The third of my 3 speeches is the character Clarence from "Richard III" by William Shakespeare.
Why I chose the speech:
Despite not being a fan of Shakespeare in general when I read the speech I thought it was genuinely beautiful and by far the best of any Shakespeare play I've read, it was extremely well written and the way it used the language in the blank verse form was very engaging. Besides that however it does contrast rather well with my other two options. Even though this and "To kill a mockingbird" are dramas they have different performance styles and when performing the don't give off a similar feeling. That was an issue I got with one of my other Shakespeare speeches I didn't go with, it was just too similar to one I'm already doing. I had that concern when choosing this however when practicing I realised one focuses more on restraint and the other on a man in a situation where he doesn't really have anything to lose so let's out his fear and disbelief at such horrible thoughts that have come into his mind, especially considering that he's been falsely imprisoned.
I saw potential in some of the disturbing imagery that the speech makes you think of and I saw that as a challenge to see if I could fully convey the horror of the situation he's talking about.
I feel that showing off the emotion in it's purest form (As well as the restrained type with Atticus) would show a fair bit of range which after all is the reason they ask you to show contrasting pieces at all since they don't want a one note actor.
This is another speech that I was aware I would have to make some edits to since my first read of it was almost 4 minutes and that's way above my (or any drama schools) limit. I knew I could lose quite a few moments from it since quite a few of the lines just reemphasise what others did so I had felt I had to choose which line would work best and then trim it down.
I saw potential in some of the disturbing imagery that the speech makes you think of and I saw that as a challenge to see if I could fully convey the horror of the situation he's talking about.
My initial research and assumptions seemed to suggest that Clarence was an older man which was a problem. However when researching further and looking up the real man (George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence) it revealed that he died when he was only 28 years old which means that's how old he is in this scene since there's apparently little departure from historical fact in "Richard III". So the characters age isn't too far off my own and I could see myself being cast as him in that regard.
Context of the speech:
The speech is Clarence recounting a nightmare he had the previous night which foreshadows his death in the play to a guard. He has been falsely imprisoned in the tower of London for accusations of treason although in reality his brother is getting him out of the way. Clarence is next in line for the throne but Richard is not going to let that happen so he sets up this plan and during a night locked up he has this nightmare.
Development of the speech:
22/11/16:
- First of all since it's a Shakespeare piece I had to identify what type of verse the speech is being spoken in. I had been doing a Shakespeare show already and had done some research into verse types. Clarence's dialogue in in blank verse which means it's structured very similar to a poem but doesn't any for of rhyming couplets or any rhyme at all. I know it's blank because it uses an iambic pentameter which is a 10 syllable sentence. Looking at the first line "O, I have passed a miserable night" it shows the right amount of syllables and the first two lines are the only ones to rhyme, other than that there are none. This is important to the speech since to ignore the structure means the pacing and the flow of the dialogue will be affected.
- Before I had to show the speech for a feedback session I decided whether or not I would sit down or stand up. When I read it and even saw some actors do the speech in clips they were sat down although they were usually in film not on stage. I feel that sitting down in the context of the scene makes more sense than just being already stood up when the guard comes in. However when watching anyone do a speech on stage sat down compared to stood up the level of energy is always lower so while it's more suitable for him to be sat down down in the scene context, having him stood up makes more sense to engage the audience, increases the ability for me to have the right degree of energy and also increases the amount of visual variety since I can move around. Since it's also standalone the context isn't as important in that regard. Also drama schools usually like you to avoid anything that restricts you such as using chairs or sitting down so I think standing up will be the most suitable option.
29/11/16:
Today I showed the piece and got some very positive feed back for it despite not being able to do all of it.
- One thing I noticed about today which was rather spontaneous was I decided about 5 seconds before I started performing that I would give him a voice that was deeper than mine and it seemed to age him a little bit although not too much so it clashes with my posture or makes him seem too old. Since the character is only 28 I'm glad that the ageing didn't come across too badly.
- I also considered the staging of the piece today. Similar to how I staged my "A Woman of no Importance" speech I ran it and more or less improvised where I walk and go with what felt natural. The difference here though is since Clarence is in a cell he has less room to walk around although he's is standing and is going on a journey mentally while explaining it so it would only make sense for him to pace around his cell to keep the energy levels up although as soon as it comes to moments where I talk about "False, Fleeting, Perjured Clarence" I stand dead still in that spot and only move my arms and upper body. As with the others a key part of the speech (As well as any) is a sense of variety and with these little touches it will help keep it visually interesting.
- When I got home I thought further about what I could do and the main development was to add variety to the speech so a moment I felt could be different to the rest is when he says "Clarence is come! False, fleeting, perjured Clarence" I could shout it in an almost terrified voice sine the accusation of this would a horrible thing to experience especially in the manor in which he dreamed it. It was someone close to him accusing him of a horrible crime and he would surely die for it. To mentally relive it would be horrible especially since he's seeing it possibly becoming a reality. I'm also applying this to when he talks about the sights with in the ocean but it won't be as extreme it will be more slow and disturbing rather than horrifying.
