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Study Guide for Educators

Based on the screenplay by and Adapted for the stage by Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh Music by Paddy Cunneen

This production of is generously sponsored by: Emily and Dene Hurlbert Linda Stafford Burrows Ron and Mary Nanning Ron Tindall, RN

Shakespeare in Love is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French Inc 1 Welcome to the Pacific Conservatory Theatre

A NOTE TO THE TEACHER

Thank you for bringing your students to the Pacific Conservatory Theatre at Allan Hancock College. Here are some helpful hints for your visit to the Marian Theatre. The top priority of our staff is to provide an enjoyable day of live theatre for you and your students. We offer you this study guide as a tool to prepare your students prior to the performance.

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT ETIQUETTE

Note-able behavior is a vital part of theater for youth. Going to the theater is not a casual event. It is a special occasion. If students are prepared properly, it will be a memorable, educational experience they will remember for years. 1. Have students enter the theater in a single file. Chaperones should be one adult for every ten students. Our ushers will assist you with locating your seats. Please wait until the usher has seated your party before any rearranging of seats to avoid injury and confusion. While seated, teachers should space themselves so they are visible, between every groups of ten students. Teachers and adults must remain with their group during the entire performance. 2. Once seated in the theater, and prior to the show starting, students may go to the bathroom in small groups and with the teacher's permission. Please chaperone younger students. Once the show is over, please have your students remain seated until the House Manager dismisses your school. 3. Please remind your students that we do not permit: • food, gum, drinks, smoking, backpacks or large purses • disruptive talking, disorderly or inappropriate behavior (stepping on/over seats, throwing objects, etc.) • cameras, iPods, cell phones, audio or video recorders, hand-held video games. (Adults are asked to put any cell phones on silent or vibrate.)

In cases of disorderly behavior, groups may be asked to leave the theater without ticket refunds. 4. Teachers should take time to remind students before attending the show of the following about a live performance: Sometimes we forget when we come into a theatre that we are one of the most important parts of the production. Without an audience there would be no performance. Your contribution of laughter, quiet attention and applause is part of the play.

When we watch movies or television, we are watching images on a screen, and what we say or do cannot affect them. In the theatre the are real people who are present and creating an experience with us at that very moment. They see and hear us and are sensitive to our response. They know how we feel about the play by how we watch and listen. An invisible bond is formed between actors and a good audience, and it enables the actors to do their best for you. A good audience helps make a good performance.

The Pacific Conservatory Theatre welcomes you as a partner in the live theatre experience from the moment you take your seats. We hope that your visit will be a highlight of your school year.

2 Creative Team and Cast

Director Roger DeLaurier Choreographer Katie Fuchs-Wackowski Fight Choreographer Mark Booher Peter S. Hadres Music Director Ilana Atkins Scenic Designer Abby Hogan Costume Designer Sara Curran Ice Lighting Designer Jennifer ‘Z’ Zornow Sound Designer Nathan Schilz Voice and Dialect Coach Andrew Philpot Production Stage Manager Zoia N. Wiseman

3 Cast of Characters

Will Shakespeare Yusef Seevers Kit George Walker Henslowe Peter S. Hadres Labert / Guard Jesse Baxter Fennyman Don Stewart* Frees / Robin Matt Jones Burbage Erick Stein* Mistress Quickly / Molly Amani Dorn* Tilney Brian Bohlender Queen Elizabeth Polly Firestone Walker de Lesseps / Thomas Kent Emily Trask* Kitty Balay* Ralph Vincent Lemos Nol Ashur Gharavi Barman / Peter Jacob Alcazar Adam/ Boatman Christian Zumbado Robert Kiner Wabash Tanner Lieser Wessex Andrew Philpot* Sir Robert de Lesseps Brad Carroll Sam Daniel Geiger Ned Alleyn Parker Harris Kate Anna Weidner Ensemble Capri Campeau Luc Clopton Allison Feist Jack Sabido Jonathan Valerio Caeron Vargas

*Member, ’s Equity Association (Actors' Equity Association (“Equity"), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors' Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions.)

4 HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDE

Emily Trask* as Viola, George Walker as Kit Marlowe (back), Yusef Seevers as Will Shakespeare (front), Kitty Balay* as Nurse

The Study Guide is a companion piece designed to explore many ideas depicted in the stage production of Shakespeare In Love. Although the guide's intent is to enhance the student's theatrical experience, it can also be used as an introduction to the elements of a play (in this case a play with music), and the production elements involved in the play's presentation. Although many students are familiar with the film this play is based on, this specific stage adaptation presents a wealth of new questions for this generation to answer. The guide has been organized into three major sections: Elements of the Story. Elements of Production, Activities.

