Creating a program, or playbill, for your production is a wonderful way to showcase your actors, technical crew, and anyone who has helped you make your play a success! It can also be a lucrative fundraising venture, so I highly recommend that you use it as such!

Last year I made our playbill as a Word document. This worked very well for my needs as I was the most familiar with that particular program. In addition, when we started selling ads to local businesses, it was very simple to import pdf or jpg files into the playbill. The one thing that was difficult about using Word for this project, however, was the fact that I couldn’t tell which pages would end up next to each other in the finished product. As far as I’ve been able to figure out, Word is simply not designed to do that. So I had to do a lot of draft prints, cutting and pasting, and trying to figure out where the various items in the playbill would be placed. Nonetheless, I was quite pleased with the end product and had fun doing it!

This year, with our shortened production time, I asked one of the cast moms to take on this project for me. She and her husband worked in Microsoft Publisher, which is actually designed to do projects like playbills…little did I know there was something out there that would have made last year’s playbill so much easier to create! I have been so very grateful to this kind lady for taking over the playbill for me. As much as I enjoyed doing it last year, I simply did not have the time this year…lesson to be learned from this? Delegating can be your friend!

Our playbill consists of a synopsis of the play, to help the audience understand what’s happening (Shakespeare? Hard to understand? Bite my tongue!!!); a director’s note (written by yours truly) on whatever subject seems appropriate to the production; and cast pictures and biographies. Last year I had the kids answer several questions about their hobbies and interests, their previous acting experience, and their favorite subjects in school. This year we focused only on their previous Highland Player acting experience; gave them the opportunity to thank people they are grateful to; and one thing they would like the audience to know about them. I think I like this format better as it gives the kids a chance to express themselves and be creative, even if the one thing they choose to tell the audience is that they’re in the play this summer!

With regards to advertisements…here is what we do, but I’m sure there are many more ideas out there on this topic, so if you have suggestions for me, please comment below and let me know what your group does and what has worked (and NOT worked) for you! When I first decided to sell ads in our playbill as a fundraiser, I knew that although I wanted the Highland Players to earn money for future productions, I also wanted to be sure the ads were affordable for small, local businesses. From what I understand, advertisements in professional theatre playbills are extremely expensive, and I wanted to help area merchants get some inexpensive advertising in our playbill. So we sold 1/4 page ads for $15, 1/2 page ads for $25, and full page ads for $40. We also sold “break a leg” personal greeting ads to families and friends of the cast, giving them the 1/4 page size for $10. When it came time to actually visit businesses to sell advertising, I turned this portion of the project over to my cast. Last year they could see that I was rapidly becoming overwhelmed with everything I had taken on, so my “Benedick” had me pass around my list of businesses, then told everyone in the cast to sign up for at least two businesses. I was so relieved and pleased with the cast for jumping in and helping…and as we all know, businesses hate to say no to kids who are trying to raise money for something worthwhile!

So how lucrative is this fundraiser? Well, from our point of view, with no budget at all to work with, it was an enormous help. Last year we made $450 by selling advertising in our playbill, which not only covered the cost of printing the playbill, but also went toward other projects, like my initial outlay for having our scripts printed. This year we made $495, which is again a tremendous help to a fledgling drama troupe. And putting all thoughts of fundraising aside, a playbill makes for a wonderful keepsake for family, friends, and cast members who will enjoy perusing their pictures and biographies, and reminiscing about a wonderful experience in their lives, for many years to come. And it’s become a tradition for me to not give the cast their playbills until Opening Night…it’s something to look forward to, yes, but it also gives them something to read and enjoy backstage while trying to settle their nerves!

Nope, not doing Hamlet either! The title of this post was inspired by the fact that several cast and crew members, families and friends, all went to see the Idaho Repertory Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night yesterday. What an amazing show it was! Set in the 1980s, which was MY decade of adolescence, the IRT included tons of great 80s music, hairstyles, clothes (including the IZOD alligator on boatloads of polo shirts), and even Duke Orsino holding a boom box up at Olivia, a great reminder of John Cusack/Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything!

