Contextual Studies 3 (The Double Dealer)

England in the early 17th century (1)

1603- King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. He ended the war with the Spanish in 1604, and in 1611 had published his on translation of the bible "The King James Version". He also survived an assassination attempt "The Gunpowder Plot" in 1605.

1625- King James dies,and his son Charles I becomes king. From the beginning of his ruling, he had many a disagreements with parliament,due to his beliefs that he shared with his father, which was known as "The Divine Rights Of Kings". Charles was married to French Roman Catholic, Henrietta Maria, but this was a wrong move in the eyes of the Puritans. Due to the unsuccessful wars Charles led, his parliament refused to raise taxes to pay for the Spanish war, in return Charles was angered by this and dissolved the parliament, then raised money by levying loans, if you didn't pay he would have you imprisoned without a trial. However by 1628 Charles was in desperate need of money , due to the costs of war, he regathered his parliament, and this time MPs drew up a petition that meant he could not levy taxes without the parliaments consent. Later The King and his parliament fell out over Religion, which was a concern back then as religion was a large part of day to day life in the 17th century. 1629 William Laud was the Bishop of London, and him and Charles shared the same opposing views when it came to the Puritans, this did not bode well with the parliament and so they refused to grant the King his taxes for a year, which ended in the parliament once again being dissolved.

1633- William Laud was made the Archbishop of Canterbury, and made it his mission to repress the Puritans, sending commissioners into parish's to make sure the churches were in line. He also tried to put a stop on the Puritan Preaches, also known as Lectures, however he only made a small dent on the Puritan's, and after he emphasized ceremony's and decoration within churches, the Puritans did worry that Catholicism would soon take over completely in England.   

Meanwhile Charles was still ruling without a Parliament for 11 years, which was know as 11 years of tyranny. Charles had many ways to raise money such as, making men who owned property that was worth a large sum knights. However in 1637, when The King started levying ship money, he was able to have ships made whenever he needed to due the the traditional tax system used in coastal towns. Eventually Charles started levying ship money in inland areas, and a squire from Buckinghamshire refused to pay this, which resulted in him being taken to court in 1637. Later that year Charles and Laud proposed religious changes on the Scots, this ended in Scotland becoming furious, a new pray book was introduced, and riots began in Edinburgh. Charles had to try and stop the Scots, and the ended in two humiliating attempts.

April 1640- Charles summons a Parliament once again, this was because he was in desperate need of their help to raise money, to be used in his Scottish Campaign, instead the Parliament just told him about the cons of the Campaign, and so in May Charles dissolves the Parliament once again. After followed the second bishops war, and in August of 1640 Charles was forced to make peace with the Scottish, after they invaded England and captured Newcastle, he dropped all the changes to religion in Scotland in return for the Scots to dive back Newcastle. Then in November Charles brings back his parliament as he is in dire need of raising more money. Parliament then made it clear that they could not be dissolved without their own consent, and also made it illegal for Fining owners to be made Knights, and ship money was also abolished. The parliament also passed Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Stafford as a traitor, and as a result Wentworth was executed, as Charles was forced to sign off on the act.

(1) http://www.localhistories.org/17thcent.html 

Rehearsal Blog 3 (The Double Dealer)

This week we finished blocking, apart from a few scenes due to absences, however we than ran the show as far as we could, overall I think the show is looking good, but still needs improvement, for instance some of the scenes are lacking the pace needed to add to the comedic value, this is either down to the lacking in line learning or lack of emphasis when throwing ourselves into character, this would probably be down for the amount of hard work and determination it takes to stand, walk and talk in character, so overall this play and genre has been by far the most difficult in my opinion to understand and get to grips with.

