Man Of Mode
Rehearsal
We are currently learning a comedy play that was wrote by George
Etherege in 1676 called “The Man of Mode or, Sire Fopling Flutter”. This play
is based on the richer people of the time, mocking the way they act. The
characters are believed to be based on real people of the time who George knew.
The main character is Mr Dorimant who is known as a man all the women want. He
is currently supposed to be seeing Mrs Loveit but it fooling around with her
best friend Belinda behind her back but then Harriet comes to town and he falls
in love with her. Harriet is supposed to have an arranged marriage with young
Bellair which neither of them want as he is in love with someone else, Emilia.
She also loves him but they have to keep it secret as his father has just come
to town and is staying at the same house where Emilia lives which is with his
sister Lady Townley. Old Bellair also has a thing for Emilia but she feels as
it’s nothing to worry about. Mr Dorimant tries to get Sir Fopling Flutter on
Mrs Loveit so he can do as he pleases and in the end where everything is
discovered is all works out to plan and there is peace.
When it came to the props and costumes we used beautiful long gowns,
close to what they would of warn back then. The mean wore long jacks with
matching breeches, long socks and smart black shoes. The women also had fans
which I enjoyed very much. We used old furniture they would have had back then
like wooden tables and chairs, a beautiful screen and lounger. We also had
china cups and saucers, wine glasses, decanters and old letters. During
the beginning we did a workshop to do with the language of the fan and how to curtsey
normally and how to curtsey when your angry with someone or in love. I learnt a
lot from the handout Sally gave us about the language of the fan. It’s such a
lady like way to flirt and I love it, I wish we had fans now. For example, to
say kiss me you put the handle of the fan to the lips. To say I love you, you
hide your eyes behind the open fan. It wasn’t only used for flirting but for
anything, to say I hate you using a fan you draw the fan through the hand. This
language was probably used across the room to flirt secretly at a party or
something.
We did a workshop and rehearsed when Adam came in and he was talking
about always keeping up the energy and make poses big. He said make sure you
show you character by how you move and pose. He said to keep my pose because it
really went with my character Emilia which was looking up with puppy eyes, a
small smirk across my face and using fan and then when walking, you glide. I
also performed my first scene with Lady Townley so we could get some help with
the directing. He told us to walk purposely towards are chairs and as soon as
we sit down, snap into conversation and really use our tone of voices and
actions to portray what’s going on as it’s not naturalism.
The first scene we blocked was the prologue, which is a choral speech.
The point of this scene is to tell the audience about the play from an actor’s
point of view. We didn’t need to play our characters at this point, we just had
to gain the audience’s attention on what they would be seeing throughout the
play. After Sally told us where we were going to be standing, she gathered some
music together and told us she wanted us to start at the beginning. She wanted
the women to walk on first and at a certain beat of the song, spread our fans
all together and look at Matt, who plays Mr Dorimant. Then the men walk on and
at a certain beat we all snap to look at the audience. Then if you’re not
speaking you freeze in position and then come alive when it’s your turn and
really draw the audience in. It was important that we all went snapped straight
into our lines so it flowed and there were no gaps. This is to help us set the
tone for the play.
I think rehearsals are going very well, we’ve gradually gone through
scenes with both casts and understanding the text much more and the play for
that matter. We’ve not been doing much acting at the moment; we’ve just been
blocking the scenes for a start and understanding everything a bit more. I’m
beginning to grip onto my character as we go on and understand what characters
I’m close with and my relationship with them. I use my time at home to
understand my lines and learn my lines so I can focus on more important things
at college like what happens on stage. I use my rehearsal time at college to
help with my characterisation when we go through scene. For example, my first
scene is with Lady Townley. This scene is very heightened, filled with many
jokes and laughter as well as a bit of serious talk but we take it very lightly
and think positively on it. An example is when we actually walk in, we talk
about old Bellair being there and as Emilia my lines show I’m worried but Lady
Townley lines are very comforting and reassuring towards me. When it came to blocking,
the hardest scenes were definitely act 4 scenes 1 and the very last scene
because there is so many people on stage and no stage direction in the script
so we all had to be really patient and make sure we wrote where we are at certain
points down on our scripts. After a few tries I knew where I was but it was
very confusing and had to make sure everyone was seen and then able to go into
the next conversation in the script, it took a little while to do these scenes.