Teachers and group leaders will want to select portions of the guide for their specific usage. Discussion questions are meant to provoke a line of thought about a particular topic. The answers to the discussion questions in many instances will initiate the process of exploration and discovery of varied interpretations by everyone involved. This can be as rewarding as the wonderful experience of sight and sound that Shakespeare In Love creates on-stage. It is recommended that the film version, available on DVD, Blue Ray or streaming video, be used in conjunction with discussion of the play.

5 ELEMENTS OF THE STORY STORY SYNOPSIS

Emily Trask* as Viola de Lesseps Yusef Seevers as Will Shakespeare Young Will Shakespeare has writer’s block and needs some inspiration. His ideas for his new comedy, and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter, are less than genius and the owner of the theatre is under scrutiny from the producer, to whom he owes money. Meanwhile, across town, a rival theatre performs Will’s the Two Gentlemen of , and heaven forbid, they added a dog, all without his permission! The high-spirited young lady, Viola De Lesseps, who knows Will’s work very well, wishes to be on the stage. This, of course, is against the law in Elizabethan England, but it doesn’t stop her from trying. Disguised as a young man and going by the name Thomas Kent, Viola attends auditions for Will’s next play, the very one he is struggling to finish. Viola returns home to prepare for the ball being hosted by the De Lesseps household and discovers her father has arranged a marriage for her to a Lord Wessex, a wealthy Virginia plantation owner

Emily Trask* as Viola de Lesseps Will and his playwright friend come to her house looking for “Master Kent” to offer him the lead of Romeo in his play and are invited to come in to the ball. Here Will sees Viola for the first time, and soon a scene similar to the initial meeting of Romeo and takes place. Will’s sudden attention to Viola offends Lord Wessex, and when asked for his name, Will introduces himself as Marlowe. Later, Viola’s nurse delivers Will’s message to Viola about her getting the role in the play but warns that acting will not end well for her. Marlowe accompanies Will to Viola’s balcony, and a Romeo-and- Juliet- like balcony scene unfolds as Will discovers new-found inspiration. The nurse discovers Will before he escapes, but now the household is onto him—but by the name Marlowe.

6 Rehearsals begin the next day and Viola (as Kent) plays Romeo. As they continue, the story gradually changes from one about Romeo and a pirate’s daughter to one with a love interest named Juliet.

Wessex visits Viola and informs her of their impending marriage and journey to Virginia. Though it breaks her heart, Viola sends word to Will that he must not visit her again because it is too dangerous. Will follows Kent from rehearsal and divulges his desperate love for Viola. He soon discovers Viola’s disguise, and they come together in passion for each other.

Will tries to convince Viola to run away with him instead of marrying Wessex. She knows she can never do this, and that she must go with Wessex to receive the Queen’s approval for their marriage. Once at court, the Queen examines Viola and privately tells Wessex she can tell Viola has another lover. In his anger, he assumes it is Marlowe and goes after him.

As things continue to fall apart, one of Will’s rivals claims he has rights to the manuscript and attempts to get it away from the cast during a rehearsal. Will’s company manages to hold on to it, but as they celebrate, Viola/Kent discovers Will has an estranged wife and two children. She runs out, leaving the group to mourn over the sudden news that Marlowe was just stabbed to death across town.

Drunk and stirred up, Wessex finds Viola distraught in her bedroom and breaks the news of “her” playwright’s death. She faints, believing he means Will; but when Will enters looking for Viola, Wessex flees thinking him the ghost of Marlowe.

Similarly, to the ending of Romeo and Juliet, Will sees Viola and pleads if she be dead, that he die too. Fortunately, she awakes at his kiss and they work through their misunderstandings. However, more troubles await at the theatre. The Queen’s chamberlain declares it closed for allowing a female to act on the stage. With so many disruptions, what happens now to Will’s new play and where will the players go? How can Will and Viola be together now with her wedding approaching? What does Will’s future hold?

