Costume Plot

Here's the working costume plot for the our production of Merry Wives of Windsor.  This will be updated on an ongoing basis.  Cast members also received additional information with example pictures included.

The important dates for them are:

• July 7:  a check-in/work session of fairies on
• July 12:  Costume parade--this is a chance for me and the costume mistress and tech director to see what everyone looks like together.  Changes/additions may be asked for by me or them.  The actors would have one week to make those changes.
• July 19:  First dress rehearsal.  Last minute changes may still occur this late in the process.

Windsor Ensemble

The Windsor Ensemble will be more of he middle class families that the Pages invite to their house for the opening scene party in honor of Falstaff.  They typify the middle class values that both the Pages and Fords honor throughout.

The women are strong, independent and responsible; their servants are trustworthy and loyal; the men work hard and are the leaders of their household.  They are religious but not devout.  They are wise but not educated.  They are trustful but superstitious.  They like to work hard and play hard.  The children will be discussed at length in their own entry.  These folks raise their children to be honest, strong and loyal.  They are not afraid to discipline their children, or have their servants do it.

Scene Breakdown/Bible

When working with the structure of the play, and how the scenes go together, I often find with Shakespeare that it becomes prudent to combine some scenes.  This can help to make the show move easier.  With Merry Wives of Windsor, I am stunned at how many 10-20 line scenes there are--4 or 5, at the minimum.  Many of these take place in the same location one right after another (at the end in the park).

So what I have done is create a show bible that groups scenes together and keeps the actors/staff aware of how the show will flow.  At this point I plan to take an intermission after our Scene 8, Shakespeare's Act III, Scene 3, or the first assignation/buck basket scene.

Here is the bible for Merry Wives:

Garter Ensemble

The Garter Inn is a multi-purpose facility.  It is the town bar, restaurant, hotel, entertainment hot spot and brothel.  The women that work there have any number of jobs that relate to one or all of the Inn's many functions.  They serve the men and women of Windsor and do so admirably and with good intent.

They will have 2 "dances" in the production.  One that will set up the Garter Inn and what it is, who they are and what the do there.  The second dance will further the plot of the German Duke business.

Sets--General Concepts

From a directing standpoint what I need for the sets of the show are fairly simple.  Many scenes take place either on the street or in a yard.  The specific locations/interiors are only a few:  The Garter Inn, the Ford house, Dr. Caius' house and the giant oak tree.

A simple unit set would work best.  I would love to have something to represent both the Ford and Page houses as well as something else for the Garter.  I'm thinking three building fronts, so that we have three doors.

Music--The Cues

Here's a working list of the musical cues to be used in the show.  This will change and grow as we develop the live music portions of the production.  I'm going to give basic breaks here--where they go in the show, the transition from what to what, as well as a general time frame, and any kind of dramatic notes, etc.

Prologue--2 to 3 minutes
Style:  Bright, happy, party music.  The band would be playing at Page's party.
Business:  Before the actual script starts, but the first moments of the show.  The town has gathered at the Page house for a party for the visiting dignitary, John Falstaff.  In the course of this piece of party music/hoe down, we meet the principal characters and establish their relationships.  I see it starting as a meeting of the townswomen--a chance to catch their breath and celebrate one another.  They would be interrupted by their kids, who would send them in a bunch of different directions.  Servants would be sent after the children.  Anne Page and her friends would come in as would Fenton and Dr. Caius.  We would see Anne's parents reacting to both men and their affection towards their daughter.  The other men (including Falstaff and his coterie) would be a part of this.  We would see Falstaff's lack of money and George Page would call everyone into dinner.  The piece would end as the party clears the stage and Shallow, Slender and Sir Hugh take it.

Host of the Garter

The Star and Garter Inn

The Host of the Garter Inn is an interesting character.  The owner and operator of the Garter, Windsor's pub, the Host is affable, warm, and a bit of a prankster.  I'm most excited because this is a role that could be played by a woman, increasing the adult principal women's roles to four.

One of the most interesting things about the Host is the very distinct speech pattern.  There's a lot of repetition of phrases or entire sentences within a speech.  There's also a lot of talking in short phrases, and even more of hyperbolic talking.  I wonder if Shakespeare patterned the speech pattern after the actual Host of the Garter when he was writing the play; I've not encountered such a distinct speaking pattern in Shakespeare before.

