Second session: Characters and Textual exploration

To begin this lesson we discussed what our rehearsals should be focused on: characters, text and the world of the play. Looking into the world of the text is heavily aided by research of both the play and the factory girls historical context so in this session we concentrated on the characters and text. 

Laban Movement Analysis for Actors

Movement Qualities	Effort Categories
	Space (Direct/ Indirect)	Weight (Heavy/Light)	Time (Quick/Sustained)
Punch	Direct	Heavy	Sudden
Press	Direct	Heavy	Sustained
Flick	Indirect	Light	Sudden
Dab	Direct	Light	Sudden
Slash	Indirect	Heavy	Sudden
Wring	Indirect	Heavy	Sustained
Float	Indirect	Light	Sustained
Glide	Direct	Light	Sustained

We began by focusing of the physical movement of our characters by first looking into Laban techniques. We assessed how each of the movement qualities can be associated with certain characters and then had to chose our own which first fit with our character form Henry V and had to chose another for our factory girl.

After exploring the different kinds of movement I chose to use "glide" as the method of movement for my character Charles VI because as a king I imagine he has a good posture (something that I feel comes with the gliding movement) due to his eloquent upbringing. This would lead him to be light as he extends his body upwards, in a gentlemanly fashion. I also believe that he would be direct due to his strength and determination as a leader of such a large nation, with this personality trait reflecting in his movement.

For my factory girl I chose to look at "punch", although this was later changed to "dab" when I developed her character profile. However adopting "punch" saw me walking in a more brutish manner with stomping feet and abrupt turns, suggesting that my character was quite an angry woman who disliked her job. This was a reason for why I changed to dab because although the movement is still sudden and direct, I felt that with lighter movement it brighter her mood which fit better with the attitude I thought she'd have to towards her work place.

We then explored the text by looking into the first prologue, breaking it down by each line, then after each bit of punctuation so that we could understand how Shakespearean text should flow and how this can change the meaning of what is said. Splitting the punctuation gives the idea of what pace it should be spoken, with sections that have lots of punctuation often having a quicker delivery. However this is not always the case because it can depend on the context of the line, your interpretation and what is actually being said. 

I understood from our exploration that the opening speech is heavily focused on telling the audience to imagine what is happening, for the cast are not real kings and queens and we are not in "the vasty fields of France". The whole speech sets the scene for what is to come, reminding them that it is a play and for them to enjoy.

As well as helping us to forge a better understanding of the opening of Henry V, the task will help us to understand other Shakespearean texts (for example my monologue from The Tempest) and how you might first approach it.