Kitty Balay* as Nurse, Emily Trask* as Viola de Lesseps, Yusef Seevers as Will Shakespeare

Courtesy of bard.org/study-guides/ synopsis-Shakespeare-in-love 7 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Lee Hall was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1966 and studied English Literature at Cambridge University. He has worked as a writer in theatre, TV, radio and film. He has been writer in residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Live Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Theatre credits: Wittgenstein on Tyne, Bollocks, RSC Fringe; Genie, Paines Plough; Cooking With Elvis - West End - nominated for an Oliver Award for Best Comedy; Spoonface Steinberg, Ambassadors Theatre; Two’s Company, Bristol Old Vic; Billy Elliot the Musical - Oliver Award Best Musical; Pitmen Painters, Newcastle// National Tour/Broadway. Theatre adaptations: Leonce and Lena (Buchner), The Gate Theatre; Mr Puntila and his Man Matti (Brecht) Almedia Theatre; A Servant to Two Masters (Goldoni) RSC/ Young Vic; The Adventures of Pinocchio (Collodi), Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith; Mother Courage (Brecht), Shared Experience / Ambassadors Theatre; The Good Hope (Heijermans) Royal National; The Barber of Seville (Beaumarchais), Bristol Old Vic. Opera: Adaptation of Il Pagliacci/The Comedians for the English National Opera. TV: A Prince of Hearts, BBC; Wind in the Willows, BBC Film: Billy Elliot, Working Title Films. His screen play for War Horse was directed by Steven Spielberg in 2011.

Marc Norman is a screenwriter from Los Angeles. Film credits include Oklahoma Crude, Cutthroat Island and The Aviator. His TV credits include scripts for Mission: Impossible TV, Downtown, Five Desperate Women, The Challenge, and Run for Your Life and director for three episodes of The White Shadow. His script of Shakespeare in Love written with Tom Stoppard earned him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture Oscar. He is the author of the novel Bike Riding in Los Angeles and What Happens Next?: A History of Hollywood Screenwriting. He received his Masters degree in English at UC Berkeley.

Sir Tom Stoppard wrote his first play, , while working as a journalist in Bristol. His plays include , Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, , , , , Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (a play for actors and orchestra written with André Previn), , , , , , , , Rock’n’Roll, Dogg’s Our Pett, New-Found Land, Dogg’s Hamlet and Cahoot’s . Adaptations include Tango, , , and . Translations include The Seagull, Henry IV, Ivanov, and The Cherry Orchard, The House Of Bernarda Alba and Largo Desolato. He has written eight Evening Standard award-winning plays and five of his plays have won . Screenplays include Anna Karenina, Despair, The Romantic Englishwoman, The Human Factor, Brazil, Empire Of The Sun, The Russia House, Billy Bathgate, Poodle Springs, and Shakespeare In Love (with Marc Norman). Tom Stoppard is a CBE (one of five classes of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) and was knighted in 1997. 8 About

William Shakespeare is a mystery. He never went to college, only the local grammar school, but ended up writing the most famous plays in the history of the world. How did it happen? Nobody really knows.

We know very little about Shakespeare's personal life, his childhood and his marriage when you think about the impact he's had on our world. We have none of Shakespeare's letters, diaries, or original manuscripts. All we have is his signature on a couple of legal documents. In fact, the lack of information on him has made a lot of people argue that he never really wrote all those plays or even existed at all!

Never forget, Shakespeare wrote his plays to be performed not read. Never sit down to read one of his plays if you don't know it. Get up and try acting it out. You'll be surprised how much you'll understand.

Will wrote over 40 plays, but only 37 have survived. He wrote every kind of story you can think of- tragedies, comedies, histories. 22 of his plays were about war. Guess he had human nature down... In his plays you can find teenagers fighting with their parents, teenagers running away, teenagers falling in love, ghosts, gods, witches, drunks, murderers, a woman caressing her lover's body minus its head, a woman caressing her lover's head minus its body, weddings, funerals, death by stabbing, suffocation, poison, decapitation, spiking, hanging, execution, being made into a meat-pie, and drowning in a vat of wine. The point is that Shakespeare did it all!

Everybody went to see Shakespeare's plays: children, peasants, royalty, merchants, every kind of person from every social group and clique. It was the one place where a beggar could rub elbows with the rich and famous. Remember there were no televisions, no radios, no magazines, and only the beginnings of newspapers. Not that newspapers mattered much considering most people couldn't read or write! Aside from the plays, there were bear- baitings, cockfights, bull-baitings and if you were lucky, the occasional execution. That was all. Seeing one of his plays was something like a cross between a Magic basketball game and a rock concert. It was noisy, crazy, usually messy, and a whole lot of fun.

9 Shakespeare's Early Years

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He died on the exact same day fifty-two years later, in 1616. He lived during what was called the Elizabethan Era because at that time the queen of England was Queen .

William Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, was a glovemaker by trade and ran a 'general store'. He was a prominent citizen in the town of Stratford- upon-Avon and even served as mayor for a term. The very first mention of John Shakespeare is in 1552. He was fined for keeping a 'dunghill' in front of his house. When William was eight years old, his father's fortunes started to decline. His father stopped going to church meetings and town council meetings, and his application for a coat- of-arms was turned down. A 'coat-of- arms' was an important status symbol in Elizabethan England. Today it would be like the U.S. Government and everybody else in the country recognizing that you and your family were upper class and treating you like you were somebody important. Basically, you got invited to all the 'A-List' parties. Nobody knows why John Shakespeare’s mysterious decline occurred.

