ATHMOSPHERE

Its all getting very busy at this end at the moment so you must forgive me for the lack of consistent reports and feedback!

However I can report on a £5000 gift coming in which is sorely needed and as we speak I am preparing for a meeting to secure an £8000 loan. So fingers are kept tightly crossed at the moment.

Recently I have been running a series of workshops for 10-15 year olds on Twelfth Night which at the end of an intensive period of just two days they put on a production of it- of sorts. It has been a fascinating experience- kids/teenagers have such a raw response to drama- one minute they can be dead to the world and the next minute and something ticks the play unfolds before their eyes and they just light up. It was a humbling experience to see some (not all) of these young people really getting under the skin of the language and the characters-

Anyway the point being here that they got me thinking- further to a conversation with Paul (Malvolio) last night we highlighted the importance of mood and athmosphere in this production . The Edwardians- at least the British Edwardians believed that the British be the centre of the worlds and like the Pope seemingly at one with the incarnate trinity; Cecil Rhodes that vile Edwardian war monger once wrote,

"If there be a God, It think that what he would like me to do is to paint as much of Africa British- red as possible and to do what I can elsewhere to extend the influence of the English-speaking race"

It is somwhat ironic that in an age where the British empire covered nearly a third of the globe, the era is characterised by the claustrophic smog of etiquette and manners and expectation and class. Which combined led the majority to lifes spent in a proximity not dissimiliar to their medievel ancestors.

Olivia for example is outwardly living the life of decadence- in the sun of Illyria riding the wave of the empire- and yet this wave has so smothered her that even breathing seems fraught. It would seem that her escape is her veil, her mourning clothes and the shut windows of the house in which she isolates herself as a seemingly pointed tribute to the former Queen Victoria who spent the second half of her life mourning.

The freedom from which she explodes- must be visible and the mood and athmosphere must be seen to lift, we are painting a series of moments and the shift from dark to light to dark to light and back again must feature inherently. This protracted point is just concurring with Gemma on her study of manners- if this athmosphere is to be seen by an audience it must first be learned- ideally you would all go away to an Edwardian boot camp-

....

in fact now I mention it-

hmmm

the idea has been planted-

more later!

Politics

It is an interesting fact to me that in this Edwardian period or slightly after it the two men most prominent in public life ,both in the Liberal Party,of which I am a proud member(bring on the Elgar)said the following things:Asquith said after a visit there to see conditiond said "things are being done in Ireland"and he meant it in a negative sense.Lloyd George ,conversely,asked how much it would cost to reconolize Ireland.When told £40,000 he replied too much.
As Christopher Fry once said :"A man is two men really .He has a body and he has a soul,amongst his other troubles".So it was with Lloyd George and Asquith.Home Rule For Ireland!"/Troops Out!
PJ/Malvolio

A GRANT AT LAST!

Just to let you all know we have our first (albeit modest) grant. Runnymede borough council have awarded us the princely sum of £1,500 and on top of this Corney and Barrow the wine merchants will probably sponsor the first performance at Dovedon Hall. So it seems at last as if things are beginning to move, long may it continue.

Sexual Politics

On Saturday I was keen to highlight how in this production I want to emphasise the sexual ambiguity and sexual confusion prevalent within both the text and indeed subtext. As mentioned in the discussion at the end of the rehearsal the challenge is to get the tone and the 'overtness' of this right. There is a very thin line to be trod especially when appealing to a family and schools audience base, however I do want to extrapolate a little on the juxtaposition between the clear gender differentiaition evident in the Edwardian context with the ambiguity Shakespeare provokes in terms of the lovers. It should be noted that the Edwardians were a society in which gender differentiation was at its greatest, women were considered delicate, sensitive and decorative creatures reliant on men in their jackets and waistcoats to protect them. It is the personification of the Princess in distress archetype, and it this repressive society that enables the freedom that Viola- and to a degree Olivia- discover so brazenly when their gowns and veils are ripped from them. The 'up in the air' twelth night feeling that will help dictate the tone of the production must be seen as being directly caused by the context in which our characters are placed. To use an analogy it is perhaps akin to an 'own clothes' day at school where you feel somehow freed- and able to do things you would not do when in uniform.

