Critical And Contextual Awareness


Shakespeare's Timeline

1564- Shakespeare was born in born in Stratford upon Avon to local tanner John and Mary Shakespeare. His birthday is celebrated today on April the 23rd, three days before his baptism was recorded in the Parish register of the Holy Trinity Church on April the 26th.

1571- Shakespeare starts Grammar school at 7.

1582- Shakespeare falls in love. he gets married at just 18 years old. To Anne Hathaway who was much older (26 years old)

1583- Shakespeare and Anne had their first child who lives 66 years old. Just five months after they were married.

1585- Shakespeare's twins Judith and Hannet are born on February 2nd. Hannet only lived to 7 whereas Judith lived to 77.

1585-1592- Shakespeare left his family in stratford to join an acting company. starting his career in the theatre.

1589-1590- Shakespeare wrote his very first play Henry VI, part two and Henrey VII and part III

1590- Shakespeare begins to be noticed in the London threatre.

1593- Shakespeare begins to write his 514 sonnet.

1595- He composed RichardII and performed midsummers Nights Dream.

1597- Shakespeare buys a new place, one of stratfords most preeminent homes.

1600-1601- Composed one of his greatest plays Hamlet.

1610- Othello is performed at Oxford College by the Kings men during a summer tour.

1613- The globe theartre burns down and 'The Two Noble Kinsmen' is penned. 1634 entry that both Shakespeare and Fletcher composed.

1616- Shakespeare dies on April 23rd, his burial in the stratford Holy Church.

1623- Shakespeare's wife dies.





What Romeo and Juliet is based on
Romeo and Juliet was written in 1595, the same era as Elizabethan England. The story is based on a line of tragedy's with Ephesiaca by Xenophon. Tragic endings and family rivalry were introduced by Masaccio Salernitano in Ginquante Novelle,1476. England was experiencing tragedy (the bubonic plague that swept across England and also Italy in 1348). This is connected as England had political/ religious struggles that resembled Italy 250 years ago. This is important as it links to the Story of Romeo and Juliet it shows that not only in Shakespearean plays there was conflict but throughout history. Both societies were scarred by tragedy, so they went to philosophy, made by imprisoned Roman statesman and philosopher Boethius (c.480-524). He believed that fortune was good and bad that is a part of life ( God, controls human Destiny). He also believes fortune is random and that adverse fortune is a greater teacher than good fortune. This links to R and J as some could argue it was their fate in life and the consequence for falling in love and others could argue it was simply a coincidence of their actions.

Verona, Italy is known for a violent history, since the occupation of Italy in the 10th century. There was territorial battles between the romans, Etruscans, Gauls etc. However the Roman empire maintained control of Italy (400AD) when it split into two halves, this reflects the Capulet's and Montague's and the rivalry between each house. Rome was ruled by the pope, this is also a representation on Friar Lawrence in the play as the pope is still liked and respected by both families. The two competed for resources and political leaders clashed with religious over 'control and influence' supporters of the pope were ' Guelfs' and supporters of the empire were ' Ghibellines'.
To continue, there is also Astrology behind Romeo and Juliet, they believed the stars influenced human events, even horoscopes were drawn for their children at birth. A line from the play 'some consequence yet hanging in the stars' emphasizing the stars decided their fate and not their own actions.


https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/may/26/romeo-and-juliet-review-branagh-lily-james-richard-madden-garrick-theatre
Rob asked us the question of '
How does reading the review assist with your approach as an actor in our interpretation?'


In this production of Romeo and Juliet.

It is set in 1950s Italian times, with the men dressed in their suits. However for our interpretation we are going to try to dress in up to date modern clothes as it will become more realistic for us, especially as we are young adults so we would not be wearing suits and dresses. Lily James who plays Juliet is described to play her role ' positively orgasmic ecstasy'. As I am also playing Juliet this is helping me to over exaggerate my role to make the audience believe how much adore Romeo.

