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Advanced Professional Papers · The History of the English Language · First Internship: Tutoring in a Writing Workshop · Second Internship: Advanced Instruction: Tutoring Writing
Visual Literacy Seminar (A First Course in Methodology) · Theories of Communication & Technology (A Second Course in Methodology) · Language in Society (A Third Course in Methodology)
UMBC'S Conservative Newspaper: "The Retriever's Right Eye" · UMBC'S University Newspaper: "The Retriever Weekly" · Introduction to Journalism · Feature Writing · Science Writing Papers
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark · The History of Henry the Fourth Part One · As You Like It · The Comical History of The Merchant of Venice · The Sonnets 1-18 · The Tempest · The Final Exam Preparation Wiki Workshops
The Shakespeare Quotation Workshops: Hamlet · Henry the Fourth · As You Like It · Merchant of Venice
The Cast
Prospero--Eric J. Smith
Miranda--Dorothy E. Garrett
Antonio--Thomas Noble
Alonso--Holly L. Johnson
Sebastian--Bryan D. Dalina
Ferdinand--Zachary M. Dow
Gonzalo--Katherine M. Schmitt
Adrian--Adrienne V. Hawkins
Francisco--Fatimah Walee
Ariel--Holly S. Daugherty
Caliban--Shira M. Pilarski
Trinculo--Andrea D. Clarke
Stefano--Megan M. Fay
Boatswain--Shanna M. Kibler
Mariners--as needed... Laura M. Duffy and Emily H. Saltsman
First Edited Script of "The Tempest"
Final Edited Script of "The Tempest"
The Pre-Performance Group Journals
The Post-Performance Group Journals
Script Editing Committee
Function: This group is responsible for editing the play to sixty minutes. Script people
work very hard initially in order to get the script off to the actors as soon as possible.
Laura M. Duffy, Coordinator
Shira M. Pilarski, Co-coordinator
P.C. Paul
Christoper Fenlon
Bryan D. Dalina
Andrea D. Clarke
Arthur T. Williamson
Script Editing Committee Pre-Performance Group Journal
Today we met together as a group for the first time. We started to edit and got through most of the first act. We will meet tomorrow evening and edit the rest of the play. -Shira
We definitely found that we were in agreement with the changes we have made so far. Of course, there are several things that are essential to the general knowledge of the play, such as Prospero and Miranda's conversation in Act 1 scene 2, but there are also a number of less important lines, such as most of Act 1 Scene 1, which depicts the shipwreck. We are coming along nicely and are quite sure that our editing will not change the central ideas and themes of the play as a whole. -Chris Fenlon
Yeah, we cut most of Act 1, Scene 1. The shipwreck is obviously an important part but the rest of the dialogue seems less so. Act 1, scene 2 appears to be the hardest to edit in the entire play: partly due to length, but mostly due to some character's round about way of speech. The rest of the play seems quick and to the point comparatively. Like Chris has said we feel confident that our editing will still allow the play to flow seamlessly and coherently. - Arthur Williamson
Meeting 1: Nov. 28, 2006 In-class
We developed a strategy on how to handle this task. Ariel's song right out of the gate was to be slaughtered. Act 1.1 we decided should be visual. We decided when to meet next. ~P.C. Paul
We met briefly for the first time in class on Tuesday. We got through the first scene pretty much and found that we were able to cut a lot of it. This evening we met for a while and were able to get through the rest of the first act. I thought that it was very successful, as we worked very well together and were able to cut out a good amount. We were cutting anything that we found repetitive or had no real effect on how the rest of the play pans out. It took us a while to get through this scene, but I am hopeful that the rest won't be as difficult, since we have an act under our belt and know what we are looking for. ~ Andrea
As Andrea said, we met for about an hour and a half tonight (11/29) and fleshed out the remainder of Act 1, which, needless to say, was a beast. Fortunately, we were able to make some excellent cuts and in some places, outs added to the comedy of the play and I'm quite sure the audience will get some good laughs out of it. Tomorrow (11/30) should go much smoother than our two previous meetings and I'm looking forward to completing the editing process and, creating an excellent shorter version that everyone can enjoy. -Chris Fenlon
Tonight we met outside of class for the first time. We finished up Act 1. Act 1, Scene 2 was an unbelievable pain, mainly because everything Prospero says is important, but he says everything in the longest way possible. Act II should be easier because of more unnecessary one-liners. I'm starting to worry a lot that we're going to have to go back and cut more of Act 1, scene 2, but hopefully we'll be fine. - Shira
I was really encouraged that everyone showed up. We were able to collaborate and come up with scenes that needed to go. Most of the first act was cut down due to the repletion of lines or the unnecessary description of scenery. Doing this as a group was helpful because we were able to disagree and make compromises based on people's personal interest in the play itself. In class, we will be dividing up the play for further dissection! Laura
Continued our editing of The Tempest in class. We socialized with a lot of the other groups to come up with a justifiable agreement on the scenes we were cutting. For instance we allowed one of Ariel's song... but still cut most of the other ones. We editing most of 2.1 and 4.1 then split up the rest of the play among our 7 group members. **Shakespeare could rock both Aliens and Predators alike!** - Arthur W.
Meeting 2: Nov. 29, 2006
1.1 & 1.2 Edit (This is what is left)
This is what Shria had on her laptop.
We all agreed that 1.2 was more difficult. Prospero is really long winded and he becomes difficult to edit because sometimes in his dialog something that is important is buried way into his lines. At the same time we had to allow him to display himself as a cur. It was unanimous to slaughter Ariel's song. :-O
Oh, and we did visualize something a little differently than Shakespeare did when following his text but we'll just keep that as a secret until we get to rehearsal. ~P.C. Paul
Meeting 3 (11/30 in class): Today we started editing Act 2. It was a little difficult just because of the noise in the room and other groups coming to ask us about certain things pertaining to their groups. They were, however, necessary interruptions. We also edited the majority of Act 4 and completely cut out the masque scene, which was great because that was a good page and a half or so. We ran out of time before we could edit any more. As a result, we split the rest of the play up so we could each edit a specific portion on our own this weekend. The remaining parts of the play split up nicely and I'm looking forward to editing my part, Act 3 Scene 3, and also seeing the edits of my group members as well. So far, I'm very impressed by the cooperation and enthusiasm of my group and my expectations have been far exceeded regarding this assignment. -Chris Fenlon
Ok, so today was our third meeting as mentioned before and it was loud in class so it made it difficult to get a lot done. Despite it all, we got a good amount done in the time that we had. We got the majority of Act 2 done and Act 4. The remaining acts we divided among the group and we are each responsible for our own section. Shira really helped us out by uploading the text into word and then sending it to all of us so that we could make revisions on that. So far we have been able to work really well and cut what we think can be cut. I think we are in a good place with it all. ~ Andrea
Meeting 3 (11/30 in-class):
I was MIA (Missing in Action). I didn't attend any classes today because I had too much pain in my knee. I have submitted this entry to account for my absence. I received an update through email and we now all have "The Tempest" script as a MS Word File with the changes made so far and what hasn't been edited is the complete dialog. I have 5.1.174 till the end of the play to edit. We intend to edit an assigned portion each, then review. We'll see how this works. If not, I made myself available for Sunday for an in-person staff meeting. ~P.C. Paul
We met yesterday in class and did as much editing as a group as we could do (considering how loud the other groups in the room were). At the end, we divided the rest of the play up into chunks that each of us will edit. My chunk, Act II scene ii was an easy chunk. There were many unnecessary elaboration's that Stefano said that helped me take out a lot of the scene. After we are all done, we will send out edits to the group. Then everyone will look over each edit and make sure everyone did a good editing job. If there isn't too much trouble, we may not have to meet again. If there is, we'll see when we can meet. - Shira
In editing Act 3, Scene 2 it became apparent that there wouldn't be too much to cut because the dialogue between Stefano, Trinculo and Caliban switched back and forth between each of the characters. Also with Ariel putting words in Trinculo's mouth it was important to keep a lot of the lines so as not to mess up the continuity. As we had been doing, I cut anything the characters said that seemed too redundant or was frivolous. One thing of note was a brief song sung by Stefano and Trinculo at Caliban's request. After they sing Caliban states "That's not the tune." at which time Ariel begins playing a tune that first startles Stefano and Trinculo, then makes them want to follow it. Because we have been trying to cut out songs due to the amount of time they consume I decided to have Ariel start playing his tune immediately before Stefano and Trinculo's song. I figured if Ariel had the timing to cut in after Caliban states that Stefano and Trinculo aren't singing what he had in mind, then he also had the timing to cut off Stefano and Trinculo right before their song. With this change the scene still flows properly and doesn't change the plot at all. -Bryan
In class we were able to regroup and discuss the further shortening of the play. Act 1 scene 2 is long and we needed to make sure that while we stayed in our time frame of 60 minutes, the critical pieces of the scene were not cut. However, during this process, we found ourselves drawn to look at the masque scene in Act 4. The entire masque was done away with, but we had to piece the lines together carefully to secure a smooth transitions. Unfortunately, the masque had to be cut for times' sake. During class, we bounced around scenes a LOT. We revisited Ariel's lines in Act 1.2. There was some disagreement with Ariel's song, but in the end we decided to keep the SECOND song because it mentions the death of Ferdinand's father. After all this, we divided up the play into sections. I will be finishing Act 2 considering we bounced around so much. ~Laura
My job was to edit the first half of Act 5, Scene 1 - up to line 173. This section I found to be particularly difficult because most of it was comprised of Prospero's epic soliloquy, "...I'll drowned by book." The lines coming up to said famous quote was one run-on sentence of about 100 lines, so it was difficult to cut properly while allowing it to still make sense. I felt that I did an alright job, however. **Shakespeare: Kid tested; Mother approved** - Arthur W.
Dec. 1, 2006 On-line Script Edit: Slinging Email
Right now we are slinging edited versions of the script back and forth for approval with the rest of the team. I did an edit on 5.1.174 till the bitter end of the play. I found it difficult to eliminate much in this because this scene wraps together all the loose ends of the play and concludes. Anything that could be removed from Prospero’s dialog was remove because as a team we find him wordy, redundant, and that he must just like to hear himself talk. In my section I found at times, I really didn’t need his dialog and he could respond to others dialogs through body language. I put out my version back out again for group approval.
I received Shira’s edited version of 2.2. I placed a note at the top of the script so when the file was opened there would be directions as to what and how I commented. Here I placed a few lines back in I thought were doing specific work highlighted them in one color and commented on the work I thought the line was doing in a different color.