Yet couple this with an emotion as over powering as Love and the stage is braced for a series of moments which defy logic and reason and further more defy expectations. Too many Twelfth Nights give audiences exactly what they are expecting- Twelfth Night has become to a degree a tradition in its own right- like Christmas which I suppose is both to be expected and yet at at the same time rather ironic seeing as Twelfth Night itself is the undoing of tradition.
I suppose my aim for this production above all is to undo this tradition and engage our audience in the action and the lives of our characters, to lift them and to move them, to make them laugh and above all to excite them. For when they watch this production, they are themselves taking part in Twelfth Night, they are as much a part of the action as the actors, to this extent they are implicated in the fate of Malvolio and the reflecxivity of disguise goes full circle. As Feste brings us back to earth with a hey ho the wind and the rain, I hope people will walk out embued with that loathsome feeling of returning to the real world after a vacaction- for in the two and a half hours they are with us- they will be party and witness to a most memorable twelfth night - at least that is to what we must aspire!

after all the rain- it raineth every day

REFLECTIONS ON SIR ANDREW AGUECHEEK

I find everyone including feste uses and takes advantage of Andrew to their own end. Seeing him as a free meal ticket. Now i believe sir Andrew knows that,and this is not something new to him, all his life, his friends have always beenthe people he has bought things for. Something dosent feel right with sir andrewabout it, but thats all he's ever known. Its a sad case, Andrew never knowing real true friendship, or unconditional love, all he's ever known is that money can buy you anything, even friendship and love. But its the quality of friendship that suffers.

ANGELO

Group Meeting/Rehearsal

I am arranging a day on the 2nd April where we can all get together, go through the script, sign costumes, get measured for costumes, meet crew etc. It is really important for you to come and attend this day in Egham as it will be our only chance before rehearsals begin.

I have greatly enjoyed meeting you all over the past few weeks and am delighted with the level of engagemnet you have all showed despite having very busy schedules. The production is shaping up very well-both ceatively and in terms of design and planning the finer details (accomodation/travel etc).

When the contact list arrives please feel free to meet up and discuss, go through the text/characters with other cast members. Many of you live in North London and thus this ought not be too difficult, the more work we put into the project now, the better it will be. I implore upon you the importanc of blogging your research and development through the process. It is such a valuable tool at our disposal and it would be a shame to waste it.

Please repsond to this message by hopefully confirming the 2nd, if this is truly impossible then please let me know also, as I understand it is relatively short notice. But getting to know each other before being thrust together for a hectic summer is vital.

(Laurence could you ring me asap please)
Alastair

EDWARDIAN TIMELINE

Timeline 1905-1914

1901
22nd January

Death of Queen Victoria, aged 81, after a reign of 63 years. Edward VII succeeds to the throne.
September

Taff Vale Judgement, a landmark in the development of the Labour Party. Workers on the Taff Vale Railway took action to gain the right to join a trade union. After the strike was settled, the railway company sought damages from the union for losses incurred during the strike. The House of Lords granted ?42,000 plus costs against the union, thereby severely limiting the right to strike.

October
Britain's first submarine launched.

December
First Nobel Prizes awarded.

1902
January
Smallpox outbreak in London

March
Cecil Rhodes 'the architect of Empire' dies.

May
Boer War ends.-

July
Arthur Balfour succeeds Salisbury as Conservative Prime Minister.

9th August
Coronation of Edward VII, delayed from July because of the King's appendicitis.
Charles Booth's survey of poverty, Life and Labour of the People of London, published. Windsor Castle opened to the public. Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit published. Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories published.

1903
1st January
Edward VII proclaimed Emperor of India.

October
Formation of the suffragette Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst.

December
Marie Curie becomes the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. Wright Brothers make the first successful flight in a petrol-powered aeroplane.

1904
February
War breaks out between Russia and Japan when the Russian fleet attacks at Port Arthur.
angelo and lee look into this please it relates to what we discussed at our meetings

April
Entente Cordiale signed with France. Licence plates for cars compulsory.

May
Rolls-Royce car manufacturing company formed.

November
Figures released reveal that poverty is rising dramatically - 122,000 people in London and 800,000 in England and Wales are in receipt of poor relief, with 250,000 in workhouses.

December
J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up opens in London.

1905
January
By popular demand, Arthur Conan Doyle brings his famous detective back from the 'dead' in a new book, The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

April
More than 10,000 people perish in an earthquake in Lahore, India.

May
Women's Suffrage Bill 'talked out' in Commons.

June
Automobile Association founded.

July
Einstein's Theory of Relativity proposed.

August
Lord Curzon resigns as Viceroy of India.

October
Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney arrested: start of the militant phase of the Suffrage movement. Aspirin on sale in Britain.

December
Balfour resigns; Henry Campbell-Bannerman invited to form a government. First motorized ambulances for traffic accident victims introduced by London County Council (previously ambulances were used only for people suffering from infectious diseases).

1906
February
Liberal landslide at General Election; Labour wins 29 seats. HMS Dreadnought launched. Formation of the Labour Party. Trade Disputes Act overturns Taff Vale Judgement. Free school meals introduced for children in need.

April
Vesuvius erupts, killing hundreds. San Francisco earthquake: 800 die. SOS becomes the international distress signal.

