Modern Shakespeare

Taking strength from my previous idea, and the research recently done on the online contribution of the younger generation to reinterpret, I tried my own version of a Shakespeare character. I use a specific monologue as inspiration and make it my own, trying to use my own life experiences to fuel the 'conversation' as it were. I guess there is possibly an element of avoiding the issue of location with this basic spin of the idea as it is completely based online and works through social networking and recognition and sharing with the younger audience through these mediums.

Here is me being Juliet (apologies for the acting!), using a piece of the monologue from the balcony scene:

The full Shakespearian monologue is thus:

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Surprises: Pop-up Performances

A secret pop-up event taking place over the period of late August and beginning of September all over London, as part of the festival atmosphere. In this case actors will be "flash-mobbing" one to one or with the public in surprise locations and times and then mingle back into the crowd once it is over.

As stated on the 'Mayor of London Presents' website:

Get ready to be Shakespeared. Characters from some of the Bard’s most loved works will soon be appearing in a crowd near you. Performing brief, one-to-one or flashmob moments, Puck, Hamlet and others will be surprising passers by as they emerge from the crowd, perform and disappear the way they came.

Created by award-winning actor Mark Rylance and directed by Jonathan Moore, the cast will be played by 50 actors aged 17 to 70, who have been chosen by Shakespeare's Globe, including deaf and disabled artists.

The exact times and locations of the performances will be kept secret until the day they happen.

I may not be able to catch these performances as I am in France for pretty much the whole duration of this event! Which is really annoying because I may have been able to try and talk to these actors, see how they translated Shakespeare, whether they modernised him, how they interacted with the public, and most importantly, the choice of their LOCATIONS.

See the web page HERE, and HERE

An Article by Rhiannon Jones

PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE HERE

On MyShakespeare there is an article by Rhiannon Jones discussing the affect of Web 2.0 and the new habits of the younger generation and it's affect on Shakespeare. She discusses how the fleeting expression of drama through the stage and theatre is lost on these platforms, however it has allowed people to re-visit Shakespeare's characters and understand them in a new light.

There is a growing trend by young people, (a younger audience), and women as the focus in this article, to re-establish Shakespeare's heroines in a way that identifies them with themselves and their lives today. As stated by Rhiannon,

"The online world is allowing young women to identify more intensely with Shakespeare’s characters, through encountering them in a space which is not demarcated as highbrow, or even separate from their day to day lives, they are able to reappropriate and own Shakespeare in a new way." Jones, R. 2012.

The content that is being produced, and given as examples by Rhiannon, are images on Pintrest, and various video/ filmic interpretations. You can find the links to these pieces in the original article (link at the start of this post). A lot of them are quite filmic, but the example with women portraying their own Ophelia by laying in the bath and contemplating their mortality is something that is realistic, simple and completely relatable.

This proves the relevance of my project direction, and kind of shows that my idea (that I sort of had :-( ) has already been done. Perhaps I should not worry so much about the location in the real world and just join all this existing content with my own creation and interpretation of Shakespeare, which was going to be the end aim/ result anyway....?

Harking on an Old Idea

Out of desperation I tried thinking back to one of my old concepts that I originally left with at the end of Unit Two. This was the simple idea of using Shakespeare's original text projected around real people to show the relationships between the language and current human relationships, and that it can be made relevant now.

I tried to go out amongst the public (as it were) and secretly film groups of people, in the hope that I could later add text as if it was projection around those people. (It was daylight so it obviously isn't a realistic representation of how projection would work). I added text using After Effects, though it doesn't represent the movement and look of projected text. I think it was just to try and give an idea of how it could look with different scenarios, different characters from Shakespeare, from clips of real people.

1 - ANTHONY

2 - JULIET & NURSE

3 - HERO & URSULA

4 - QUINCE & BOTTOM

5 - HAMLET

6 - MERCUTIO & BENVOLIO

A Problem With Location

Recently had a informal chat/tutorial time with one of my course mates, to discuss both our ideas and brain storm and generally help out.

Unfortunately, after describing my idea, the problem with the "precision" of the locations the idea will be displayed really showed. There was no point to just being able to project the content anywhere. It was suggested that the content had to be relevant to the location, tailer made to it. My idea as it is currently doesn't do this, it is all about the portable randomness and potential of where the projection can be shown. Of course I would try to project where my intended audience would see it but the intention was that it could go anywhere, an interactive, portable poster. But this doesn't make sense and doesn't achieve all the potential and aims needed when thinking of location. It just doesn't make sense.

