Classical theatre questions and answers

2.   What social, cultural and political themes were contained in the plays?

The theme of family was what Electra was based off and the social relationships between the different family members an example of this is Electra dislikes her mother, Clytemnestra, because of the death of her father. Clytemnestra is afraid of Orestes as she knows he could come back to kill her.

Culturally in Greek times it is typical for the son to avenge the father, normally meaning to kill the person who caused or was related to the death of the father. In Electra's case Orestes needed to avenge his father but got sent away and returned to avenge it.

Politically, Electra is sexist, but this is only due to the traditions of the time, for example why is Orestes the only one who can avenge the father? Because it's tradition for only the son to because in Greek tradition it was thought that women were weak and not able to complete the tasks men do.

Doctor Faustus contains aspects of good and evil and sinning and the journey of a greedy man who's death was inevitable.

3. Are they meaningful for both the original audiences and modern audiences?

Original Greek audiences might have found the situations more relatable and understood the play a little better than we do now as it was set in their era, whereas modern audiences view the piece as art, a insight into not only the story but Electra for example should a rough understanding of the social status of that time, this therefore made enabled modern viewers to relate to the times in which the the play were set. I don't think older plays would be as popular as they are today if they weren't meaningful for current audiences.

Many other features such as family could be just as meaningful for a modern 2014 viewer as for a Greek audience member, sure there might not be as much avenging and Greek traditions in modern time but the relationship between siblings and sons and daughters to their parents are universal to any time or family. For example Electra hating her mother could be relatable to a teenager in the year 2014 having the same strong feelings for a completely unrelated reason

4.  How did you tackle the play’s language practically?

It was hard enough learning what the words in the script meant let alone trying to pronounce them and say them in context. A few words I have immense difficulty in saying such as in Faustus the word 'Hath'.
The translation of the script, although we were not performing an modern version of the script it did help me understand what the lines meant and effect others lines would have on my character.
Learning the lines for Electra after completing Faustus lines really helped me to quickly understand what I was saying.

5.  What did you do to ensure you were fully appreciating the context of the plays?

Our performances of Electra were performed with 3 audience areas, surrounding us which would have reflected the 'in the round' theme of a typical Greek theatre.

The context of Electra, and specifically the performance we saw at the Old Vic I appreciated greatly as I watched I tried to place myself in the shoes of not only the character and their emotions and relationships with other characters but the actors and what main things they would have had to change about themselves to become the character who they were. I also looked at if I was performing a certain character what I would do the same or differently. Every aspect of the Old Vic performance I looked at and how it could be changed and adapted to fit the likes of our performance in our slightly smaller theatre.
After reading Faustus as I class and not being completely immersed into the plot of the script, I read again alone and tried hard to understand what the situation was and how Faustus as a character developed throughout the story line. This helped a little but actually performing had a bigger effect on myself understanding the character, this could be due to having to place myself into their shoes.

6. What vocal and movement skills did you use to create your performance? (rhythm, pace and tone)

After looking at the Old Vic performance I saw how loud the actors spoke to ensure everyone could hear clearly what they were saying. One big thing I did whilst performing my character in Faustus for example was to use necessary diction and pronunciation of the words it not only seemed like I knew what I was talking about with greater strength but also helped the audience picture my character more clearly.
I found vocal warm ups before every performance helped, just simply saying a few tongue twisters really helped my performance as a character.

Movement for my character in Electra for example had to show that I had high status and give off the impression I have power and feel myself to always be in control of the situation. Movement for my character I found very quickly had to relate to the situations of the scene, for example when I find my wife dead my movements became weak and lifeless, slow and slugish whereas before I was refined and walked with strength beneath my every step. My characters emotion changed a lot during the 15 minutes he was on stage so I have to make sure it fitted perfectly with my movement and status to avoid confusion.

8.   What were your intentions for your characters?

In Faustus my intentions were to show my character as a angry, heartless being whilst my partner Ellie showed a more forgiving side of the same person we were trying to portray.

My character in Electra though I intended for him to feel like he was always in control or at the very least left like he was, I needed to not only show a high strong status but a deep evil almost presence as I step down the stairs between the audience to the stage.

I wanted to make both characters seem as realistic and believable as possible so I ensured I learnt my lines quickly and with care so I would have more time to work on my expressions and movement around the space and didn't have my lines in my head whilst performing instead especially in Electra I wanted to say it like saying my name, something I don't need to constantly remember because I could hop in and out of lines as I wanted to.

9.   Did you tackle your roles with confidence? 

I felt like I tackled my role in Faustus with great power and a great understanding which helped me become more confident performing.

My role in Electra I tackled with great confidence as I rehearsed my lines and movements to the point weeks after the performance I would be surprised if I was unable to walk through the steps and re-speak my lines. Maybe in one performance I was a little too confident as I rushed over a few lines and explored more of the space which I then discovered after looked messy and out of character and context. As the last performance dawned I believe I gained a good balance between confidence and control, I improvised on stage after being told I needed to show more of a connection with my wife so after a long dramatic pause I gently, slowly kissed my wife on the forehead and continued, still heartbroken with the performance. The affection towards my dead wife was mainly to show to the audience how much she meant to me and hopefully a greater understanding of the events Orestes and Electra went through to avenge their father, destroying lives.

A link to my last performance is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3-of_s_YcQ