Fencing between 1558 -1603

'Recreation during the Elizabethan Era encompassed spectator blood sports, team sports, and individual amusement activities. Most of the sports of the Elizabethan era were carried over from the Medieval period.
           Fencing was one of the most popular of sports. Betting was commonplace as one of the contestants might bet that he could hit his opponent a certain number of times. In addition, much time was spent with the sport of hawking - very popular with gentlemen. Training a hawk or a falcon began with the capturing of a wild bird, then taming it by sealing its eyes with needle and thread, then tying the thread back over the head of the bird so that the trainer could open and close the bird's eyes at will. The temporary blinding made it very easy to train the hawk or falcon to hunt other birds. Bells were attached to the birds legs so that the trainer could keep track of its whereabouts.'
                                                  http://www.erasofelegance.com/history/elizabethanlife.html

Elizabethan Research

Name: Queen Elizabeth I
Born: September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace
Parents: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 13 times removed
House of: Tudor
Ascended to the throne: November 17, 1558 aged 25 years
Crowned: January 15, 1559 at Westminster Abbey
Married: Never Married
Children: None
Died: March 24, 1603 at Richmond Palace, Surrey, aged 69 years, 6 months, and 15 days
Buried at: Westminster
Reigned for: 44 years, 4 months, and 5 days
Succeeded by: her 3rd cousin James of Scotland

_________________________________________________________________________

'At the time Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1558, Catholics and Protestants wrangled for political power in England. Because she was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's claim to the throne was threatened by the Roman Catholic view that her parents' marriage was not legal. As a result, Elizabeth aligned herself with the Protestants. Seeking to avoid unnecessary conflict, Elizabeth sought to chart a moderate course for England's religious establishment. However, England's defeat of the Spanish Armada during her reign marked not only a political victory but the championing of Protestantism in England and the rest of Europe.'  
     http://www.erasofelegance.com/history/elizabethanreligion.html 

Further Process...

I went to the Arts Theatre Nottingham, I went to visit the site to get a better understanding about the space. I took some picture of the stage area, particularly looking at the floor, proscenium, curtains, chairs and anything else I thought that would be beneficial to my work.

Processes...

I found the original concept of my idea really early, choosing to use the ideas of old, crumbling, decaying and destoryed themes which i thought connected to the storyline of Hamlet like a glove. I found out that it would be a good idea. The image i chose to demonstrate my idea was shown in the blogger post below this one, of the abandoned theatre. I liked the textures and thought further about the idea of having the set 'fall apart.'In this context, and for health and safety reasoning, i would have it so that during Hamlets soliloques, Hamlet himself would destroy the set. Ripping loose bricks out the wall, kicking in the theatre chairs so tha the furthest chair to the left of the picture below would be able to be punched of kick off its hinges.

Idea...

 For my set design for Hamlet, I have decided to create a play of time. Setting the play within an abandoned theatre auditorium. I liked to appearance and text of the buildings in the research I have done previously >

http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2011/02/spectacular-abandoned-theatres-cinemas-northeastern-united-states/

I have thought about the play Hamlet and how it is Shakespeare's most famous play, and how long it has been going on for.I liked the image above and thought about whether I could make a set design which depicts how the lay has travelled through time and interpreted by a theatre group, which has not got the funds to put on an extravagant play but they have been performing it for years. 

My whole idea is around time and ageing. For the set I would make it quite simple and minimal as the scene changes are very fast and fluent, so i feel that a minimal set will help the pace of the show. 

The costumes will be aged in appearance, faded and weathered. I feel that with all the idea that I could do, I feel strongest about this piece as I think it shows the loyalty to the play and the history and culture of the past.

Tim Walker Photography

Glass Magazine -Tim Walker 

Tim Walker

Decay, Rotting, Abandoned and Lost in Time

Abandoned buildings...

Rachel Whiteread Research

Rachel Whiteread
Looking at some artists such as Rachel Whiteread is to help me with finding inspiration for the set design for my Hamlet project.

I like the way in which Whiteread takes everyday large objects and documents the space around it. She primarily produces sculptures, which typically takes the form of casts.

'Many of Whiteread's works are casts of ordinary domestic objects and, in numerous cases, the space the objects do not inhabit'.

The Cast in some ways shows the existance of something we take of granted, something that holds a memory or feeling for the object, such as the cast of the house.
Looking at the house I feel as though its symbolising the past, a house to me but a home fr somebody else. Its the negative of the positive that we can see and holds emotions, memories and connections to a different generation.
I like Whiteread's work with the casts of domestic items, although the cast is a new object is stands for something that previously existed like a ghost of the past. Perhaps with further research I could adapt the casting idea and create something that resembles decay.

Research...

Illogical :

• Surrealism
• Expression of the imagination
• Experience the mysterious
• 'basic human instinct' 
• Ritualistic
• Abstract

Surrealist Artist:

• Max Ernst
• Joan Miro
• Andre Brenton
• Salvador Dali
• Lee Miller
• Roberto Matta
• Dorothea Tanning
• Alberto Giacometti
• Kay Sage
• Meret Oppenheim
• RemediosVaro

Abstract Artist:

• Jackson Pollack
• Hans Hofmann
• Franz Kline 
• Jasper Johns
• Philip Guston
• Robert Rauschenburg 

Research development for Hamlet

On Wednesday the 8th of May we went to see Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company...

