Discussion Of The 1999 RSC Production Of A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream Essay, Research Paper
1a)From a play that you have seen, choose two scenes which you have enjoyed very much and describe the action within these scene. *Scene 1 – The first Mechanical Scene *Scene 2 – The second Mechanical Scene 1b)Give reasons why you were impressed with these scenes. Your answer should refer to the activity on the stage, timing, characterisation and audience reaction. *Scene 1 – The first Mechanical Scene *Scene 2 – The second Mechanical Scene From a play that you have seen, choose two scenes which you have enjoyed very much and describe the action within these scene. Scene 1- The first Mechanical Scene in Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. Characters enter, begin dance with much stamping and posing. 5 contrasting, evidently, comic and clumsy characters. Then enters Peter Quince with papers, who then gives out parts. -Flute is given a female role. He expresses anger at this. Acts pathetically , shy and unconfident. -Snug the Joiner is given the lion role. Responds with great vigour and enthusiasm. He immediately begins acting. -Starveling is given of Thisbee, a woman. Reacts with grimace. The other three characters make no strong impression at this stage. But one character does. Another impression: Because Quince is inefficient and dithery, (not domineering), and the dance is team-work, gives the impression of team-work. Scene 2- The second Mechanical Scene in Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. There is a change here. Characters enter from different doors, frightened. They discuss the difficulties they have. The characters that had made no impact, now do. – Starveling is given the role of moonshine. A beam from the moon hits him, and he is immediately given the role. ( Providence) Very content to p -Snout is given the role of wall. Incredulous, in contrast to Starveling. fat, burley character. Gave musical accompaniments. Then Puck enters and moves amongst the characters. Puck mocks them by moving contemptuously close to them. He shares his power with the audience. In the actual rehearsal, Bottom is proud and confident. Flute is ineffectual and merely repeats his lines at random junctures. Quince lambastes him. Concludes with Donkey entrance. The donkey is very hairy, has a mane, ears, teeth and a large bottom. Bottom’s Face is visible, yet the animality is stressed. Other characters flee, scared by Bottom. Scene 1- The first Mechanical Scene in Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. The first Scene succeeded in suggesting a real sense of teamwork because: -The seamless, faultless dance emphasised their co-operation and their deep knowledge of each other because it was a dance. -Good relationship because they solve things by working together, especially when handing out the roles. -They seemed to have a strong common purpose and a serious goal. -We knew they were friends as they are used to working out dances and problems together. Several characters are clearly introduced: -Bottom – Using movement, the dominant and expressive style of speech and the movement to the front, he attempt to subvert Quince as the leader of the actors. -Snug – His almost child-like delight in playing Lion is conveyed using postures and actions. Coveys that he is intent on perfecting his performance as the lion. -Flute – Made little impression. He did not The overall impression was one of common purpose. Quince succeeded as remaining leader. Second Scene- The Second Mechanical Scene in A Midsummer’s night’s dream Other characters begin to develop while main characters continue. Main characters -Lion – Not allowed to forget-consolidated obsession by continuing crouching etc. Taken over by physical nature of role. -Bottom – Still has solutions. We admire the prowess of Bottom. Donkey entrance – Animal nature. Audience found this shocking and funny. Emerging Characters – Starveling – Develops as a character. The magic of the role seems to overwhelm him. The appeal of the moon’s magic is seemingly too strong. -Puck- His entrance emphasises difference between the mortals and the immortals. Puck makes them seem even more ridiculous, adding to the comedy aspect of the scene.