The play is done 'with a speed and vigour', this ensures that the audience will never get bored. As actors/actresses this helps us focus more on our slick transitions on the stage. e.g. as actors begin to walk off stage actors should already be walking on starting their dialogue. which will ensure we keep the audience engaged. |The play also contains slight sexism as Michael Rouses' Capulet 'who abuses all the women in his power'. We certainly don't want our audience to have the idea that we are setting the play where woman are treated un-equal, we will try our best to emphasis equality. this could be portrayed as our Friar Lawrence is a girl. Showing that traditional roles have evolved and we are showing modern times. To continue in the picture below we can see that all the actors/actresses are of a white ethnicity. Although the play was set in 1950 Italy and probably wasn't many ethnic groups at the time. This helps with our interpretation of the play to bring it to the modern countries where there will be a number of ethnic groups throughout. This emphasizes the modern reality and is more believable to an audience as you wouldn't just see one ethnicity in a country. However one thing that is definitely linked to modern society is the two houses at rivalry with one another. Inner London there are many territorial gangs and youth that fight for different areas. Emphasizing that there is always some time of feud throughout history. We will focus on portraying the hatred between the two families, over exaggerating our facial expressions and gestures, as in today's society the hate between different areas is growing.
We were able to see all the schools perform at the Shakespeare school's festival, one school I enjoyed watching was Midsummer Night's as they completely modernised their play. They used popular hastags to involve the audience such as 'lol' and 'haha', this was effective as it took it away from the typical Shakespeare and all age groups were able to understand. Linking to our performance, we had modernised it also by wearing our own clothes and not speaking in what most people would say a 'stereotypical Shakespeare voice'. They also used physical theatre to create trees which was an unique way to set the scene and the stage became more interesting. We also used physical theatre in our play with the balcony scene to make our scene more interesting also.

Elizabethan Era
The Elizabethan Era was ruled by Queen Elizabeth I from 1558-1603, which is considered an Golden age in English History. England was ran by the wealthy nobles (elite men and women with social titles) they had great power and lived colourful and extravagant lives but there was only 3%. Members of the lower class, were generally uneducated, so they couldn't keep journals describing their own lives.
Working class had a difficult life under the feudal system, peasants were farmers who worked in the fields and owned by wealthy lords. About 95% of the population lived in rural districts. the peasant farmers performed all the labour. Farmed the land about one-third for the lords, a potion to support the church and the rest to themselves, the worked from sun-up to sun-down. England farm changed because of the plagues and disease during 1348 killing more than a third of the European population by 1400. People left without land, lords, parents and no farmers. Therefore, enterprising peasants were finally able to take over the land and become landowners themselves.
During the 16th century, England developed a huge and highly profitable cloth-making industry. 2.8million people in England the population grew to 4.1million during her reign. the town population also grew from 5% to 15%. There then became three significant social classes, the wealthy nobles, prospering middle class and a large lower class. Life expectancy was only forty-two years old. Which explains why in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet was forced to get married at only 13 years old because they were already half way through their life.
The educational system developed during Elizabeth's reign, the ability to read and write rose. Only about one-fifth could sign their own names, by the end one-third of the population was literate. In the past only the Nobles Children could afford education, as the rise of middle class families arose, they were able to go to public schools. Children attended grammar schools aged 7-14, they were taught to read and write in Latin, notable classic Latin playwrights and historians were used.

Elizabethan Theatre
In Shakespeare's time Elizabethan theatre's had an bad reputation. London authorities refused to allow plays within the city, so theatre's opened across the Thames in Southwark, outside the authority of the city administration. were along the south side of London. This was for several reasons. To avoid strict regulations in the city, it was known as a breeding ground for the plague, a place where prostitutes and their customers went and the plays were normally performed through the day so it took people out of work which was frowned upon. There was also no toilets inside the theatre so people went outside causing significant sewage problems. Before the renaissance, the theatre was mostly dominated by the Church. People involved with the church, believed the theatre was causing the plague to spread. They believed that the plague was a consequence of theatre growing so rapidly. They believed that the stage was the reason for the plague visiting them and the playhouses are the reason that the plague spread so rapidly. It was an ungodly act to participate with plays and players.
 