Below if the Guardians review of the show...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/mar/27/hamlet-review

'Hamlet always reflects the spirit of the age. Where the 1960s gave us a rush of politicised productions, today the emphasis – as in 2011's Young Vic version with Michael Sheen – is on the play as the delusional fantasy of a disordered mind.'

This quote on the website gave me something to look into...

•  'Disordered Mind' 

- http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/24392-the-disordered-mind-an-introduction-to-philosophy-of-mind-and-mental-illness/ 

- dis-or-dered 

1. Being in a condition of confusion or disarray.
2. Physically or mentally ill.
3. Lacking organization or regularity; in confusion; disarranged 
4. Afflicted with a physical or mental disorder.
5. Thrown into a state of disarray or confusion; "troops fleeing in broken ranks". "a confused mass of papers on the desk".( links to our suitcase project!)

disordered - lacking orderly continuity; "a confused set of instructions"; "a confused dream about the end of the world"; "disconnected fragments of a story"; "scattered thoughts"

disjointed, garbled, illogical, scattered, confused, unconnected, disconnected

incoherent - without logical or meaningful connection  

                                       http://www.thefreedictionary.com/disordered

Films and books that people connect to Hamlet..

Films

1. The Lion King 
2. The Graduate
3. The Godfather
4. Gladiator (Somewhat parallels the plot of Hamlet) 

Books

(ON GOING)

SHAKESPEARE AND THE CHARACTERS

OPHELIA actresses...

Emilie Sannom - 1910
Gertrude Elliot - 1913
Muriel Pavlow - 1947 (TV)
Jean Simmons - 1948
Sarah Churchill - 1953 (TV)
Anita Bjork - 1955 (TV Swedish)
Barbara Jefford - 1959 (TV)
Dunja Mover - 1960 (TV w. German)
Jo Maxwell Muller - 1964 (TV)
Julie Harris - 1964
Linda Marsh - 1964
Marianne Faithfull - 1969 (TV)
Ciaran Madden - 1970 (TV)
Susan Fleetwood - 1972
Linda Certain - 1973 (Canadian)
Pernilla August - 1984 (TV Swedish)
Trisha Hitchcock - 1987
Mariana Denicourt - 1988 (TV French)
Helena Bonham Carter - 1990
Diane Venora - 1990
Antonia Mohr - 1994 (TV)
Kate Winslet - 1996
LindaGay Hamilton - 2000 (TV)
Julia Stiles - 2000

HAMLET actors...

Alwin NeuB - 1910
Johnston Forbes-Robertson - 1913
Jon Byron - 1947 (TV)
Sir Lawrence Oliver - 1948
Maurice Evans - 1953 (TV)
Bengt Ekerot - 1955 (TV Swedish)
HAMLET UNKNOWN- 1959 (TV)
Maximiliam Schell - 1960 (TV w. German)
Christopher Plummer - 1964 (TV)
Alfred Ryder - 1964
Richard Burton - 1964
Nicol Williamson - 1969 (TV)
Richard Chamerlain - 1970 (TV)
Ian Mckellen - 1972
Rick Mckenna - 1973 (Canadian)
Stellan Skarsgard - 1984 (TV Swedish)
HAMLET UNKNOWN - 1987
Gerard Desarthe - 1988 (TV French)
Kevin Klein - 1990
Mel Gibson - 1990
Michael Schenk - 1994 (TV)
Kennth Branaugh - 1996
Campbell Scott - 2000 (TV)
Ethan Hawke - 2000

CLAUDIUS actors...

Alfred Drake - 1964
John Woodvine - 1970 (TV)
Richard Spaul - 1987
Alan Bates - 1990
Willy Metzeler - 1994 (TV)
Derek Jacobi - 1996
Jamey Sheridan - 2000 (TV)
Kyle MacLachlan - 2000

GERTRUDE actresses...

Eileen Herlie - 1964
Faith Brook - 1970 (TV)
Melaine Revell - 1987
Glenn Close - 1990
Ingrid Birkholz- 1994 (TV)
Julie Christie - 1996
Blair Brown - 2000 (TV)
Diane Verona - 2000

Visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon

Hamlet - Trailer - The Royal Shakespeare Company

Above is the trailer of the Hamlet production we will be going to watch later today.

Themes that arose from thinking about Hamlet

• Kingship
• Murder/ revenge
• Manipulation
• Spies / secrecy / information gatehring / closed doors
• Love
• Loyalty
• Madness
• Death
• Decay
• Ambiguity / Truth / 'Seeming'
• Mistrust
• Cowardice
• Conscience ('guilt'  = 'awareness')
• Action / Inaction

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner - Nottingham Playhouse Theatre

Last night we went to watch the Kite Runner, adapted by Matthew Spangler, based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini.

'The Kite Runner is a first novel of unusual generosity, honesty and compassion'

                                                                                                - The Independent

'A devastating, masterful and painfully honest story'

                                                           - The Daily Telegraphy

'Provocative'

             - Platform Magazine