This is a variation on the “prop paper” many of you did in Theatre 130. You are using primary sources to research a property for a current theatrical production. You will work in groups of 3 (approx) looking at four different collections, and each group will present its project in class Dec. 30. Use photographs and/or sketches.

Go to the British Museum, Great Russell St, admission: free. More details are on the web site above, but it WILL BE CLOSED 1/1. Otherwise hours for galleries are 10-5:30, 8:30 pm Thurs and Fri. Photography and video are fine. Visit the great court and reading room where Marx wrote Das Kapital, Shaw educated himself, and others have come to study… since 1753.

After finding the appropriate collection, look at scale of the object, materials, craftsmanship, and decoration/design. See if you can find any other information, such as about its making or use. Learn the appropriate terminology in your research and explain it in your presentation. Finally, consider how you would produce your object today for stage use. Don’t worry about budget, instead assume you can pay someone to make whatever you design.

•Option 1: Cleopatra’s sarcophagus for an elaborate ending (tacked on) to Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra (or Dryden’s All for Love). Visit the ancient Egyptian section.

•Option 2: Swords and shields for Euripides’ Trojan Women. Assume your cast needs to actually fight with them. Look in the ancient Greek sections for representations of battles.

•Option 3: A Roman chariot for Shakespeare’s Julius Cesar. Start your search on the museum’s web site for this one, then look for Roman chariots on the European continent and Great Britain.

•Option 4: The Acropolis for Lysistrata’s setting. Design two levels and at least one door opening based on what you find. The Parthenon sections of Ancient Greek exhibition.

•Option 5: A setting for The Arabian Nights that combines Islamic design images with older, Assyrian design images to show the depth of the history of the culture. Look at design in Islamic and ancient Assyrian sections.

Recommended activity: When you finish researching your prop, try this link to visit the 9 most popular objects in the museum on a one hour tour; this link also lets you print a free map (you pay at the museum). http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/tours_of_the_museum/1_hour_itinerary.aspx

Scavenger Hunt at St. Paul’s Covent Garden, Actors’ Church

Your name:_____________________________________

Class trip is Thursday, 30 December. Due at class meeting Thursday 12/30.

1. Whose grave marker reads “Prima Ballerina Assoluta?”________________________________________

2. Whose grave marker reads “Now boast thee death in thy possession lies a lass unparalleled”

_______________________________________________________

3. What were Noel Cowards dates of birth and death?______________________________________

4. Find a lighting designer’s name and birth death dates:____________________________________

5. Which actress’s grave has a quote from Shaw’s St. Joan, Steve’s favorite Shaw play?

________________________________________________________

6. Whose ashes are on display in the church?_______________________________________

7. Whose grave has a quote from Chekhov?__________________________________________

8. Which actor was believed to be over 100 when he died?_________________________________

9. What were the birth and death dates of Dame Edith Evans?_________________________________

10. Whose stage name was Pantopuck the Puppetman?_________________________________________

11. Which member of the Redgrave family is remembered here?________________________________

12. Whose grave marker reads “Artist and Stage Designer?”___________________________________

13. Find an early 20^th Century female director.______________________________________

14. Find a saint who was not sainted.________________________________________

15. What was Percy Press’s claim to fame?________________________________________

16. Find a musical director of the Royal Ballet.______________________________________

17. Find the composer of Rule Britannia and God Save the Queen, and give his name, birth

and death dates:________________________________________________________________

18. Find what quote is on the grave of the first producer of Sadler’s Wells and the Old Vic:

________________________________________________________________________

19. Who directed the Royal Opera Chorus and died in 1984?__________________________________

20. Find the birth and death dates of Dame Marie Rambert. __________________________________

Bonus #1: When was Queen Elizabeth the second at this church and why?__________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bonus #2: Find the man who was responsible for Cecchetti technique at the Royal Ballet.

________________________________________________________________________

3 Play Reviews

1st one is due 6 Jan class meeting; 2nd is due 11 Jan class meeting; 3^rd is due at 11 Jan class or via email by Saturday 1/15.

Consider yourself writing for TimeOut’s audience, or for a general public educated about theatre. You as a critic are the highly informed audience member who helps other potential audience members decide whether or not to see the production. As such, some background research on author, director, leading actors may be helpful. You have to purchase programs in the UK, but you can google information and I have provided examples for most shows.

Each review should be 1-2 pp typed, double-spaced, around 3-400 words. They may be submitted via email to blood@geneseo.edu.

Include the following elements:

*A sense of plot and style, without giving away so much a potential audience member won’t need to see it.