Abraham Slender

Abraham Slender

What a groundbreaking character Slender is.  At first he appears to be a run of the mill suitor of Anne, but quickly he reluctance rises to the fore.  He wants nothing to do with Anne or marrying her, except that it will please his uncle.  Is he the first "out" character in western drama?

His reluctance is clearly spelled out:  the money that Shallow (and even Sir Evans) tempts him with has no draw; when left alone with Anne he wants to bolt; he has nothing to say to her; he finally admits that she is not what he wants at all.  If nothing else his reluctance made him the break out character of the piece.  After Falstaff, he was the most popular character to come out of this script.  He was even referenced by other poets.

Music--Live vs. Pre-recorded

When working with Shakespeare material one of my first considerations technically is the soundtrack of the show.  For me so much of the storytelling comes not just from the words that are said but by the actions the characters take and the visual storytelling that compiles.  It is a supreme connection between the audio and the visual that gets the storytelling alive and in the mind of the audience.

A huge facet of that for me and my productions is music.  The music of a production can make or break it.  The first Shakespeare show I directed was told in a very modern setting with very contemporary music.  I have also worked on Shakespeare productions with traditional Elizabethan music, modern pop music, country music, and techno/rave/punk music.

Mistress Quickly

Mistress Quickly

I like Mistress Quickly a lot.  She has pulled herself up from her bootstraps, left a life of possible prostitution behind her and has given herself over to run Dr. Caius' house.  There, she quickly finds out that she isn't paid enough, has to do more work than she thought possible and isn't nearly as happy as she thought she might be.

She has many wonderful characteristics.  She's warm (for a price), cunning (for a price).  She's involved with both the A-plot and the B-plot, being the go-between for the different parties.  She's a bit of a busybody, but has a good heart.  She takes both praise and insult with dignity.  I'd like to say grace, but she isn't afraid to give it back at someone even though she knows her place.

Alice Ford

Alice Ford is the wacky neighbor.  She's the Lucy Ricardo to Meg Page's Ethel Mertz.  She's the one willing to put herself out there, and try anything--especially if that will get her husband, Frank, to notice her.  She does at times seem a bit needy, but then she will come right back at him and give him what-for.

For the decided lack of time spent on the Page's married realtionship, much time is spent on the Ford's.  They have no children, but don't seem to be bothered by that.  Dramatically that makes sense as the Pages get wrapped up in the B-plot (marrying their daughter off), leaving the Fords carry the mature relationship mantle. 

Meg Page

Meg and Alice

Meg Page is a faithful wife, caring mother and good friend.  Her honor is never questioned, and her integrity is intact.  She is level-headed and takes her prayers seriously.  She does her best by her family and expects them to do the same.

And perhaps she's a little bit bored.

George Page

The Pages and The Fords

Of the four spouses, George is the least involved in the Falstaff (A-plot) storyline.  He trusts his wife implicitly and considers his marriage sound.  There are two practical reasons for this.  Structure-wise, he needs to be the instigator, foil and manager of the B-plot, the story of Anne and her suitors.  Dramatically, he needs to be a counterpoint to Ford.

He is so strongly in favor of Slender, a man so obviously wrong-suited for marriage to his daughter, that we have to question why?  Is he so controlling and domineering that he can't allow for her to make her own choice?  This would give credence to Anne settling for anyone, more than anything she just wants out.  Does he hate Fenton that much; that it could be anyone but him, then why not Dr. Caius, whom his wife supports?  Does he wish for some connection to Justice Shallow's family/lands/money?

Journal Info Dump

Over the next day, I am going to be uploading a bunch of pages of things that I had been working on prior to auditions, when my father in law passed away.  A lot of it was deadline oriented, and others were the working thoughts I had to formulate before the casting was finished, and as we headed to the first rehearsal.  There'll be the rest of the character pages, tech info pages, scene breakdowns, etc.

I will also be trying to organize the journal a little more clearly so that people can find things they are looking for more easily.  I have been doing my best to keep the labels for each posting up to date.  That means you can click on a title of something you want to learn more about and it will take you to a listing of all entries that have that same label.  For example, all of the music entries will have "live music" as a label.

Rehearsal Report--6/24

We started on sequencing the show and worked with the middle section.  It went fairly well.  My biggest struggle right now is working around conflict schedules.  We were hampered with three of the principals having previous conflicts.  It wasn't insurmountable, but it does deflate the moment somewhat. The fun part was of course cast-fun afterwards.