We have also been looking at characterisation during other lessons, looking at techniques such as object interviews, where you show an object that relates to you character and tell the story behind it, hot seating and 4 truth's 2 lies, for this you tell the audience the lies and the what is true to your character, but the audience then later guesses which was which. Overall these techniques have really helped my character to progress, for instance the voice I use for Lord Froth is very difficult to keep throughout, and so learning to fluently use this voice during improvisation workshops has strengthened this. Also we have been singling out the stances and walks of characters helping them to know what they've done well and what needs improvement, I've been told that I need to what my shoulders and make sure that I am not tensing them when puffing my chest out, and so Laura said to me to roll my shoulders back and this has effectively made this easier. Abbi has also told me during rehearsals that my characterisation is really coming along, I think this is because with Lord Forth I am changing the way I perform in general and so I'm experimenting with my voice and the way I use my body, and one thing I've really enjoyed is concentrating on what the lines mean, Lord Froth doesn't use facial expressions to convey an emotion he is very straight faced so I have been looking at the lines where u can change my voice to suit the emotion.

Character Study (The Double Dealer)

Name: Lord Froth.

Age: 32, I have chosen this because he act's like an elderly gentleman, and after researching I found that the average age of death was around 40. I say he acts like an elderly gentleman, purely for the fact he is very dull, and the way he talks to or see's people in his eyes to me seems very similar to our modern day elderly etiquette.

Family: Lord Froth has a wife, Lady Froth, and a daughter, Sapho. In front of company he acts like he is totally in love with his wife, however the way he does this comes across as quite blunt, on the other hand when they are alone together they don't seem to care for one another. His daughter Sapho, he feels is spoilt by his wife, and he hasn't taken to her because he wanted a son.

Hobbies: Lord Froth enjoys the company of his friends he spends a lot of his time drinking and having conversations with them, he is also a fan of making people feel generally uncomfortable and you can find him some of the time attending comedies, but never laughing at what is said, as he finds that it is a vulgar expression, and it is funnier not to laugh and embarrass the poets. He also enjoys travelling by sea like he use to when he was a child, as his father was a tradesman.

Personality: A straight face man, who tends to judge others, but not behind their backs, he says it to them in a way they don't understand it to be an insult. He's a very dull character, who walks with the thought that he has power over others, when in fact he doesn't at all. It comes across that he's in love with his wife, by the way he addresses her in front of company, however you can always tell there is something between them, aka Brisk.

Job: Lord Froth's father was once a tradesman, who use to take him out on trips to Europe, this was until he had sailed away never to return. However Froth took from this a liking for travelling and so once he was of age he set up his own small trading business selling odds and ends that he could get hold of, such as buckles, fruits, vegetable and trinkets.

1650 - 1700's Century Male Fashion (1):

After the thirty years war, fashion had rapidly change as the Restoration period came in, men's clothing went from having been influenced by military clothing, and was exchanged for coats, waistcoats and breeches. The breeches became very baggy and Samuel Pepsy wrote in his diary in April of 1661 "And among other things, met with Mr Townsend, who told of his mistake the other day to put both his legs through one of the knees of his breeches, and so went all day" (2).

Coasts and Waistcoats: 

(3)

Sleeves of the waistcoats varied from being above to below the elbow, and the fitting of the coat became a lot looser, the sleeves were either slashed, unlashed or dividing into two parts and were closed via buttons. Coats were of the length that reached the waist but soon by the early 1660's shortened as far as below the rib cage. By the late 1660's the upturned sleeve became very popular, and by 1670 waistcoats were worn, or a vest and these would have been worn under a coat.

Shirt's and Collars:

Although the simple ruffled shirt remained constant throughout this period, eventually less of it was seen as time went on. However the small collar that was worn after 1650, gradually grew larger, and men were wearing collars that reached to the shoulders.



(4)

Breeches and Stockings:

During the decade that had just past men were wearing Spanish Breeches as they were widely popular, but by the mid 1650's looser, less collected breeches were worn by men, these gradually came to fit with the largely flamboyant time period and became even larger and baggier as time went on. They were commonly decorated with ribbon around the waist and knees. Close fitted breeches were worn with stockings, and were also decorated with ribbon, this allowed an effective look that made them men seem to have longer legs.



Footwear and Accessories:

Shoes became popular in the 1650's, although these had replaced boots, people still wore boots for riding and outdoor activities. Boothose were worn over silk stockings to protect them, these were laced cuffs. Shoes were decorated as well with ribbon, and the heels on the shoes got higher as the period went on.