Shakespeare's mother was Mary Arden, a young lady from a prominent Catholic family. She married John Shakespeare in 1557 and they had seven children. William's older sisters Joan and Margaret died when they were babies. His younger sister Anne died when he was fifteen. The most of what we know about his three younger brothers is the youngest was named Edmund and that he later became an actor in . Edmund died at age twenty-seven and was buried in London. We don't really know much about Shakespeare's other two brothers.

As far as Shakespeare's education, even less is known. We assume he went to the local public grammar/elementary school in Stratford, but there are no records to prove it. We're also pretty sure he never went to college or university (pretty incredible when you consider Shakespeare invented over 2500 words that we still use every day- including the words “puke”, “eyeball”, and “vulnerable”). In fact, after his baptism the next record we have of William Shakespeare is his marriage in 1582 to Anne Hathaway. William was eighteen years old when he married, and Anne was twenty-six. Anne was also several months pregnant! Susanna, Shakespeare's first child, was born in 1583. Two years later, Shakespeare and Anne had twins, Judith and Hamnet. Sadly, Hamnet died only eleven years later. There is no record of his cause of death. William was deeply affected by his only son's death and after it spent more time in Stratford, traveling to London only for important theater business.

The London Years

Nobody knows exactly when William Shakespeare moved to London or how he supported himself once he got there. We do know he was an actor before he was a playwright. Even when he was thriving as a playwright, he still found time to act in his own plays. He played roles such as Adam in As You Like It and the ghost of Hamlet's father in Hamlet.

In 1589-92, Shakespeare's first plays were all hits in London. By 1594, Shakespeare's own acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, became the premier acting company in London.

In 1598, Shakespeare built his famous theater- The Globe Theater. It was located on the south bank of the Thames River in London. The new theater's motto was "Totus mundus agi histrionem" or in English instead of Latin "All the world's a stage". 10 The Globe Theater could accommodate over 3,000 spectators and admission in the early 1600's was one penny. The Globe had twenty sides and was an “open-air” theater, meaning there was no roof in the center. What roof there was, was thatched (made of hay). The rest of the building was made of wood. From above it looked like a large donut. Performances were given every day from 2-5 in the afternoon (so the sunlight wouldn't bother the audience or the actors) except Sunday. The beginning of a show was signaled by three blasts from a trumpet and a flag raised at the same time: black for tragedy, red for history, and white for comedy. Why didn't they just pass out leaflets? Going to plays was considered immoral and advertising for plays was prohibited. Yet, everybody came! Vendors at the shows sold beer, water, oranges, gingerbread, apples, and nuts. All of these were thrown at the actors if the audience didn't like the show! Audience members also frequently talked back to the actors. For example, if a murderer was sneaking up on somebody, the audience usually screamed out "LOOK BEHIND YOU!"

On June 29, 1613, the Globe Theater burned to the ground. It was during a performance of Henry the Eighth. The cannon shots that were fired to 'announce the arrival of the king' during the first act of the play misfired and engulfed the thatched roof in flames. One man's breeches (pants) caught on fire but before he got hurt badly somebody dumped their beer on him and put it out! While the rest of the audience escaped unharmed, The Globe Theater was completely destroyed. Thirty years later, an ordinance (law) was passed to close all theatres. Acting and plays were outlawed because they were considered immoral.

The Later Years

Back in Stratford, William Shakespeare enjoyed his retirement and his status as 'Gentleman'. He purchased 'New House', the second largest home in Stratford-upon-Avon and often invited his friends and fellow artists over to hang out. One such visit is recorded in the journal of John Ward, a vicar in Stratford. He wrote, "Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Johnson had a merry meeting, and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted". Shakespeare indeed died thereafter and was buried in his family's church in Stratford on his birthday in 1616.

In all, Shakespeare had written over 40 plays in two years. Two members of his acting company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, published all the plays they could find in 1623. This collection of 37 of Shakespeare's plays has come to be known as The First Folio. If it had not been for these two men, John Heminges and Henry Condell, we might have no record of William Shakespeare's work and the world as we know it would be a very different place. In the preface to the Folio these men wrote, "We have but collected them (the plays) and done an office to the dead... without ambition either of self- profit or fame; only to keep the memory of so worthy a friend alive, as was our Shakespeare".