I received Bryan’s edited version of 3.2. I used the same procedure as I did with Shira’s file. Bryan present a difficult problem. We want to squash STEPHANO’s song without screwing up the scene. When Stepano says "Let’s sing..." we are thinking of having Ariel cut him off at the pass and for her to play something. Bryan was not clear what to do with this so I looked at what costumes were doing and they are trying to go with period dress as best as possible. Music on the other hand, may be following my thoughts of Shakespearean Abortionism by using contemporary music. I love it! I saw something that I don’t remember on the PBS channel. The play was in 18th century France and there was a formal ball. The players were in period dress and dancing a minuet. The juxtaposition was the music or sound track. The players were dancing the minuet to David Bowie’s "Fashion" and the movements choreographed perfectly with the minuet. This was "really kewl." Could we coordinate with music maybe?
Maybe Ariel could whip out a boom box, flip the switch and on comes a Reggae Tune, something with a spiritual sound like Food For Thought by UB 40 or something like that. They could also put it on repeat in case it runs out before the dialog is finished. In case you’re not familiar with it these are the lyrics which are real difficult to make out. Yet these lyrics work real well considering that these guys ARE from the West and are plotting a murder. This is also provided someone has a copy of it. All my music was stolen a long time ago.
Food For Thought-UB40
Ivory madonna dying in the dust,
Waiting for the manna coming from the west.
Barren is her bosom, empty as her eyes,
Death a certain harvest scattered from the skies.Skin and bones is creeping, does`nt know he`s dead.
Ancient eyes are peeping, from his infant head.
Politician`s argue sharpening their knives.
Drawing up their bargains, trading baby lives.(chorus)
Ivory madonna dying in the dust,
Waiting for the manna coming from the west.Hear the bells are ringing, christmas on it`s way.
Hear the angels singing, what is that they say?
Eat and drink rejoicing, joy is here to stay.
Jesus son of mary is born again today.(chorus)
Ivory madonna dying in the dust,
Waiting for the manna coming from the west.
Ivory madonna dying in the dust,
Waiting for the manna coming from the west.
The work this is doing is it plays to the idea that these guys, other than Caliban are from the West and are the barbarians, as the song suggests. These guys are plotting to murder Prospero so they can take over the island. I figure the Reggae theme plays to the play taking place on a tropical island but it also plays to the theme of what the Western European curs did to the native people of these islands. What I figured is that when it is time for the players to leave the stage, Ariel picks up the boombox and the rest follow her as though they are entranced by the melody. This is provided that the group doesn't think I’m coming out of left field as usual. If not I do think we will need to co-ordinate this part with the Music Group/Soundtrack in order to remove this glitch. ~P.C. Paul
Additional Entry: January 6, 2007: After the Wiki: This idea never made it into the play nor was it ever discussed. If anyone paid any attention to the suggestion, I have no idea. Nothing was said as though I never said anything. This became an omen of events that would occur later. ~P.C. Paul
12/1 (technically 12/2, it's after midnight)-I just finished editing Act 3 Scene 3 and sent it out to my fellow group members to see what they think about it. Some lines were very easy to toss out of this scene. However, some lines, especially Ariel's speech from lines 53-82, seemed "uncuttable" to me. It just feels like a very dramatic and completely necessary speech in the play, as Ariel does play such an important role. Also, i think the part about the vanishing banquet will be interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing exactly how that will play out. Good luck to the scenery and prop people!!! -Chris Fenlon
Dec. 2, 2006: Response to Chris Fenlon's log entry
Chris, you're right! Actually it's Saturday and I'm still stuck behind my computer. I'm doing two group projects at the same time. I'm writing a 2000+ word IS website evaluation paper, preparing for a quiz Tues, a 16 page journal quality research rough draft for Tues, and preparing an IS presentation for Wens. A quiz on Tuesday. That's why I'm trapped behind the computer.
I agreed with practically the entire edit. I removed one short line and questioned keeping one short line so if its accepted, nothing lost and nothing gained. This section is difficult to edit because this scene is the turning point of the play and Ariel's speech is the precise turning point. I agree with you lines 53-82 are doing precise work, 'repent or die.' This is probably the biggest and most important part of the play and when examines it carefully Shakespeare was quite precise in what he meant and did not mean. There are no extra words or flamboyant language in the speech. I didn't find anything to cut.
Once again, I agree how the visuals will pan out and the music used in this scene will be very interesting to see how others interpreted Shakespeare's intentions. There is just so much space for interpretation. ~P.C. Paul
As we tossed our edits of different scenes to each other by email it became apparent that some things just could not be cut down. In looking over everyone's edits I realized we all really did as much as we could. Personally I found Prospero's lines, like Shira said above, especially annoying because while he says a lot and takes a long time to get to the point, most of his lines build up to the point he's trying to make. This makes it difficult for us to cut anything without disrupting the continuity of the scene. In looking over Chris' edit of Act 3 Scene 3 I saw exactly what he meant about Ariel's speech. It is rather uneditable since everything Ariel says to Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio sets the stage for their meeting with Prospero in Act 5. I'd have to agree with both Chris's on this one. -Bryan
Dec. 2, 2006 10:30p
All is quiet on the Western Front. We have been slinging email back and forth and now things are silent for a moment behind this computer. I don't know how others are doing, but I am accustomed to this. In my six year academic career here at UMBC as an IS graduate and English-Technology & Communications major, every semester in every class has been the same. One group project and one group presentation, period, plus other stuff. I'm accustomed to slinging files back and forth, others may feel overwhelmed. Just go by the latest version number. The file has a new version number because something was changed. Shria is putting all the parts together and we are not meeting our mark. So far, I think we are 3 pages over our intended goal. I did two edits on my 5.1.174-on, I may have to go three. I have looked at others work to determine if there was something else I could remove. Everyone is doing the same thing. Shakespeare's space for interpretation in many cases is so large, it is easy for one person not to see a different way of editing so another set of eyes pays off. There have been some dialogs that were impossible to edit because Shakespeare was exact in what he meant and what he did not mean such as the epilogue, Ariel's speech, and others. Many places it was easy to slaughter whole sections. The tougher stuff was the line by line edit. Each edit must be checked to ensure that something someone removed does not appear out of nowhere in a different section being edited by a different editor. It's all coming together quite nicely but the proof of the pudding will be the test drive on Tuesday. ~P.C. Paul
Dec. 2, 2006: I have finished my personal revisions for Act 2.1. Most of Gonzalo's lines revolving around his idea of becoming a king have been ex'ed. We don't need to hear about his childish ambitions. Sebastian and Antonio still have the majority of the lines in this piece of the play with a few lines deleted here or there for emphasis as opposed to tangents. This was kinda difficult because the audience needs to understand that half the characters in this scene are asleep and the other half are speaking of conspiracy. I hope this worked for you all... ~Laura
I think we have about the right amount for our script now, so I sent it to Professor Farabaugh to post it on the Wiki. Hopefully it will be in enough time for the actors and other groups to prepare themselves. Also, hopefully it will be the right amount of time. - Shira
DEC. 3, 2006 - 6:23pm: I'm so excited to see that EVERYONE actually pulled through and met their deadlines. Our play is now 23 pages long and Shira basically kicks ass for drafting this thing on her computer. Thank you SO much everyone for doing your task. Honestly? With over 5 people working on this play, I was concerned that someone(s) would not be interested in participating, and like always, I'd have to do everything. But everyone stepped up and communicated with each other and Shira was pretty much in charge. I'm glad for the class time we had so that our ideas could bounce off each other. Hopefully, this 23 version of the Tempest will be awesome! ~Laura
I would send this out as an email to all you guys but I think we all have enough emails to delete from each other already. What Laura said above is worth repeating, Shira great job with the Word document, it really kept things as organized as possible. Now we can all relax and watch our script work in class on Tuesday. Great job gang. ...now I'm going to go clean up all those edited Tempest documents that are all over my computer. See you all Tuesday -Bryan
Yeah good work, team. Not very often everyone does their part on something like this; I being one of these people. Also, thank you Shira and Laura for pulling the group together like that, probably the hardest job of all. - Arthur W.
Ah Ha! A counterfeit in our midst disguised as a hard working student! Haha. Great work everyone. Those of us who are not performing in the "Test Drive" Tuesday will need to take notes as to what doesn't work and what is awkward. Best strategy would probably to have a copy of the script and circle problem areas and note what happened. ~P.C. Paul
I may have proved responsible in the group, but not in life. I officially have not printed out the script because I've had trouble finding a working computer, so now I am HANDWRITING Caliban's lines out. Oof. Oh well, as long as everyone got a script, I think we're all good. I'm really paranoid that tomorrow will go horribly and that we will end up having to cut another 10 pages, but I guess we'll see. - Shira
12/4 (technically 12/5, it's once again, after midnight) Shira, there's nothing to worry about. Look, if worst comes to worst, we'll just tell the actors to read really fast and make the play REALLY "undramatic." How funny would that be? And by the way, yeah, awesome job on the whole script editing finalization process, or whatever you would like to call it. You rock HARD! I'm sure everything will come together nicely, as long as the other groups didn't plan any ridiculous time-wasting interludes or anything of the sort. Good luck to us and our script!!! -Chris Fenlon
Dec 5- Today we had our dress rehearsal. It went pretty well considering that everyone just read through their lines for the first time. It looks like we are going to have to cut down our editing even more. The first scene with Prospero and Miranda can be cut down because watching it, it seemed very long. But we will have to see. Good job today overall! ~Andrea
Dec. 5 @ 8p
This is what I noted in the trial run.
Global
We have to check for missing stage direction. For some reason the file we are working with that came from sparksnotes.com has missing stage direction. Players need to know who they are speaking, when to enter, when to exit, and what action they are to perform when required.
Example: Act 2 Scene 2 Page 12 of the edited script, TRINCULO: I took him to be kill'd with a thunderstroke. Is the storm overblown? I hid me under the dead moon-calf's gaberdine for fear of the storm. And art thou living, Stephano? O Stephano, two Neapolitans?'scaped! We lost this stage direction, [TRINCULO dances STEPHANO around]. this illustrates that Trinculo is elated that Stephano has survived the storm and also supports the kinship between these two.
After Analysis: January 6, 2007: It turned out this scene became comedic in the sense that these two characters were in some ways comic relief throughout the play as Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb. This is how Andrea D. Clarke as TRLINCULO and Megan M. Fay as STEFANO interpreted the work that these two characters were meant to do.
Specific
Act 1 Scene 2, pgs 1-6, we need to seriously slaughter some dialog. As the play was running I followed the script as it was played and also kept an eye on my watch. I found that I was getting bored listening to the dialog wondering when others would get to speak other than Prospero and even Miranda.
