Thanks heaps for those mynameisgone Would u happen to have any notes on the Queen Lere production though, coz the info Finlay provides in the site is pretty generic. Here's some I found in case anyone needs it (but I think the 2002 production on which these notes r based is very different to the 2004 prodcution).....if anyone else has some notes on Queen Lere and it's techniques etc it would be much appreciated.
MEGAN FINLAY – CUT THEATRE PRODUCTION (2002)
Opening Scene: (Act 1 sc. i)
Techniques used:
Mixed Media form: Images projected onto the back of the set, which is all white, allowing
Costume: White → stark and bear, exemplifying the cold and disillusioned Lear world.
Music: Modern orchestral music, sense of ceremony and royalty.
Lighting: Floodlights light the background, highlighting all characters. Giving all characters equal weighting, thus all have importance.
Choreography: When Lear demands expressions of love, daughters are lined in front of him, similar to a judge and perpetrators to a crime.
Dialogue:
Lear: royalty and narcissistic tone.
Regan and Gonerill: exaggerated and melodramatise – but toned down relative to
other productions.
Cordelia: uncomfortably and straightforwardly ‘nothing’.
Effect of techniques and values presented (in new context):
- The speeches of Goneril and Regan are toned down, reasonable and logical.
- Structure highlights Lear’s mistreatment of his daughters; thus the actions of abandoning him are justified.
- Values presented demonstrate the influence of context and ideologies of the director following women’s liberation – as dealt with by the feminist perspective.
- Removal of animal imagery contrasts to Shakespeare’s reversion to illustrating the two daughters as masculine and ‘unnatural’. In the original Goneril was described as a ‘detested kite’ whose ingratitude is ‘Sharper than a serpent’s tooth’ and her face being ‘wolvish’.
Storm Scene: (Act 3 sc. iv)
Techniques used:
Visual: Electrostatic images presented on the back of the stage - symbolising pandemonium in both nature and Lear’s mind.
Lighting: no light at the beginning of the scene, but as the scene progresses light is amplified, signifying the knowledge he has progressively regathered.
Music: heavy metal music combined with sounds of a fearsome storm brewing and creating havoc. Sets tone and atmosphere.
Choreography: Lear and Kent (because the fool is omitted) are predominantly on the floor in this scene – symbolising their weakness against nature. As the scene progresses, Lear begins to stand and find his feet – indicative of his regain of control and the insight he has gathered after being enlightened from the mayhem on the heath.
Effect of techniques and values presented (in new context):
- Fool has been omitted → Finlay feels that his lines have outdated and that they are not humorous in the modern context. The obscurity and dullness of his lines are not receptive by modern audiences.
- Omission of the Fool will allow the narrative to be placed to the forefront, thus emphasising Lear’s descent into madness. Clearly, this emphasises the Aristotelian interpretation whereby Lear, who is over higher social status, suffers a catastrophe and eventually recognises his appalling state of affairs → crux of Aristotelian tragedy.