I made sure to be dedicated and focused when rehearsing because every rehearsal
is every important.
I learnt a lot about my character from analysing my script and finding
the definitions of words that I didn’t know. I was also able to understand the
scenes and relationships between my character and others in the play. There
were many words I had never heard of and found the definitions of to help me
understand and figure out how my character should act during the scene. Such
as:
Inquisitive – curious
Constancy – Faith
Frail – weak and delicate
Intrigues – Fascination/ curiosity / interest
And quite a few more which honestly was a big help and definitely something
you need to do if you don’t have a strong understand of what’s happening. I
translate most of my lines that I didn’t understand into something I did so
when I performed I knew what I was saying. For example, in the first scene that
I’m in, my line is “The knowledge I have of my rival gives me a little cause to
fear your constancy.” Which means what I know of Harriet makes me worry about
your faith to me.” Now before I knew the meaning I thought I should be a bit
angry but as I learnt more about the line and my relationship towards Young
Bellair. Emilia would have said it in a soft caring tone and she just wants to
be reassured everything is okay and that he still loves and cares for her even
though his father wants him to marry Harriet. You’ll find many more example in
the pictures below.
Character Study
My character Emilia is a young lady who seems very innocent but can also
be quite devious. Especially when it
comes to Young Bellair and Harriet as she doesn’t want to lose him so try’s to
set her up with Dorimant. She lives with Lady Townley who brought her up after
her parent’s died. Emilia and Townley have a strong relationship, a mother and
daughter bond. Which is why when it came to my characterisation I made some
aspects like Lady Townley’s, for example the laughing at all most everything
and big expressions. She is in love with Lady Townley’s nephew Young Bellair,
their love has grown since they were young and now are secretly together with
Lady Townley helping keep it a secret but when Old Bellair comes to town, he
seems to have a little thing for Emilia his self. Which she finds a load of
nonsense and just his humour. Although Emilia loves to hear of the gossip in
the town, she will keep well out of everything and won’t get involved unless it
involves her. For example, you only really see Emilia get involved in the last
scene when she is trying to get Dorimant and Harriet together so that Harriet
wouldn’t want to marry Young Bellair. Throughout the play Emilia can be very
quiet when she has to hold back from certain things but when in the company and
comfort of Lady Townley you see the real her, laughing and gossiping. When
around Old Bellair she acts shy and just lets him be rude to her as she just
eventually wants his approval to be with his son. Although in act 4 scene 3, he
is even more rude and calls her ‘ugly’ in a very horrible way so Emilia reacts
back very cross saying “Better words, or I shan’t abide you” which means talk
to me better or I’ll no longer tolerate you. I think in that scene you see a
confident boost with her because throughout the rest of the play she’s just
taken everything he’s gave to her but at that moment she strikes back. I think
Emilia is quite a small character in that way that she stays out of trouble and
acts like the innocent one out of everyone and with the fact that there isn’t a
bad word going around about her. I know this because in the very first scene,
Medley talks about Emilia in a very pleasant way. “Emilia, give her her due,
has the best reputation of any young women about the town” Which implies that
Emilia is a very innocent lady which is why I wanted to show her like that to
the audience.