Act 2 Scene 2, pg. 11 TRINCULO’s first dialog with CALIBAN.
TRINCULO. Here's neither bush nor shrub to bear off any weather at all, and another storm brewing; I hear it sing i' th' wind. If it should thunder as it did before, I know not where to hide my head: yond same cloud cannot choose but fall by pailfuls.--What have we here? a man or a fish? dead or alive? A fish: he smells like a fish: a very ancient and fish-like smell; a kind of not of the newest Poor-John. A strange fish! Were I in England now,--as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver. When they will not give a do it to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian. Legg'd like a man, and his fins like arms! Warm, o' my troth! I do now let loose my opinion: hold it no longer; this is no fish, but an islander, that hath lately suffered by thunderbolt. [Thunder] Alas, the storm is come again! My best way is to creep under his gaberdine; there is no other shelter hereabout: misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows. I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past.
Here, I think we weeble-wobbled as a group on this, take some out, back in, back out. I noted it just got too long. Who cares if Caliban would make for a great specimen for a freak show back in, Trinculo, 'You're not in Kansas anymore.'
After Analysis: January 6, 2007: This text was slaughted in the second edit. It wasn't found to be important enough to warrant keeping it in.
Act 2 Scene 2 pg. 12 where STEPHANO cannot make out if there is one beast or two, a way to get around this and make in plausible would be for CALIBAN to have a blanket and then kneel. TRINCULO when he becomes frighten ducks under the blanket also kneeling so four legs show from under the blanket. Then the lines will make sense, STEPHANO reaches down as though to grab TRINCULO out and TRINCULO slides out from underneath the blanket where he has been hiding.
After Analysis: January 6, 2007: This idea was brought in and worked quite well.
Act 3 Scene 2, Arthur noted that we have a transitional problem here if we want to cut Ariel’s song but there was a second problem in that Ariel’s song is also meant to lead CALIBAN, TRINCULO, and STEPHANO off stage for the next scene. Why not considering Music/Sound is taking a modern approach give Ariel a boombox she switches on when she’s supposed to sing, let the three say their lines, then Ariel first beings to leave the stage and CALIBAN, TRINCULO, and STEPHANO follow her similar to the Pied Piper. I had originally suggested a Reggae tune, something with a spiritual sound like 'Food For Thought' by UB 40 or something like that. They could also put it on repeat in case it runs out before the dialog is finished. In case you’re not familiar with it these are the lyrics which are real difficult to make out. Yet these lyrics work real well considering that these guys ARE from the West and are plotting a murder. The melody sounds sweet but message is sinister. The white European men taking advantage of the island natives. At this point any music would do. ~P.C. Paul
After Analysis: January 6, 2007: This idea was never accepted. Instead, Ariel led them off stage by playing an inviable flute. This idea may have worked if we had a prop and if Music had played some kind of flute interlude at this time. Sort of like the Pied Piper leading the lemmings into the sea. This may have been what Shakespeare intended.
Laura, Bryan and I met today to chop off 4 more pages. We got about a page and a half done, and we are each working on more this evening. We will try to have the revised script up by 9 pm today. - Shira
After Analysis: January 6, 2007: This really pissed me off. I was available all Wednesday and was constantly checking my email for updates as to when we would meet. At 4 p.m. I saw this entry in the Wiki and sent out an email asking why none of us were contacted about doing the final edit. I contacted Laura M. Duffy, the designated Coordinator, who eventually sent back an email that read "Uh... we already finished the script," and nothing more. Laura, Bryan and Shira decided to take it upon themselves to remove everyone from the final edit. I was enraged by this because the new script had changed so much I felt that my creative had was removed from the whole process. I was really pissed about this because I was the first one to sign up for the script edit. I UNDERSTOOD what particular work specific lines were doing and this is why I jumped at the chance working on the editing staff. After working on the Bartleby Creative Arts journal for four years, I understood the power and effectiveness the editors have in the final product. This ruined the whole enjoyment of working on the project. I voiced my case with Professor Farabaugh who understood my anger and informed me that the three did owe me an apology for having done this. I never received that apology as I was working with children who apologize for nothing. From this point on, I was ignored and I felt as though all the work I did in checking all the edits swung around in email was naught.
12/6 (or 12/7, you guys know the drill) So on Tuesday, we had the dress rehearsal and discovered that, surprise, the play was still too long. We [Who is we? You were removed from the final process as I was too!] had to edit out about 3 or 4 pages to make it fit in the allotted time on Thursday (in about 11 hours). I, however, like some other group members, [Bullshit! Speak for yourself John. Maybe YOU were not available, but I sure was and no one contacted me as I explained above.] was unavailable at this last minute of things, to go over anything in the play as the new version of the script is now posted. I'm sorry I was unable to participate in this final edit, but it's that time of the year when my life without fail, explodes into mayhem! [This is a BULLSHIT FEEL GOOD PIECE trying to justify what these three did.] Laura, Shira, and Bryan, however, did an EXCELLENT job cutting some more out of the play and it'll be awesome come SHOWTIME!!! -Chris Fenlon
After Analysis: January 6, 2007: This was entered later when I was no longer checking the Wiki evidently to cover his own ass. The night this happened, I copied the emails and explained that I learned we were cut out by the accidental post in the Wiki. The three thought I would not be angry about what they did but they thought wrong. I explained this to Dr. Farabaugh and followed up the email with an in-office meeting after the performance in order not to spoil the comradely of the play. This is when Dr. Farabaugh informed me she appreciated the information and informed me that the three owed me an apology that I never received.
I was and I am still pissed about this because I will never have another opportunity to take part in such a creative process. Knowing that I would never do this again was why this was so important to me. Of course the people I was working with thought this was trivial. It is also obvious that Chris Fendon is defending the choices they made and came to their aid after the course was over.
I just decided that I love Shira and Bryan. We're done. I hope ppl decided to learn their lines. Author of this text is unknown, evidently someone else coming to their aid.
The Post-Performance Entries
12/7 Performance Entry: From the script editing standpoint, I think everything went fantastic and according to plan! Great job everybody! The scenery and the costumes were great. I especially liked Caliban's hunchback, a great touch! The scenery falling apart was genius (wink wink) and the throwing of the dogs was also outstanding. I really enjoyed the final performance, especially because it fit into the allotted time and that was the biggest concern of our group. There were some things, however, that were missing from the dress rehearsal that I thought were really good ideas, mostly in the area of music. In the dress rehearsal, the scenes with Caliban, Stefano, and Trinculo were aided and made even more hilarious by the music (Super Mario Bros. theme). This was omitted from the final performance and I cannot understand why. It's something that everybody immediately recognized and even got a few chuckles from the audience. "Let's Get it On" was also omitted from the Ferdinand/Miranda exchanges and that is troublesome because it, too, added another comedic element. Not to overly criticize the music group, but those two songs really should have been left in. I was looking forward to them, as I'm sure others were, too. Overall, the performance was great and out of all the acting performances, I liked Ariel's the best. Holly did a magnificent job with the character and I'm guessing she must have some kind of theater background to do such a wonderful job in such a short amount of time. Bryan, Andrea, and Shira: you guys were great, too. You did an excellent job with your characters with so little time to really prepare. Wish I could have been in it, too, but it was not meant to be, I suppose. -Chris Fenlon
I have to say the end result today was quite awesome. Way to go gang, it was a lot of work but it was fun and we did a great job. I hear you Chris, the scenery falling down just made the whole thing that much funnier. It was a comedy anyway right? Yeah, great job everyone. Just think, that word document was 33 pages before we started and the end result was just a little more than 18. Go team. -Bryan
The play definitely went well. Aside from the awesomeness of downsizing a Shakespeare play by 12-or-so pages; all of the acting was superb. Prospero especially seemed to have rehearsed his part meticulously. A few of my favorite parts were: the drunken underlings that wielded Smirnoff bottles, the comedic-ally short first scene, and Ariel's part all together - though I wish we didn't cut so much from her, she really got into her part. All and all a wonderful job and even more astonishing when considering the amount of time had on it. - Arthur
Re-contextualize This
I never understood why Stephano was dressed as a maid until today when I read practically the last lines of the play, ‘Is not this Stephano, my drunken Butler?’ Then a lightening bolt struck me dead: it an interpreted role reversal. The part was being played by Megan Fay, a woman, but Shakespeare wrote in a butler. A butler is a servant, so a maid is a female servant. This interpretation would have made Shakespeare’s head spin: Stephano is a man and a butler but we had a woman playing a man’s role but interpreted the servant as a maid, therefore because she was playing the part of a man, she was actually a man dressed in drag. I told you it would make Shakespeare’s head spin. This was us ‘at play’ with ‘Shakespeare at play.’ We played the master of play. Think about it.
THE DOGS! Hahaha. What a hoot! When the stuffed animals came flying out I was thinking what kind of ‘work’ is ‘this’ doing? Then I read the stage direction; [The noise of hunters heard. Enter divers spirits in the shape of hounds, and hunt them about...] Oh, I got it! That ‘was’ funny, especially because I interpret TRINCULO, STEPHANO, and CALIBAN to be the Three Stooges of the play and comic relief in general when gathered in one place for most of their scenes.
There were some fabulous interpretations within this production. Ariel’s wings changing shape and color when she came in and admonished everyone in 3.3. The use of the sunglasses to indicate Ariel was invisible or incognito was simple yet brilliant. Plus the use of pixie dust when she placed everyone into a state of sleep and then awakening them again, I thought that was also comic but fitting for the character. Holley made a great Ariel especially with her airy soprano speaking voice.
For Prospero, I don’t think we could have had a better Prospero who was played by Eric. He had just the right command in his voice and was quite forceful when necessary. We could all tell he was enjoying playing the role and made for a plausible king in banishment. I would have liked a flaky sort of Mianda. When we (the Script Team) interpreted her persona through her use of language (I know she grew up on an isolated island her entire life never having seen other human beings except her father, but still...) we pictured Miranda as really flaky in the sense of practically swooning at the arrival of Ferdinand. Her lines sound flaky so we figured by putting particular lilts into the voice would make her more so when she recited lines. In other words, a real air head.
