When we last left off in Act One, Scene Three, of The First Part of Henry the Sixth, the Dauphin had given the defense of Orleans to the newly arrived Joan la Pucelle (Joan of Arc).
Continue reading “Act One, Scene Four”
Act One, Scenes One – Three (of eight)
The first scene of The First Part of Henry the Sixth has a “take notice” beginning: A funeral march for Henry V, with John, Duke of Bedford, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Exeter, the Earl of Warwick, the Bishop of Winchester and the Duke of Somerset. Now, I’m working on a family tree/genealogy, but suffice to say, these men are interrelated:
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Long Live King Henry
October first… fall is in the air (except here in SoCal, where Santa Anas are kicking the temps way up… oh, wait, that IS fall in SoCal… never mind)… and Petruchio’s reign that began so “politicly” last month is over…
at least for the next three months, as we read the three “parts” … plays with him in the title
Long live King Henry the Sixth!
There’s much to look forward to: the beginning of the War of the Roses, Joan la Pucelle, Talbot and his son…
OK, so that’s not “much”… In fact, I have fears that this month (and the two that follow) may be some tough sledding… I’ve looked over the first couple of scenes, and it’s… well, sloooooow. And as I’m leaving for a conference in a couple of days, I can’t promise that I’ll have daily synopses, by act. I’ll post daily, but I can’t promise that you’ll have the play in your pocket by the sixth of the month (hmmmm, six… Sixth… hmmmmm).
I’m going to try to keep the approach the same as always, but this month, there may be some extra non-textual stuff… we may need some historical primers.
OK, rambling over… back to reading… The First Part of Henry the Sixth
All’s Well That Ends Well (and I don’t mean the month of September)
Just learned about a HD screening of the production of All’s Well That Ends Well put on by the National Theatre (UK). Its a one-night only broadcast to selected theaters world-wide.
Here are some links:
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The Taming of the Shrew Wrap-Up
The month is over. And time to wrap up The Taming of the Shrew.
Continue reading “The Taming of the Shrew Wrap-Up”
Numbers: Midpoint (Clothes DON’T make the man, after all)
Using Professor Rodes’ midpoint theory, let’s take a look at The Taming of the Shrew.
Continue reading “Numbers: Midpoint (Clothes DON’T make the man, after all)”
Taming by the Numbers: overall
The Taming of the Shrew:
- 2598 total lines; shorter than average play, longer than average comedy (average play: 2777; average comedy: 2424)… though the play is shorter than the average comedy, if we remove the Induction (2321 lines)
- At 277 lines, the Induction is the longest “prologue” scene in the Canon
- Act One: 808 lines; longer than average, longer than average comedy (average play: 590, average comedy: 488)… though shorter than the average, if we remove the Induction (531 lines)
- Act Two: 412 lines; shorter than average, shorter than average comedy (average play: 568, average comedy: 495)
- Act Three: 343 lines; shorter than average, shorter than average comedy (average play: 576, average comedy: 512)
- Act Four: 699 lines; longer than average, longer than average comedy (average play: 563, average comedy: 460)
- Act Five: 336 lines; shorter than average, shorter than average comedy (average play: 480, average comedy: 471)
- 541 lines of prose (only 20.82% of total lines [as opposed to The Comedy of Errors: 13.31% and Titus Andronicus: 1.39%])
- 102 rhyming lines (only 3.93% of total lines [as opposed to The Comedy of Errors: 20.10% and Titus Andronicus: 2.42%])
- 13 scenes; fewer than average (average play: 21; average tragedy: 16)
- 4 disguises; Lucentio/Cambio, Tranio/Lucentio, Hortensio/Litio, Pedant/Vincentio (five, if you count Sly/Lord)
Bawdy, Part Two
Whoops.
This entry rated R… cover the kiddies’ eyes…
It seems that when I did the discussion of the wooing scene from The Taming of the Shrew (Act Two, Scene One, lines 169-281) a couple of days back, I forgot to deal with the bawdy aspects (like I said I was going to in the the original “Bawdy, Body, Who’s got the Bawdy?” entry).
So here we go…
Continue reading “Bawdy, Part Two”
Podcast 13: The Taming of the Shrew Production Concepts
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This week’s podcast includes some possible casts and production concepts for The Taming of the Shrew, a recap of this week’s blog entries, and our monthly casting contest.
Notes:
The NY Shakespeare Production with Meryl Streep and Raul Julia–wooing scene
The “Great Performances” Production with Marc Singer and Fredi Olster–wooing scene
Continue reading “Podcast 13: The Taming of the Shrew Production Concepts”
That Last Speech
OK, so we had to get to it sooner or later. You know what I’m talking about.
Continue reading “That Last Speech”