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This portfolio is centred around the play Pericles, and my own understanding of it. I will be exploring all of the social, and historical contexts/themes of the play. I also wish to show you my own perceptions of Pericles and how I personally view it as a whole. Additionally I will be presenting in depth my thought process behind my chosen secondary roles; why I chose to design a certain costume a particular way, or picked that style for marketing. Besides that, I wish to show my logs and evaluations, in order for you to grasp a better understanding as me as an actor; and get a great insight on what is going through my head as I rehearse and perform.

Pericles:

Pericles himself was described a " brilliant general , orator, patron of the arts and politican- the first citizen of democratic Athens." Pericles' father Xanthippus was a hero of the Persian war. The story of the play "Pericles" comes from the legend of Apollonius, King of Tyre; it was a romantic play that was popular through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. The play is shown as a sequence of adventures, and is different to a typical Shakespearean drama. The narrator Gower accompanies his narration with a series of dumb shows. Some of the prominent themes throughout Pericles are family, love and death. Margaret Jane Kidnie writes: 'in plays such as Pericles, The Tempest, Cymbeline, and The Winter’s Tale, death comes early and produces not “silence,” as Hamlet would have it, but desire. In Pericles, this desire takes the form of a deep longing for the recovery of what has been lost. Such intense longing can bring with it danger, as we see in the play’s opening episodes, set in the nightmarish fairy-tale kingdom of Antioch.'

Practioners: Anne Bogart

Anne Bogart has been described as 'the most important acting and directing theorist since Stanislavski and Brecht.' Bogart explores different viewpoints, consisting of : TEMPO: The rate of speed at which a movement occurs; how fast or slow something happens onstage. DURATION: How long a movement or sequence of movements continues. KINESTHETIC RESPONSE: A spontaneous reaction to motion which occurs outside you; the timing in which you respond to the external events of movement or sound; the impulsive movement that occurs from a stimulation of the senses. REPETITION: The repeating of something onstage. SHAPE: The contour or outline the body (or bodies) makes in space. All Shape can be broken down into either lines, curves or a combination of the two. GESTURE: A movement involving a part or parts of the body; Gesture is Shape with a beginning, middle and end. ARCHITECTURE: The physical environment in which you are working and how awareness of it affects movement. SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP: The distance between things onstage, especially one body to another, one body (or bodies) to a group of bodies, the body to the architecture. And, TOPOGRAPHY: The landscape, the floor pattern, the design we create in movement through space.

Jerzy Grotowski:

Jerzy Grotowski , producer, teacher and the Polish Theatre director. He trained as an actor in Krakow in the early 1950s before studying production. In 1962 in Opole, the Theatre of 13 Rows that he had managed with Ludwig Flaszen since 1959 became the Laboratory Theatre and moved to Wroclaw in 1965. He developed the concept of "poor theatre", where the play and actor's technique, inherited from Stanislavski, focused on costumes, decors and lighting. The actor's research is based on body work that aims to rid themselves of automatic reactions in order to get to the character's essence within themselves. Grotowski ripped theatre down to the core. In an 'interview' with 'Jean-Marie Drot,' she questions him with 'You have removed the scenery, you have removed the make up, you have removed the tape recorder, you have removed...everything, except the theatre, you could say?' And interestingly Grotowski responds with: 'We have been searching for that for a long time, what is the sense of the theatre, because, when we observe the situation, of the theatre compared with cinema and television, we have considered that many of the purely technical methods, that are still now Because, in television, in cinema, we can make much better arrangements, change the place, the action, the location of the action, transform the actor via costumes, special effects, artificial snow, artificial wind, everything, make up. All that can be prepared, in cinema or in television, all that can be prepared much better than in the theatre.'

Summary

I enjoyed experimenting with these practices; although I feel as though I didn't dive deep enough into these ideas, I still found value in the small amounts of practice I did do with my team through warm-ups, and wish to incorporate it more in the future, now that I'm reflecting on the production. Bogart's viewpoints were helpful when working as an ensemble, especially with regards to kinesthetic response, gestures and tempo. Grotowski's idea of ripping the structure of theatre down also assisted me, as this unit is all about experimenting. It helped me focus on the actual physical side of acting, and that although music, costume and props are a great assistance to the performance, it all comes down to the physical presence on the stage to make an impactful performance.