Quoting Chris Fenlon from above, "...some things... [in the final production] missing from dress rehearsal that were really good ideas in the area of music. The scenes with Caliban, Stefano, and Trinculo were aided and made even more hilarious by the music (Super Mario Bros. theme)." I absolutely agree. I pictured these three as the three stooges, so the cartoonish music was a brilliant modern day interpretation. Sadly, it was omitted. We, as a group (the class) were laughing because it was funny haha, not funny weird. "’Let's Get it On’ was also omitted from the Ferdinand/Miranda exchanges and that is troublesome because it, too, [it] added another comedic element." Oh yea, thanks for reminding us Chris Fenlon. That was really funny, almost rolling on the floor funny, because Miranda really is a flaky character in our times and social context. I think music-audio/visual doubled back and decided against the modern day interpretation and went traditional which was a sad loss, yet all in all still a terrific job on their part. Props were fabulous and also wardrobe. We’re college students throwing something together with whatever was readily available true to Shakespeare’s tradition. The robes were terrific and the Birthday crowns informing the audience most of these players were royalty was terrific. The humpback interpretation of Caliban was also wonderful and the use of brown said to me this was a man of color. Way kewl. The use of the poster boards illustrating Ariel was thinking was fabulous. Not to overly criticize the Music group, but those two songs really should have been left in. All in all, I think everyone did a fabulous job in pitching together in an extremely short time frame, threw themselves into the project, and came up with some wonderful interpretations.
What did doing a play teach you about reading Shakespeare? I now have to switch language to Carpenter/Shipkaism. Shakespeare created a great deal of ‘space’ for interpretation. He establishes the basic premise and where he intends to do specific work there is no ‘space’ for interpretation such as the epilogue where it is set in poetry. Poetry does ‘specific work’ with its rhymes, rhythms, and beats so this is impossible to ‘play’ with. Shakespeare says exactly what he means and exactly what he does not mean. In between, all groups noted the ‘spaces’ Shakespeare created for interpretation and people saw those ‘spaces’ differently. I do not think that any particular interpretation is wrong so long as one can justify the ‘work’ or meaning-making they are recycling back to the audience. What I mean is that if you can justify what you are doing and why, you are designing and engineering. There is a plan and a purpose to what is being done versus being creative, which implies random and random implies that there is no logic or reasoning to what one is doing other than to come out of left field for the sake of being different. Bottom line there must be a grand design in order to convey meaning and when crossing modes and mediums how will you illustrate the changes in meaning? In other words, ‘Is it good?’ When the audience comes back and says this is the way I interpreted ‘this’ and your meaning was completely different, the designer knows either they have failed in conveying meaning or that they missed a possible interpretation.
In the script edit we all agreed that Miranda was flaky, in other places we disagreed in interpretation and saw different work being done; hence different ways of creating meaning-making. I am sure that the other groups had similar difficulties and hurdles. No one person is going to see the same thing and make the same meaning unless there is no ‘space’ for interpretation. Here one has to communicate with others in order to illustrate how one is making meaning and what is their grand concept in conveying meaning to others whether that is through language, sound, visual, (here we did not have smell or taste, but smell could have been possible, by quickly spraying the room with ocean breeze sent before the play began.)
Note that none of the interpretations were creative interpretations for creative implies random and there was nothing that was randomly thrown into the play without determining the ‘work’ something was doing. In essence, a better phrase is ‘innovative by design’ or ‘engineered by design.’ We worked within the affordances and restrictions that dictated the design of the play, those being the following: scope, time, and cost. This was one huge project management gig pulled off across the span of a few days. Players even brought in their own individual interpretations of characters temperaments such as Holley and Eric. Who would have thought to have Prospero get in Ferdinand’s face literally as he was telling him ‘If you dare sleep with my daughter before you are both married... pushing him further and further into his chair, or using a field hockey stick as a staff and a sword, but then turning around and using it as a hook as though in Vaudeville to pull a person off the stage, priceless. Ariel’s interpretation of interjecting "thou liest" in order to confuse the three stooges into fighting amongst themselves. The delivery of Ariel admonishing the men as though she was a mother who entered the playroom and caught her five-year-old sons and playmates doing something naughty. What we did was exactly what we do with Shipka except with different technologies, and different framing, that of Shakespeare’s play ‘The Tempest’ and ask, ‘what work is ‘this’ doing?’ In other words, we were given Shakespeare’s text and stage directions while we worked within these constraints, yet found ‘space’ where there were no boundaries and created our own ‘plexi-glass walls’ such as audio/visual interpretations, costume, props and properties, even motion of players on the stage. The dogs being unleashed as stuffed animals, the gender bending on the role of the butler, Caliban as a hunchback, this was all some really well engineered, well planed, and innovative thinking by all. All of this came full circle as this is what we all do with all text; simply recycle it, recontextualise it, reinterpret, and re-invent its meaning-making in a different social context. In other words, how to you interpret ‘this’ text, referring to mine which it is now your turn to recycle it, recontextualise it, reinterpret, and re-invent its meaning-making in your own social context. So what meaning do you make of ‘this.’ (Yes, I put forth a challenge and I think you are up to the task.) ~P. C. Paul
After Analysis: January 6, 2007: No one took me up on my challenge to recontextualize my post-preformance entry. I have no idea if anyone even read it.
Oh happy day. Yesterday was a total blast. Everyone knew what they were doing and really worked everything out. The script was shortened to one hour, which was perfect (and here I was being completely paranoid). Most importantly, everyone had a lot of fun. In the end, I felt like it was a REAL production of the Tempest, instead of a class project. - Shira
Your paranoia paid off. There was no time for a 2nd dry run afterwards and the edit did the work necessary in getting the play to 60 min yet did not loose the story line. You mean this wasn't a REAL play? This was all VIRTUAL REALITY? Those stuffed hound spirits that came flying out sure seemed real. I guess 3D glasses have substantially improved over the years. :-) ~P.C. Paul
I was most than satisfied with how this performance turned out. My group was so thorough, we had about 7 minutes left at the end of class for everyone to clean up! We tried to leave much of the last scene in the play because of all the loose ends that are mended. The audience needed to see the reunion of the group as well as the introduction of Miranda and Alonso. I thought that Ariel's freedom could have been more epic, but whatever. The acting for the most part was alright. The script was posted, so everyone should have had a copy. I was pleased with how Ferdinand was able to become a bit more 'fruity and gay' as the play progressed. As noted, we removed the masque seen for time purposes. I feel that we could have HAD the masque if people knew their lines and weren't long winded. HOWEVER. that was not the case. I loved the props and the small amount of stage direction that people participated in such as Prospero threatening Ferdinand with his staff and pushing him into the chair. I laughed through most of this play, but considering that I now know this play inside and out from editing the script, I think I understood jokes that others may not have. That sucks for them because this play is hilarious when performed correctly. Shakespeare is truly hilarious, everything but Hamlet has made me laugh so hard... well, Henry IV wasn't that funny, anyway! I liked how SP wrote about discovering new islands, beautiful scenery and whatnot since so many discoveries were being made during the construction of this play. I thought this added even more of a conventional feel for the audience he was addressing at the time of performance. All in all, I was very happy with this ending product. Go team! Author Unknown
The Costume & Properties Committee
Function: This group is responsible for using found objects and creating inexpensive costumes and props.
The Costume & Properties Committee Pre-Performance Group Journal
I have the list of the actors in the play. We needed the list in order to properly fit the actors for their costumes.
Prospero- Eric S.
Ariel- Holly
Miranda- Dorothy
Caliban- Shira
Antonio-Tom N.
Alonso- Holly J.
Sebastian- Brian D.
Ferdinand- Zachary
Gonzalo- Katherine
Adrian- Adrienne
Francisco- Fatimah
Trinculo- Andrea
Stefano- Megan
Boatswain- Shauna
Wiki entry by Jessica Richardson
I really like our group, we work well together and everyone pretty much knows what they need to do. Our coordinator took charge with keeping everyone connected. We all are planning to bring in different items that we can put toward the costumes. For example, I need to bring in a Zorro mask from and old Halloween costume and we are all planning to bring graduation gowns. So far, are plans are creative and make sense. All our costumes are self explanatory, such as the walking stick and magic cape describe in the play for Prospero. But still we are creative such as the gowns for the wise significant figures in the play. -Sarah Sood
I agree our group does work well together. Our ability to build upon each other's ideas was really great and helped us to think of some creative solutions to costume issues. Emily had a great idea of doing a sort of modern day wardrobe; however, in light of her "renaissance nerdiness" (which I personally find to be kind of cool) we decided to keep the wardrobe closer to the dress of the times. Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of costumes to contribute, but I do still have my white graduation gown, so I'll be bringing that in. I'm also playing Boatswain, so I'm working on finding a navy blue shirt (which for some reason I don't already own) to wear for the performance. I was at first a bit concerned about how we would pull off inexpensive costumes for the cast, but our group is really creative and has come up with some really fantastic ideas. I'm excited to see how it will all come out. ~Shanna
On Tuesday we discussed what each character should wear and the reason for the costume. While we were discussing that we also took notes on what each of us in the group should bring in. Thus far, I am bringing in several pairs of pants and a black graduation gown. Also we needed crowns for a few of the characters so I suggested we use Burger King Crowns since we do not have real crowns. I like our group and the creative ideas we have come up with thus far. I believe we accomplished a lot and I am looking forward to our next meeting. I am excited to see how the play pans out. ~Jasmine
On Tuesday when deciding what each character should wear we did a lot of color assignments. We associated a color with an emotion/feeling when choosing what each should wear. Some of the concepts we discussed were royalty, envy, cowardice, and heroism. I think we did a good job in finding a reason for all the props that we chose. We also included the actors, soliciting their help in wearing clothes that will allow the cast to look uniform and complement the accessories we chose for their costume. ~Jessica
So, I don't have the Zorro costume which takes away from Prospero and Ariel. We decided to use sunglasses for Ariel (in place of the mask) when he (she) pretends to be invisible. This makes sense because it kind of represents that he can't see you so you can't see him. Not sure what we will do for Prospero yet. Also, we hadn't realized that Ariel needs some "fairy dust" to make characters fall asleep, so Simran and I made some gold confetti. We are also going to bring in some old bottles for the drunks to use. ~Sarah Sood
Dress rehearsal could have gone a little better. Most of the issues came about because of time constraints as well as limited space. If we had a bigger venue to practice in, we could have been able to better communicate with the actors and they would have been able to use some of the props better. We had a second set of wings for Ariel to use in the scene where she puts people to sleep, but we couldn't get to her to put them on. Also we coordinated with scenery about the wood needed for the play. I think we did a good job picking costumes for the play. We tried to portray royalty with graduation robes and crowns. We gave Prospero a velvet red cape as well as a hockey stick for his costume. I think that if the script were able to be posted sooner, we would have been able to look and see which scenes had been cut, preventing us from planning on bringing items that were not necessary in order to focus on things the play actually needed. --Jessica
Hey Guys I just wanted to remind everyone to get caught up on the performance journal so we can all stay on top of things and also we are meting at 10:30 am if you can on Dec 7. Thanks bye. ~Jasmine
Emily Saltsman's Personal Journal
Tuesday Nov. 28th
Yes, yesterday was fun. I revealed my renaissance nerdiness to the group, and helped out discussing who should wear what. One of the biggest things we talked about was how the different levels of authority should dress, we ended up deciding to bring our graduation robes from high school in (some are white, gold, and blues, etc) to distinguish roles while at the same time try and stay with the time. We also decided that the Boat people will wear paper sailor hats or different colors. White would represent the crew, pink the captain and red for the boatswain. Red means power and the captain forfeits his power to the boatswain. That is why the captain will wear pink and the boatswain red.