In Tudor times there was also only male actors, Juliet was played by a young boy( because they hadn't hit puberty so the voice was still high and small bodies, that is why there is not much kissing on stage). They had to wear make-up made by led which gave them led poisoning. It wasn't until 1660 that women were allowed to perform. The lay out of the theatre is much different to what we have today. They were open-air which means they were much like modern day sport stadiums. The plays could not take place in the dark or bad weather and used the daylight for stage lighting. You were able to get into the Globe theatre for just a penny which is a massive contrast to today's pricing. As theatre developed, they created Playhouses, which provided indoor venues. The playhouses were smaller which excluded citizens from being able to attend. This you could argue, may be one of the reasons why you don't see such a social mix in the audience unlike the Tudor period. As the theartre became more advanced so did the costs. The lower class may not be able to afford tickets compared to the upper class and also as technology developed TV's and the internet make it more easier to access shows and films from home.

In 1572, a law was passed in Parliament making it compulsory for all actors to have an acting licence and a Lord as their supporter. From this law, several acting groups/ companies were set up. James Burbage started a a company called The Chamberlain’s Men which was supported by Lord Chamberlain. They had other groups such as the Lord Admiral’s Men, the Queen’s Men supported by Elizabeth I, Lord Strange’s Men Acting Troupe and the Earl of Leicester’s Men. When there was flag on top of a theatre was flying, it meant that there was going to be a performance on that day. A trumpet blast let people know that the show was about to start.

The first proper theatre was built at Shoreditch in 1576. Before plays were performed in the courtyard of inns or sometimes, in the houses of noblemen. A noble had to be careful about which play he allowed to be performed within his home. This is because anything that was political/controversial would most likely get him into trouble with the crown. The Globe was built in 1599 but was only in use until 1613, when a canon fired during a performance of Henry VIII caught the roof on fire and the building burned to pieces. Julius Caesar was one of the first of Shakespeare's plays to be performed at The Globe. The building was octagonal, the apron stage came out into an open area, which was the cheapest way to see the show. The walls also included galleries, which were more expensive. Behind the stage there was another gallery, referred to as the musicians' gallery, which would have been employed as an acting area. Costumes were lavish by the standards of the time.
 
Theatre manager Alleyn, spent more than £20 on a black velvet cloak, which was equivalent to buying a house at that time instead of three cloaks.  The tradition was the servant who was bequeathed( to give by will, used especially of personal property but sometimes of real property) a suit of clothes in his master's will would sell those clothes to actors because a servant could not be seen in clothes that did not reflect their standard of living, those clothes could be very valuable. The men's costume at the Elizabethan theatre was a shirt, stockings and sometimes corsets. However, fewer men wore corsets in the Elizabethan era. The outer garments were britches, doublet which was a fitted coat, sleeves separate, same stiff high collar and an overcoat. 
Stage make-up, like costumes, helped the audience to understand a character. Actors playing Moors wore make-up that made them seem dark-skinned. Pale-skinned, fair women were said to be the most beautiful at the time. A young boy with a white face, had red cheeks and put on a blonde wig transformed into a young woman.  They used crushed pearls or silver in make-up to produce a shimmering effect, this was especially effective in make-up for actors performing indoors as the candlelight or for fairies as in a mid summer's night's dream.


There was very little scenery used in this theatre. The short list of props we have in the papers of the contemporary theatre manager, Philip Henslowe, confirms this. In the open air and without modern technology, there was also a limit to what could be done with sound and lighting. The actors relied on the words and costumes to have an effect. The limitations that the Elizabethan theatre had, could relates to our performance of Romeo and Juliet as we have certain limitations on lighting and we will not be using many props. I think is is an effective way to explore different ways of performing, we will also not be changing costumes either which will push us as a group to define our character. 