Shakespeare's friend and fellow playwright Ben Johnson wrote this about Shakespeare when William died- "... I loved the man, and do honor his memory as much as any. He was indeed honest, and of an open and free nature: had excellent fantasies, brave notions, and gentle expressions..."

Included with the permission of the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre.

11 About the Play With Will Shakespeare as the main character Yusef Seevers as Will Shakespeare In 1998, the motion picture Shakespeare in Love was released to great acclaim on the Silver Screen. Billed as a , In the first week it earned $688,478. The romantic comedy, Sleepless in Seattle opened to $17 million in its first week in 1993. But by the next week, it had gained momentum and it was clear the movie was much more than a romantic comedy. It appealed to movie goers of all tastes. Soon it was being billed as a Period Comedy and went on to earn over $289 million (Sleepless in Seattle earned a total of $227 million). With its biting humor, colorful performances and historic beauty in Art Direction it struck a chord with and enjoyed equally by movie goers from all walks of life. In 2012, the stage rights for the screenplay were acquired and Disney Theatrical Productions with Productions set forward to produce the stage adaptation, and by 2014 Shakespeare in Love – the play, opened on London’s West End. With all the popularity the film version had garnered, there was an undeniable charm that came with seeing the story unfold live on stage. One reviewer noted, “… as if it was always meant to be (a stage production).” In honoring the manner and characteristics of any William Shakespeare play, the stage adaptation of Shakespeare in Love offers a variety of sub-plots and twists, a cast of colorful (and oddly familiar) characters that are the heartbeat of the story and placed cleverly throughout the dialogue is a treasure of Shakespearean Easter Eggs to be found by any and all Bard enthusiasts. The play creates an image of Will Shakespeare as a young man whose biggest obstacle in life is to break through a dreadful case of writer’s block. Being pressured by the theatre owner, and producer to finish the play (which is past it’s deadline) we see a frustrated writer who fears that his career may be coming to an end. This is a far cry from the person we know as the man who would pen the most famous plays ever written, define the complexities of love through poetry, give depth and reason to historic characters both infamous and magnanimous, and basically change the world by establishing a cannon of work that would become the bible for actors and writers across the ages. 12 Seeing Will in the formative years of his career offers us a glimpse into the “possible” life of the man we know very little about. We get to see life in the theatre during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, which had its own level of complicated laws in comparison to our contemporary entertainment censorship laws that rates what is appropriate or not appropriate by age groups. London in the late 16th and early 17th centuries had laws in place that may seem preposterous to us now but had to be enforced at the time. One of these laws was the forbiddance of women to perform on stage, because to do so was deemed immoral. The common practice of the time was to cast young men and boys to perform the female roles, often gaining them celebrity status for their credible performances. The play explores this legal issue of the time further when the character of Viola, a stage-struck fan of Will’s plays, decides to impersonate a man to be in his next production. Will finds himself distracted even more when he becomes infatuated with Viola. And with a plot twist that Shakespeare himself might approve of, through all the antics that follow (both on stage and off), Will finds his muse in Viola. Their passionate and forbidden love affair inspires Will to write his masterpiece - Romeo and Juliet. Certainly, a tidy ending for the play, but there is a bit of trivia that was shared in regard to a Question and Answer session held during the run of the West End production. Someone from the audience asked the cast; “Are we to believe it really happened that way?” Before anyone from the cast could answer, someone else in the audience yelled out; “If it didn’t, it should have!”

Emily Trask* as Viola de Lesseps, Kitty Balay* as Nurse After it’s West End premiere, it then played to sold out houses during the 2016 Stratford (Ontario, Canada) Festival. Its first U.S. production was at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in February of 2017. It returned to the UK for a tour beginning in Bath in October 2018. It has been one of the most widely produced plays for the last two seasons at regional theatres across the U.S. Shakespeare in Love is based on the 1998 movie of the same name. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Music among others. Numerous additional awards came from the Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards, Awards and many more.

13 WILLIAM SHAKEPEASRE’S LONDON

London, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, was a bustling urban center filled with a wide variety of people and cultures. Although most life centered around making a living or going to church, the main source of diversion for Londoners was the theatre.

It was a form of entertainment accessible to people of all classes; the rich and the poor, the aristocrats and the beggars, all met at the theatre. Though often appeasing the church or the monarchy, theatre at this time did experience a freedom that was unknown in previous generations. Evidence of this can be found in the numerous bawdy and pagan references found in Shakespeare’s plays. This relative artistic license and freedom of expression made theatre extremely unpopular among certain members of society, and it was later banned entirely by the Puritans. Not until the reign of Charles II (1660-1685) was the theatre restored to the status it held in Shakespeare’s day.