So now I'm rather stuck. Completely stuck.

Thoughts on the RSC Interview

I could have asked more questions about the video mapping techniques they used on the building, which company did they use, what were their aims for it etc etc.

However I did find some of the things mentioned helpful for partially validating my project ideas and direction:

- the fact that they are using materials like projection and video mapping.
- their belief that these new platforms and marketing methods not always having to be "theatrical" as there is no way to replicate live performance and it's all about giving a taste of what theatre could be like to an audience who wouldn't necessarily go to it.
- that they would target the slightly older, younger generation rather than GCSE age because of the simple fact that they would bring in more revenue. This is good for my idea Four because of its lack of direction towards school teenagers compared to the other ideas.
- they haven't really tried that much in the way of taking their marketing initiatives out into public areas other than playing their trailers on outdoor screens.

Questions now are:

- Should I change my target audience in my brief?
Well the content should still be relevant to any of the younger generation, the only difference is the way it is exposed to them. The content is what drives the audience, who actually is the audience is based on chance.

- How can I improve my locations? As (based on feedback from course mate), the ones in the example give off more of a homeless charity campaign about them, which isn't my intention. More vibrant and busy places need to be found?
It seems that this is one of the next things to be concerned about. I should put more thought into this or make the effort to go location hunting for the ideal projection platforms around the city.

RSC Phone Interview

I managed to speak to Laura McMillan, from the Marketing Department, over the phone. I asked her some of the questions I had prepared earlier, and also to try and see if I could get a bit more perspective on my idea/ project in general. I will highlight the main points of the interview that proved most interesting.

Click HERE for the full transcript of the interview.

Q 
Are the theatres actively trying to use these new platforms and technology to attract the younger generation?
A 
Absolutely! Theatres have to get Arts Council Funding. They hit targets of getting a certain amount of young people in.
This generation will become their members in 5, 10 or 20 years time. They bring in the revenue.

Q
What new tech have the RSC used/ will use?
A
Attempted QR codes and augmented reality but it didn't really work.
We did lazer imaging on the building and that went down really well (video mapping). We are looking to use that on the inside of the theatre as well.
We had an interactive word installation, you touched a word and it would expand.

Q
The online platforms and new technology loses that element of performance and live action of the theatre. How do they maintain the theatrical appearance and feel?
A
About giving people a taste of what theatre could be like.
For people that wouldn't necessarily come to the theatre.
It's easier to view the trailer so you can connect with people that way.
It doesn't need to have anything to do with the theatre. It's literally just to give you a feel for what the show is.
Anything that is more interactive is really popular.

"You are never going to completely translate the experience of theatre no matter how much money you spend. The important thing is to go the other way and say "look, we know you're not going to be there, but this is the experience and you're going to love it.""

Q
Which age range is your priority at the moment? Teens at GCSE or young adults?
A
The slightly older ones because they have more disposable income, they likely to come with their friends, by a drink, go to the show.
We wouldn't target the GCSE group, we would target their schools.

Q
Tried using projection outside the theatre?
A
We had the trailers playing outside on the big screen. Taking the to play on large screens at the London Mela.

Altering the Brief (based on idea 4)

AIMS/ MESSAGE

- Instead of demystifying the theatre, this idea works more with the idea of Shakespeare's work, which, as a marketing tool, could lead back to the theatre and will simply spark initial curiosity.
- Maybe instead of showing the "kinetic" side of theatre, this project would probably promote new materials of theatre that are being used more.

AUDIENCE

- This idea would actually help the audience consider "tougher points of Shakespeare" (as stated in original brief) by seeing him and his characters in a new light. So that point can still be maintained.
- Again, not sure it really highlights a huge amount for the theatre, apart from the intended performance aspect and being sponsored/inspired by a theatre company.
--> THEREFORE it is more about teaching them more on Shakespeare than about going to the theatre, although it should still promote aspects of theatre.

LOCATION FOR CREATION

- This idea bases it not really in schools anymore. It's more general, atmospheric places. It should be local places with no pre-determined connotations to them.
- Studios will still probably/ maybe need to be used.