Considering the fact that I prefer Shakespeare set in more “traditional” times and places (yes, I know that “traditional” has a billion different meanings when it comes to adapting Shakespeare, so it’s not really necessary to correct me or tell me that when Shakespeare was around, plays weren’t set in “traditional” settings either. I’m just saying what I prefer - you know, my opinion!), some of my students and even my husband were all surprised that I enjoyed this “painfully 80s” version of Twelfth Night. I’m sure a lot of my enjoyment came simply from the fact that it was a walk down memory lane for me. Had it been set in the 60s or 70s, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much - those decades don’t mean anything to me, personally.

But beyond the setting, what I enjoyed about it is that the actors had a wonderful grasp of the language, which was something my actors needed to hear for themselves. I can tell them, over and over again, to slow their lines down, enunciate more clearly, project, play up the antithesis and imagery, etc., etc., but what was more meaningful for them was to watch a professional group of actors speaking Shakespeare…and doing it really well!

In addition, the IRT company of players makes Shakespeare FUN! How can a female Feste, dressed as a cross between Madonna and Cyndi Lauper not be fun, especially when she’s partying with Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (who, remarkably, did his entire character with a hilarious Ricky Ricardo Cuban accent, wavy blonde hair, and made his first entrance onto the stage on a motor scooter!) to tunes like “We’re Not Gonna Take It”! I realize that everything I just wrote sounds oddly heretical, and I hope the Bard isn’t rolling over in his grave (honestly, I suspect Will would have encouraged the insanity, saying, “Couldn’t he ride the motor scooter through the audience instead? That would be awesome!”). But wouldn’t Shakespeare want his plays to be enjoyed by teenagers in the 21st century, rather than dreaded? I know that when the younger kids that saw the play get to our 11th grade World Literature class and “have to” read Twelfth Night, they will say, “That was great - remember when Malvolio came out in yellow cross-gartered parachute pants, dancing like Michael Jackson???” They’ll actually know the plot and the characters because the IRT did such a great job of showing them that Shakespeare can be fun.

So if you decide to direct a play someday, whether it be Shakespeare or another playwright, try to arrange a trip to a local theater to see a play. Maybe you won’t luck out and get to see the exact same play that you’re directing (last year we saw Much Ado…the same summer we did Much Ado…talk about perfect timing!), but it really doesn’t matter. What’s important for your cast is that they get the chance to see professional actors (or good amateurs) doing what they themselves are trying to do. Talk to your cast after the show or at your next rehearsal and ask them what they noticed about the performance. All of my cast noticed what amazing projection Sir Toby had - good heavens, I think people across town probably heard him! And he wasn’t screaming or yelling…he was projecting. There’s a big difference, and it’s hard to teach, so look for opportunities to show rather than talk about it. The other thing that is helpful for them to see is comic timing. Good timing in comedy is essential, and the IRT actors were amazing, particularly in the scene where Sir Andrew is supposed to be challenging Cesario/Viola to a duel, but he doesn’t want to fight anymore than she does. I wish everyone out there could see that scene - it was hilarious and it was such a great example of awesome comic timing.

Good DVDs of the plays are the next best thing…but not necessarily the movie versions. I adore all of Branagh’s films, as well as other Shakespearean plays that have been turned into major motion pictures, but the problem with those is that they aren’t stage plays. They’re good and exciting and fun to watch, but you’re trying to get your cast to think like stage actors, not film actors, and there is a difference, particularly when dealing with Shakespeare. So look for the Plays of William Shakespeare series, or the BBC-Time-Life Films series, The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. Those are excellent substitutes if you don’t have a local university, college, or community theater available. No matter what, though, make it fun for your kids…show them that Shakespeare is still considered amazing and great for a reason!

I have always been a movie buff, from the time I was a little kid. I remember my mom taking me to see Disney’s Robin Hood at the theater (you know, the one where Robin Hood and Marian are foxes, and Prince John is a thumb-sucking lion…PJ? PJ! Oh, I like that…Hiss, put it on my luggage!). And I remember going to my first drive-in movie with my brother - Young Frankenstein.  Probably not the best movie for a 6-year-old to watch - I believe a lot of the humor was lost on me until later years!