Thursday Nov. 30th
Thursday was a fun day. We divided up who was going to bring what to the rehearsal. Everyone is bringing a fair amount of things, so I think the jobs were divided very nicely. I am bringing Miranda's dress, 2 fairy-wings for Ariel, a stuffed animal dog (when the spirits attack in the form of hounds)and an assortment of other odds and ends (including things like swords, graduation gowns, a lute, etc). Monday we are having an out of class meeting.
Tuesday Dec. 5th- Dress Rehearsal
We had our Dress rehearsal today. I think things could have gone more smoothly, but for the most part it was a good first time through. Setting up was VERY confusing, and we for got to hand things out like the gabardine. I think we did a good job picking costumes for the play. We tried to define royalty and other class levels with color of costumes, and we matched the lovers, Miranda and Antonio in royal blue. I think that we had difficulty predicting what to bring, because of time constraints. Next year I would suggest giving us maybe another day of two in class so coordinating with other groups goes smoothly.
Tuesday Dec. 5th- Outside Meeting #1
We scheduled a small group meeting for this evening, unfortunately I couldn't make it due to some conflicts, however our 2nd outside meeting is Dec. 7th at 10:30 before the performance to get things straightened out so as to save time and stress. I was also assigned to bring props, and outfits in for the play that we didn't realize that we needed, such as logs (sticks), and more stuffed animal dogs.
Sarah Melchior's Personal Journal
Nov 28, 2006
Today in class we discussed what many of the characters should wear. We decided that Alonso, Antonio, Sebastian, and Ferdinand should all wear crowns and that Ariel should have a mask to represent when he is invisible to the other characters. We also chose for all crew members of the ship to be wearing khakis and a dark (navy) blue shirt, preferably blank but if not the shirt can be turned inside-out. Many of the cast members will also be wearing graduation robes, so far we have decided to make Gonzalo's black.
Nov 30, 2006
In class today, we decided what everyone was going to bring. I am in charge of bringing a variety of things including dog stuffed animals. I am also making the "Thought bubble" prop and bringing in a cape. We are all bringing in our Graduation robes which consist of many different colors. We also decided to meet outside of class on Monday night.
December 5, 2006
I think that overall the dress rehearsal went pretty good. I think that with greater room the play will go much smoother because the actors will be able to move around more and it will also make the play move faster with smoother transitions. The script, scenery, and music were all good and the few problems will be solved with having the more space. Also, the play will work much better with all of the actors having an idea of the movements of the other actors in each of their scenes because they can prepare better and incorporate that into their movements.
Dec5, 2006 (our outside meeting)
We met in the AOK to make sure we had all of the costumes together and so that we could think of any way that we could improve from the dress rehearsal, we got everything taken care of and decided how to deal with any of the costumes that didn't work out so well at the dress rehearsal.
Dec 7, 2006 (10:30 meeting before class)
This was another meeting "outside" of class. We made little piles of the costumes for each of the characters so that it would be easier for them to get their costumes and change into them. We also did some trouble shooting for anything that didn't work well. I think that getting everything organized really helped. We also made our final plans for what prop people got and when they were used.
Shanna Kibler's Personal Journal
11/28
I agree, our group does work well together. Our ability to build upon each other's ideas was really great and helped us to think of some creative solutions to costume issues. Emily had a great idea of doing a sort of modern day wardrobe; however, in light of her "renaissance nerdiness" (which I personally find to be kind of cool) we decided to keep the wardrobe closer to the dress of the times. Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of costumes to contribute, but I do still have my white graduation gown, so I'll be bringing that in. I'm also playing Boatswain, so I'm working on finding a navy blue shirt (which for some reason I don't already own) to wear for the performance. I was at first a bit concerned about how we would pull off inexpensive costumes for the cast, but our group is really creative and has come up with some really fantastic ideas. I'm excited to see how it will all come out.
(thanks for the shout out! )-em
11/30
I was absent from class today so I emailed my group to notify them that I would be absent and to inquire as to what was discussed during our group meeting. Sarah responded to my email and told me that we recapped what was discussed on Tuesday along with a few additions to props. She also informed me that we would be meeting outside of class on Monday evening to further finalize some of our plans. So far I've been searching for my graduation robe, which my Mom swears she did not throw out and I found a navy blue shirt that I can wear in my part as Boatswain.
12/5
Today was the dress rehearsal. It was quite difficult to get the costumes to all of the characters, but that should hopefully not be a problem when we get to the classroom in the UC. Overall, I think the rehearsal went well. We found some things that didn't work quite as we had expected and saw how some of the actors interpreted their costumes differently than we had intended, which was great. I was kind of nervous about the French maid/Swiss Miss girl costume that we were asking Meghan to wear, but she was a great sport about it and I think it kind of helped in the portrayal of her character. I can't wait to see how it all comes together.
12/5
Today my group met outside of class to make some adjustments to costumes from the rehearsal this morning. I was not able to attend, but Sarah M. sent me an email to keep me updated on changes that were discussed.
Jasmine Curry's Personal Journal
November 28th
On Tuesday we discussed what each character should wear and the reason for the costume. While we were discussing that we also took notes on what each of us in the group should bring in. Thus far, I am bringing in several pairs of pants and a black graduation gown. Also we needed crowns for a few of the characters so I suggested we use burger King Crowns since we do not have real crowns. I like our group and the creative ideas we have come up with thus far. I believe we accomplished a lot and I am looking forward to our next meeting. I am excited to see how the play pans out.
November 30
Thursday was a good day and once again we accomplished a lot. We asked everyone to wear certain clothing so that we wouldn't run into issues with people not being able to fit the clothes we bring in. We divided everything we decided to bring in for each character and I ended up with stuffed animals, a brown shirt, white sheets, black graduation robe, dresser hat, Brown t-shirt and food boxes. We are meeting on Monday to work out some kinks. I think that this is going to be an excellent performance.
December 5
I feel like dress rehearsal could have gone a lot better. I believe that the script wasn't really 4 pages to long. I think that people not being prepared and also us starting late did not help. As for our committee we did okay, but I would have like us all to get there early like we are doing on the 7th so we can separate costumes and not feel as rushed to get things done. i think the costumes are good but we need to communicate to the actors/actresses when they are supposed to have something a little different on for example, Ariel is supposed to change her wings and wear sun glasses when she is invisible. Our Committee needs to help the actors know when they need to change because the actors/actresses have a lot to handle. I think the performance will go well if we get there early and are more organized. Since it was so unorganized we decided to meet as a group that night, but I was scheduled to work and could not attend.
December 5 (evening)
This meeting was scheduled to help with disorganization, and I could not attend because I was scheduled to work. The report I received from the meeting was that it went well. They double checked and made sure we had everything and came up with a plan to lay the costumes in a pile to make everything more accessible for us and the actors/actresses.
Jessica Richardson's Personal Journal
Tuesday November, 28
I have the list of the actors in the play. We needed the list in order to properly fit the actors for their costumes.
Prospero- Eric S.
Ariel- Holly
Miranda- Dorothy
Caliban- Shira
Antonio-Tom N.
Alonso- Holly J
Sebastian- Brian D.
Ferdinand- Zachary
Gonzalo- Katherine
Adrian- Adrienne
Francisco- Fatimah
Trinculo- Andrea
Stefano- Megan
Boatswain- Shauna
Thursday November, 30
On Tuesday when deciding what each character should wear we did a lot of color assignments. We associated a color with an emotion/feeling when choosing what each should wear. Some of the concepts we discussed were royalty, envy, cowardice, and heroism. I think we did a good job in finding a reason for all the props that we chose. We also included the actors, soliciting their help in wearing clothes that will allow the cast to look uniform and complement the accessories we chose for their costume.
Tuesday December 5
Dress rehearsal could have gone a little better. Most of the issues came about because of time constraints as well as limited space. If we had a bigger venue to practice in, we could have been able to better communicate with the actors and they would have been able to use some of the props better. We had a second set of wings for Ariel to use in the scene where she puts people to sleep, but we couldn't get to her to put them on. Also we coordinated with scenery about the wood needed for the play. I think we did a good job picking costumes for the play. We tried to portray royalty with graduation robes and crowns. We gave Prospero a velvet red cape as well as a hockey stick for his costume. I think that if the script were able to be posted sooner, we would have been able to look and see which scenes had been cut, preventing us from planning on bringing items that were not necessary in order to focus on things the play actually needed.
Tuesday, December 5
Our group met after the dress rehearsal in the library so we could assign items we had not yet done. We also wanted to make sure we were not forgetting anything. We made an exact list of what each character was going to wear so that on the day of the play we would be able to distribute costumes quickly and effectively.
Thursday, December 7 (10:30am meeting)
Our group met early this morning to make sure that we had everything we needed for each character. We put everybody’s costume/props in a pile in the hallway so that as they arrived they could just walk down and pick up what they needed. I feel that our group worked well together, and that we did a good job with costumes.
Prospero-Red Cape, walking stick/sword, crown (at the end), sunglasses (for invisibility)
Miranda-Blue prom dress, Gilligan’s island thought bubble
Ariel-Blue duster, fairy wings, tiara, instrument, sunglasses--butterfly wings, black sweater
Caliban-brown corduroy gauchos, brown shirt, pillow (for hunchback), tail
Antonio-white robe, green scarf, green crown
Alonso-gold robe, red crown
Sebastian-green crown, light blue robe
Ferdinand-red crown, dark blue robe, sword
Gonzalo-black robe/dress
Adrian-white robe, blue scarf
Francisco-white robe, blue scarf
Trinculo-floral skirt, jester hat
Stefano-French maid costume, Smirnoff ice bottles
Boatswain-blue shirt, khakis
Simran's Personal Journal
Nov. 28
I feel that we got a lot done yesterday. We appointed the coordinator (Sarah) and assistant coordinator (Jasmine) of the group. I came up with this really good idea. Everyone kept saying that this person needs a robe, and this person needs a robe, and so on. I knew we needed to a reason for having robes. After thinking about the teacher's speech, I thought that everyone can wear graduation robes to signify Shakespeare's "graduation". Everyone loved my idea and so now everyone who has kept their high school graduation robes will bring their's in. We chose what each person should wear, and what props we should bring in, such as a stick or hats. I also coordinate birthday parties, so I have a lot of crowns for some of the cast.
