The Bench Production
This play is to be staged at The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre (formerly Havant Arts Centre), East Street Havant - Bench Theatre's home since 1977.
Cast
| Celia | xxx |
| Rosalind | xxx |
| Audrey | xxx |
| Phebe | xxx |
| Orlando | xxx |
| Oliver | xxx |
| Adam | xxx |
| Charles | xxx |
| Touchstone | xxx |
| Silvius | xxx |
| Sir Oliver Martext | xxx |
| Amiens | Archie McKeown |
| Jaques | xxx |
| Duke Frederick | xxx |
| Banished Duke | xxx |
| Duke | xxx |
| Duchess | xxx |
| Courtiers | xxx |
Crew
| Director | Di Wallsgrove |
| Producer | xxx |
| Stage Manager | xxx |
| Assistant Stage Manager | xxx |
| Lighting Design | xxx |
| Sound Design | xxx |
| Lighting Operation | xxx |
| Sound Operation | xxx |
| Set Design | xxx |
| Set Construction | xxx |
| Costumes | xxx |
| Flyer Design | xxx |
| Programme Editor | xxx |
| Photography | xxx |
| Front of House Manager | xxx |
Director's Notes
Some people love Shakespeare. Others think his plays are too long, impossible to understand and, consequently, deadly boring. My mission, in this production, is to address some or ideally all of these issues. To start with I’ve cut and slightly rearranged the text. ‘Sacrilege!’ I hear you cry. Believe me, people having been doing that for centuries. The play fell out of favour between the 1640s and 1737 and then a garbled version called ‘Love In A Forest’, including bits from other plays, was staged. From 1740 onwards productions have returned to most of the 1623 text. Having Archie compose original music is part of a long tradition; it’s even been turned into a baroque opera and a musical.
What about the language and style? I have made a few swaps between archaic and current forms. ‘But oh,’ the traditionalists will cry, ‘I was so disappointed in the verse speaking!’ Shakespeare chose the verse style he did because it mirrors the rhythm of normal speech. In this play verse and prose drift into each other. The lines shouldn’t be chanted or declaimed; they should be said as if these were real conversations by people who understand and mean what they say.
Then there are the characters and their situations. I want audiences to recognise and relate to them. Take Celia and Rosalind. Most people have heard of Rosalind – it’s the biggest female role in all of Shakespeare’s plays – but too often Celia is just a colourless nonentity. No. They are ‘besties’ – they look out for each other. Initially spoilt and fashionable princesses, both are lively and brave in their expedition into the forest. Rosalind is banished; Celia chooses to go with her.
And what are they leaving? The court is a cold, cruel place, ruled by a dictator who has kicked out his older brother, the rightful ruler. Here rib-breaking is seen as suitable entertainment for ladies. His courtiers as armed bodyguards.
And is the forest idyllic? Initially anyway, it’s cold, wet and horribly uncomfortable. The banished Duke and his followers sleep in caves and eat primitive fare cooked on camping stoves. It’s not just Jaques who is miserable. The followers sit shivering while the Duke assures them cheerfully, naively, that this life is so much better than being in the city. They almost all dash back there in the end! The country folk (Corin, Silvius, Phebe) are all right, living in cottages and breeding sheep; they’re used to it.
Orlando, the leading man, is a decent chap but he writes terrible poetry. Having fallen in love with Rosalind at first sight, and then had to escape from his mean brother, he writes reams of awful verse with which he defaces the forest trees. He has no idea that it really is Rosalind he’s talking to in their love scenes. If some of the Touchstone and Audrey scenes could be actually funny, that would be a real bonus.
Of course the ending is improbable – everyone is paired up, happy ever after – it’s a comedy; that’s what the word meant. It will be April/May when the play is performed – can we not aim to create our moment of spring magic?
Di Wallsgrove (Director)