Hood River Shakespeare

Camp Willie

2009-03-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

Shakespeare for Actors 13 & Up

Students will learn to break down and understand Shakespeare's text, open up and work with the physical mechanics of the human voice, and apply these tools in the performance of short scenes and sonnets. Shakespeare wrote for actors. It is hands down the best way to gain insight into his work. And did I mention it is a lot of fun?

Class culminates in a public performance and requires a full two week commitment Each student is required to provide a parent or other adult to help supervise one afternoon session during the class.

Limited to 12 students.

Class meets August 3-14, Mon- Fri, 9 am -3 pm (includes an hour lunch break)

Performance: Saturday, August 15, 1pm.

"Aye, There's the Vein!"

2008-04-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

Just a short note to say what a great success Free Willy was, and how extraordinarily proud I am of all my little thespians! Last night in front of surprising large audience-- who were all those people?-- Every single actor took a leap and landed on their feet!

You all served the text, the audience followed the story and they were clearly engaged every step of the way. Bravo!

It has been my honor and pleasure to work with each of you and I thank you all for your hard work. I hope you had fun. I know I did.

althea

Are You Ready for a Heightened Expereience?

2008-04-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

Free Willy takes flight at 7 pm at The Columbia Center for the Arts Theatre.

Students arrive at 5 pm as usual for last class/dress rehearsal. Helpers arrive around 6:30. And at 7 pm we take off!

Great Poetry + Great Courage = Great Drama

Your Job This Week

2008-04-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

You need to continue to meet with your scene partner and read together. You need to continue to read out loud on your own without your partner. None of these scenes requires more then 5-8 minutes to read out loud. Heck, you can do that at least once a day. Right?

Come Monday I expect everyone to be FLUENT with their scenes. You don't need to memorize it, but you do need to be able to navigate the text--- by this, I mean you need to know what it is you are saying and be able to say it without stumbling over word choice or pronunciation. If you have questions about what is going on in your scene, what a word or phrase means or how it is properly pronounced, write it down and make sure we address it in class.

I look forward to seeing how far everyone has come by next Monday!

Flyer for Free Willy!

2008-04-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

See what seven "regular people" can do with scenes from one of Shakespeare's most problematic plays, Measure for Measure, and eight weeks hard labor guided by workshop leader, Althea Hukari. Students ranging from age 17 to 70 will tackle their first major Shakespearean roles before your very eyes. Great courage + great poetry = great drama. All from the workshop that dares to ask: Are you ready for a heightened experience?

Everything You May Have Missed This Week

2008-03-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

Scene Assignments

#1, Act 2, Scene 1
Esculas..... Sydney
Elbow....... Andy
Pompey..... Leith
Froth..........Jeanette
Angelo.......John

#2, Act 2, Scene 2
Angelo.....John
Isabella.... Gale
Lucio.......Leith

#3, Act 2, Scene 4
Angelo....Tom
Isabella....Jeanette
Servant.....Sydney

Each student is welcome to work on a Sonnet as well,
as their own time restraints permit.

For next week:

1) Familiarity With the Text. Memorize or not, you should be very familiar with the text.

Ways To Do That: Read it out loud over and over again. Get someone to read it with you-- ideally of course,you get together with your partner(s). Record the text and listen to it over and over. I had an acting friend who claimed that 23 -- or was it 27-- was the magic number. He said if practiced a text 23 times it stuck in his memory. Personally, I never kept count, but I know reading out loud, bit by bit and then chunk by chunk and then larger chunk by larger chunk always worked for me.
Pitfalls To Avoid: Not doing it. It's inconvenient, you're busy, you can't get together with your partner-- whatever. Do not let this stop you. I had another friend who said: Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Here, here.
The Other Big Pitfall: Doing it the same way each time. (Unless what you choose is a monotone.) Falling into a predictable rhythm or melody or WAY to do it. Keep changing it up. Do it with a funny accent. Try it while you do something else-- something physical. Throw a ball back and forth, take a vigorous walk, do jumping jacks.

2) Character Analysis

Look Through the Text of the Whole Play:
1) What is said about the character? (Consider the source.)
2) What does the character say about him/ herself?
3) What does the character DO? What actions do they take? A list will do nicely.

