Session 5, Nov 13

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In attendance:

  • David

  • Marissa

  • Dale

When David arrived, he asked if anyone had ever set Shakespeare in the American West. We discussed these transpositions, mentioning some that I myself had employed:

  • Midsummer (1978), vaguely Napoleonic

  • Much Ado (1981), 1830s Romantic

  • Twelfth Nigfht (1983), modern beach/summer attire

  • Pericles (1985), every locale had a different look & feel: steampunk Victorian, togas, 1940s Sicilian whorehouse, etc

  • Comedy of Errors (1993), everybody in gray sweatpants and sweatshirts

  • Midsummer (1997), modern day

  • Shrew (1999), vaguely Restoration

  • Coriolanus (2008), basic olive-drab pants, black t-shirts

The only time I set a Shakespeare in an Elizabethan setting was Winter’s Tale (1995): it was beautiful, but it nearly killed us. (We set Henry VI, Part 3 in the appropriate medieval period, which Shakespeare’s company would not have done.)

We discussed how we might set AYLI, delineating the cold, sterile court from the life-giving forest. I posited that the court wore extremely restrictive clothing: corsets, thick-soled/high-heeled shoes, heavy fabrics—something like the Capitol District in Hunger Games, but colorless. Marissa pulled up some fashion from the Met Gala.

For the forest, since I’m riffing on the burn community in my head, it occurred to me that the Duke and his gang could sport Utilikilts, and then the idea of putting Rosalind/Ganymede in a Utilikilt struck me! How perfect is that, if the girl disguising herself as a boy is wearing a “masculine unbifurcated garment”?

We moved on to outlining Act III, which is as usual with Shakespeare the keystone of the play.

  • scene 1: One last court scene, Ferdinand threatening Oliver with death and confiscation if he doesn’t find his brother

    • We pointed out later in the discussion that if this were a tragedy, we would have had a parallel plot of Oliver tracking Orlando; as it is, it’s the last time we see the bad guys before we’re plunged into the freedom and positivity of the forest

  • scene 2: In general, III.2 in any Shakespeare play is going to be the major scene, and it certainly is in AYLI.

    • Orlando and his bad poetry [going through the motions of a courtly lover]

    • Corin and Touchstone [basic goodness of the forest folk vs. artificiality of court]

    • Rosalind, Celia, Touchstone with Orlando’s poetry [mocking courtly love]

    • Orlando and Jaques [Orlando is rude for the only time in the show, but he evinces true love for Rosalind]

    • Rosalind and Orlando [Rosalind lures him into wooing ‘Ganymede’ as ‘Rosalind’: he must mature out of courtly love into real love]

  • scene 3: Touchstone and Audrey, with Jaques and Oliver Martext [earthy love]

  • scene 4: Rosalind and Celia

  • scene 5: Silvius and Phoebe, Rosalind [practical love: “Sell when you can, you are not for all markets.'“]

The main idea was that until III.2, it’s all placing the pieces on the board. Once we get them all placed, now the show can really get going. AYLI is notable, as well, for not really having any conflict once we leave the court behind. It’s just Rosalind pulling all the strings until everything comes together to her (and our) satisfaction.

I had asked David to come up with as many ideas as he could to use two 10x30 white canopy covers (which I have since given away). His ideas:

  • clouds overhead

  • tapestries

  • awnings

  • use small strips as fake “fire”

  • scrim/light diffuser

  • rigged shelter/mosquito net

  • a stream dividing the stage (like Peter & the Starcatcher’s golden lagoon)

    • We had a lot of ideas for this, like when Rosalind is teasing Orlando into wooing ‘her’: they’re on opposite sides of the stream until he agrees to do it; then he crosses over to her

Not bad for someone who says he doesn’t know what he’s doing!

Next session: Wed, Nov 20, 7:30–9:00

ASSIGNMENTS:

  1. Read Acts IV and V.

  2. Post costume references/ideas in comments here.