But movies have always been important to me and played a big part in my life…especially historical epics!  Oh, my…that year that both Braveheart and Rob Roy came out?!?!  I thought I’d died and gone to historical cinema heaven! And, of course, being a huge Shakespeare/Elizabethan buff, I adore movies like Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love.

But what on earth does this have to do with Staging Shakespeare? Well, one thing that has been very helpful, not only to my cast but also to the students in my English classes, is to teach Shakespeare’s plays utilizing good film versions of the plays. Of course, when I teach Henry V to my 8th graders, we watch the Branagh film - read one act, watch the act; read the next act, watch that act, etc. When I teach Hamlet, we watch bits of both the Gibson and the Branagh films, and when I teach Macbeth, I’ve found that I prefer the BBC version of the play with Nicol Williamson (remember him as Merlin in Excalibur?) over the Ian McKellen/Judi Dench play, although I like to show scenes from both. (Speaking of Excalibur - Here’s some trivia for you - Cherie Lunghi, who played Guenevere, also did a fabulous Beatrice in the BBC’s Much Ado About Nothing! Kind of cool that two Excalibur cast members also did some mean Shakespeare!)

So back in May and June, when the weather here was icky and we couldn’t start rehearsing outside, our cast spent a great deal of time working on the text - reading parts aloud; figuring out what various words and phrases meant; determining what their characters might be thinking and feeling at any given moment. Once we were finished, we would watch whatever scenes we had worked on that day from the BBC version of Shrew, with John Cleese as Petruchio. Talk about a HOOT! John Cleese is just a great actor anyway, but seeing him come in for his wedding to Katharina, dressed in some hideous burlap-type vest, no shirt on underneath, but an enormous yellow sunflower stuck to the vest…and a hat with the longest feathers sticking out in front of it…I could go on…I won’t…except to mention that Grumio had some weird face painted on his bare belly, under a very similar ensemble as that of Petruchio’s! The kids loved it, and they saw some really outstanding acting in the process. We also watched the Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor film version, which is such an enjoyable movie, especially when you consider that Burton and Taylor were married at the time they made the movie…it definitely created quite the dynamic for their performances!

Using film versions of the plays seems almost like a no-brainer, really. In this day and age of audio and visual technology, why wouldn’t a teacher or director want to use film to help their students really get into Shakespeare? The only downside I can see is that you don’t ever want your actors to feel like they have to play a part exactly like some famous actor did it. I was hesitant about showing the Branagh Much Ado last year, simply because I didn’t want anyone to feel like there was only one way to play these characters. But I also showed them the BBC version (the one with Cherie Lunghi as Beatrice) in order to demonstrate that there are definitely different ways of approaching the characters, the scenery, the costumes, the everything of putting together a stage production…as long as you don’t deviate from Shakespeare’s text!

Just a suggestion, too, concerning those BBC plays - If you look for them on Amazon or other commercial websites, you’ll probably only find them available to purchase as sets - all of the comedies, all of the histories, or even all 37 plays in one huge bundle. If you are interested in buying them individually, go to the Folger Library website - www.folger.edu - and you can purchase them through their gift shop, one at a time. I’ve slowly been building my collection this way, purchasing the ones I need for school or for whatever plays I am considering directing in the future.

And finally…a little ritual that I started last summer as our production neared completion and we were almost to Opening Night. When I start to worry about the play coming together, actors learning their lines, costumes being finished, sets being painted, but I know I’ve done everything I can do and it’s up to the kids, I pop in my copy of Shakespeare in Love.  If I have time, I’ll watch the whole film, but sometimes I’m just too tired to stay up and watch it after my children are in bed, so instead, I will skip to the scene where Will’s Romeo and Juliet is about to start.  Henslowe’s tailor, playing the Chorus, is stuttering backstage, and Will looks like he would rather slit his wrists than let the play go on.  Then the Chorus gets pushed out onto the stage, and it almost appears that he won’t be able to get the words out…but suddenly, his voice is perfect, exclaiming, “Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene….” I absolutely love that entire part of the movie, where they show what it might have been like the very first time R&J was on the stage…except, of course, where a gorgeous Gwyneth Paltrow saves the day! And then, when the play is over, and the audience just sits there, like they didn’t know what hit them…until finally, thunderous applause and ovations! Ah, yes…it helps me sleep better that night!