- I've thrown in some actions to the speech to help visualise the horrid imagery that Clarence is talking about. When he talks about the jewels being embedded in men's skulls I could put my hands near the side of my face as he says "Where eyes did once inhabit" or when he talks about, "Great anchors and heaps of pearl" I'm going to do gestures with my hands to try and convey the item and it's size or at least how he viewed it. When I start yelling "Who stabbed me in the field" I'm going to sharply throw my hand in a stabbing motion at my chest to give the moment some impact as well as either stabbing in the chest or back being a metaphor for betrayal. So for Clarence to say this would mean a lot so it would be acted out in this way
- I'm also think of whether or not I should have him sit down for the final line. I already said that he will be stood up for the speech and I intend to stick to that for the reasons mentioned but I feel if he sits down just for the final line "Such terrible impressions made my dreams" and looks up to the guard it would give a great sense closure to the scene or at least be a greater signal that this is the end of it.
- All these elements I feel do represent the Shakespearean style pretty well. More or less all Shakespeare's history plays have dignified characters that say their lines with the up most conviction and show their full spectrum of emotion whether it be to each other or in a soliloquy. I'm saying with the proper range of articulation and volume you'd expect from a Shakespeare play so I think with a few more runs and getting the lines down I will be ready.
6/12/16:
Today was my last chance to show my speech off my feedback was very positive with just two notes to take into account.
- My first note was that since I staged it as if I was talking to a guard in the corner of the room, it meant I was often too focused on it. and for a fair bit of the speech most of my face was not visible. This is a simple matter of re staging since I will have to limit the amount I look at the guard such as not loom at him when talking about the great anchors and heaps or pearl of the fearful wracks so you can see the horror on my face and the actions to describe their scope. I will try to face out as much as possible.
- The other is that the speech is a tad long which is a point I had mentioned but I was informed for this I could keep the speech that length although I knew that if I were to show it at an actual drama school I would have to cut it down. I would have to do the same as what I did to my "To Kill a Mockingbird" speech, cut the last chunk out although with that speech I could possibly add the last line and rearrange it for dramatic effect since it's not in any kind of structure where as this is. You can't rearrange Shakespeare dialogue regardless of it's verse since it's likely to lose a lot of it's pace due to it being more poetic and planned/structured. So if I did it for an audition I would either cut the first third or the last third out.
- Also in regards to the vocal exercises I mentioned for my other speeches, they did have a significant effect on this one for me. Such as any time I rehearsed it without doing the warm up (Which was once or twice) and attempted to do the deep voice I gave the character it sounded fake and not at all natural. The same goes for when I shout during the speech, when my vocal cords aren't warmed up and I just start yelling they sound a little strained which I feel if I had performed it properly with no warm up could've been unintentionally funny at points. So the "In for 4, out for 4" and "Why fly so high" exercises are important to warm up the resonators and so I have enough breath to shout and it doesn't sound forced and weak. The character might have have a sense of frailty due to his nerves but he isn't a weak man.
Character profile:
- WHO AM I?
The characters name is George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (Referred to as Clarence). He's 28 years old and is the older brother of Richard III and Edward IV.
- WHAT TIME IS IT?
It's the 17th of February, 1478, it's 7 in the morning, the day before he will be executed although he doesn't know that.
- WHERE AM I?
He is in the tower of London in a small, cold cell.
- WHAT SURROUNDS ME?
There is only a bed in the stone cell with a thin blanket. There is one guard standing outside
- WHAT ARE THE GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES?
He has been locked up in the tower of London and falsely accused of treason which is punishable by death. He has been in there for a while and during one of the nights in the cell he had a graphic, vivid and surreal nightmare which forshadows his death.
- WHAT IS MY RELATIONSHIP?
He is very fond of his brothers and is considered a very nice man. He isn't a violent man and the violence in his dream is enough to traumatise his although he seems a very strong hearted/willed man. However his brother Richard wants him out of the way so he can become next in line for the throne but he doesn't know this and believes he is loved by his him.
- WHAT DO I WANT?
He wants to get out of the tower and find out what's happening since he has little to know information about why he's locked up or what's going on or happening to his loved ones. Telling him the dream has no purpose other than to possibly try and get an idea of what the dream could be about although he knows that the guard can't be guilt tripoped so he doen't even try.
- WHAT IS IN MY WAY?
The fact that he is locked up in a prison with a guard blocking the door who (unkowing to Clarence) has strict orders to keep him there under any circumstances.
Links:
http://www.shmoop.com/richard-iii/summary.html
http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet_21.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjJEXkbeL-o
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