Romeo and Juliet sources 
I was first shocked when I found out the Shakespeare had actually stole ideas off other playwrights'/authors. He borrowed ideas and characters from a poem wrote in 1562 by Arthur Brooke called 'The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet'. It also relates to us now, as we are also using work from other productions and ideas, I myself watched the scene where Juliet finds Romeo dead and wanted to channel the same emotion she had into my scene.

Stylisation  
At the beginning of the course we created a picture of a man called Bob, listing what Bob would find boring and what he would want to see.
What he found boring:
long monologue, boring stories, predictable, costume, price, too serious.
What he wanted:
Different culture, humour and over dramatic, make it shorter, modern, music.
In our performance we were able to achieve most of what Bod wanted, our play was only 30mins long so it was snappy and never a dead stage, therefore it was hard for the audience to become bored.
We had many different cultures on stage which would not have been seen in a 'old-fashioned' version of Romeo and Juliet as in Verona they were white however, we kept it current with today's society. Friar Lawrence was mainly bringing the humour on stage, the Friar made this work as she was over dramatic with her facial expressions and reactions especially modifying "benedictie" from her sleeping to saying " what the f.. Benedictie" which brought the scene alive more so. Our costumes, were also modern and not what a ' stereotypical costume for Shakespeare would look like, with the big dresses and everyone in suits. Rather our own interpretation of what our characters would wear. We also used music for the party scene to make the scene come alive and bring the party atmosphere. We also had a male nurse which you would not have seen in Shakespearean times and just shows how far society has come from then.



Themes
Love- Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous love stories in the English history. Love, is the most important theme throughout the play. The intimate love and growing of love between Romeo and Juliet is shown throughout the play, form the moment they met at the party, from when they were married and even when he killed her cousin. In Romeo and Juliet, love is portrayed as a violent, joyful, overpowering force that removes all other priorities, values, loyalties, and emotions. In the course of the play, the young lovers are driven to defy their social world, this is evident in the balcony that Juliet is so in love she says “Deny thy father and refuse thy name,” showing she is willing to loose it all for Romeo. Love in the play is often described in the terms of religion, as in the fourteen lines when Romeo and Juliet first meet when Romeo says "dear saint, let lips do what hands do! They pray" portraying the intimacy of their love and Romeo says "this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this" highlighting he should not be with Juliet but refuses to let her go . Others it is described as a sort of magic “Alike bewitched by the charm of looks” which presents unique types of love, sensual, physical love portrayed by the Nurse, raising Juliet from when she was a baby. The proper/forced love represented by Paris "On Thursday early will I rouse ye", but Juliet is completely against this  and finally the passionate, romantic love of Romeo and Juliet. I believe Romeo and I portrayed the theme of love very well, we learnt to become intimate with each other and worked together. When I drank the poison and he thought I was dead he held me and his voice became shaky we also showed contrast to how happy we are, as at the balcony scene when I start talking Romeo dramatically rolls over and is smiling portraying to an audience the love we have for one another.

Hate- We have an argument in Romeo and Juliet of Love vs. Hate. There is clearly a lot of hatred within the play, the most evident is the feud between the Capulet's and Montague's, but the context behind this is the feud in Verona long before the play was made. However, we also see a hate from Tybalt to Romeo rather than visa versa. In scene 12 where Romeo says "a villain I am none", Tybalt refuses to look past this feud and replies with "This shall not excuse the injuries thou hast done me" portraying that instead of moving forward, Tybalt continues his hatred. The hate of the two houses results in Tybalt and Mercutio dying and the suicide of Juliet and Romeo. In our production of Romeo and Juliet I feel we get the hatred across strongly as Louie(who was hosting the night) said we showed great range of emotions and were able to quickly change. This was done with facial expressions, body language and our vocal projection which was interesting and intimate for the audience to watch.

