Whew! Where to begin? I haven't had a moment to read the additions, so some of this may be redundant.
First some ideas that got tossed around after Jeff left on Sunday. We played with balcony scene and the longer we worked on it the more I feel that Romeo & Juliet seem to fit so naturally into clown.
We talked also about the idea of Romeo and Juliet being the only clowns in the piece and rest of the characters being commedia characters. I liked the idea of Romeo and Juliet finding each other and recognizing their need to be together because they've finally met someone that sees the world in a similar way.
Not sure if Mercutio is more a clown or commedia character. We spoke of possibility of him being a clown but older and world-weary. Idea came up of him wearing a grey nose instead of red. (As I write this, a clown with lost innocence seems to be contradictory and that Mercutio is probably more commedia.)
We talked of the idea of using parts of the texts in certain scenes, some specific lines here and there. Another idea that seemed pretty cool is the idea that the scenes with Romeo in Juliet be done with the text. So, their meeting, the balcony scene and the deaths be full text. I got really excited after this discussion because we had been reading the balcony scene a lot and I was thrilled about the thought of getting to say those words and work on some Shakespeare. (So, I may be a bit too giddy about that and need to let it go at this point.)
We played a bit more with just commedia characters and lazzi. David and Rich as Pantalone and Arlecchino were a hoot. Conor worked a bit on Tybalt and the duel scene with Mercutio. Rich was playing around with Mercutio as a Arlecchino charater and Conor was working with Tybalt as a Capitano. They did the duel as verbal sparing and then Conor kept pulling out more and more weapons. Rich countered each weapon with a food item (hungry Arlecchino). I stepped in as Romeo and tried to keep the peace (or at least refuse to fight Tybalt). With two such strong Zanni, I felt it more my job to build bridges between them. Assisting at whatever given "side" I felt I was on. Not sure if this is truly Romeo's inclination or my natural default to a two clown. It was fun to play.
We continually commented on how refreshing it was to have a ready scenario/story/reference to go back to when dry or lost.
These two weeks have just wetted my whistle to do more with everyone! This last week we only had Conor for one day and David for a couple. Realized it is just hard to do much with just two playing. Though improvising the balcony scene with Rich was great!
Ah, yes. We were really paying attention to the atmosphere in the balcony scene. Darkness, can't really see each other. We played it with an idea to discover comic bits. You know, tripping over shrubbery, benches, talking to someone who is actually behind you. Fun.
That's all I can remember tonight. Will add to this as sparks hit.
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9 comments:
In regards to Mercutio being an older more world-weary clown: My understanding of the essence of clown is that they are completely in the moment.
Now, I haven't had a lot of time to study the text-- but what I hear David saying about his reading of Mercutio is that he perhaps got a girl pregnant and had to go to war, encountered horrors and came back unable to fit in to his own age group as he strives to re-capture the innocence of his youth. If this is the case, it's the very opposite of being in the moment.
As I ponder, I kinda like the grey nose idea if Mercutio is trapped in longing for a red nose.
We had also discussed Mercutio being mercurial, moving between clown and commedia behavior. The idea as David stated it was not that Mercutio had necessarily lost his childhood; rather that he endured all this bad stuff but neither grown up nor remained innocent. I like the idea of him (whatever mask he wears) trying throughout to make sense of himself.
I feel like I haven't been clear:
Clowns don't try to make sense of their past because the past does not exist -- only the now. If he is a clown, the stuff happened to him and he remained innocent.
So do you feel that it's not possible to have one character switch between the two styles? Or is it possible, but possibly grossly ill-advised? I have to admit that I have no idea if it would work or not in practice; totally just a brainy idea at present.
I wonder too at how a clown exists in pondering his life. There is something to the longing for "red nose". The longing is possible in the present tense and clowns do discover things, but it doesn't carry over, right?
It might be fun to see Mercutio flip between both. When's he's a clown be totally present and then when he is commedia zanni to take on that essence - shown by switching masks...
I am not sure who Mercutio really is in commedia verse. We have been working with Arlecchino, but is there more of the Capitano in him?
> Jeff said: so do you feel that it's not possible to have one character switch between the two styles?
There is a principle in physics called “Occam’s Razor.” Einstein’s one line summary of this principle is, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." If we want Mercutio sometimes to be innocent and in the moment, sometimes to be consumed with appetites like a commedia character, and sometimes to reflect and grapple with his past—-then, applying Occam’s Razor, the simplest solution is: he is a human being! It would be a very clunky explanation indeed to say that in this moment he’s a clown, in this moment he’s a commedia character, and in this other moment we will invent a grey nose to account for the behavior that won’t fit into either.
[Aside: Now, I’m not a commedia expert. You should ask Andrea & David about this—-but I don’t think commdeia really allows for the complex psychology of grappling with your past. So, I think we’re not talking about flipping between 2 worlds, but something more complicated.]
So, am I saying it can’t be done? No. Am I saying it shouldn’t be done? Not exactly. I am saying it’s not an elegant explanation. I’m cautioning against trying to force characters into masks just because you like masks. But, I do think that anything is worth playing with. Genius sometimes occurs when you break all the rules and see where it leads you.
>Heather said: I wonder too at how a clown exists in pondering his life.
In my clown training you just CAN'T ponder your life as a clown. That's when someone throws a tennis ball at you to force you back into the present.
I had a friend who studied at Ringling Brother’s and learned a completely different form of clowning. So, I know different schools of thought exist. I don’t know if any of them allow for clowns outside of the present. I’m curious if Dave or Mark (or anyone else who studied clown) has a different understanding. I’ll put it out on the Dell’Arte list.
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