My two set designers/artists extraordinaire got our stage design planned out a few weeks ago, measured our stage space, and decided that because we have such a large area to cover, it would be easiest for them (and probably better for the group, financially) to paint our backdrops on muslin material and hang them from the roof of the stage.  So I looked on the Internet, found a theater supply place where I could order huge quantities of muslin material (10 yards x 140″ wide - Rose Brand is the name of the company), and we got the material last week.  The boys know they need to have it finished by July 20th, at the very latest, because Opening Night is July 29th (but to avoid my blood pressure shooting through the top of my head, I suggested that, perhaps, they could try for July 15th - they thought that was a good idea!).

Last year, I panicked a bit…the painting of the backdrops wasn’t progressing as quickly as I might have liked it to, so I actually ordered the large, canvas backdrop that you can see in the picture above (to the left of Hero, in her wedding dress).  But it wasn’t long enough to cover our entire backstage area, so our artists continued the painting from the backdrop on to side panels made out of foam board - they even gave me the little chapel you can see above, behind evil Don John, all in black! In the picture below, you can see the extension to the left of the backdrop, behind our Sexton, sitting at her table, taking Dogberry’s testimony.

This year, I know that my artists will get the job done.  One of them is actually acting in the play this year, and so I know he definitely does not want to be performing in front of a half-finished backdrop!  However, even if he weren’t in the play, I’ve come to trust these two young men, much as I’m learning to trust my actors - I know they will get the job done.

I’m really excited to see what they do with the design, though.  This year, rather than just a straight, flat backdrop behind the actors, they are having to be more creative because of the need for windows (the Pedant looks out of a window in Act IV, and Petruchio and Grumio also show up at Hortensio’s house in Act II - I’d like it to look somewhat like a real house, with a door for him to enter through). There is also the issue of the frame story - a troupe of traveling actors show up in front of a tavern, ready to put on a play for the Noble Lord (in our case, Lady) and the tricked tinker, Christopher Sly. So I believe the plan is to have one set of drapes, painted with the outside of a tavern, but then have those drapes pull back to reveal the set for Shrew.

Once they have it painted and hanging from the stage roof, I will take tons of pictures and post them on our website…in the meantime, you’re going to have to trust me that it is going to be AMAZING!

I recently read about a new all-male production of Much Ado About Nothing. This is far from novel; indeed, many productions of Shakespeare’s plays are performed with all-male or all-female casts. The question each time it happens, of course, is why? What does that approach mean now? Ostensibly, some of it is rooted in a historical interest in recapturing the feel of Shakespeare as it was performed in his own time. As is well known, the ladies’ roles were played by boy actors (which helps explain why so many Shakespearean female characters have such comparatively small roles). In essence, Shakespeare never wrote a part for a woman. He always wrote it for a man playing a woman.

You could argue this issue the same way the issue of race is often debated in Shakespeare. Just as some actors of color might balk at the idea of playing a part written by and for a white actor, so to might an actress reject playing a role that is essential a man’s version of what it means to be a woman. Politics aside, how do single-gendered productions escape novelty? Even if it is not played as a drag show (with unintentional comedy encourage and augmented), does it ultimately boil down to an acting exercise rather than a rendering of the play? That’s the quandary such productions must resolve: if you “forget” you’re watching a cross-gendered actor, then what is the point of doing it in the first place? If you notice (or are reminded of) the change, are you performing the play and its characters or commenting on them?

As I believe I’ve said before, I don’t know what I would have done last summer if it hadn’t been for the plethora of outstanding books out there on directing plays, especially those that are specifically about directing Shakespearean plays.  Ultimately, I would have been up a creek without the proverbial paddle as I would not have had a clue where to start, how to continue, nor how to finish up a production.  One of the most important aspects of any play is blocking, and prior to reading said books, the term “blocking” only had something to do with felt-making or other textile arts, in the back of my very fuzzy memory banks!