Fate- From the beginning, we know that the story of Romeo and Juliet will end in tragedy. We also know that their tragic ends will not result from their own actions but fate. In its first address to the audience, the Chorus states that Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed lovers".  Lord Capulet's servant is searching for someone who can read the guest list to him, the servant wonders into Romeo and Benvolio, wondering if they know how to read. This accidental meeting emphasizes the importance of fate in the play. Romeo claims it is his "fortune" to read , "fortune" or chance has led Capulet's servant to him and this scene prepares us for the tragic inevitability of the play. At the balcony Juliet tells Romeo, " and all the fortunes at thy foot I'll lay", expressing she is giving herself to the love and allowing fate to take care of their love. When Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, he cries out, “Then I defy you, stars,” conveying the idea that the love between Romeo and Juliet is destined for tragedy and regardless their actions to avoid the pain and sorrow it is destined in the stars. The devastating timing of Romeo’s suicide and Juliet’s awakening, these events are not mere coincidences, but rather highlights the inevitability of fate.

Coincidence- Coincidence is the opposed argument against fate, and that maybe these events happened based on the pure fact of coincidence. Maybe Romeo and Benvoilio were just out on the street whilst the Capulet servant walked past because it could of been anyone else. In scene 12 where Romeo refers to himself as "fortunes fool", it really could have been an angry response to just seeing his friend being murdered. Some people may argue, it was fate that the messenger could not send the letter to Romeo regarding the plan with Juliet, simply because there was an altercation. It may not have been fate controlling these events but merely the coincidence of life and what happens just happens.

Meaning of gender- The play offers a variety of versions of masculinity. e.g. Mercutio, the showy male, who enjoys arguing, fencing and joking. Mercutio has stereotypical ideas about what masculinity should look like. He criticizes Tybalt for being too interested in his clothes and for speaking with a fake accent. However in our version of the play Tybalt is seen as very aggressive and masculine, which is a contrast to the Shakespeare's Tybalt. Mercutio is more the original Tybalt as Kamal, playing Mercutio said he wanted Mercutio to be very caring of his appearance and likes his fashion. Romeo's in our play was very affectionate and calming he was not aggressive until we see a change when Mercutio dies. While his more sociable self is properly masculine. Therefore, his happiest when Romeo rejoins his witty, crazy group of male friends: "Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo; now art thou art, by art as well as by nature"

Symbols and Motif's 
Symbols and motifs are key to understanding Romeo and Juliet as a play and identifying Shakespeare's social and political commentary.

Light and Darkness
One of the most, repeated image patterns in the play, includes the continuous change of light and dark, the language reflects the motif overall. Romeo continues to compares Juliet to light throughout the play as when he first sees her at the party, by this I mean Romeo exclaims that she teaches "the torches to burn bright". Romeo is also compared with a light that shines above the darkness, if Juliet dies, she wants Romeo cut "in little stars and he will make the face of heaven so fine". This quote reminds us that their light shines through all that hate and rivalry. Still managing to glow in the dark, associated mainly with stars and torches this relates when Romeo stays with Juliet the night after finding out he is banished.

Like their love, darkness is associated with imagination, mystery and emotion, however the day works against them. At the end of their honeymoon night, Juliet says, "O now be gone more light and light it grows" they must part before the light arrived so that Romeo is not caught and killed. The contrast of scenes with light and dark makes an interesting motif in Romeo and Juliet. Although the night is important, the evening has all of the significant parts to the play for Romeo and Juliet. By this we mean they meet, express their love; they run away to marry and finally they commit suicide. One of the play’s most consistent visual motifs is the contrast between light and dark, (day and night). This contrast does not have a metaphoric meaning by this I mean the light is not always good, and dark is not always evil. Moreover, light and dark are generally used to provide clear contrast and show different alternatives. One of the more important instances of this motif is Romeo’s repetition on the sun and the moon during the balcony scene, in which Juliet, metaphorically described as the sun, is seen as banishing the “envious moon” and transforming the night into day. Romeo continuous to exclaim his love for Juliet "Lady by yonder blessed moon I vow", which may have a deeper meaning as the moon shines bright in the darkness, however in day time we are able to see but the sun gives us extra light. I feel Romeo vows by the moon as that's when Romeo and Juliet are mainly together and other citizens can not see their love but the moon can.
Nighttime represents a time when a person can be free and let go of their inhibitions. Romeo and Juliet have a boldness at night that does not match how they act during the day, which is especially true for Romeo as he shows great bravery. He visits Juliet at her house twice risking his life for his love. The night provides privacy and place away from the public eye, where Romeo and Juliet's love can blossom.

