“Midsummer Night’s Dream” is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays as I enjoy the chaos that ensures within the forest in the space of one night but no two scenarios ever meet. I was drawn to the character of Helena as she can be portrayed as a sad, lonely girl as well as a frustrated and stubborn. Having studied her speech in Act 3, Scene 2 I decided that I wanted to portray a girl who feels betrayed by a dear friend and appears incredulous as she comes to her own conclusions as to what is occurring. This play is considered to be one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies and when reading this speech I felt like it was one of the more sobering moment within the play but can still be played up by portraying Helena in a hysterical manner. I began my research and development process by looking at Helena’s relationship with Hermia. Helena holds grievances against Hermia after Demetrius betrays her by leaving her and falling for the more beautiful Hermia. Within the speech Helena is pleading with Hermia to save their friendship and is left feeling sad and confused at why Hermia would join with men over her. My first step in blocking out this speech was to intention the script and look at how Helena is feeling. This was done simultaneously with voice work to allow me to play with the different emotions she is faced with. There is a lot of emphasis put on words that Helena uses to implicate Hermia in the plans she has created in her mind, “she”, “you” and “I”. When emphasising these words it voices the betrayal and sadness that Helena feels. In the middle section “We, Hermia...crowned with one crest” I wanted to create a pleading tone with my voice to show the lengths that she will go to save their friendship. When developing my movement I thought of how Helena is a young woman of noble status and so I looked to keeping a smart posture and lady-like hand movements. I placed Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius in front of me just above where the audition panel would be sat. Placing them there allowed me to open the speech up and to swivel in my position when I direct specific lines to Hermia. I wanted to use an exclamation when saying “To join with men” as this is Helena’s final point at proving that Hermia has been disloyal to their friendship by joining with men to mock. A method I used when rehearsing recommended to me by my tutor was to do the speeches in different rooms around my house as way to test myself on my lines. By rehearsing in different spaces I was adapt my speech and movements to work efficiently wherever I performed. The feedback I received from AUB was to really look into the emotional and psychological journey that Helena goes on throughout this speech, and how this results in her growing more upset as she concludes one after the another all the things that Hermia has betrayed her on.
Synopsis of
“Midsummer Night’s Dream”: Shakespeare’s comedy set in Athens and an
enchanted forest, where it portrays the adventures of four lovers and a group
of amateur actors. Mishap ensues when they interact with woodland fairies and
the Duke and Duchess of Athens. Hermia is in love with Lysander but her father
wants her to marry Demetrius. This leads Hermia and Lysander to try and elope
into the woods. Demetrius follows them and he is pursued by Helena, whose love
is unrequited. Chaos ensues between the lovers as a result of the mischievous
Puck. While this occurs a group of amateur actors rehearse a play in the woods
and soon lives are changed by the doings of Oberon and Titania.
Here is a video of a rehearsal of my classical speech: http://youtu.be/JR1xy2A4k8Q
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