The kind of blocking that a director has to be concerned about is the movement and positioning of actors on the stage that will facilitate the performance of the play (thanks, Wikipedia, for that definition!). Sometimes, as one is watching a play, it may seem that the actors are just moving where it feels natural, or where the mood strikes them at the time. Nope…Just about everything you see on stage has already been choreographed by the director and rehearsed that way by the actors. The goal is to have it look as natural as possible - as if they are just doing it on the spur of the moment.

One thing I learned in my Shakespeare-directing books is that you don’t necessarily want to create the blocking too early in the rehearsal process. Because of the importance of your cast understanding the language so they can communicate that understanding to the audience, you want to wait until they really know what they’re saying so that they can help figure out the blocking along the way…and they can understand why you might not want a certain character to be downstage during a key moment when that character would naturally be lurking somewhere else.  The beauty of directing and acting Shakespeare is that Will was an actor, before he ever wrote any plays, and so when he did take up the quill, he knew what to have the actors say in their lines in order to ”facilitate the performance of the play” - blocking!

One book in particular that I’ve been re-reading for ideas and suggestions is Mastering Shakespeare: An Acting Class in Seven Scenes, by Scott Kaiser.  In this book, Mr. Kaiser (or Mr. Kay) teaches seven different important aspects of acting Shakespeare to a fictional class of actors.  The book is written like a play, with dialogue between the students and the teacher.  This approach makes the book an interesting read, as well as incredibly helpful to anyone preparing to act or direct Shakespeare.  The one aspect that I’m particularly interested in right now is the idea of the speech measure, or the chunk of text that communicates a single idea to the audience.  It can be as brief as “O!” or as long as “How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath/To say to me that thou art out of breath”?  This particular concept is super important for actors to be aware of as they need to make sure each speech measure is clear to the audience before continuing on to the next…and successful blocking can help the actors do just that!

Last year, I felt like one of our best scenes in Much Ado was Act III, scene 2, specifically the part where Don John is telling Claudio that Hero has been unfaithful to him.  One of the reasons this was such an effective scene was the fact that we blocked Claudio actually punching Don John when he is told that Hero is “every man’s Hero.”  But even before that very cool bit of blocking (that my actors figured out on their own…awesome!), Don John managed to convey a great deal of information to the audience through his clear speech measures.  I had people come to me afterward and say, “I totally got what he was saying with, ‘I know not that, when he knows what I know.’”  It was because our Don John didn’t rush through his words, or the ideas being conveyed, just to get the dialogue finished.  And recent rehearsals have shown that this same actor (Gremio this time around) is doing this, seemingly naturally as I haven’t mentioned this idea since our initial read-throughs.

Funny how I just realized that I keep talking about text issues - speech measures, meaning - but the post is supposed to be about blocking.  I just can’t help but talk about the text - It’s so important for understanding Shakespeare that it has to go hand in hand with anything else you do!  Otherwise you can have a ton of great blocking…and an audience who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on!  Not good!!

For some very funny theater definitions - especially the ones for “blocking” and “blocking rehearsal” - check the link below - Enjoy!

http://www.communitytheater.org/humor/dictionary.htm

Okay…I have to admit that this blog post is a pick-me-up for myself, so honestly…feel free to stop reading at any point!

Now that we’ve had some on-stage rehearsals, I can begin to see the “light at the end of the tunnel,” so to speak.  I am starting to get those cool visions of what the end-product might look like…what I’m pretty sure it’s going to look like…and my cast is getting excited to see the same vision.  Yesterday I was able to explain more about the framework story, and we could all see how the story being watched by Christopher Sly and the Noble is mirrored by Petruchio and Katharina watching the same story for part of a scene.  Of course, I got so excited that I was gesticulating wildly, doing my “Excited About Shakespeare” dance that the kids have come to recognize…as my Biondello pointed out, “And Mrs. Bogut is going insane…”