The Globe Theatre, the resident playhouse for Shakespeare’s company of actors, was easily accessible to Londoners and an active social center. Actors and performers were also regularly brought to court or to private homes to entertain. Despite their popularity, actors maintained a relatively low social status, sometimes no better than a common beggar or rogue. Most performers were forced to earn a living doing trade work. The aristocracy’s desire for entertainment, however, did spur the development of numerous new theatre pieces. Often a nobleman would become a patron to an artist or company of actors, providing for their financial needs and sheltering them to some degree from official sanctions. In return, the company would adopt the name of the patron. Shakespeare’s acting company was originally named “Lord Chamberlain’s Men” after their patron Henry Carey, the Lord Chamberlain. Later, under the patronage of King James I, they were known as “The King’s Men,” an unprecedented honor at the time.

Despite the flourishing of the arts at this time, London was sometimes a desolate place. Outbreaks of the Black Plague (the bubonic plague) frequently erupted, killing thousands of citizens. Theatres, shops, and the government all shut down during these times in hopes of preventing the spread of the disease. Elizabethans were unaware that the disease was being spread by the ea and rat populations, which well outnumbered the human population of London at that time.

Included with permission of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 14 A LIST OF SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS BY THE YEAR THEY WERE PRODUCED

1589 Comedy of Errors 1590 Henry VI, Part II Henry VI, Part III 1591 Henry VI, Part I 1592 Richard III 1593 Taming of the Shrew 1594 Romeo and Juliet Two Gentlemen of Verona Love's Labour's Lost 1595 Richard II Midsummer Night's Dream 1596 King John Merchant of Venice 1597 Henry IV, Part I Henry IV, Part II 1598 Henry V Much Ado about Nothing 1599 As You Like It Julius Caesar 1600 Hamlet Merry Wives of Windsor 1601 Troilus and Cressida 1602 All's Well That Ends Well 1604 Othello Measure for Measure 1605 King Lear Macbeth 1606 Antony and Cleopatra 1607 Coriolanus Timon of Athens 1608 Pericles 1609 Cymbeline 1610 Winter's Tale 1611 Tempest 1612 Henry VIII

15 ELEMENTS OF PRODUCTION About Our Production

Roger DeLaurier, Director of our production is delighted by this fictional story that assumes to take a snapshot of young Will Shakespeare as he is just starting out, just starting to make his name, before he was connected to his company and before he created his great plays. “We see him right on the cusp of fame and we see where Romeo and Juliet comes from in his life experiences. We know that this is pure fiction, but it’s a delightful one.” The authors’ imaginations take cues from things known about Shakespeare’s life and inflates them, filling in gaps that explore what it means for Will to fall in love, really profoundly, after a very young marriage to an older woman. DeLaurier said that we don’t know how much love was in that relationship, but we do know they lived apart for a lot of the time. So, what happens if Shakespeare actually falls in love? That’s where the story starts. The setting includes an Elizabethan playhouse with a backdrop of London’s cityscape of the era and the costumes are going “full tilt Elizabethan” that reflect a very specific time and place in Shakespeare’s lifetime. DeLaurier said that designer Sara Curran Ice has created magnificent costumes for the production, and in particular, for Polly Firestone Walker who is playing Queen Elizabeth, full of big ruffs and lace. From that to the more plain serving wenches in the tavern, the costumes span a huge stratum of characters. Those characters feature nearly all of PCPA’s Resident Artists.

People who love Shakespeare will delight from the numerous references to characters in other Shakespeare plays such as Viola in Twelfth Night, a woman disguised as a man, Tilney who is a prototype for Malvolio, and within the play, and where the queen asks Shakespeare for a new play for twelfth night. “You can see the elements that Shakespeare is gathering from these experiences to write the next play. DeLaurier observed, “I think it’s really important because having William Shakespeare up on a pedestal doesn’t do anybody any good. To make him a living breathing human being with flaws, and desires, and heartbreak, and love, is a great thing...and makes his work more accessible.”

16 ELEMENTS OF SCENIC DESIGN

Scenic Designer Abby Hogan created a ½ inch scale “white model” to assist the director and other designers in imagining how the scenic element would enhance telling the story for Shakespeare in Love. The white model is also used for the preliminary discussions about the design and how it fits into the initial concept the Director proposed to his designers in a “Concept Meeting” held with the entire Creative Team in attendance.

In the meetings to follow between the Designer and the Director will review all production needs, and address any challenges that may be faced when staging certain scenes. Each challenge is clearly thought out to find solutions that will allow the Director the freedom to stage the play as he envisions it.

