Rehearsals - week 2

Today we began by learning the dance routine that is going to go into our play. The dance is a 1940's style dance, which will fit with when we are setting play. We were taught the moves one by one, slowly putting them together. The moves are fairly simple, but look effective when we do them all in unison and keep in time to the music. The most difficult part is keeping up with the pace of the music, which is very fast! We need to keep practicing it so that we can eventually speed up and everyone can keep in time with each other and the music. I think that once we have it practiced it is going to look really effective. I think its important to have this dance scene in the play, because Shakespeare can sometimes confine the actor to less movement, so this will give the audience an opportunity to watch some creative physical work. Here is a video of a 1940's dance, which gives an idea of the music and style of our dance...

Historical Context - Question 2

Research Shakespeare's life- find out what his origins are, his family, his relationships, the world that he lived in and the questions surrounding his work (did he write all his plays? etc) 

Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford upon-Avon, Warwickshire. His birth date is unknown, but he was christened on 26th April 1564. Shakespeare's father was a successful  was a glove-maker and wool trader and his mother was the daughter of a farmer. When Shakespeare was four, his father became the made mayor of Stratford. He was the third of eight children, however he grew up as the oldest because his two older sisters were killed by the plague, which wiped out plague killed about 200 people in Stratford in 1564. 

Shakespeare went to the grammer school in Startford, called King's New School. Education for boys consisted of learning to read, speak and write in Latin. They would also learn history by memorising and performing scenes from the past, helping him with his theatrical career. His father had financial and social difficulties, which meant that he had to be taken out of school when he was about 14 or 15.

When he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway who was 26 and the daughter of a local farmer. Six months after they were married, Anne gave birth to their daughter, Susanna, then two years later they had twins, Hamnet and Judith. For the first part of their married life, they would have lived in Shakespeare's house with his parents. Later they moved to New Place, a large house in Stratford, however Shakespeare spent most of his time away from them, in London. 

When Shakespeare was in London he started writing and by 1592, several of his plays had been put on stage, including Henry VI,  which was performed at the Rose theatre. He wrote 40 plays during his career. He had rival playwrights from more educated backgrounds, who thought he was reaching above his ranks. He also wrote poems and in 1906 he had a book of 154 sonnets published. He was also a part owner of a theatre company called 'The Lord Chamberlain’s Men' and by 1599, he partly owned the Globe theatre. 

After the year of 1913, he began to spend less time in London and more time in Stratford. He made a will and left everything to his daughter, saying that she should leave his estate to her first born son, but she never had a son. It isn't known exactly how Shakespeare died, but he was very sick and eventually died on the 23rd of April 1616. He is buried in Holy Trinity church in Stratford-Upon-Avon. 

Historical context - Question 1

QUESTION: What sense do you get of what life was like in Elizabethan England? Try to include information on: The population, entertainment, religion, superstition, money, jobs, medicine, theatre.




In the Elizabethan times, there was a very clear class divide. Either you were very wealthy, possibly a member of the royal family, or you were poor, living off a very small wage. People living in poverty would often live dotted around the countryside, labouring on nearby farms to earn their money. The families of these labourers would have to live in small, dark houses, often made up of just one room. These houses would normally hold about seven or eight people. Living conditions were poor with damp, earth floors, smoke filling the space and draughty windows allowing the cold in. It was difficult to find work, because labourers were often only employed on a casual basis, so there was no stability. People would have to go from farm to farm looking for work, usually getting turned down. Life was very difficult, especially if you had a family to provide for. 

Rich people in the Elizabethan times often held a high positioned job, such as a sheriff, MP or magistrate and were known as landed gentry. The landed gentry were elected to fill the house off commons and they had huge power. The homes of the rich were grand and often decorated with expensive things, such as carpets, portraits, mirrors and calved wood. They would be rich enough to employ servants, ranging anywhere from two to twenty, depending on how rich you were. Cleanliness was very important to the wealthy, they would stay clean by keeping their clothes washed and changing their undergarments every day. Perfumes were used to keep the smell of skin, hair and clothes pleasant. 

For entertainment, people would often go to watch plays. Shakespeare made going to the theatre very popular in this period. The theatre was very different to how it is now, there was very little set and costume. The actors had to do everything themselves because there wasn't a director and thee were no stage directions. The theatre was very important to people and they would sit or stand for hours watching a play, dedicating their whole Sunday to the theatre. Another form of entertainment was something called 'bear baiting', where a bear was tied to a post and dogs were released who try to attack the bear. People would make bets on who would win the fight. Queen Elizabeth was very keen on this sport, she loved it so much that she forbid plays to be on a Thursdays, so that people could enjoy bear baiting.  


The two major religions in the Elizabethan era were Catholic and Protestant religions. It was not a crime to be catholic, but there was no legal way for Catholics to practice their face. Queen Elizabeth was a protestant and she made protestantism as the official religion. When she first ruled the throne, she tried to tolerate Catholics and allowed the practice of the religion. But as her reign continued, punishment for being a catholic became worse and the execution of priests become popular. 

Research- 1940's fashion

In the 1940's, woman's fashion became more military because of the second world war. The padded shoulders on their dresses were more masculine, but also created a certain shape that was considered desirable. The broad shoulders highlighted the tight waist band, making the figure an 'hourglass' shape. 

Because of the war, there was a shortage of fabric. Strict fabric rationing meant that dresses had to be made shorter, becoming knee length, as appose to down to the calf, which was how they were in the 1930's. 

The neck lines on these dresses revealed very little skin. They were modest, with no cleavage. They were often a 'v' or cross front neckline and a lot of the dresses would have collars. 

Before the war fabric choice was very limited and dresses often had to be plain, dull colours. However in the second half of the 40's, more varied, colourful and patterned fabrics became available. After the hardship of the war, women embraced being able to dress in more exciting clothes.  

Plus size fashion became more prominent than it had ever done before. A lot of the dresses didn't suit women who didn't have the ideal 'hour glass' figure, so departments stores created a 'Stout' clothing line, which included clothes more faltering to a fuller figure.