Nov. 30
On Thursday, we basically recapped what we did on Tuesday. We met in our groups, and then figured that we would go down the list of characters that we had and what things we would have to bring for each. There were some words that we also found out definitions for from the professor. We announced to the class what each person has to wear. In the end, I found out that I have to bring in 4 crowns, of red, blue, and green, a stuffed dog animal, 3 graduation robes, powder, and extra shows and a shirt. We decided what Ariel would do to be invisible. Also, I corrected my email address on Sarah's list, because I wrote the wrong one down.
Dec. 5
From looking at the dress rehearsal, the play doesn't seem like it will go too well. Some actors didn't know they were supposed to speak or what their lines even meant. Hopefully they practice, and it will go fine. The costumes were good; I couldn't get the light blue graduation robe, so I felt bad for the boy who didn't have a robe on. Also, during this rehearsal, we found out what props each character was missing. Good thing we had this rehearsal because now we are going to meet tonight to get everything cleared up.
Dec. 5
We had this “outside meeting” so that we could make sure we are ready for Thursday’s play. We met in AOK and went over all the costumes. Each of us analyzed what we felt about the dress rehearsal, and what we can do to make it better. I had brought wood for the play, but then Sarah told me that someone is bringing in wood already. By the end of the meeting, we were clear with what everyone is wearing and what extra props are needed.
Dec. 7
The second “outside meeting” we had was right before the play on Thursday. We had all decided to meet at the UC early so we could prepare the costumes. We made piles for each actor, so that it would be easier for them to get their costumes. Just as I thought we were done, I realized that I forgot the hockey stick in my car. Sarah and I ran to the car to get that. We also went over when we would throw the dogs into the play.
The Costume & Properties Committee Post-Performance Group Journal
The Group Review of the Play
Everything went so smoothly and we had time to spare. We enjoyed attempting to creatively reproduce Shakespeare. The play taught us a lot of how Shakespeare's plays might have gone. Everyone working together with minimal props, time and equipment to portray beautiful pieces of work. It definitely was a group effort and wouldn't have worked if all of the teams hadn't been there. The Costumes looked great and the props were well used, a lot better than in the dress rehearsal. Before class our costume committee helped them decide where to place everything. . Our graduation robes were meant to symbolize Shakespeare's "Graduation from Theater" (you mentioned in class that some critics felt "The Tempest" was his goodbye).Everybody wanted to help each other out and we all collaborated to make sure that the best ideas were heard and carried out. The music was awesome! This time went well with the play instead of during the dress rehearsal when it was choppy. We all were disappointed that they removed Marvin Gaye from the soundtrack. All of the players did wonderful. Alonso and Caliban did an excellent job playing their parts. They were the most animated, making the play enjoyable. The script people cut just enough so that the play still made sense, but was not too long. The scenery, although it kept falling, was very nice and creative. Each member of our group contributed a fair amount of ideas as well as items in order to complete our assignment. Putting on the play was a big help for everybody that had any trouble understanding the plays, or at least for our group. ~Sarah
THE PLAYYYYYYYY!
Everything went so smoothly and we had time to spare. The costumes looked great and the props were well used, a lot better than in dress rehearsal. I understood the play a lot more by watching it today. I liked when we threw the stuffed animal dogs on stage, it really was funny and went well in the play. All-in-all I am very happy with how things turned out well, making the performance believable and exciting. The music was awesome! This time went well with the play instead of during dress rehearsal, when it was choppy. All the setting properties worked well, despite the lack of tape sticking ability and the cuts the script crew made got the moral and story across while staying within the boundaries set forth by class time. The play taught me a lot of how Shakespeare's plays might have gone. Everyone working together with minimal props, time, and equipment to portray beautiful pieces of work. I am very glad for having an opportunity to do this as a class, and I am glad it went so well. ~Emily Saltsman
Dec 7, 2006 ( The play)
I think everything was a success. All the groups did a wonderful job putting everything together in such a short period of time. I think our group worked really well together and executed the throwing of the dogs perfectly=) ~Sarah Melchior's
12/7
We met before the class performance around 10:30ish. We organized the costumes so that it would be easier to deliver them to the cast. I had to change myself, so I unfortunately was not able to help as much as I would have liked to in giving out costumes. The performance itself was great. I was a bit disappointed that the music group seemed to change their music. I had originally liked the unique music choices at rehearsal, but I'm sure they felt it necessary to make the changes they did and overall the music was great. The costumes worked wonderfully and the set design was great (even the part where the scenery fell contributed to the feel that everything was "tempestuous"). The script editing group did a great job getting the play down to the right length, which could not have been an easy task. Overall, this was one of my favorite experiences in this class. ~Shanna Kibler
December 7 (Morning)
We decided to get to the performance at 10:30 am as opposed to 11:15. This would better help us to be prepared for the performance. We were able to lay out all of the costumes in piles so that when the performer came they could grab their costumes with out confusion and have time to read over their lines. I think that being organized before the performance helped it to go as well as it did. Also the costume and properties group helped the scenery group get set up early so that there wouldn't be a mad rush right before we started. We finished all of our strategizing in our last meeting. We split up responsibilities within the script where there was a need for performers to be reminded of costume changes. We realized that the performers had a lot on their plate so we wanted to help them out a little. Finally we settled down to watch the performance and it turned out great. I was surprised that it turned out so well because dress rehearsal was not done as well as it could have been done. ~Jasmine Curry
December 7 (the play)
I really enjoyed the play. It was, by far, one of my favorite assignments in college so far. I enjoyed being able to creatively attempt to reproduce Shakespeare. Alonso and Caliban did an excellent job playing their parts. They were the most animated to me, making the play enjoyable. The music committee did a good job, I was disappointed they removed Marvin Gaye from the soundtrack. The script people cut just enough so that the play still made sense, but was not too long. The scenery, although it kept falling, was very nice. Before class our costume committee helped them decide where to place everything. Everybody wanted to help each other out and we all collaborated to make sure that the best ideas were heard and carried out. The best costume idea was Sarah M's idea to have people put on sunglasses when they were supposed to be invisible. Our graduation robes were meant to symbolize Shakespeare's "Graduation from Theater" (you mentioned in class that some critics felt "The Tempest" was his goodbye). Each member of our group contributed a fair amount of ideas as well as items in order to complete our assignment. When I read Shakespeare for class, I read it on the computer and act out each part so I can not only stay awake, but better understand the emotion. The play reminded me of that and I'm sure it was a big help for everybody that had trouble understanding the plays. ~Jessica Richardson
Dec 7 - The Play
Finally, the play took place. I actually enjoyed it a lot. There was a huge improvement from the dress rehearsal and everyone looked like they had a great time. I was happy to see a few people outside of class also attend. I think the script did a good job cutting the play and the music people were excellent. I felt like I was at the movies. The scenery people were good too; I didn't understand the black garbage bag, [The black garbage bag represented the depths of the cave in which Caliban lived in, where the stash of wine was kept, and the prison cell ~P.C. Paul] but it was still good. All the costumes were excellent and the actors carried themselves in a
great manner. ~Simran
The Scenery Committee
Function: This group is responsible for the set; backdrop, landscape, etc. They should also coordinate with properties.
