#wozashakespeare

[shakespeareplayer]

Peering out at tonight's audience, I get a fright. Scattered in little clumps around the centre block, and making the half-lit auditorium look vast and cold, it's the smallest turn-out yet. (Later we're told they numbered forty-nine.) As the show starts, I stare at myself in the dressing-room mirror. Not sure I've got the energy for Titus's journey tonight… I'm thinking of Stephen Fry walking out of that play in London… No. I don't have the courage or stupidity or whatever it takes -- the WILDNESS -- to do that. I'll go for a different option. I'll stroll through tonight's performance, I'll phone it in. If people can't be bothered to come and see me, fine, I needn't bother doing the real thing. Then I hear Gys and Ivan over the tannoy, as the emperor's warring sons, lashing into one another and I hear the rest of the cast, as 'the crowd', supporting them with passionate cheers and heckles. And I think, Everyone's really going for it tonight. Why? Why are they working so hard? For such a small audience. The answer is like a splash of cold water. This isn't unusual for them -- tonight's house -- this is normal; this is what it's like being an actor in this country. They've had years of this. And along the way, they've made a decision -- a decision to serve up the goods, whatever the circumstances. It's why they come in early each evening to do long warm-ups, it's why they were so nervous in the John Barton sessions and learned his lessons so keenly, it's why they reacted so emotionally to the workshops on violence, laughing or crying, it's why Jenny went to meet a man who's had his hand chopped off and another who'd lost his tongue. It's why, at the end of every performance, Gys -- wild-boy Gys -- comes into my dressing-room , and says 'Thank you', and then seeks out the stage managers and says it again, in Afrikaans, 'Dankie.' Tonight we end up doing one of our best shows ever and the tiny audience give us our first standing ovation.

Antony Sher, Woza Shakespeare!

I’m half-drunk and pretty low tonight; myriad shades of blue, as it were. Rereading this, I started weeping. It strikes all sorts of home, in all sorts of ways.

[shakespeareplayer]

Dotty makes the speech very contained, determinedly keeping control, observing all the gear changes in the speech. 'It's a balancing act isn't it?' says John, tucking his chewing gum round his molars. 'One rehearsal I might say to you, "OK tear you hair out a bit more, go for it" …another day I may say "Stop emoting", and we'll eventually find the balance which suits both of us. As long as you surrender to the text and let the words work for you.'… 'I tell you another thing,' says John, fiercely scratching his salt and pepper thatch of hair. 'Respect the monosyllables. Almost all the great lines in Shakespeare are monosyllabic, have you noticed? "I am the sea" -- Titus' great line. Simple human speech. Constance's "I am not mad", Hamlet's "To be or not to be" -- see what I mean?'… We decide to end by summarizing what we've learnt over the two sessions and then distilling that down into ten major points, and prioritizing them. The list will be particular to this group; a subjective choice, not necessarily definitive or exhaustive. John suggest a headline for our list: TO MAKE AN AUDIENCE LISTEN. I go round the group for contributions. 'Tell the story,' says Jennifer. 'Aim for the full stop,' says Tony 'Own the words,' says Ivan. 'Go for the antithesis,' says Dan. 'Play the argument,' says Sello. 'Surf the verse,' says Martin. 'Fresh-mint the images,' says Oscar. 'Ask the question,' says Gys. 'Decide who you are talking to,' says Charlton. 'Respect the monosyllables,' says Dotty. And Bruce Koch, who has been standing quietly at the back, adds: 'Learn your lines!'

Gregory Doran on verse work with John Barton, Woza Shakespeare!

[shakespeareplayer]

John points out that Marlowe uses the verse form in a very regular way; indeed, the beat is so regular in Marlowe, it's easy to become monotonous. He gets rather carried away with the music, whereas Shakespeare energizes the form by making it irregular, going against the stress, adding an extra note and so on, like a jazz musician improvising around the beat. John also makes the point that people use blank verse in everyday life. It's a simple way of phrasing and ironically, rather than heightening the language, often it can help the actor to become more naturalistic.

Gregory Doran on John Barton, from Woza Shakespeare!