A White Model is easier to modify before the Designer advances to building a fully painted model. The painted model will reflect the approved design, that one that will be built for the production. 17

In designing the scenery for Shakespeare in Love, Ms. Hogan takes in to consideration the environment of Elizabethan London at the end of the 16th Century, which is the time our play takes place in. Her attention is placed on two elements that strongly signify the location our play takes place in. The city scape as it was in the late 1500s. produced.

Ms. Hogan incorporates the illustration of this city scape into the background of the Scenic design, filling the stage with the image of London as it looked in Shakespeare’s time.

She also focused on the more immediate surroundings. That of Theatre in which Will Shakespeare is currently having his next play produced. As there Is no mistaking the look of the Elizabethan Theatre stage, Ms. Hogan makes use of the familiar silhouette.

18

Here we highlighted the outline of Ms. Hogan main scenic structure to emphisise her use of wooden beams to create the architectural desing of an Elizabethan stage. She even adds a platform to the structure for scenes to take place on different levels. Most significantly, having a structure that resembles The Rose Theatre will serve the story well, as it becomes a constant reminder that Will must complete his new play in a matter of days.

We offer below an illustration of the famous Globe Theatre that Shakespeare would later come to be associated with, as he was a co-owner having invested in its design and construction.

You will notice immediately the similarity of lines created by open timber beams that shape the playing space where every play Shakespeare ever wrote was performed on.

19 ELEMENTS OF COSTUME DESIGN Costume Designer Sara Curran Ice created these color renderings to assist the director and the other designers in imagining how the costume element will enhance the characters in Shakespeare In Love and help propel the story forward with clarity. Not only does Ms. Ice take into consideration the accuracy of the Elizabethan period, and how clothing was worn and moved in for those days, but she must also focus on the colors choices when assembling her color palate for the stage. Ms. Ice carefully select fabric colors and textures that will stand away from the painted sets, but not so much that they tell a different story. And a color palette must be a series of colors the lighting designer can keep in stage lights without changing the color of the garment.

The approved costume design for Will Shakespeare played by Yusef Seever as it will be seen in our pro duction.

As all the designers working on Shakespeare in Love will eventually have their designs come together in order to tell the same story. They must all work in tandem with the Director so each member of the creative team knows what to expect when all designs are merged on stage for the first time. When the costume designs are approved Ms. Ice will be responsible for finding all the fabrics needed to build the costumes she designed.

The approved costume design for Viola, played by Emily Trask. 20 The renderings are a very important step in making sure the costumes are falling into the world of the Director’s concept for the show. But they are also helpful in other ways throughout the production process. Once approved copies will be made to hang in the rehearsal studio, so actors will have a reference point of what they will be wearing in the show. They can then prepare accordingly for any limitations that the costume might create. Taking into consideration they may have to navigate stairs, have quick changes in and out of the costume and possibly additional movement, such as choreographed fights, or dances on stge. The renderings will also serve as a visual reference for the costume construction team and the Costume shop at large. Throughout the construction period, the Costume shop Cutter and Draper will reference the rendering often to make sure the costumes are being built to the designer’s specifications. The construction of the one single costume, can take between 96 – 192 hours. A show the size of Shakespeare in Love that has over 34 characters can double that amount if each actor has, at the very least, two costume changes. Time management is key to have all costumes ready for first dress rehearsal.

21 CLASSROOM DISCUSSION

Pre-Show Questions:

1. What do you believe is more important – romantic love or familial duty? 2. Do you believe there is ever a time when it is right to break the law? What would that situation be? 3. What relevance do you think Shakespeare’s writing has for today’s audience? 4. Should artists be allowed to create any way they see fit, or are there standards of morality that should be considered? Defend your position. If there are standards, who defines what those standards are?

Post-Show Questions:

1. Shakespeare in Love uses the fictionalized romance between Will and Viola as the inspiration for writing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. How does Will and Viola’s relationship parallel Romeo and Juliet’s? How is it different? How does Will alter events and feelings from his life to create a compelling theatrical work? What role does artistic license play in the creation of his work? 2. Discuss the class differences in Elizabethan England. How are they depicted in this play? How does Viola’s class level influence her choices and experience? How would Will be different if he were of Viola’s class? 3. Discuss the role of women and marriage in Elizabethan England. There is a powerful queen of England, yet Viola is still not independent enough to marry for love. Why does Viola feel she has no choice but to marry Wessex? What would happen if she went against her father’s choice for her spouse? 4. What does Viola wish for most in the world? What obstacles prevent her from achieving her desires? What freedom does she gain once she has disguised herself as Thomas Kent? 5. Will writes Romeo and Juliet and later performs the role of Romeo. Viola (as Kent) rehearses the role of Romeo and later performs the role of Juliet. How are the characters (Will and Viola) altered by performing these roles? What do they learn about themselves, each other, and love through these roles? How does performing these roles prepare them for the events to come at the end of the play?