LOCATION FOR DISTRIBUTION

- Not so much pressure to create and publicise my project in schools now as the location for creation has changed.
- Initial "distribution" is the projections themselves as that is the main content made and in question. The next stage of distribution will be the filming of audience reaction, this will then, as stated in the original brief, to be edited and distributed via different platforms.

PROBLEMS TO SOLVE

- Still have to figure out if this approach can "look"theatrical more than film, in some way?

Favourite Idea?

I'm currently leaning towards IDEA FOUR.

This is not just because it is the most approachable to be actually made by me, but also because it appeals to these aspects of the brief:

- It has the most appeal as a marketing campaign,
- elements of performance of the theatre as the actors address the audience,
- makes Shakespeare more relevant by basing the performances on his characters and their situations, but making them sound relevant to current issues.

Only thing that has changed is the accuracy of the intended audience and therefore the effectiveness of the brief and possibly the outcome of the project (?). It is still aimed at a younger audience, especially if the actors are themselves teenagers, but the locations are more general, less specific and therefore the audience is not guaranteed.

A slight altering of the brief is probably needed to make this idea qualify.

IDEA FOUR - Public Portrayals

This idea is about projecting in public spaces at night time, which is to allow them to show up (obviously) and also add to the atmosphere of the pieces shown. The projections will be of Shakespeare characters but played by young people in modern dress, presenting a personalised monologue that can relate to a younger audience. I can imagine the re-creation of Shakespeare's characters and what the actors need to say to be a collaboration between me and the actor and how we understand what Shakespeare is trying to say.

OPHELIA

This image is supposed to show a female character projected onto a tree in the park outside my flat. She could re-connect and re-establish one of Ophelia's monologues, madness scenes etc.

The characters and sections of the stories shown should be presented and directed at the audience, whoever may happen to be around to see them. The project could reflect the approach of other, more 

charitable campaigns which also use characters to directly approach their audience. A message could be displayed, at the end of the projection, to explain the character's inspiration from Shakespeare and the marketing aims of the piece.

HAMLET

This area was a corner of a street in Peckham. This character could be Hamlet, who has a lot of famous monologues, and could be re-depicting these. His "to be, or not to be" speech is a discussion about the point of life, he is considering suicide, this can be to light common concerns today about teenage depression etc. It touches on these issues but doesn't need to be ruled by them.

The locations of these projections are to be around local areas, whether densely populated or not. I know it's important to consider and reach the audience, however I think the content does that, and the location lends to the atmosphere of the projections and their subject matter. Locations can be the local parks, street corners, Heygate Estate, maybe even more central areas. The same pieces could be shown in many places so that different audience reactions can be recorded. 

THE MONTIQUES

This photo is bases under a bridge around Heygate. It tries to show a group situation this time, which might not involve the same audience to the same extent as they would be dialoguing amongst each other, but it could be more dynamic and visually attention grabbing.

NEGATIVES

- Doesn't really aim toward a definite audience as decided or outlined by my "brief".

- If I have to include a message at the end to clarify its purpose, it may make the content and piece disjointed.

- If the characters are too modern (appearance and language) there would not be enough Shakespeare in it, which is the whole point of this project in the first place!?

- Not enough theatrics involved. No one would consider the theatre?

POSITIVES

- It is based around being shown in public, with random viewer responses which is what I was interested in.

- The darkness would add more atmosphere to what is shown (ideally).

- The content can be more malleable as a marketing opportunity, which is another large part of my 'brief'.

- Visual impact can be more interesting.

- This idea is possible vaguely do-able (by me!!!)!!!

IDEA THREE - Narrative

This idea is to create a series of short films (cinematic approach) that are storyboarded, with narrative and actors, to help illustrate the common themes of Shakespeare, such as love, hate, jealousy, depression, greed, pride, so in this case the aspects of human nature which I am trying so hard to focus on! Projection will be used as an extra material during filming, projecting the text onto the characters, most likely in the original language of Shakespeare as so much has been explained and modernised through the visuals and circumstances shown anyways. So, this idea is supposed to present trailers of promotion to Shakespeare which illustrate current visuals that match and de-mystify the language projected.

Here is an example story board of a scenario set within a class room environment. A boy glances over a gril he fancies in the class, whilst trying to write his work. The text of Romeo is projected, almost like he is thinking those words.

Another scenario I tried to show as a short of a school gang fight which could text projected around them (artistically edited and framed in the shots of course!) for example, from the fight scene (again) from Romeo and Juliet, with Mercucio and Tybalt.