Emilia definitely has a very strong relationship with Lady Townley, she
feels as if she could tell her anything which is why she knows the secret. They
have a strong bond and due to the fact Lady Townley brought Emilia up, they
have some similar qualities like the laughing and big expressions. Whenever
they’re both on stage I think you can really see their bond and the atmosphere
is always really high to grab the audience in. Lady Towley is very protective
over Emilia and knows her value. She obviously has a very close relationship
with Young Bellair as they are seeing each other although it is in secret. When
out in public they must not let the slightest thing show that there may be
something going on between them. Which is hard but necessary until they figure
out how to work around his father Old Bellair. Emilia’s relationship with Old Bellair is definitely
an unusual one as he constantly is rude to her and she just takes it and sees
it as his ‘humour’. In the very first scene where it’s Emilia and Lady Townley,
Townley does suggest that he may have some feels for Emilia. When he comes in
later on in the scene, Lady Townely thinks that he definitely does and to play
with it a little as it may help when he finds out about her and his son Young
Bellair. When it comes to Mr Dorimant, I feel like him and Emilia have an
understanding relationship. He knows about her and Young Bellair and has kept
it quiet. Emilia knows about his feelings towards Harriet so helps make it work
for him. Emilia also stuck up for him when Belinda spoke badly of him. Emilia
and Harriet have a nice relationship, they’re the two youngest ladies in the
town so become friends at the first time they met. Emilia also really looks out
for Harriet because although Emilia doesn’t want Harriet to get with Young
Bellair, I think she also feels bad her because she obviously doesn’t want to
get married to him anyway but doesn’t want to upset everyone, especially her
mother. Which is why I think Emilia did really get involved this time to help
Harriet out because if she didn’t marry him she would got back to Hampshire with
her mother and Harriet really didn’t want that. I feel like that’s the main
people Emilia have strong relationships with and maybe Mrs Loveit because in
the end scene they seem really close from the way Mrs Loveit approaches Emilia
but yet that’s the only scene they have together.
The object exercise we did was really helpful, it helped me to
understand my character as well as everyone else from the objects they brought
in. I brought in a blue, hearted diamond necklace. The point of the object
exercise was to bring something in that was meaningful and important to your
character. The necklace was important to my character Emilia because her lover
Young Bellair gave it to her as a token of his love for her. She never wore it
out as they’re love is a secret because Emilia hasn’t got any money to offer
whereas Young Bellair does and they both know he’s father wouldn’t approve. That’s
why the necklace means so much to Emilia, it’s a representation of their love
and happiness. During the object exercise, Frank who plays Young Bellair
brought in a haka chive that Emilia gave him as a token of her love so he can
keep it in his pocket so she’s always there if he needs something to wipe away
the tears or blow his nose with. Their relationship is very strong and although
they aren’t allowed to show any signs of their relationship in public they
trust each other.
Research
When the play was first performed it was one of the most popular plays,
due to the fact it was said that it was based on actually people of the time.
For example, Sir Folping Flutter was based on Beau Hewitt, Dorimant on Sir
Charles Sedley or John Wilmot, and Medley based on Etherege himself. It was considered
by scholars and critics of the time to be one of the finest Restoration
comedies. The play was performed in 2007 at the National Theatre and was
modernised for today’s audience. The language was stripped from the 17th
century and changed to contemporary speech in order for the audience to have a
better understanding. The clothes were also changed, from beautiful gowns to
silk underwear and bodycon dresses, with the men in simple black suits.
Everything was changed, like the scenes as well. The ball was changed to a
night club/ bar. It turned out great and got loads of laughs, everybody loved
it. When we performed ours, we got a few laughs but because it wasn’t modern
not everyone understood the jokes and humour of it.
I think if you compared a Shakespearian audience to a restoration
audience the restoration audience would enjoy it more but also be more
judgemental. I think this because theatre had been around for a little while
now and due to the fact they were banned then brought back and then women were
allowed to perform as well so it was probably more popular in restoration times
too. Although it is said that Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth was friends, she
never attended any plays whereas Charles II did I believe. He also brought it
back when he came back into power and made is to women were allowed to perform
on the stage. We have advanced a lot in theatre since Shakespearian times. We
are much more advanced with costumes, make-up, props, acting itself and the
audience. People these days are much harder to impress then they were back
then. Mainly because we know more about it and we know what we want out of the
shows we want to go see. For example, out of a comedy we want laughter, we also
want to connect to the play and the actors, we want to be drawn in. I feel like
back then they just wanted some sort of entertainment, as long as it was a good
standard and funny they loved it. I mean back then they were no drama schools,
they were all amateurs. Now you would need some sort of qualification in acting
to go to a drama school and then have a good set of knowledge and skills to go
on the stage.