*Some evaluation of acting

*Some evaluation of visual/sound elements

*A discussion of director’s vision

*An evaluation of the merits of the production

Scavenger Hunt at National Portrait Gallery

Your name______________________________________

Due at class meeting Mon 11 Jan, 2 pm

Visit the National Portrait Gallery with the class on Jan 7 after lunch with the class. Find the following and document with photos (I’ll ask you to ID the subjects) or by writing down locations, artist, and descriptions of images.

1 image of William Shakespeare

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

2 images of Queen Elizabeth 1

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

2 images of monarchs in Shakespeare’s plays

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

2 of the following people: Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, Inigo Jones

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

ACTORS:

1 image of David Garrick

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

PLUS at least 6 actors from among the following:

1 image each of Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Sir Squire Bancroft, Master Betty, Claire Bloom, Sir Michael Caine, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Charlotte Cushman, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Edith Evans, Sir John Gielgud, Hermione Gingold, Sir Alec Guiness, Nell Gwyn, Audrey Hepburn, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Irons, Sir Henry Irving, Edmund Kean, Charles Kemble, John Phillip Kemble, Fanny Kemble, Sarah Kemble Siddons, Lillie Langtry, Vivien Leigh, Charles Macklin, Wm Charles Macready, Dame Helen Mirren, Ann Oldfield, Baron Laurence Olivier, Peter O’Toole, Samuel Phelps, Sir Nigel Playfair, Dame Joan Plowright, Sir Michael Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave, Sir Ralph Richardson, Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Ellen Terry, Dame Sybil Thorndike, Sir Herbert Berbohm Tree, Mme Lucia Vestris, Peg Woffington, Sir Charles Wyndham.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

DRAMATISTS: at least 6 from among the following:

Samuel Beckett, Aphra Behn, Dion Boucicault, Colley Cibber, William Congreve, Sir Noel Coward, John Dryden, Sir Wm Gilbert, Harley Granville Barker, Lady Augusta Gregory, Henry Arthur Jones, Ben Jonson, Thomas Killigrew, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sean O’Casey, John Osborne, Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, Harold Pinter, Mary Pix, Sir Terrence Rattigan, George Bernard Shaw, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Sir Richard Steele, Sir Tom Stoppard, Sir Arnold Wesker, Oscar Wilde, William Wycherly, Wm Butler Yeats.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Short essay on Elizabethan theatre and audiences

Due at class meeting Sun 11 Jan, 2 pm

Tour Shakespeare’s Globe and the Banqueting Hall, and take the walking tour on Shakespeare’s London with the class. The first was a public theatre and second a court theatre. Examine the architecture of these theatres, learn what you can about conventions of presenting plays, look at the audiences that would attend the different Elizabethan theatres, and consider the relationship between players and audiences. Look particularly for things that are different from contemporary theatre.

Answer the question concisely in 1-2 pages typed, double spaced, around 3-500 words. This may be submitted via email to blood@geneseo.edu. If you can’t finish it before leaving London, submit it via email over the MLK weekend before spring semester starts.

Victoria and Albert Museum Assignment

Victoria and Albert Museum (houses Britain’s Theatre Collection as well as other British art, design and culture). Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL. Open 10-5:45 daily, Fridays til 10. Admission free. Photography and video are fine, but no tripods. http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/ +44 (0)20 7942 2000 Tube: South Kensington

Due in class on Tuesday 11 Jan.

We will go as a class to the V&A, South Kensington, Sunday 9 Jan to see the Theatre Museum galleries, then you will be on your own to do the Museum assignment. Museum is free to the public and open 10-5:45, later some days.

This is similar to assignment #1, in that your assignment is to find primary sources to aid your design for the theatre, but in this case select one of the plays below and research period décor for a domestic interior scene, set in a drawing room, in the play, plus a basic look for a male and female character’s costumes/accessories. Start with the following link to give you an overview of historical periods/styles:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/styles/index.html

•Option 1: Merry Wives of Windsor by Shakespeare (1600)

•Option 2: The Country Wife by William Wycherly (1675)

•Option 3: The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1775)

•Option 4: London Assurance by Dion Boucicault (1841)

•Option 5: The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde (1895)

Use the museum’s galleries AND the online guides, since the collections are far more extensive than what is actually shown in the galleries. When you look up items in the V&A’s online collection catalogue (at any computer – your own or at the museum) and it says you can view it in the collection’s “Study Room,” you may go there to view the items. There are no restrictions or advance notice needed.

Look for examples of appropriate architecture, furniture, textiles, fashion, jewelry, and other decorations and household items used by English people at the time of your play. Learn the appropriate terminology for styles and objects in your research and explain it in your presentation. Use photographs and/or sketches in your presentation. You do not need to complete a groundplan, but merely present your research. Don’t worry about budget, instead assume you can buy or pay someone to make whatever you would want on stage.