So, as I begin to feel that adrenaline - as I recognize that we’ve hit the point where the momentum is building toward a completed product - I began to remember what rehearsals last summer were like.  I remembered one rehearsal in particular, as we were nearing completion and opening night was only about a week away.  Because the days were getting shorter as we approached September, it felt like our rehearsals were running later and later.  I think we were all getting tired, and working at the park after dark was taking its toll.  Now, because our shows were starting at 6:00 and ending around 9:00, we had to get used to the sun going down and the effects of stage lighting, so it was necessary to be there after dark.  But one night in particular seemed especially trying.  I was having difficulty with my Beatrice, who had the habit of turning her head to speak to Benedick in Act IV, scene 1, rather than facing the audience as I had been directing her to do.  Part of the problem was that it was simply habit, but another difficulty was that Benedick was not coming far enough downstage (as he had been directed to do) for her to see him.  It is odd having a conversation with someone you can’t see, so I can understand why this was hard.  But I needed to see them do it correctly, so I made them go through it one more time.

I believe I started them at Benedick’s line, “Lady Beatrice, have you wept all this while?”, after Hero and the rest of the wedding party have left the stage.  Now, this is the part in the Branagh/Thompson film that always chokes me up…Beatrice’s frustration at not being able to do something about Claudio’s horrible treatment of her cousin, simply because she’s a woman…her agony over Hero’s ruined reputation (and life, back in those days)…but thus far in our rehearsals, I hadn’t hit that emotional point with what my actors were doing.  Not that they weren’t doing well - my goodness, I was amazed all the time over how well they were doing!  But there were always little bugs to work out along the way, so my attention was usually diverted by what I wanted to tell them to tweak later.  Not this time, though…This time, Benedick moved downstage where he needed to be, Beatrice looked at him and the audience (I never saw the back of her head!)…but even that wasn’t the clencher!  It was the fact that they both somehow connected…not only with one another, which was difficult at times (these two actors were buddies in real life, not romantically interested in one another, and it was a stretch to play these characters at this point in the play), but they connected with their characters and the scene and the emotions like I hadn’t seen yet.  Quite simply, the way they did that scene told me with certainty that our production would be amazing…not just some amateur theatrical attempt, but a real success.  I know that probably sounds far-fetched, but I just knew it in my gut.  I was so choked up, I couldn’t even give direction when they got done.  I had to just sit there with tears in my eyes and tell them how wonderful they were.

I’ve posted this clip from our second night’s performance…I hope you enjoy it as much as I still do, every time I watch it!

Before I begin my post, I’d like to thank Karen’s Whimsy (http://karenswhimsy.com/taming-of-the-shrew.shtm) for the great public domain pictures she has provided on her website. If you’re looking for pictures from Shakespeare’s plays, or just about anything else for that matter, check her website! It’s a treat to browse!

As my cast members were told this past week, we only have seven weeks left until opening night of Shrew. I think this may have come as a bit of a shock to all involved, including myself! Having spent 3-1/2 months last summer on Much Ado, only spending a grand total of about 10 weeks on Shrew seems a bit…INSANE!!  Particularly when I’ve been feeling as if things were progressing rather slowly, I think I may have hit “panic mode” a bit too soon - which, for me, translates into sleepless nights worrying that the actors won’t get their lines memorized in time!

Then we had our first “real-stage” rehearsal yesterday.  The weather finally turned nice enough for us to be outside on the stage that we will use for our performances, and I have to tell you that there is real truth in the idea of “getting Shakespeare off the page and onto the stage!”  The actors were more animated, more excited, and definitely ready to be out of my classroom at the school!

And how, pray tell, did this first stage-rehearsal go?  Well, it’s still rusty, of course.  The actors are still staring at the scripts, even when other actors are giving their lines, which is something I need to really start addressing.  It’s important that they be engaged in what other people are saying on stage from the very beginning of the rehearsal period - it helps them stay in character anytime they’re on the stage, and also helps them be in the habit of looking interested in what the other actors are talking about (which gets more and more difficult, the more they hear the play over and over and over again!)!  As our Katharina began her long monologue at the end of Act V, several of my actors sank to the ground, heaved exaggerated sighs, and proceeded to look as if they were going to take a nap during her speech!  Wrong!  I told all of them that they need to begin considering how important this speech is to all of the characters on stage…to Baptista, who is hearing that her daughter’s troubled ways are mended; to Bianca, who is being lectured and upstaged at her own wedding feast; even to the servants on stage who have suffered at the wrath and hands of Katharina in the past!  And especially Petruchio, who may be bold and blustering, but who (I believe) is secretly touched by his wife’s newfound dedication to him.  At any rate, all of my actors have to start considering this so that they don’t look like zombies while Katharina is giving that beast of a monologue!