Around 1676 the layout of the theatres would be near as the same as the
Shakespearian time layout. The richest people would be at the top around the
edges but the working class would be sitting down around the bottom and then
the poor people would be at the very bottom. The theatres were much nicer in
this time, having things like luxurious curtains and fancy chairs for where the
Lords and Lady's sat. At the bottom would just be wooden benches for everyone
else to sit on. During this time, I think people appreciated theatre a little
more. In 1660 theatres known as the ‘patent theatres’ who had a licence was
allowed to put on ‘spoke drama after the English Restoration. Other theatres
were not allowed to perform serious plays but could perform plays such as
comedies. Entertainments, such as theatre performances, were banned under the
Puritan rule in the English Commonwealth. After he was back to the throne,
Charles II issued letters patent to Thomas Killigrew and William Davenant,
granting them to allow the right to form two London theatre companies to
perform "serious" drama.
In 1662 Charles II allowed women to perform on stage for the very first
time. Women on the stage, Margaret Hughes was an actress and credited as the
first professional actress on the English stage. She played various roles like
Desdemona in Othello, St.Catherine in John Dryden's 'Tyrannick love' and Panura
in John Fletcher's 'The Island Princess.' Prince Rupert, Duke of Cumberland was
her lover. Susana Mountfort was an English actress working in London. First
recorded stage appearance may have been as early as 1681 in Durfey's sir
Barnaby whig. She was a successful and popular comedian. Greatest success was
her role as the main character Lucia in Thomas Southern's 'Sir Anthony love.'
She was one of the leading actresses at the United company. Due to the fact
women were allowed to be on stage turned theatre into something sexy as men
hadn't seen anything like that before.
The Black Death was a horrible disease that was carried by rats and
fleas. This disease had been around for centuries but it was London that took
the worst of the plague in 1665. During this time many people lived in poverty
and the only way to get rid of rubbish was to throw it in the streets,
household waste as well as human waste. Of course this made London very filthy
which unfortunately made it a great place for the rats to bread. At the time
people thought the disease was carried by dogs and cats but the disease was
carried by fleas that lived on the bodies of rats. Samuel Pepy made various
entry in his diary about the plague. On August 31st 1665 Samuel made
an entry saying how over 6,000 people died that WEEK due to the plague and how
the number was increasing. The main people dying of the plague was the poor
people, due to their attached houses and cramped areas they lived in, it
travelled fast among them. On September 2nd 1666 was the great fire
of London. It was a small mistake made by Thomas Farrinor, baker to King
Charles II of England as he forgotten to turn the oven off. Due to the fact all
houses were attached then, the fire spread quickly, burning down 13,200 houses,
84 churches and 44 company halls but officially, only four people died. Although
the fire helped to get rid of the black rats and fleas that carried Great
Plague which made the amount of people dying from it decrease massively. Samuel
Pepy had documented the fire in his Diary. He talks about when he first saw it,
he thought it was so far away that it was nothing to worry about so went back
to bed. The he’s maid came back later and told him that she had heard 300
houses had been burnt down and had now started to burn down Fish Street by
London Bridge. In his diary he gives a great inside to what he was feeling and
what he saw when he made his way to waterside. “Everybody endeavouring to remove their goods, and flinging into the
river or bringing them into lighters that lay off; poor people staying in their
houses as long as till the very fire touched them, and then running into boats,
or clambering from one pair of stairs by the waterside to another. “When it
came to February he made an entry saying how he still saw smoke from the late
fire in the city and how he still couldn’t sleep due to fire that happened last
September. “I did within these six days
see smoke still remaining of the late fire in the City; and it is strange to
think how to this very day I cannot sleep a-night without great terrors of
fire; and this very night I could not sleep till almost 2 in the morning
through thoughts of fire.”
