Tag: shakespeare

🎭. It is the lesser blot, modesty finds,
Women to change their shapes than men their minds.

— Julia, Two Gentlemen of Verona 5-4

[ACTING TIPS]

Finally Proteus has found out this young boy named Sebastian is Julia in disguise.

Julia strongly blames how cruel Proteus has been, and says this.q

Remember, Julia has been acted as a boy.

Through that, she must have found strength and straightforwardness in her.

I would perform the scene with my heart hurt, broken, sad, losing hope, and with direct, strong, honesty.

I may be crying or shedding tears, but never pity-forcing.

#shakespeare #english #actingtips #directing #julia #twogentlemenofverona #lifeinJapan

🎭 O me unhappy!

— Julia, Two Gentlemen of Verona 5-4

[ACTING TIPS]

This Act 5, Scene 4 is really not understandable for reasonable people.

Listening to Valentine, Proteus apologized.

And what happens?
Valentine gives Silvia for thanks to his apology.

Whaaaaaat???!!!

And Julia says this.
And she swoons.

Swoon means one faints out of extreme emotion.
That’s what we have to act.

But how?

How are we going to go through extreme emotion safely on stage?

Part of us must be really take control over the character.
By doing so, let the character go.

Very very difficult.

There are many safe ways to make extreme emotions.
If you do not know the safe way, you and the people around you would be in danger (mentally, physically, socially).  

So, have a proper acting coach during the rehearsal of this kind of scene.

#shakespeare #english #actingtips #directing #julia #twogentlemenofverona #lifeinJapan #kimono

🎭 The private wound is deepest:  O time most accurst, 
‘Mongst all foes that a friend should be the worst!

— Valentine, Two Gentlemen of Verona 5-4

[ACTING TIPS]

Valentine, hiding in the woods to see Silvia is about to be raped by his best-friend Proteus, jumped out to stop him.

He means that this is the most hideous time to know his friend is in fact the very enemy.

There are so many ways to play this scene.  He speaks some lines before saying this, which means he cannot shout all the time.  He appears with shouting, maybe.  But after this, I would try “how am I to tell what I feel”.

It is not just cascading his awful feeling.

It is a way to make Proteus understand and see things more clearly so that he could gain his proper mind back.

In fact, after this line, Proteus says sorry, and it feels too easy for me to grasp the change in his mind.

If I make the audience feel the same, the play is not successful.

That’s why I think I need much more time and varied skills to make Proteus really feel sorry, right after Valentine speaks the whole lines.

However, another way of acting and directing is to make Proteus really a villain and he never feel truly sorry and just give a “sorry” word as if it is a true word for Valentine.  Yes, a type of LOKI.  

🎭 Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And to the nightingale’s complaining notes
Tune my distresses and record my woes.

— Valentine, Two Gentlemen of Verona 5-4

[ACTING TIPS]

Valentine is not just talking about a nightingale.

He really misses Silvia, his Love.

(Valentine has been banished from Milan by Silvia’s father the Duke of Milan, is now the big boss of vagabonds in the woods.)

Since this is a soliloquy, I will tell my feeling to the audience.

Never speak as a “talk-to-myself” on stage.  TALK TO THE AUDIENCE DIRECTLY!

Never speak soliloquy as a poetry or “reading it”, “reciting it”, as if “it is written”.

Speak it as you just making up or thinking up the lines. 

Think “how can I express this feeling in words?” and create the phrases as your instincts leads.

I would play Valentine here, as…

Cannot sleep, because I miss Silvia so much.

Being awake, I hear nightingale singing.

Nightingale’s song is supposed to be nice and beautiful and soothing and bring joy of life, but for me, it is like the bird is complaining the life.

And I envy the bird can complaining so honestly and freely, which I cannot.

So I will tune my distress to its song.

Now I can express the thought with words.

#shakespeare #english #actingtips #directing #Valentine #twogentlemenofverona #lifeinJapan #kimono

🎭 How use doth breed a habit in a man! 

— Valentine, Two Gentlemen of Verona 5-4

[ACTING TIPS]

Valentine, the true Love of Silvia, who has been bannished from Milan by Silvia’s father the Duke of Milan, is now the big boss of vagabonds in the woods.

We have the same kind of proverb in Japanese:  Where you live becomes your ideal place.

I will play this either with sadness, or with contempt, but never forget my Love, and terribly missing her.

#shakespeare #english #actingtips #directing #Valentine #twogentlemenofverona #lifeinJapan #kimono

🎭  Turio: 
I’ll after, more to be revenged on Eglamour
Than for the love of reckless Silvia. 

Proteus: 
And I will follow, more for Silvia’s love
Than hate of Eglamour that goes with her. 

Julia: 
And I will follow, more to cross that love
Than hate for Silvia that is gone for love.

— Turio, Proteus, Julia, Two Gentlemen of Verona 5-2

[ACTING TIPS]

What is happening here?

Silvia, locked in the high tower of her father’s castle, finally escaped with the help of Sir Eglamour.

Knowing the fact, these three characters decided to follow her into the woods.

Wow!

I love it!!  “Following the loved one who is not in love with you, into the woods” scheme is repeated in The Midsummer Night’s Dream.

It’s fun to play with the echoing phrases of “I’ll after”.

Turio’s love toward Silvia is already known, so he can declare his action.

Proteus has hidden his love toward Silvia to Turio, but already revealed to Sebastian (who is Julia), so he can declare his action to Sebastian.

Julia has not revealed her true state, so she alone share her thought only toward the audience.

It would be fun to see that on stage.  

This kind of stage movement in action may be thought as a director’s work, but when the actors all have this director’s eye, this is easily done without the director.

#shakespeare #english #actingtips #directing #julia # turio #proteus #twogentlemenofverona #lifeinJapan #kimono

🎭 Silvia: Dost thou know her? 

 Julia as Sebastian: Almost as well as I do know myself.

— Silvia & Julia, Two Gentlemen of Verona 4-4

[ACTING TIPS]

Julia, disguised as Sebastian, has talked about Proteus’ former girlfriend Julia🤯

As she spoke of her (herself) so sympathetically, Silvia asks the question.

In The Twelfth Night, Viola disguised as Cesario talks about his sister (= Viola)’s broken love. Hearing the story, his (her) master Duke Orsino asks what happened to his sister.

And Cesario answers:

I am all the daughters of my father’s house,

Very similar situation and similar way to answer that “I know her well”, and yet we see how Shakespeare’s pen grew in years!

I would play the words as if joking, or, with strong sympathy.  Which works best for the performance on stage?  I check it during the rehearsals.