The Scenery Committee Pre-Performance Group Journal
Meeting 1: November 28th, in class
We discussed the various scenes we needed to create scenery for. We decided on the ship, the beach, and the cave as the three settings. Then we discussed various things we could do to make the scenery for them, and each group member volunteered to bring in some items. I'm going to ask my roommate about a beach chair and table we have in our apt. Also, any stuff we need to store will be at my apt. ~Katherine
On Tuesday November 28th, we discussed our views on what Shakespeare had in mind when writing this play. We decided on three main places, the beach, the boat, and the cave. We thought these locations would encompass all of the play's action. We discussed resources available and also who would contribute what. Everyone in the group contributed equally and everyone had great ideas. --Rebecca Stern
In class our group addressed what the main scenery of the play and how we would convey these settings to the audience. We talked particularly about how we could put our personal touch to some of the scenes and even add a bit of levity to the scenery. I will be getting some items together that we may be able to use and I look forward to hashing out the details of each scene on Thursday. --Tom Noble
We decided that there were 3 main scenes to focus on and gather scenery for. First there was the boat and the storm, which we decided to cut out a paper boat and to attach tinsel or something blue to a rope that could simulate rain for the storm. The next scene would be the beach, which we decided that some rock seats would be needed, some wood for a shattered boat, we decided against sand because of the mess, but planned to have beach toys to still get the idea across. The last scene we discussed would be the cave scene. We decided to hang trash bags from rope to simulate the inside of a cave, use the same wood from above to have a campfire, same rock seats. ~Holly Daugherty
In our first meeting in class an important thing we did was sort of outline the entire play, and coordinated with script editing to see if there was anything that was going to be cut. Then we got a group leader and assistant leader. Once that was settled, we pretty much just started brainstorming about what types of things we would use in the different scenes (we narrowed it down to 3 important scenes: the ship, the beach, and the cave). A lot of ideas were shared and people started offering to bring in different things. - Zach Dow
In class we discussed the main scenes of the play. We decided that we needed to put together three scenes, a ship, a cave, and the island. Since most of the play takes place on the island we decided to create a general backdrop of ocean and sky. We decided what we wanted each scene to consist of and started to make a list of supplies needed to create the scenes. We also decided to start painting on Thursday ~Heidi Harrison
I got some crab paper from with work today to make the boat with. I can probably get more if we need. We also decided to get beach toys for the beach scene and Rebecca will make a palm tree. There should be three scenes, the ship, the cave, and the beach. Everyone volunteered for supplies to bring in. - Amber Shipp
Meeting 2: November 30th, in class
Once again, we planned the various scenes. We changed some of our plans, based on the materials available. We cut out the boat for the first scene. I also volunteered to work on my laptop to set up pictures to be projected. Katherine
Today in class we ventured over to UC 310 and 312 to see what we are working with. We set a few dates to meet and get the bulk of the materials made. We also finalized who is bringing what, and what we need to do in order to be ready for the dress rehearsal on Tuesday. --Rebecca Stern
During this meeting we started constructing the ship for the first scene. Then we went over to the UC to scope out the rooms that we might be using to give us in idea of the amount of apace we will need. Also we had to modify our ideas for the beach scene and come up with a new plan that involves palm tree construction. ~Holly Daugherty
We met in class and made a list of what we had and what we needed still. We cut the crab paper for the boat and Katherine is going to store it in her apt. We also took a field trip to the UC to see what type of room we will be setting up in. We decided the best way to make the backgrounds for the scenes will be to use a projected image of it in the back of the actors. Katherine is working on this i believe. We decided to meet twice, outside of class, once on Friday and again on Monday evening. -Amber Shipp
We wanted to see what size room we were going to be dealing with so we would know how much stuff to be bringing. We also designated meeting times outside of class which was important. Everybody had different schedules so it was a bit tough getting everybody on the same page as to when to meet, however we did it. Once we saw the room and got our meeting times done, we went over the scenes again to see if anybody had any fresh ideas as to what we could bring or do. - Zachary Dow
In our class meeting today, our group was able to go over to the UC to see the two possible rooms that will be used for the play next week. Seeing those rooms helped us visualize where all of the different pieces of scenery will be placed. We also discussed the position of the stage and how that would affect the audience’s experience. -- Tom Noble
Today, in class, we made our final decisions on the scenery. We made a list of the supplies we would need and designated who was to bring them. We also went to the UC to look at the room for the play so that we could figure out sizes and place settings for the scenery we are making. We decided to meet on Friday and Monday evenings to put together the larger props. ~Heidi Harrison
Meeting 3: December 1st
We met just after dinner today. I told everything that I had secured the beach chair and table. My roommate was fine with us using them. We worked on making some of the big scenery pieces. Katherine
We met and started constructing palm trees. Everyone told each other the status of the bigger pieces that they were borrowing from different sources. Everything seems to be going well. ~Holly Daugherty
Today we started to make palm trees at our meeting. We also double checked the items we still needed. Everything seems to be running smoothly as long as everyone does their job. - Amber Shipp
During our meeting, we finalized all of these ideas we had for the three main scenes of the play. We began constructing some of the scenery and figured out what else we would need to bring to our next meeting on Monday Night. We have been a very productive group and should finish everything we need to in our next meeting. --Tom Noble
On Friday we set in stone so to speak our next meeting time which is Monday at 7pm. People started making palm trees out of Christmas wrapping paper tubes, we shall see how those last up!!! I checked to make sure again that there wasn't anything else I was supposed to bring to the Monday night meeting. Our group seems to be on the ball, and there weren't any surprises or emergencies. The dress rehearsal will be the judge though. -Zachary M Dow
We met tonight to make the palm trees for the beach scene. We also checked to make sure everyone had what they need to bring on Monday and Tuesday. I am bringing paint to make the backdrop, which we are painting on Monday night. ~Heidi Harrison
Meeting 4: December 4th
We met to work on the backdrop. We also finalized everything else so that we'll be ready to go on Tuesday. The fog machine is still under debate due to the possibility of setting off the smoke alarm. ~Holly Daugherty
We met to paint the backdrop. It has two parts, the ocean and clouds. We might need to work on it some more before Thursday but it is ready for dress rehearsal. We decided to work out any kinks and finish what was left in class during dress rehearsal. Painting went very well and everyone contributed. ~Heidi Harrison
The meeting tonight was very productive. We were able to finalize the background, completing the clouds, cave and sea. Everyone was helpful during the painting process. Even though we ran out of the paint we wanted, we were able to use other colors without a problem. -- Tom Noble
We got the backdrop done. The sea looks lovely. Unfortunately, we ran out of white paint, so the clouds ended up kind of funky looking. So we were going to fix it in class on Tuesday. Katherine
We met in the commons to paint. We also found different photos of rain and tropical scenes to project during the performance. Heidi and I painted to water background while everyone else worked on cutting out clouds from cardboard and painting them. We also reminded one another of what we needed to remember for the performance on Thursday. - Amber Shipp
We met today at 7p.m. in the Commons to finish all of the painting. We ended up having to change our original idea of painting a large backdrop out of white paper because of some communication errors. Instead we painted a sea on brown paper and cut some clouds out of cardboard. The backdrops turned out just fine even though we aren't the best artists. We also confirmed what we needed to bring to the dress rehearsal on Tuesday. --Rebecca Stern
Meeting 5: December 5th, Dress Rehearsal
The dress rehearsal I felt was good but a bit unsettling. All of our stuff kept falling over and we didn't have all of our props. However I feel we addressed what we needed to bring in so i feel it will be ok. - Zach
Everything seemed to go decently well. The funky looking cloud got fixed and it is no longer funky looking. Most stuff worked reasonably well- there was that bit of trouble with the palm tree falling over. I also thought that the cloud with the sun should be hung the other way for the performance. There didn’t seem to be any problems with the boat or the ocean background. We were also missing wood, which we definitely need. And the projector colors were all messed up, I was having a lot of difficulty getting it to work properly. Hopefully the one in 310 works better. Katherine
We will definitely need to look at the room more closely and try to spread things out on Thursday. The room will be bigger which will definitely help. We will also have to quickly think about how chairs and seating will be set up since each scene will be in a slightly different area of the room. - Amber Shipp
Today was our dress rehearsal. Our scenes came together quite nicely although we were pretty cramped in the classroom. We brought the large items and confirmed what smaller items we would need to bring on Thursday. We had a slight top-heavy palm tree (that can be fixed with some rocks) and also a projector that was a little messed up color wise, although all of that should be fixed Thursday. We are looking forward to having the logs present to construct the fire. We also hope to have enough room so that the actors can stand behind the boat and not in front of it. --Rebecca Stern
Our scenes all looked really good (although crowded). I decided to bring in some logs for the final performance. We also decided not to use the fog machine. We were also missing a rock seat and the beach chair.
I believe our scenery is generally ready to go for the performance. Besides a couple of small things like a beach chair and some other possible extra props, we are done with creating scenery. The only thing we were not able to do in this dress rehearsal was place the scenes around the room because we were not yet in the room we will perform in. -- Tom Noble
I was sick and unable to attend dress rehearsal. I talked to my group mates and found out that the performance went well. Our scenery looked good and fit with the rest of the props of the play. They also made some final decisions on extra scenery and the final set up. ~Heidi Harrison
The Scenery Committee Post-Performance Group Journal
Meeting 6: December 7th, Performance
I thought the performance went well. I had no trouble with the projector at all and I thought the rain and the beach background looked nice against the white wall in the corner. When we arrived to set up there was some discussion about where to place each of the scenes, and we were able to implement the L shaped design we had discussed in earlier meetings with the cave on the left side of the room, the beach scene in the middle and the boat on the right. Everyone had brought the items assigned to them and we had enough to construct our vision of the set. It was nice to see everything come together. We had enough room so that people in the play we able to stand behind or rather "in" the boat instead of in front of it like at the dress rehearsal. The clouds and the water were taped onto the chalkboard which posed some problems halfway through the play although, they looked good while they lasted. (R.S.) I think that the performance went well. I really enjoyed seeing our vision of different areas of the stage come together. The fire and the cave looked amazing. We obviously needed stronger tape and perhaps more detail on the boat. Also, we might have wanted to talk to actors a little more about the fact that the different scenes were in different areas, as they mostly just stood in the middle of the room. All in all, I think it went very well and our vision definitely came together in the end. (A.S.) The three scenes we had constructed worked out well. The cave was used by Caliban and Miranda. The beach scene was used the most, which is what we planned for by placing it center stage. The boat doubled as a hiding place. The palm tree was more securely fastened and all set pieces were brought in. (H.D) I think the performance went very well. Everyone brought what they were supposed to bring in and everything looked great. The overall shape was an L and it fit very nicely in the room. I think the projector worked really well. The rain and beach scene looked really nice on the wall as a general background. We did have a few problems however. The one cloud fell, causing the ocean painting to fall. We had to go put it back up in the middle of the performance. Also the cave fell, but one of the actors was able to put it back and it still looked good. The chairs, fire, and boat worked really well. The actors did a great job working with the scenery as well. Overall it was a great performance. (HH) I agree with everyone, I felt it came together nicely. I was a little worried but for no reason! Even though the white board posed a bit of a problem with the stuff falling down half way through the play, causing some embarrassment to the scenery crew I felt that in a production like that, the humor that it gave was a payoff in a way. Being able to chuckle as a cloud falls out of the sky as an important dialogue is going on is a valuable thing. I thought everything looked good, especially the palm tree. I was glad that a few of us got together for another meeting the morning of, as we were able to check with the costume people to make sure we had all the bases covered (ZMD)
The Music Committee
Function: This group is responsible for investigating Shakespeare's music and choosing music and sound for the performance.
The Music Committee Pre-Performance Group Journal
11/29/2006
Today in class we talked of what tone to set in our music selection. We asked: do we add contemporary music for recognition, or should the music remain more in the background? We decided to investigate the themes within each section of the play and construct a personal 'soundtrack' that would complement the parts - which would then be posted here. But after looking, I can't find any means of uploading more than images to the Wiki, so we might need to rethink that thought.-Eric
Date: 11/29/2006
I figured I'd date it since this is technically I journal. hehe...Yes, we will use contemporary not only for recognition, but also for subtle humor. Lots of successful movies and plays dated during the 17th and 16th century have used modern music. Since the language, customs, and activities are outdated (heh) an audience finds it amusing and enjoyable when they can recognize and relate to something other than the basic commonalities of human nature (heh)-music.
We decided we would use music of Shakespeare’s time when appropriate. We came to an agreement to use sound effects (opening scene). I think we should get music or sound effects from tinkle bell from peter pan for Ariel when she appears and disappears. The soundtrack sets the general tone through out the entire play and we intend to do just that.
