pretend; the characters immerse themselves in another world and can act out their ideal worlds. Thus in this "simplistic world" we see many disguises where courtiers pretend to be shepherds, men dress as women, women dress as men, and nobles become outlaws. The pastoral world gives its cast an opportunity to alter their own world when they return through the games they play in this contrived, imaginary location.
The forest of Arden where the characters all end up, turns out to be very similar to other forests: it causes fear through the wild animals but provides the right atmosphere for healing to occur. This corresponds closely to the forest in A Midsummer Night's Dream where most of the action occurs before the cast returns to Athens with their problems resolved. Indeed, after hunting deer, tending sheep, singing songs and writing love sonnets on bark, most of the cast in this play returns home again with all their problems solved.

Unit 12: Classical Theatre Performance & Historical Context

Reminders of what to do for this unit
1. Understand the social historical and cultural background of classical roles.
2. Be able to explore the performance styles of classical texts.
3.Be able to rehearse creatively and responsibly.
4 Be able to perform classical texts.

As you like it

Genre  · Comedy and Romantic
Language  · English
Time and place written  ·  In 1598–1600; London, England.
Date of first publication  · First published in the Folio of 1623.
Publisher  · Isaac Jaggard and Edmund Blount.
Setting (time)  · Sixteenth century.
Setting (place)  · France, primarily the fictional Forest of Arden.
Protagonist  · Rosaline.
Major conflict  · The major conflict is that Rosaline and Orlando fall in love, but Rosaline is  banished from Duke Frederick’s court; Orlando has been both denied of his birth-right by his jealous brother Oliver and he is forced to flee from the evil Duke Frederick.
Rising action · In order to teach Orlando how to be a proper husband, Rosaline disguises herself as a young man named Ganymede and then she instructs him in the ways of love.
Climax  · Rosaline promises to marry Orlando and gets Phoebe to agree to marry Silvius.
Falling action  · Rosalind, appearing as herself, marries Orlando, and Phoebe marries Silvius.
Themes  · The delights of love; human experience; city life vs. country life.
Motifs  · Artifice; homoeroticism; exile.
Symbols  · Orlando’s poems; the slain deer; Ganymede.
Foreshadowing  · Rosaline’s first awkward  encounter with Orlando anticipates the depth of her affection for him.


Historical Context

William Shakespeare was born in the 1564's to a middle-class glover in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare went to grammar school, but his formal education did not go on. In 1582 William Shakespeare married an older woman called Anne Hathaway( aged 26), and had three children with her. Around the 1590s, he left his family behind and travelled to London to work as an actor, playwright. Shakespeare became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theatre. His career was during the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a favourite of both monarchs. Of course, James granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest compliment by bestowing upon its members the title of King’s Men. Renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two. At the time of William Shakespeare’s death, literary luminaries such as Ben Jonson called out his works as timeless.

Shakespeare’s work was collected and printed in various -editions in the century following his death, and by the early eighteenth century, his reputation as the greatest poet ever to write in English was very well established. Some scholars believe, concluded that Shakespeare’s modest education that Shakespeare’s plays were actually written by someone else-Francis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford-but the support for this is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and the theory is not taken seriously by many scholars. In my opinion call me old fashioned but I believe he did write all of his plays but he may have had help. Even the best directors such as Steven Spielberg still have people that pitch him ideas. There is nothing wrong with that. 

Shakespeare is the author of the thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets. The legacy of this body of work is huge. The play that I am doing with Esther Asabi and Bicton Watson is As You Like It. It was written around the 1598s–1600s; during the last years of Elizabeth’s reign. The play belongs to the literary tradition known as pastoral: which has its roots in the literature of ancient Greece. Typically, a pastoral story involves exiles from urban or court life who flee to the refuge of the countryside, where they often disguise themselves as shepherds in order to converse with other shepherds on a range of established topics, from the relative merits of life at court versus life in the country to the relationship between nature and art. The most fundamental concern of the pastoral mode is comparing the worth of the natural world, that is represented by relatively untouched countryside, to the world built by humans, which contains the joys of art and the city as well as the injustices of rigid social arrangements. Pastoral literature, has great potential to serve as a forum for social criticism and can even inspire social reform.
In general, Shakespeare’s As You Like It develops many of the traditional features and concerns of the pastoral genre. This comedy is about the cruelties and corruption of court life and gleefully pokes holes in one of humankind’s greatest artifices: the conventions of romantic love. The play’s investment in pastoral traditions leads to an indulgence in rather simple rivalries: court versus country, realism versus romance, reason versus mindlessness, nature versus fortune, young versus old, and those who are born into nobility versus those who acquire their social standing. But rather than settle these scores by coming down on one side or the other, As You Like It offers up a world of numberless choices and endless possibilities. In the world of this play, no one thing need cancel out another. In this way, the play manages to offer both social critique and social affirmation. It is a play that at all times stresses the complexity of things, the simultaneous pleasures and pains of being human.

Duke Ferdinand was forced into exile from the court by his evil brother Duke Frederick. He then took refuge in the Forest of Arden with a band of faithful lords. Rosalind (his daughter) is kept quite uneasily at court as a companion to her cousin Celia; also known as Aliena, Frederick's daughter.

Orlando de Boys, is the youngest son of the late Sir Rowland de Boys, who was kept in poverty by his brother Oliver since his father's death. Orlando decided to wrestle for his wealth/fortune at Duke Frederick's court, where he sees Rosalind and the pair of them fall in love.

The Duke actually banishes Rosalind, for the mere reason that he feels that she is a threat to his rule. Celia, refusing to be parted from her cousin, goes with Rosalind to seek Duke Ferdinand in the Forest. For safety they disguise themselves - Rosalind changes her appearance to match a boy; who in the play Shakespeare calls Ganymede and Celia, Rosalind's cousin as his sister Aliena - and then they manage to persuade the fool Touchstone to accompany them.

When Orlando hears that his brother wants to kill him, he also flees to the Forest of Arden and then takes refuge with the exiled Duke Ferdinand. Orlando then came across Rosalind disguised as Ganymede. She challenged his love and suggested that he should prove the strength of his love by wooing Ganymede as if he were Rosalind. Somewhere else in the forest. Love also blossoms: the shepherd Silivius loves Phoebe, who has fallen for Ganymede which touchstone is chasing after the goat- herd Audrey. 

Then Oliver was sent into the forest as well to hunt down Orlando, has his life saved by his brother, who becomes filled with nothing but remorse for his past behaviour and then he actually falls for Aliena. Orlando started to show that he was unable to continue wooing Ganymede, so then  Rosalind( Ganymede) promises he will conjure up the real Rosalind and that all the lovers will finally wed.

Iambic Pentameter

A line (usually poetry) that has ten syllables in each line, but the alternate syllable is stressed.

How to write a rhythm

The 'da Dum' of a human heartbeat is the most common example of this rhythm. A standard line of iambic pentameter is five Iambic feet in a row:

da DUM da Dum da Dum da Dum da DUM

Key
x= offbeat(da)

/=beat(dumb)

Irregular Rhythms 

Sometimes, this rhythmic variation:

Inversion- reserves the order of the syllables in the foot.

E.G. Richard iii, Act one, Scene one

/ x            x /      x /       x / x /

Now  is the  winter of our discontent

To create a much more weak ending: 

E.g. Hamlet, ACT 3, Scene 1

x /       x /            x/       / x   x/      (x)

To be or not to be, I     that is the   question.

Examples of words to stress

1. Winter

2. Enjoy

3. Macbeth

Where to stress

1. Winter you stress the win

2. Enjoy you stress the joy

3. Mac Beth you stress the Mac