PROBLEMS

- It doesn't really allow for the hap-hazzard nature I wanted to try and achieve with this project or projection as a material. Maybe I could try and find random shots of just ordinary people out in public spaces that best represent these scenarios and then put the text over the top with after effects?

- Even with the original film-style concept, it might be tricky to use and apply projection. I may have to use After Effects to overlay the text after filming, which defeats the main interest and purpose of my project no??

- Doesn't say much about theatre and the stage as it is produced for the output of film and TV, not based on stage.

IDEA TWO - Posters

This uses posters, life size or almost, with an actor/character representing a Shakespearian character. They would be teenagers in modern clothing, such as school uniform, and the posters could be put in the ideal locations to directly reach their audience, such as school corridors or similar hang-outs of 'the young' (as it were).

The idea is that the image on the poster will come to life through projection. An image of the poster image will be projected over the top of the poster character but then continues to come to life, move and act out a scene or monologue inspired by the original language of Shakespeare but modernised.

The projection of the actor is intended to move around the walls outside the poster perimeters because, the poster is a physical object which can't move or change so shouldn't be projected over, and also because the more animation and dynamics the actors can provide, the more it will represent the performance of the theatre and attract the interest of a more demanding younger audience.

I also imagine that there could be two posters located pretty close to each other, with different characters on, from the same play, which can then come alive, and interact with each other, such as Mercucio and Tybalt in the fight scene from Romeo & Juliet. (Mock up image uses girls when it's supposed to be boys! sorry!).

PROBLEMS

- Not sure it displays the full relevance of Shakespeare's work in terms of his human nature apart from the fact that it will be modernised so the audience might understand and relate to it more. Perhaps things like the location of the posters will play a big part, eg. school yards for fight scenes, class room for politics and bullying, 'bike shed' for love meetings.

- Doesn't give a huge feeling of the theatre in the concept and output, appart from possible addressing direct to the audience....?

- Am I over complicating an originally simple concept of just using text!?! Does targeting a teenage audience over complicate things for me???

IDEA ONE - Installation (yep, still just thinking of ideas)

An installation or 'art piece' shown in an existing room, that requires its own space rather than being put around amongst the public. It is a projection, that either loops and repeats itself or works on a timed basis, of characters, in modern dress and language (which isn't shown very well in the image mock-ups!) playing out a famous scene from one of Shakespeare's works. For example, the fight scene from Romeo and Juliet, as it is a dynamic scene, which aims to address and participate with the audience in some way.

Theatre, especially Shakespeare's writing, often involves the audience, whether through monologues or in just how the actor interprets the writing and uses the audience as a prop or reference.  I have had this experience a couple of times when attending shows at the RST. The idea is about creating a scene that involves and interacts with the audience within the scenario acted out. This may hopefully address the level of understanding the audience will have of the story, through the participation, and allow them to recognise the current-ness of Shakespeare.

PROBLEMS

- The element of trying to interact with the audience could just confuse them rather than involve them, it's a tricky balance. You don't want the audience to wonder at what they are watching too much.

- It doesn't really scream relevance of Shakespeare to current human nature, I don't think audiences will make that connection.

Analysis of Ranjit Atwal's Response

Straight away from the answers gained about their current marketing tools, like everything I have discovered, Roundhouse Theatre is no different in terms of the use of all the marketing materials that are available to them. This includes, online platforms, social media, to more traditional print and mail. They are also aware of the more unorthodox methods of 'gorilla' approaches to the pubic. Stating briefly that the successful social media campaigns has an element of involvement with the public.

These modern multi platforms help them target their younger audience (11-25 year olds) to whom they have a huge commitment and passion to targeting. The Roundhouse Theatre works with many youth organisations  and control a creative centre for this age group. When asked about school children vs young adults as an audience, Ranjit stated that school years are the best age to involve a new generation with theatre, young adults tend to be harder to reach but there are many theatres and facilities devoted to participating and engaging this age range. Perhaps this is because they are capable of more based on their responses, and if it is difficult to target them would it be more interesting to produce something in my project that tackles this issue?

The marketing for the "Dark Side of Love" used many social media platforms and companies to help create the buzz and reviews and PR for it (eg. The Space, Time Out, LIFT2012). It was a more unusual production aimed at a slightly older 'younger' audience who would be more inclined to see this type of work. To make the content and language of Shakespeare modern, it was a working process over 9 months with the cast of 11-25 year olds, also keeping in mind the objectives of the WSF and London 2012 Festival and RSC officials.