Fortunately, I was able to pre-block some of what we were going to cover with some of them earlier in the week, and I was able to  use the principals that were there to cover some stuff that is coming up where there are previously scheduled conflicts.  There was some really great work with Anne and Slender, in particular.  We were able to block some stuff out of the pre-planned sequence.

Production Meeting: 6/23



The Logo

 We settled on a show logo with the producers.  I like it.  It doesn't tell the story but is an intriguing image and I really like the palette.  It goes with this particular production well.  We also worked out many logistics on coordination of the two shows Mill Race Players is doing this summer.  A lot of that behind the scenes stuff is integral to the production, but affects the day to day operation little.

We have fleshed out the rest of the production staff.  I hate that we had a lready started rehearsals, but the timeline was compromised.  There are great people working on the technical end of things, and I have no fears that it's all going to be great.

Rehearsal Report--6/23

We had out first rehearsal at the performance space this evening.  And our first rehearsal with the children's ensemble.  Both were invigorating.

The performance space is a nearly 20 year old structure that was added for outdoor performances of all sorts when Mill Race Park was renovated in 1993.  It is one of those generic spaces that is designed to accomodate everyone, and therefore becomes a space that is suited for no one really.  It's the biggest stage in the area.  There is no wing space and no backstage space.  For theatrical productions, you have to create them.  Entrances come from left and right either up a hill or up a set of stairs.  There are "dressing rooms" underneath.  The space is open at all times and to all weathers.

It is magical.

Rehearsal Report--6/22

Servants dropping Falstaff

A transformative rehearsal tonight with the ladies Ford and Page.  We were focusing on the A-plot and the two assignation scenes primarily--blocking the servants and Robin into the sequences.  Then afterwards I focused on the two merry wives.

The blocking went fine.  It was our first rehearsal with the actress who plays Robin, and I think she's going to be quite funny.  The servants (now officially nameed Juanita and Roberta) are two of the really fine adult women actresses who auditioned.  I have given them the chioce to improv their parts as much as they desire.  I trust both women and know they won't steal focus.

Rehearsal Report--6/21

We had a great reheasal with the Garter Ensemble.  We blocked them not only into their scenes but did the big broad passes of the two "ballet" numbers.  We worked out some great business for most of them, and will develop things for the others to do.  I want each of these ladies to be featured at one point or another.  But the focus last night was to get the big broad brush strokes.  We'll do detail work in the next couple of weeks.

We also blocked all of the material in the Garter Inn with principals.  We were missing a few players do to conflicts, but we were successful in doing everything that I wanted to accomplish with the principals.  We were even able to run a few scenes twice.

Rehearsal Report--6/20

It was a rerun rehearsal of last week.  The actress playing Anne was not contacted to see if she could attend, so we confirmed old ground and started to get a little more in depth with the characters and individual moments throughout the B- and C- plot.  There was a lot of cleaning up and clarification of blocking.

Production Meeting: 6/16

Met with both the producer team and the props person tonight.  I like the direction that the logo is going, but it is too dark.  It needs to brighter and funnier.  Answered some last minute questions about budget and we talked about start times for each production.  Settled on 7:30.  I think that will work out well for us, and should put the final scene (Midnight in the play) in darkness somewhat.

Props are chugging right along.  We answered some critical questions, and should be getting rehearsal props here in the next week.  Buck Basket is of the greatest importance.  We hired a master carpenter and are in the process of getting a costume person, which means I have to settle my mind about costumes.  Ye, gads. 

The most exciting thing was listening to some live music possibilities.  I am very hopeful this will work out.  The music I heard was spot on for the production and the tenor of the group will fit in nicely with what i want to achieve with the production.  Now it's all about making things happen.

Rehearsal Report--6/16

Tonight we focused on the A-plot.  The duping of Falstaff by Ford (Brooke) and the merry wives.  This is a great groups of experienced actors with a mix of exposure to playing Shakespeare.  They took to it very well.  I had abandoned the concept of reading through scenes first at the previous rehearsal and we jumped right in.  We got a fair amount accomplished.  In fact we were just one Falstaff/Quickly scene and one Falstaff/Ford scene away from doing all of their blocking.