Hairstyles:  

Men had their hair long, and curled towards the shoulders. Before the period wigs, and periwigs were worn to cover men's baldness, but during this period became increasingly popular to have. 

Research list:

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion

(3) https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=17th+century+coats+and+waistcoats&biw=1188&bih=559&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zwlaVYLrE4i1Ub7hgMAL&ved=0CCAQsAQ#imgrc=_Twwc0TBokIqzM%253A%3BxizYlNJnNRn4xM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252Fd%252Fde%252FBLW_Man's_Court_Coat_and_Waistcoat.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fen.wikipedia.org%252Fwiki%252FCourt_uniform_and_dress_in_the_United_Kingdom%3B2448%3B3264

(4) https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=17th+century+coats+and+waistcoats&biw=1188&bih=559&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zwlaVYLrE4i1Ub7hgMAL&ved=0CCAQsAQ#tbm=isch&q=17th+century+breeches+and+stockings&imgrc=fEw1PUJyRV9PXM%253A%3BbdYQ4omDiSJ8lM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fclassconnection.s3.amazonaws.com%252F1251%252Fflashcards%252F863186%252Fjpg%252Frich_mytens_40.jpg%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.studyblue.com%252Fnotes%252Fnote%252Fn%252Fch-8%252Fdeck%252F4751878%3B384%3B600 

Rehersal Blog 2 (The Double Dealer)

During this week we looked into the historical background of the play, looking at the themes and what may have influenced William Congreve to have written this play, this gave us better knowledge of who was the main character and surprisingly it was Maskwell who many of the themes and a certain historical moment are based after which can be found in my contextual blog for this week.

We also continued blocking the play up to act 4 and with one act left I'm starting to get to grips with my character the experimental side with my character is becoming easier, due to the fact I have began understanding the text more, as well as knowing how to say or perform my lines with comical affect whilst sticking to the style Lord Froth has.

On top of this we watched a film that was set in the Restoration period, about the first female actor aloud on stage, this allowed us to see what the etiquette  of the people of this time was like, and helped us to see how they walk and stand. After watching the film we looked at our walks, and though at the moment I'm finding it a little uncomfortable I'm sure with practise it shall come easier towards the performance.

Contextual Studies 2 (The Double Dealer)

William Congreve's play was first produced in 1693, to which Henry Purcell set it to music.
Major events during 1693 are as follows:

February 8 - The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a Royal Charter from King William III and Queen Mary II of England.
March - William Congreve's first play "The Old Bachelor", is performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. 
17th June (27th June New Style) - Nine Years' War: The French fleet defeats the joint Dutch and English fleet in the Battle of Lagos off Portugal.
19th June (29th July New Style) -  Nine Year's War: The Dutch-English army led personally by King William III of England is defeated by the French (with Irish Jacobite Mercenaries) at the Battle of Landen near Neerwinden in Flemish Brabant.
October - Congreves Comedy "The Double Dealer" is first performed in Drury Lane.  (1)

Another event ties in with the theme of justice 'poetic justice' to be more specific, the character Maskwell is a great portrayal of this within the play 'the double dealer', as he takes advantage of other characters bending them to his own will, before he is found out at the end. The historical event was way before the time of this play being written in fact it was when Congreve was a student, the event its self was Robert Young who at the time was a forger being put on trial for forging a document in Marlborough's hand, and for this was convicted to the tower. Although you may think that the story is based around Mellephant this is a small misconception, it actually concentrates more on Maskwell and this character is based on Robert young, the fact that ties this person to the character is the fact they so easily deceive the people surrounding them to their own benefits.   (2)

Themes of the Play:

• Deceit
• Love
• Lust
• War of the sexes
• Manners and behaviours of class it addresses anti puritanical
• Sexual life by large numbers of courtiers
• Trickery
• Comedy

Refrences:

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1693
(2) http://ardhendude.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-double-dealer-congreves-art-of-plot.html