Response from The Roundhouse Theatre

I finally got a response from one of the theatres I have tried to contact in relation to my project, to try and gain more understanding of the market place and audience the theatres are currently trying to work towards.

The response was from Ranjit Atwal, the Marketing Manager and Performance Arts, and various others from the marketing and creative team at the Roundhouse Theatre. He was also involved with the marketing campaign for "The Dark Side of Love", seen and discussed in one of my earlier posts.

THE RESPONSE

Marketing
What promotional methods do you currently use? 

We use a marketing and PR mix that is tailored to a specfic campaign from direct mail, e-marketing, social media, tube, print  and digital advertising

Have you tried using "gorilla" style marketing approaches outside of the theatre walls, e.g. go out on the streets to use promotional methods. 

Yes we have used ‘gorilla’ style marketing and programming from Talking Doorsteps which iare pop up spoken word events to working with street teams to promote a show.

Do you know about the online platforms or groups that try to make Shakespeare current (Chicken Shop Shakespeare, MyShakespeare etc.) 

We have a database of bloggers, key tweeters that we update on a regular database however this is an area that os continually expanding.  

Are these new platforms of marketing (online video trailers etc) successful in bringing in new customers? If so, any specific age ranges? 

It is hard to measure ‘success’ specifically if a video trailer brings a certain type or age group of audience however if we look at why people book then we we know that audiences like to to get a sense of what they are coming to see, experience etc. We track all our video and digital content so can tell how many people view, listen to it and generally content of this type people

For a new marketing tool, would interaction be an important element? 

Not sure I completely understand what you mean but if you are referring to engagment then that underpins the most successful social media campaigns  


Audience
What age range audience do you currently try to target? 

As a multi artform venue with music gigs, to circus to childrens festive show we have a wide audience base

What age ranges are the most important to target? 

We have a commitment to working with 11-25s across all our work with our creative centre for 11-25s 

How are you currently targeting a younger audience (School children and young adults)? 

We currently target them using a mix of marketing methods from facebook, twitter, e-marketing, print, advertising depending on what we are marketing, we then work with over 3,000 11-25s each year which means we cross promote when they are in the building, through our designated 11-25s e-list. We work with other youth organisations to target and cross promote work. 

In your opinion, which age range is more receptive or beneficial in targeting, school children or young adults? 

It really depends what you are offering, if we are talking about theatre then school years are an opportunity for schools to really get young people passionate about theatre and theatre making. Targeting young adults to theatre is considered to be one of the harder to reach audience segement, however many venues put particpation with this age at the core of what they do and this helps in building and engaing younger audiences.

On "The Dark Side of Love"

What did you use to market this show other than videos for the Roundhouse website?

Digital campaign lead with strong video content placed on platforms such as Time Out, social media campaign, we worked with The Space who created the final video trailer which has it’s own deisgnated audience base. Direct mail campaign as the show was part of World Shakespeare Festival and LIFT2012, print and digital advertising, youth launch event to get young people excited about production, recipraical marketing with other organisations, print distribution and exit flyering at other targeted events, contacting and sending information to other Brazilian orgainsations, direct mail campaign to schools, colleges and univerisities and working with a PR agency to secure press previews, interviews with director and cast and reviews.

    

What age range were you aiming for?

Generally the show was suitable for a 12+ audience, however we were targeting a non traditional pan London theatre going audience, mid 20s to late 30s who go to see more unusual work.

What was the intention of using materials such as projection and sound and lighting in the production? What did they have over more basic/ traditional methods (when deciding to use them)? 

That is really an artistic decision that came from the producers and director.  

Who was in charge of making Shakespeare's material 'current', and why did they want to update the words? 

The production came about from dialogues with the Roundhouseand RSC with international aspirations in mind as the production was part of WSF and London 2012 Festival (see attached programme for statements from RSC, RH etc)

How did they tackle the issue of making Shakespeare current? 

Through working with a cast of 11-25s that were involved throughout the entire devising process of 9 months.

Would you consider taking elements of the show outside the theatre's environment, directly to the public audience? 

Yes this is something we have done previously but it sometimes depends on time commitments of the cast and creative time.