Poison, both sleep inducing and deadly, is the reason for Romeo and Juliet's deaths. Although Juliet stabbed herself she drunk the sleeping poison. While poison has a physical purpose in the play, it's also a metaphoric symbol. The poison symbolizes the Capulet and Montague's feud. Not only is the feud deadly in itself, which results in Mercutio's and Tybalt's death it's also the reaction for Romeo and Juliet's double suicide. The remedy metaphorically could be the death of their children. This is because the event led the two households creating uniting "O brother Montague, give me thy hand" expressing that the poison was cured.

Is Shakespeare still relevant ?
I believe Shakespeare is still relevant, he added over 2000 words into the English dictionary as well as many phrases. e.g. Eyeball, dwindle, swagger. He also added 'heart of gold' and 'wild goose chase' He is considered to be the greatest ever dramatist, prose writer and poet by many due to his rich language, complex characters and essential themes. The themes of treachery, honour, bravery, love and political intrigue are still themes in the modern era. Shakespeare has universal themes therefore a lot of English Literature can be traced back to him. We ourselves study Shakespeare and use his own language throughout our lives. Shakespeare's ability to express human emotions in eloquent and diverse verses. Some say if you are unable to find words to express your love and emotions you can look at the language of Shakespeare to help you. Shakespeare was an fantastic storyteller,  Shakespeare's stories reflected time and culture and can still be linked to modern society today. For example, Romeo and Juliet could relate to couples who are from different cultures and their families could disagree with them being together.  Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has inspired many producers in this day and age. The musical the 'West Side Story' showing the feud between two different gangs which also reflects the Montague's and Capulet's. Gnomeo and Juliet. Shakespeare's Macbeth also reflects an evil tyrant and betrayal. This modern society you could argue that Jon-un Kim is a potential tyrant in the word and definitely reflects Macbeth. Shakespeare's, Hamlet also have similarities to the well-known Lion King, reflecting sibling rivalry.

However Shakespeare could be seen as not relevant in today's society, this is because his language is no longer used in our society and is often hard to interpret and understand therefore we should not use it. Some people may find Shakespeare boring and feel that because his work was from the 16th Century it does not reflect the age group that mostly learn about Shakespeare which is secondary school (13-16) therefore may loose interest. We have just done our production of Romeo and Juliet and our aim was to modernise the play so it was relevant to the audience, and at times the language in rehearsal was hard to grasp because we have films/plays that have the same plot, some could argue that we could now just use those plays instead of Shakespeare's and the difficult language no one uses now. Since the Elizabethan era a lot more controversial, political and society changes have occurred e.g genders, new diseases, wars etc. That our day and age authors can capture that Shakespeare may not have written about therefore our current authors can be more considered more relevant as they are keeping up to date with these topics.

Overall, I would say Shakespeare is still as important over 400 years ago then he is today, people still base films over his books and the main themes he uses e.g Love vs hate, fate vs coincidence are still very important till this day. He also influenced the English dictionary massively, and some of the words we may have used in our scripts or even in our blogs would not be here without Shakespeare.  Therefore I believe, Shakespeare is still the greatest writer in British history and is still relevant and I think my favorite play is Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet of course.


References 
 https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/r/romeo-and-juliet/critical-essays/major-symbols-and-motifs
http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/eng/lfletcher/henry4/papers/acloud.htm
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/themes.html
 Theatre Culture Of Early Modern England
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/timeline/timeline.htm