1907
April
Women can stand for election in county and borough elections and can take the office of mayor.

1908
April
Ill-health forces Campbell-Bannerman's resignation: Herbert Asquith succeeds him as Prime Minister. Old Age Pensions introduced for a minority of old people. Coal Mines Regulation Act legislates for a maximum working day of 8 hours underground. Territorial Army founded. By 1914 it had over 250,000 members. England plays the first ever international football match, against Austria - and wins 6-1.

June
Edward VII visits Russia. Olympic Games staged in London. National Farmer's Union founded.
December
Professor Ernest Rutherford awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on radiation and the nature of the atom. E.M. Forster's Room with a View published.

1909
Labour Exchanges established. Trade Boards Act establishes minimum wage in some of the lowest-paid trades.

July
Bl鲩ot makes the first cross-Channel flight, taking 43 minutes.

November
The House of Lords throws out Lloyd George's 'people's budget' - the 'most radical budget in the nation's history'.

1910

Liberals under Asquith win general election in February and December.
21st May
Death of Edward VII; succeeded by George V.
July
Dr Crippen arrested at sea for the murder of his wife, the first criminal suspect to be caught by radio. He was travelling with his mistress Ethel Le Neve, disguised as a boy.

20th August
Florence Nightingale dies. Osborne Judgement bans trade unions from funding political activities. Girl Guide movement founded by Baden-Powell and his sister, Agnes.

1911
March
Shops Act legislates for 60-hour week and all employees entitled to half-day holiday each week. Payment of MPs introduced.

23rd June
George V crowned in Westminster Abbey.

July
Agadir crisis, when Germany sent a gunboat to Morocco, fuelled Britain's concern about Germany's expansionist aims.

November
Balfour resigns as leader of the Conservative Party; succeeded by Andrew Bonar Law.

December
George V crowned King Emperor at Delhi Durbar.
Period of industrial unrest 1911 to 1914.

1912
January
Captain Scott's expedition reaches the South pole - Amundsen has beaten them. All perish on the return journey.

April
The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives
.
May
Irish Home Rule Bill introduced.

September
Edward Carson organises the Ulster Volunteers to resist Home Rule for Ireland. British Board of Film Censors established. Royal Flying Corps (precursor of the Royal Air Force) established.

1913
March
Cat and Mouse Act introduced in an attempt to deal with the problem of suffragettes' hunger strikes in prison.

June
The suffragette Emily Davison throws herself under the King's horse at the Derby and dies from her injuries. The zip fastener patented by a Swedish engineer. Trade Union Act reverses
Osborne Judgement.

September
Ulster Volunteer Force established. D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers published.

1914
Immigration, already restricted since 1905 Act, further restricted. By 1914 there were over 50,000 women involved in peaceful campaigning to get women the vote.

March
Velazquez's Rokeby Venus slashed in the National Gallery by a suffragette with a meat cleaver.

April
George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion opens in London. James Joyce's Dubliners published.

28th June
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo.

1st August
Germany declares war on Russia and, on the 3rd, France.

4th August
Britain declares war on Germany when it violates Belgian neutrality. In the first 18 months of war 2.4 million men signed up voluntarily. A quarter of men of fighting age volunteered in England and Wales. Fighting continues on the Western Front until 11.00am on 11th November 1918. By this time, 772,000 British have been killed, and 1,676, 037 wounded.

Edinburgh?

On a slightly different note, I would appreciate your feedback on the possibility of performing up at the Edinburgh festival. I know many of you have done so before, but let me outline the pros and cons as far as I can see them:
We have a gap from the 8th August for a week till the 15th, am trying to find a place that will have us for a weeks run to end the tour. We finish on the 6th in lower Highlands just one hour from Edinburgh and thus logistically it seems appropriate to go to Edinburgh.
It would be fantastic to really push the 'darker' side of the play, and Edinburgh would be an ideal place to do this. It would also be nice to have that final week in Edinburgh to watch some theatre and relax- a nice way to end the tour.

However Twelfth Night is not exactly 'classic' Edinburgh fodder, and we would really need to find a suitable place to have any chance of making some money back.

Thus I am asking your opinions on this- if you know of any venues- if you like the idea etc etc. Let us know asap

Early meetings

-Just to remind you all that in the next three weeks I am trying to contact you all to arrange a meeting in which I can show you a drafted contract and provisional script and to start discussing the characters and play in detail. It is important that you come to these meetings with some of your own ideas and thoughts on both the play and character- so do re read the play and I would advise you all watch Gosford Park and other Edwardian dramas. It is vital that we ground this Elizabethan drama in the Edwardian era, a historical and socio-economic understanding of this era is essential. There is a wealth of information on the internet and of course in libraries; the 'Edwardian Country House' was a channel 4 programme that aired a few years ago in which people were transported back into the 19oo's to take on the various roles in Mandeston Country House- if you could track this down it would I feel be an invaluable resource.