In This Scene:
1) What is the character's greatest wish or need?
2) What is their greatest fear?
3) How do they want the world to see them?
4) Hidden Truth: Something true about them that they do not want the world to see?
5) Essential line of text: Something this character says in this scene that strikes you as the essence of who they are.

Opportunity Knocketh

2008-03-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Students,

We've been invited to be part of a Reading Series happening this spring and summer through Solo Gallery in downtown Hood River. The date they would like us to fill is April 17th-- the Thursday after our last class-- or we could ask for the next Thursday instead-- which would be the 24th, the day after Shakespeare's birthday.

We could draw on the Sonnets as well as the scenes we've worked on from Measure for Measure. I would join you in reading, and could maybe scare up some other volunteers to join us as well.

What think you(se)?

Fearless Leader

Choices, Choices....

2008-03-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Have you sent me your choices for roles in our four scenes from Measure for Measure?

#1: Act 2, Scene 1
Escalus, Elbow, Pompey, Froth (smaller), Angelo (smaller)

#2: Act 2, Scene 2
Angelo, Isabella, Provost (small), Lucio (small),

#3: Act 2, Scene 4
Angelo, Isabella, Servant (small)

#4: Act 3, Scene 1
Claudio, Isabella, Duke (silent)

By my count, there are 15 roles-- 9 larger and 6 smaller ones. With 7 students that means everyone needs to take on two roles and someone will need to tuck in a third role-- maybe the silent Duke in the final scene. Plus we'll need two plucky volunteers to take on two of the "larger" roles, requiring a larger commitment.

I would like to see Tom and John take on Angelo in Scene #2 or #3 with Isabella, and Andy take on Claudio in Scene #4. That leaves the four ladies with three Isabella scenes to chose from-- plus we need to fill out Scene #1, where Syd has announced a preference for Escalus.

Please send me your thoughts and or preferences so we can move forward on our great adventure!

Yours Truly,
a

Measure for Measure Title Taken from the Bible:

2008-03-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged and the measure you give will be the measure you get" (Matthew 7.1 and 7.2).

This quotation from Christ's Sermon on the Mount, stating generally that each individual will be judged as harshly as he has judged others, implies that mercy and human sympathy should temper justice.

"And he said to them, 'Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you'" (Mark 4.24)

cliffsnotes.com

Hold yer Horses!

2008-03-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hold on, Everybody! Hold off on your upcoming home work assignments for Monday! I am rethinking how we should go about skinning this here Shakespeare cat. And I want your input on Monday night.

I am thinking about going forward with my original ( and currently scuttle-butted) plan of working on scenes from only one play rather than branching out and doing scenes from threel plays. After reading parts of Measure for Measure together on Thursday evening , I am reconsidering our battle plan. It might serve us better to focus our energies on one play rather then scatter it among three.

This means focusing on the three "great scenes" from M4M that we read Thursday, casting three (or more) Isabellas, two Antonios, one Claudio... and, well, probably doubling up some duties to see if we can't make one of the "comic" scenes funny.

As I say: Think on it! Answer me come Monday at the hour of five!

Your fearless (if fickle) leader,
AK Huk'n Stuff

And when are we painting your house, John asks?

2008-03-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

Hello all.

Althea, John has been very sick - still is, but has moved to the sofa. He will not be coming to class tonight.

I'll be there. I need clarification and guidance on what is what with the different metonymy and syneddoche and such...never was a literary scholar. so hope you'll help us this evening.

See ya,
Gale

THE SONNETS, Part 2 (Cue "Mission Impossible" Theme Music)

2008-02-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

Your assignment for next Monday, should you choose to accept it:
1) Put your sonnet in your own words, line by line.
2) Sum up the sonnet in a single sentence of your own words. What is it's essential message?
3) Look through your sonnet carefully and mark (circle, underline, whatever works for you) Shakespeare's use of the following figures of speech (a verbal expression in which words or sounds are arranged in a particular way to achieve a particular effect.) :

Alliteration
The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words. Some famous examples of alliteration are tongue twisters such as She sells seashells by the seashore and Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Antithesis
A figure of speech in which words and phrases with opposite meanings are balanced against each other. An example of antithesis is "To err is human, to forgive, divine."This is actually a double antithesis, to err is set up against to forgive, and human set up against divine.
Assonance
The repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, especially vowel sounds, as in the tongue twister Moses supposes his toeses are roses.

Consonance
The repetition of similar consonant sounds, especially at the ends of words, as in lost and past or confess and dismiss.

