Shakespeare in Small Places: with Particular Reference to Ten Productions, 1990 to 1995
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Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Gibson, Joy Leslie (1997) Shakespeare in small places: with particular reference to ten productions, 1990 to 1995. PhD thesis, Middlesex University. [Thesis] This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/6980/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. 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See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy I ýýCIý7conkining little mighty- -ii-e-n. SHAKESPEARE IN SMALL SPACES with particular reference to ten productions 1990 to 1995 A thesis submitted to Middlesex University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy \-k \s. 0 JOY LESLIE GIBSON The Schppl oý Prama and Theatre Arts I1 1" ,I M; DIDLESýX UNIVERSITY November 1997 SYNOPSIS SHAKESPEARE IN SMALL SPACES WITH-PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO TEN PRODUCTIONS - 1990 TO 1995 This thesis is divided into two sections. In the first section the Elizabethan Theatre is described and the idea that this structure shaped Shakespeare's plays is examined and emphasis is put on the fact that this was an aural theatre. After the spectacular and visual approach of the Victorian theatre, William Poel considered that the texts should again be paramount, while Harley Granville Barker, realizing that we are not Elizabethans, tried to find a compromise between the starkness of the Elizabethan theatre and the greater technical ability of the modern theatre. His one-set productions were to influence the rest of the century, though Tyrone Guthrie thought that Shakespeare should be taken away from the picture-frame stage and be restored to a thrust stage. With the creation of The Other Place at Stratford, and The Young Vic Theatre as part of the (then) National Theatre, small space productions became part of main stream theatre companies. This led to an exciting dimension in the presentation of Shakespeare texts where actors had to learn new techniques and which involved audiences to a greater extent than bef ore and which, again, led to the aural taking place of the visual. The second section examines ten productions performed in a variety of small theatres and the plays chosen spread over the whole of the Shakespeare canon. approx: 75,000 words. For JULIAN MILLER... with love CONTENTS PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION section one CHAPTER ONE Page 1 1 bending ' ... our author... How the theatre of his day shaped Shakespeare's plays CHAPTER TWO Page 30 I this ' ... ciphers to great accompt... The changes in Shakespearean productions at the beginning of this century CHAPTER THREE Page 60 '... here is the playhouse now, there you must sit... ' Aspects of production in Main House and Small Space productions CHAPTER FOUR Page 86 1 on this ... unworthy scaffold. oo' Production values in Main House and Small Space pFqquctions section two TROILUS AND CRESSIDA Page 108 1990 - Swan Theatre - thrust stage TIMON OF ATHENS Page 125 1991- Young Vic - courtyard THE WINTER'S TALE Page 142 1991 - Young Vic - in the round A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Page 159 1993 - Lilian Baylis Theatre - tiered 1994 - The Pit- courtyard HAMLET Page 177 1994 Tom Patterson Theatre - thrust stage 1993 Donmar Theatre - courtyard ROMEO AND JULIET Page 201 1994 - The Pit - right-angled formation 3 HENRY 1V Page 212 1994 - The Other Place - courtyard - and The Dolphin Leisure Centre, Haywards Heath: the Royal Shakespeare company's Touring structure AS YOU LIKE IT Page 229 1995 - Theatre des Bouf f es du Nord - apron stage and afterwards at the Albery Theatre - proscenium arch CONCLUSION Page 248 APPENDICES 1. List of Shakespearean Productions in Small Spaces seen by Joy Leslie Gibson since 1976 2. List of Small Space productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company 3. List of principal productions at the Young Vic 4. Letters from Financial Directors and the Production Budget for The Winter's Tale at the Young Vic Letters about the size of Acting Areas 6. Letters f rom Actors - Barry Foster: Adrian Lester: David Suchet 7. Letters from Trevor Nunn's Office and notes of Timon of Athens 8. Directors' Notes Letter from National Opinion Poll BIBLIOGRAPHY PUBLISHED WORK THE CHAPTER HEADINGS ARE TAKEN FROM THE CHORUS'S SPEECHES IN HENRY V The right of Joy Leslie Gibson to be identified as the author of this work is asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS THE FORTUNE THEATRE Frontispiece from the Royal National Theatre's Programme of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, 1995 Before Page Diagrams of Theatre Formations 7 from programmes and Mulryne and Shewring (1995) The Festival Theatre 38 Stratford-upon-Avon, Canada courtesy of the Theatre Peter Brook's White Box 47 Production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1970 from Kennedy (1993)p 92: figure 9 The Other Place 59 Original Building Royal Shakespeare Theatre Postcard Trevor Nunn's Production 68 of Macbeth by courtesy of The Royal Shakespeare Company The Swan Theatre 108 Royal Shakespeare Theatre Postcard Troilus and Cressida 116 Royal Shakespeare Company Production, 1990, by courtesy of the Shakespeare Centre Timon of Athens 127 Young Vic, 1991 by courtesy of Young Vic Young Vic in the Round 142 from Mulryne and Shewring (1993) p 173 Costumes from The Winter's Tale 157 by courtesy of Young Vic A Midsummer Night's Dream 167 from The Independent, 14th April, 1993 A Midsummer Night Is Dream 176 from the Programme The Tom Patterson Theatre, Canada 185 by courtesy of the Theatre Haml et 189 by courtesy of the Stratford Festival, Canada The Donmar Warehouse 194 from The London Theatre Scene Frank Cook Guides (1979) p 95 Haml et 197 from The Sunday Times, 21st November, 1993 The Pit 200 from the Programme Rpjqýp aýnd Juliet 205 from the Programme The Other Place: Interior 1993 212 from Mulryne and Shewring (1993) p 27 Henry Vl - Part Three 221 by courtesy of The Shakespeare Centre Thöätre des Bouffes du Nord 229 by courtesy of the Theatre As You Like It 236 from The Independent, 24th November, 1994 note: there is no suitable photograph or plan of the Lilian Baylis Theatre PREFACE The idea for this thesis came to me in 1993 when I realized that the productions of William Shakespeare's plays which I had most admired and enjoyed were those that had been presented in small spaces. Questioning of that admiration led to an investigation of why and how small space productions had come about and the realization that they seemed to me more faithful to the original, Elizabethan text though done with our greater technical knowledge. That small scale productions are praised by critics becomes apparent when reading the Press Cuttings Books of the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal National Theatre and the Young Vic, and the willingness of actors and directors to take part in these productions is obvious from the actors and directors participating in them. Although small scale productions have been part of the work of main-stream companies' work for over twenty years now, there has been no comprehensive examination of the movement to find out why these productions are so respected, and why so many directors, among them Trevor Nunn, David Thacker, Adrian Noble, Katie Mitchell and Deborah Warner have done some of their most striking work in these small spaces. Spaces, theatres, shape the plays that are written f or them. Shakespeare's plays were written for a specific type of theatre and the plays show this continually. Much research has been done, not all of it conclusive, as to the shape and dimensions of this theatre, but what concerns this thesis is how the action of the plays were affected by this shape and size. Not that productions of his plays were confined to the structures in Southwark and Blackfriars in his day, for his plays have always been taken on tour and played in a wide variety of places. Theatres, though, change and with these structural changes the perceptions of the plays also changed. With the coming of the Victorian age, with its interest in science, visual arts and mechanics, the texts were mutilated for scenic effects, so that in Henry Irving's production of Romeo and Juliet the last scene was divided into three. It was not until the turn of the century that William Poel and Harley Granville Barker made the language all-important again.