Rehearsal Report--6/15

We rehearsed the B- and C-plots this evening.  The B-plot is the romantic element of the show (Anne's suitors), and the C-plot is Dr. Caius and Sir Hugh Evans revenge on the Host of the Garter.  Most of the Shakespeare comedies have an A-plot and a B-plot.  What's interesting about Merry Wives, is that the B-plot, then fractures into a tiny C-plot as well.  I have the intent of strengthening the C-Plot to be as powerful as the other two.

Verse vs. Prose--Playing the Punctuation

I talked earlier about the choices Shakespeare consciously made in determining whether his text should be in verse or prose.  He was one of the first playwrights to embrace the prose form, and Merry Wives of Windsor is essentially a prose comedy with less than 20% of the play in verse form.  But why choose to make this essentially a prose comedy?

He usually makes prose the language form of the commoners or the lower class in his plays, and almost every character in Merry Wives is firmly in the middle class.  In fact, Falstaff is the person of the highest class in the play, but unless he is quoting a poet, he never speaks in verse.  Prose sounds more naturalistic, more common than verse, primarily because it doesn't stick to the strict form of blank verse.  There is also a decided lack of heightened language in the prose sections.

Verse vs. Prose: How to Read the Verse--UPDATED

The real hang-up with Shakespeare's language is the poetry.  It is a huge hurdle for the reader and sometimes the actor to overcome.  Not all of the Shakespeare plays are written in verse, though.  Much of his plays are written in prose form, and look like a traditional paragraph or a typical play.  Knowing the differences between the two and how to use each to great advantage are paramount to approaching any Shakespeare text.

Merry Wives of Windsor is atypical of most of Shakespeare's plays as it is mostly written in prose form.  I think Much Ado About Nothing may be the only play to have even less verse.  Historically, verse was the common form of playwriting in the Elizabethan era.  Shakespeare was a radical to use as much prose as he did.

Shakespeare's Language

One of the most consistent complaints (& one of my biggest pet peeves) that I hear about Shakespeare is that the language is too obtuse. "I can't understand it." "Why does he have to use that old English?"

He doesn't. It's modern English and if you have ever sat through a pre-Renaissance English class, then you know right away that old English is almost incomprehensible. Granted Shakespeare's language may the beginnings of modern English, but it's still Modern English.

First Read-Through

We had our first read-through of the script this evening, and while I wish we could have gotten just a bit farther, I was very pleased with the results.  A lot of what I was hearing in the script at auditions, I was hearing more of in the reading tonight.  Actors instinctively understand it, and we were getting plenty of laughs.  A lot of the humor is physical, and as we add physical action the show will really grow.

One of the things that was apparent was how strong the acting company really is.  We have a nice collection of actors in all areas of the company who are willing and wanting to give their all.  That's an exciting thing to witness and thrilling to be a part of.

Stuff Happens

This week was going to be my major catch up on the show.  I have started several entries as they relate to the principal characters and the individual scenes.  I needed to work more on structural analysis.  Rehearsal schedules need to be compiled, and a lot of that other work goes into making the rehearsal schedule.  But I had plenty of time.

I have never had the luxury of a week between auditions and first rehearsal.  I am used to going just a three days at most.  Well, it looks like I am back to just having three days, or less.  There was an unexpected death in our immediate family.  While we knew this was coming, we thought that we still had a few months at the very least.  Needless to say Merry Wives has taken a back seat.

Production Meeting--6-6-11

We have had a whole series of meetings lately about the producer end of things, which have little to do with actual directing but impact the show in any number of vital ways (publicity, budget, atmosphere).  Sometimes these are incredibly frustrating because so little has to do with the actual storytelling of the play.  But as I said, they do impact it in major ways.

Auditions

Yesterday, we officially started the auditioning process (though I did see a few people last week), and for actors work on the show begins.  Obviously for directors and other key personnel work began quite some time ago.

As a director the audition period marks a critical juncture on the production of the show:  you get to see if the plans you had been formulating will work.  Sometimes hearing the words spoken aloud tells you more than you can ever imagine than when just reading a text.  This happens with every show, regardless of material.  It's liberating and invigorating as a director to see the words live in front of you.  New doorways open and others sometimes close.

William Page

Shakespeare as a child?

William is the youngest of the Page children.  William has one scene, where he is asked questions by Sir Hugh Evans and Mistress Quickly plays around with he double meanings and double entendres of some of William's answers. Adding to the mischief is Evan's thick Welsh accent where he pronounces the v-sound as an f-sound.  Since the questions he asks William are about Latin, then there is much humor and naughtiness when he asks William about the Vocative case.