Follow Up Activities:

1. Write a review of this production of Shakespeare in Love. Be sure to include specific information and your own reactions to the acting, the design elements (lights, set, costumes and sound), and the play itself. Explain what you liked about the production, and what you disliked, and support your opinions. Submit your review to The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Education Department, or see if it can be published in your school newspaper. 2. Consider any one aspect of the play and the parallels to our modern world. It could focus on the class differences between Will and Viola, or Will’s difficulty in writing a new play, or Tilney’s censorship of the theatre, or Wessex’s marriage of convenience. How are these elements of the play the same as now, how are they different? Support your ideas with specific passages from the play and from contemporary news sources and culture. Write a dialogue with Queen Elizabeth I in which you explain why women should be allowed to be onstage. 3. Design a promotional poster for the theatrical adaption of Shakespeare in Love.

22 A MAD-LIB SONNET

As Shakespeare in Love begins, we see Will struggling with writer’s block, working on a sonnet. A sonnet is a 14-line poem consisting of three quatrains followed by a rhyming couplet. Take a moment and fill in the blanks of one of Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets and see what happens. Compare your completed sonnet with William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18.

1. Shall I compare thee to a ______’s ______? name of a season a unit of time

2. Thou art more ______and more ______. an adjective an adjective

3. Rough ______do shake the ______buds of ______. a weather event (plural) an adjective the name of a month

4. And ______’s lease hath all too ______a date. name of a season an adjective (same as above) ( describing a unit of measure)

5. Sometimes too ______the eye of heaven shines. an adverb

6. And often is his ______complexion dimmed; an adjective

7. And every ______from ______sometime declines, a noun (used twice)

8. By chance, or nature’s ______course, untrimmed; an adjective

9. But thy ______shall not ______an adjective name of a season action verb (same as above)

10. Nor lose possession of that ______thou ow’st. Noun

11. Nor shall ______brag thou ______in his shade, proper noun action verb (present tense)

12. When in eternal lines to ______thou grow’st. proper noun

13. So long as men can ______or eyes can ______, action verb action verb

14. So long lives this, and this gives ______to thee Noun

23 WHICH CHARACTER SPOKE THESE WORDS?

Using the list of names below, match the line spoken in the play with the character who said it. Some characters on the list spoke more than one line and some didn’t speak any. How much can you remember?

1. “I am the money.” 2. “Where is my play, Shakespeare? I have postered half of Shoreditch and I haven’t seen a single page.” 3. “How dare you perform me here in front of the Queen without my say-so. I am still owed half of the commission.” 4. “Let me explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster...But it always works out in the end.” 5. “Stage love will never be real love until we women can be onstage ourselves.” 6. “There is no playhouse in London where my verse is spoke truly.” 7. “I need a dowry, your family seeks a title. It seems our fortunes are well met.” 8. “In the name of Her Majesty, I arrest you all!” 9. “I told you I would make you a partner, Shakespeare. For fifty pounds.” 10. “I do know something of a woman in a man’s profession. Yes, by God, I do know about that.” 11. “I liked the part where she killed herself.” 12. “Enough. She takes the bait, let’s go.”

WILL SHAKESPEARE

KIT MARLOWE

NED ALLEYN

RICHARD BURBAGE

JOHN WEBSTER

HENSLOWE FENNYMAN

VIOLA DE LESSEPS

RICHARD DE LESSEPS

WESSEX

QUEEN ELIZABETH I

TILNEY

24 Answer Key to Which Character Spoke These Words?

A. Fennyman B. Burbage C. Will D. Henslowe E. Viola F. Will G. Wessex H. Tilney L. Marlowe

25 Additional Opportunities for Students

The Young People’s Project YPP Jr. June 29 - July 6 July 7 - 13 for ages 13 – 18 for ages 9 - 12

Students spend a week engaged in theatre workshops under the leadership of professional actors, musicians, dancers, and directors. They will attend a PCPA summer production and get a free camp T-shirt. On the final day they will present a showcase performance they created for family, friends, and invited guests. NEW! Teatro YPP July 14 - 20 for ages 9 – 18

This addition to the Young People's Project offers children, with a knowledge of the Spanish and English languages, workshops in the traditional style of "Teatro." Using current topics, personal experience and a lot of imagination, woven with music and dance that originate from Latino cultures, students will create an original Teatro performance for family, friends, and guests.

Enrollment will begin the last week of April Office of Education and Outreach 1-805-928-7731 ext. 3156 - [email protected]

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