Some other ideas:
Video game music
Pirates music/soundtrack (opening)
Our own personal recordings of men fighting off a storm ("SET SAIL!!" "Ahoy mate!! ")
Sound effects of a harsh storm
Music Ariel plays to lead off characters
-Fatimah Walee
Our group thought a lot about mingling "historical" music with the contemporary type. Also, we discussed some music that might be playing as the actors enter and through the first two lines. Sound effects to make it more realistic, such as bird sounds, are a good idea. In addition, we talked about recording equipment for additional sound effects. ~Amy
We discussed having the sound effects for the opening scene possibly being music from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. We talked about having wild animal noises in the background once the cast reaches the island. Since the characters are Italian, perhaps it would be fitting to work in some Italian music. I have a dulcimer, bells, a violin (fits a 7 year old) and other musical instruments if anyone is musical. One really off the wall thought I had was that while the ship is rolling violently in the tempest we could have a voice offstage say, "I've fallen and I can't get up." Using a familiar line like this may have been something Shakespeare would do. ~Holly
Holly stole my color : ) So for some other things that we haven't regurgitated....I think if we use something contemporary it should be some of the love music (but NOT that song from Titanic!!!). I think when we meet outside of class we can share music, that will be easier than trying to do it through the Wiki. I don't know if anyone wants to see me on an instrument, but I agree some instrumentals would be appropriate. I also think as far as recording equipment, that'll help us create our soundtrack instead of being forced to be within the limits of the song or sound as it is. ~Adrienne
We talked about mixing music from the CD in the library with contemporary music. For sound effects we thought about having exotic sounds (i.e. monkey and bird noises) since the play takes place on an island. We could also have the sound of waves crashing as background noise. For storm sounds in the beginning we thought about including thunder, waves crashing, rain, and people yelling. We also thought about recording our own sound effects and making a complete sound track for the whole play. ~Dorothy
I’m working on compiling some sound effects (fairy entries, and thunder mainly). Also I have this pirate music my friend recorded its kind of funny (http://quick.dropfiles.net/744816 pass= 123). I think some ambient music thrown in between scenes, and where Ariel sings, etc., would really fit the mood, and not take away from the speech of the actors. something along the lines of boards of Canada, apex twin, video game ost, Any suggestions here are appreciated.
------>you can use quick.dropfiles.net/index.php as a free remote server to upload and share your music files. see you all tomorrow! Rob11/30/2006
In our group today, we discussed songs that might fit the characters' traits and actions in each scene. For example, for Ariel we thought we might play Tinkerbelle music - something light and airy. The plan for the murder of Prospero by Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo is comical therefore, we thought that the theme from Jaws would set a comical atmosphere. The plot by Antonio and Sebastian to kill Alonso is more serious and therefore we thought a more serious musical score would fit that action. We thought the Star Wars Imperial March would be appropriate. In addition to musical scores, we talked about background sound effects to enhance the settings, mood, and action of each scene. ~Holly. PS - Adrienne - feeling pink today. : )
We seemed to be leaning toward a more contemporary style of music. Most of the scenes have been planned, though changes can be made, depending on which parts get cut from the performance. Sound effects were discussed in more detail. Each character was given a kind of a theme song, which will be played to symbolize them. Music without lyrics, as well as music with them, was considered in the choosing. Everything seems to be going well, and the group meets at noon this Monday. ~Amy
In our group, we went scene by scene to plan for the music that we wanted to have in the play. I agree with Amy, we seem to be doing more contemporary songs in the play. I think that this is appropriate though, so that our audience recognizes the mood that we are trying to create. I think we did a really good job of matching the music to the character being played. Ariel could have easily had different music, but because Ariel is going to be played by Holly, Tinkerbelle seems appropriate. We're going to meet on Monday so that we can make sure all of our music is coordinated. I can't wait to play the music for the play, I just hope I don't start laughing. ~Adrienne (feeling blue...but in a good way : )
12/04/06
Today we met to put together the final soundtrack. A lot of our music is contemporary, but again, I think it will help to draw our more modern audience in. Eric had some good soundtracks that we are drawing from to provide background music and to set the mood. I was able to find some sound effects that are going to be useful. After the dress rehearsal, we are going to have to see how well coordinate the music and sound effects to the script. Overall though, I think we are doing pretty good. ~Adrienne
I'm glad everyone contributed great ideas during our meeting in the Peak. Most of the music is contemporary, but that gives the play a modern twist and makes it entertaining to our class--a modern audience. I think our sound track gives the play a kick. Too bad we couldn't find the patriotic song for Eric’s final speech (with everyone in the class having their right-hand over their hearts and left hand in the air. That would be funny!) I wanna thank Adrienne for burning the CD and finding the thunderstorm sound effects (since my computer crashed :-( ). --Fatimah Walee
Monday, December 4th
We all met at Chesapeake around noon to polish up the soundtrack in time for the dress rehearsal tomorrow. As of now, the music is secret. We went scene by scene according to the screenplay that was revised by the editing crew. Sticky: I put up your emails at the music page. I believe you wanted to send out some top secret files, so please do! ~rob
Today we had our final music meeting and decided on the music and sound effects to go with the scenes of the play. We also coordinated the equipment needed to bring to the performance. ~Holly
I wanted to say I approved of the track and think having that off-stage voice would be funny. I also agree that Shakespeare would have done something like that and think he'd have approved of wild animal sounds in the background when they're on the island. Everything looks like it is in order. ~Amy
We also went through the play and wrote down the which lines were cues for which tracks. --Dorothy
12/06/06
We had our first dress rehearsal yesterday. It went pretty well, seeing as how we were just putting together everything for the first time. The costumes, scenery, script, and music are really going to flow I think. The music went good, as I had imagined it would. We just have to work on making sure it's cued at the right times and played at the right volume. Eric wanted to make some changes to the music, so hopefully that'll go well tomorrow. Glad this is almost over! ~Adrienne
Here are my thoughts for the dress rehearsal.
We definitely took too much time to set up. I noticed that when people entered and exited, they seemed to be rushing or unsure of cues. The music was appropriate, but we should work on better volume control and know when exactly to play the tracks. The scenery would work out better if we can make sure all of the props are stable. People also seemed to fumble with the scripts. On the other hand, the actors read well when they were able to tell what lines were to be spoken. All were expressive and enthusiastic about performing. The music choices were very appropriate, and the scenery and props were, as well. I think the script can be cut more, but we also lost some time because of the delays in set-up. I feel that all the problems we had were minor and can be fixed. No major technical difficulties held up the show. The dress rehearsal showed us what changes we needed to make, so it fulfilled its purpose. I feel that our performance will be a success. ~Amy
Remembering the dress rehearsal
Given the space we had, and the time constraints, the rehearsal went pretty well. We needed to work on our lines and when to enter and exit. The best part was all the excitement in the air. The commotion reminded me of a Christmas shopping day. The dress rehearsal did help us see where we needed changes. I think every group had to make adjustments. I understand how important is for everyone to communicate both within groups and from group to group. ~Holly J.
The dress rehearsal showed us that the script should be read a few more times before the final performance. The actors needed to be more familiar with their lines. The music was good, but we needed to work on the volume of each track...sometimes the music was too soft and other times it was too loud. The scenery looked really good, but it was hard to tell what the final product would be in the UC room. The costumes matched each character perfectly and really added to the personality of each character. The script needed to be cut more, but otherwise the rehearsal went well. --Dorothy
I think that the dress rehearsal went a little choppy, however that is to be expected with the first run through, seeing how the different groups didn’t have a change to meet up with one another before hand and mesh things together. I know after the first run through I knew what areas needed improvement. Like the timing of music, the volume (some areas the actors/actresses voices were being drowned out, proper questions, etc). I thought it was fun coming up with an entertaining sound track so I'm looking forward to the real deal!
As far as the lines went and questions for the entire play, we can all def. be a little more prepared for the opening act. I thought it was fun though, setting up, bloopers, missed cues and all! --Fatimah
The Music Committee Post-Performance Group Journal
12/07 ~ post production
Hey guys, this is rob. You all did a great job where music was concerned and it really added to an astounding production of The Tempest. Having yet to work on a group project at UMBC, this was a lot of fun for me. I want to give special thanks to Holly for the equipment, and Eric who stayed up till 5 this morning polishing up the sound track. And everyone for the track suggestions and help organizing and cueing the script, which was very much appreciated. This group was overall great, and everyone did their part. Please add your
thoughts if you can.
I thought that the final production went great. (Love the dogs! My fav.) Yes the music wasn't what everyone agreed upon which was a little disappointing, but the music flowed from scene to scene. Koodoes to Rob for cueing all the music in the final production of the tempest. wasn’t choppy at all! I think the play was great, the props falling and minor mishaps made it more enjoyable. But, I think we all did a great job. Can't wait to see the pictures! lol --Fatimah Walee
I was disappointed at first that the music got changed, but I liked the final performance. I agree with Fatimah, good job Rob! The final performance went 10x better than I was anticipating; we had so little time in between the dress rehearsal and the final performance, I didn't know what our performance was going to look like. One of my favorite parts, aside from the obvious dogs and light saber, was when Shira came up and gave Chris the edited script. I can't believe we made it on time! We even finished early! Way to go script people! ~Adrienne
Music Group Final Evaluation:
The final production of the play went very well and was a major improvement from the dress rehearsal. The music and sound effects were cued in good time, and the audience seemed to appreciate the final soundtrack. The different elements (scenery, music, costumes, etc) brought out parts of the play that may be hard to understand when just reading it. The scenery was really well done and the costumes and props brought out each character's personality. Overall, the final performance was very successful. By performing this play we learned that when reading any of Shakespeare's plays, it is important to carefully pick up on stage directions and tone that may be hidden in the words. It is also important to try to grasp an understanding of each character and what each particular scene demands (music, props, emotion). Although Shakespeare was writing during a different time, his work can still be enjoyed by a modern audience.
Our only concern was that the final soundtrack was not the soundtrack that was originally agreed upon by the entire group. It was a bit disconcerting at first to adjust to a completely new soundtrack, but not much could be done at the last minute. This was due to the fact that the final script was completed so late - 10pm before the day of the final performance. The final script had to be seen to best match up the sound track. For the original soundtrack were to create certain moods during different scenes during the play. Each of these scenes had video game music of a different kind. For scenes with Ariel, for example, we had music from the Final Fantasy game soundtrack because it was mostly instrumental and set a very serious mood. For scenes with Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano, we had music from Super Mario Bros. because it is comical in nature. We also had some contemporary music so that the play was more relatable with audiences. In the scenes with Ferdinand and Miranda, we had originally chosen Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get it On because it picks up on the sexual tension between the two lovers. The new music was chosen and edited under last-minute stress, availability, and thematic cohesion - every track used was composed by Japanese video game music composer Hitoshi Sakimoto. The final soundtrack too displayed the breadth of theme and tone we desired at the beginning and was chosen thusly - keep the spirit of what the group consensus was, if the exact tracks were not available (and ended up not being so at 5am Thursday morning, when the soundtrack was completed) - but because it featured the work of one composer, to the ear that mostly listens to modern pop it would lack a variance in sound. Despite the overall success of the play, we feel that the performance would have been better had we kept the original soundtrack.
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