If you would like to see how part of our rehearsal went, check out the short clip I posted on You Tube - I hope you enjoy it!

Much Ado About Nothing is in many ways a far less problematic version of another popular Shakespearean comedy about the battle of the sexes. Audiences can enjoy the verbal sparring and inevitable romantic bliss without feeling icky about someone getting their hand smashed underfoot. A new production of the play sets the action in the fifties, which is an ideal fit for this squabbly romance.

From a pop-culture standpoint, the setting recalls the film and stage entertainments of the period in a way that is very apropos to the play. The fifties featured some of the best of the Tracy and Hepburn comedies that paired the two acting titans (and off-screen sweethearts) together. In many ways, Much Ado About Nothing finds its own Tracy and Hepburn in Beatrice and Benedick. While no one would call the play overtly feminist (nor would they necessarily bestow this description on the Tracy/Hepburn outings), Much Ado About Nothing stands out because it makes its romantic battles relatively equal.

In both the play and the comedies of the 1950’s, you sometimes get the sense that the characters know from the very beginning that they belong together. Therefore, they spend most of the story trying to negotiate the terms of the eventual union. It’s a playful kind of one-upmanship that demands concessions by both sides, no matter how hard they fight them. Neither side really wins in this scenario; rather, the game-playing is simply a way to feed the mutual attraction.

No, I haven’t suddenly decided to switch our production to Twelfth Night…although our cast and their families are going to see a performance of it this summer at the Idaho Repertory Theatre! We saw their Much Ado last summer, and I saw A Comedy of Errors there the summer before, and they always do a fantastic job! But as I considered the subject of this post (music), I couldn’t help but use that particular quote from another of Shakespeare’s wonderful comedies!

I have started working out the soundtrack for our play. Now, let me explain first that I’ve NEVER done this before…can you feel the tension in those words??? Last year I had a choreographer who taught the kids their Italian Renaissance court dances, and as long as she was finding music for the masked ball scene, she volunteered to go ahead and create music for the entire production. Prior to talking to her about the dancing, it hadn’t even occurred to me that we would need music in our play. Then I realized how blah it would be WITHOUT music! Can you imagine movies without music? Other theatre productions without music? Man, was I grateful to her for the suggestion and for the hard work she put into it!

This year, I’m trying it on my own (said choreographer is unavailable this summer). I have some CDs of Italian Renaissance music, and I think I can do this. I have a computer that will rip and burn music…I have blank discs…I clearly have the technology, but do I have the know-how? The gift for choosing the right music to suit the mood of each scene?

My vision for Shrew is different from last year’s Much Ado, even though they are both set in the Italian Renaissance. I’m picturing our Shrew as having more grit to it…more slapstick humor…and I want the music to reflect that. The music last year (courtesy of “Early Music Festival,” the CD pictured above) was very courtly and full of pageantry - perfect for the entrance of Don Pedro and his men and for scenes like the masked ball. But Shrew has a different feel to it - a much more rough and tumble feel that I’m hoping to enhance with the soundtrack I create.

I have a couple more CDs on order, hopefully arriving tomorrow or the next day. As I listen to them, as well as the tracks I have picked out from “Early Music Festival,” I will be reading my script yet again, trying out various pieces to see how they fit with the text and the action of the scene. Most of the music is used to introduce a scene, rather than having music actually playing throughout the scene (difficult for the actors to project over), and so it has to introduce the right mood and set the stage correctly.

This will be yet another learning experience for me, and I hope to have fun with it while also making sure that the music suits the play as a whole, the individual scenes, and the hard work the actors and actresses are putting into this production!