Say "vocative case" out loud but change the opening consonant to an f-sound like Evans does.  Naturally, Quickly's reaction is anything but clean.  It's the lowest of low comedy but it is funny. 

I am toying with cutting this scene, not because the f-word is slyly bandied about but because it halts the forward movement of the show in three ways.  One, it has nothing to do with any other plot and comes fairly late in the show.  Two, the language and the jokes used could be lost on modern audiences.  And three, it may not have been written by Shakespeare anyway.

If I do cut it, I should find something important for William to do.   Perhaps a feature in the fairy dance/song at the end of the show. He will be featured as one of the Page children in the beginning, but there may need to be a few more Page children, thereby lessening his impact.

Costume Notes

--Simple prairie dress or sailor dress is preferred
--Fairy costume

Justice Shallow

Justice Shallow first appears in Henry IV, Part 2 as an old friend of Falstaff's.  In this play they have a very warm relationship.  Falstaff owes him a thousand pounds and when Henry IV dies at the end of the play, Falstaff asks Shallow to follow him to the castle.  Falstaff believes that his drinking buddy Prince Hal, now King Henry V, will reward him for his long devotion and friendship.  Instead the new King Henry ignores Falstaff, leaving the folly of youth behind, and devastating the fat knight.

Shallow witnesses this and, rather than press his friend for the money, he tries to forgive him half of the debt and asks Falstaff to come to his home in the country [Windsor].  Falstaff agrees but says that he will pay him what he owes.

Dr. Caius

The other side of Sir Hugh Evans, our Welsh pastor, is Dr. Caius, our French doctor.  Shakespeare makes more pointed commentary about foreigners with this character and about the utter ridiculousness/futility of the medical practice at the turn of the 17th century.

To catalog all of the ways that Dr. Caius is the butt of the joke would be take too much time and bandwith.  He is foppish but in a far more masculine way than Slender.  He is fiery, quick-tempered, and extremely passionate about the mundane.  He practices his fencing on children.

The actor's struggle becomes to find the point right before it goes over the top. Careful playing on this point will go a long way to make the performance and show extraordinary.

Sir Hugh Evans

Sir Hugh listens

Sir Hugh Evans is a bit of a conundrum.  Shakespeare seems to want it two ways.  He mercilessly makes fun of the Welsh by exaggerating Evans' accent, but he never really goes after them.  He also want Sir Hugh to be the mender of souls, but is careful when attacking the man's profession or station.

Evans is a parson from Wales, and as such quite a few jokes come from his very thick accent.  He is a point of ridicule, but not nearly as much the French Dr. Caius.  There seems to be little real mockery towards the Welsh in the script, unlike the French who take it full on in the face.  Instead, Evans is made ridiculous by the tenants of his own character.

He talks in circles, and at times contradicts himself within the course of a single speech.  The playing of this is key.  It needs to make sense to him and no one else; a sort of Monty Python-esque tribute.

Robin, Simple and Rugby

Falstaff and Robin

Another of the many "threes" in Merry Wives, the young servants Robin, Peter Simple and John Rugby serve many purposes in the play.  They obviously serve their masters and do their bidding; they serve Shakespeare's literary purpose of having the lower class demonstrate the folly of the upper class; they serve our production's purpose of having significant roles for children under the age of 13.

Fenton

Fenton.  What a sap.

Fenton says himself that he first wooed Anne to get at her father's money.  But then he fell in love with her.  And oh, how he fell.

Anne Page

Anne's an interesting bird.  She's is the driving force of the B-plot in the show, and the only chance we have at a "happy ending".

At first blush she seems just the typical ingenue:  young, beautiful and destined for marriage.  And when you examine just her lines she doesn't have a lot to say.  She doesn't want to marry Dr. Cauis; she thinks Slender is a joke; she seems to have chosen Fenton.  But why Fenton?

Bardolph, Pistol and Nym

Falstaff, Nym, Pistol and Bardolph enter the Garter

Of the many "threes" in Merry Wives of Windsor, Bardolph, Pistol and Nym are the most intriguing and most remembered.  Essentially Falstaff's entourage, the men are as different as from each other as they could be.  They also have very different back stories.

I often say that productions are only as strong as the ensemble, and while that is true, for this script, these three take on part of that focus.  They each serve a different function for Falstaff and for the plot.  If there isn't careful delineation between the three, all is lost for the entire production.