1969

Title 2

RSC Pericles

Pericles by Shakespeare on the Road

Pericles: Adaptations

With the Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like!

Character:

Historically, Cleon was an Athenian general during the Peloponnesian War. He was an early representative of the commercial class in Athenian politics; which during the early Peloponnesian war was coming into prominence. Although he was an aristocrat himself. He strongly advocated for an offensive war strategy and is remembered for being ruthless in carrying out his policies.My adaptation of King Cleon is that he had a big heart, and only wanted the best for his people. He posed as a strong, powerful leader in front of his own people, his lords, and Pericles; but in reality he was sensitive and empathetic. And I believe the only person who he felt he could truly confide in was his wife, Dionyza, who secretly resented him and didn't think he was strong enough to rule- sort of like Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. There was secret animosity.

Summary

For example, in Act 1 Scene 4, Cleon is spilling his heart out to Dionyza, and I believed his intentions were to confide in her. I thought that this is one of the only times he can truly be himself, and not have to put on a brave face; but even then Dionyza is sort of dismissive by saying "that's like blowing at a fire to put it out." Dionyza fully believes she is more intelligent, which may be true. I see their relationship as a nagging child and a fed up mother. As soon as a lord enters this scene, Cleon's intention, tone and stature completely shifts. He now has to act as a king, and in the lines you can see he begins to speak in sharper, colder sentences opposed to the lengthy poetic dialogue he was using at the beginning of the scene. He sees himself as equal to Dionyza, despite the fact that Dionyza proabably doesn't feel that same and she feels above him; he sees himself as above the Lord, which is true. But then as Pericles enters the scene, his tone changes again. Cleon doesn't see himself as more powerful, especially due to the fact Pericles is helping, but still keeps that strong king-like stature as if speaking to a Lord or his people. But he is more humble with Pericles, he recognises that he cannot overpower him ,but also cannot appear to be weak.

Summary

With the Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like!

Evaluation:

WHAT SKILLS AND METHODS DID YOU DEVELOP?: I developed my ensemble skills, and would like to think I improved my movement and dance techniques. HOW DID YOU DEVELOP OVERALL AS AN ACTOR?: For the first time in a long time I thoroughly enjoyed performing. I feel like every time I step into the class I'm improving as an actor just by being present and learning from not only my tutor but from my peers. CHALLENGES: I predicted that dancing and singing were going to be my biggest challenges at the start of this course, and they were the things I struggled with the most. But in all honestly it really wasn't thar bad, and although I'm far from perfect I do feel more confident in those departments. I think it helps that I wasn't alone, and that all of my classmates and teachers were very supportive and patient. WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME?: I would probably try and get a better understanding of the play earlier on in the term, by doing more research so that I could fully understand my character. I would also take more risks. SUCCESSFUL MOMENTS: I feel like I was more successful in the more acting scenes opposed to the movement. I also feel like the ensemble moments from the sides were effective. LEAST SUCCESSFUL: The dancing and singing scenes. I think it's more about the lack of confidence I have which makes me look and sound worse. LEAST/ FAVOURITE SCENES: I didn't have a least favourite. I enjoyed every moment.NEXT TIME?: I'd bring my class engagement back up, try and work more with my peers and try loads of new things and push my boundaries. And not be afraid to suggest my own thoughts. And have a better portfolio....

https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-greece/pericleshttps://www.rsc.org.uk/pericles/about-the-play/dates-and-sources#:~:text=Most%20believe%20Pericles%20to%20be,as%20being%20written%20in%201608.https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/pericles/about-shakespeares-pericles/https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/pericles/pericles-a-modern-perspective/https://ibtheatre2015.wordpress.com/anne-bogart/https://fresques.ina.fr/europe-des-cultures-en/fiche-media/Europe00064/jerzy-grotowski-on-the-notion-of-poor-theatre.html#:~:text=Summary%20%3A,rehearsal%20of%20the%20show%20Evangile.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3168174/https://www.chicagoshakes.com/productions/2425-pericles/I https://www.rsc.org.uk/pericles/past-productionshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleon

Bibliography