Metaphor
A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another, or by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word that would be expected. Some examples of metaphors: the world's a stage, he was a lion in battle, drowning in debt, and a sea of troubles.
Metonymy
A figure of speech in which one word is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. For example, in the expression The pen is mightier than the sword, the word pen is used for "the written word," and sword is used for "military power."

Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of onomatopoeic words are buzz, hiss, zing, pop, splat, thump, and tick-tock. "The moan of doves in immemorial elms,/And murmuring of innumerable bees" from Tennyson's Come Down, O Maid. The repeated "m/n" sounds reinforce the idea of "murmuring" by imitating the hum of insects on a warm summer day.
Personification
A figure of speech in which nonhuman things or abstract ideas are given human attributes: the sky is crying, dead leaves danced in the wind, blind justice.

Simile
A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word "like" or "as." An example of a simile using like occurs in Langston Hughes's poem Harlem: "What happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?"
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used to designate the whole or the whole is used to designate a part. For example, the phrase "all hands on deck" means "all men on deck," not just their hands.

4) Read the play Measure for Measure. Just do your best. Definitely read one of the summaries (all the way through, Leith!) Think about Who These Character Are so that you can bring a dish INSPIRED by one of them to our M4M Potluck, March 6, 6pm, Althea's house! Map/Directions will be provided at Monday's class

Good luck everyone. I know you can do it. No need to self-destruct. See you on Monday!

Althea

We Happy Few (Henry V, Act IV, sc 3)

2008-02-24T10:19:00.000-08:00

As of Sunday morning, we are seven:

Jeanette Burkhardt
Leith Gaines
Gale Arnold
Sydney Bellamy
Andy Bell
Tom Butler
John Haugse

There are others who have expressed interest, but have not officially signed up nor signed off. (You know who you are...) This leaves 3 possible spaces open for grabs. If you know someone who might like to join us, please invite them to visit this blog and sign up!

For those few, those happy few who have already made the commitment, please prepare your homework and join me to see who shows up Monday evening at 5pm, Columbia Center for the Arts Theatre, 215 Cascade Street, Hood River. I will be there early, and plan to lock the doors at 5 o'clock. If you are arriving late you will need to call my cell: 541-490-3782.

Can't wait to see meet my new "band of brothers" (...and by that, of course, I mean sisters, as well-- the Bard knows not of PC language).

althea

HOMEWORK!

2008-02-20T17:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, my dear ones, there is homework before the first class. Fear Not! It is easy!

1) Read the blog entry "Our First Class" below. Be on time, please. Bring comfy clothes and water, paper, pen.

2) Choose a sonnet that speaks to you. Don't make it hard, just pick one you like. (Tip: You can tell a lot by the first line. Feel free to skim.) There is a link to the full text of all the sonnets in the "links" section, and I have listed some well-known faves by number. (Shakespeare's sonnets don't have titles, they have numbers.) Print out the full text of the sonnet of your choice in a large, clear font so it is easy to read. Bring 2 copies with you to class.

3) Read one of the summaries of Measure for Measure listed in the "links" section, so you have any idea of the story. You are welcome to read the full text of the play (listed under "links" as well) but you don't gotta. Yet.

I am beginning to understand that blogging is difficult for some of you. We will work through this together. My hope is that we can all use this blog as a clearing house for information. That saves me the hassle of leaving the same voice-mail 10 times and/or typing out emails that might not make it through everyone's spam filter. And you can check the blog any time day or night to find out whatever you might need to know about class. Sure sounds good, let's see how it works!

Gale On Board!

2008-02-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

Ok already, I will take the class!
And I already read M4M and am picking out my sonnet!

Gale

Who's in Class?

2008-02-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

Sign up for Shakespeare Without Fear!
Just click on "comments" below, give me your name, phone number, email address, and tell me something about your interest in Shakespeare. I will then issue (or re-issue) your invitation via email to join this blog as a member, so we can all meet "online" between classes.

(Even if you think, "But she knows I am planning to take class--- she must be talking to those other people..." Please, please, please ease my mind and SIGN UP HERE, then respond to the durn blog invite when it comes! How do I know you are out there if I can't hear you breathing? Thanks.)

Feel free to look around the blog while you're here-- there are links to your HOMEWORK for the FIRST NIGHT OF CLASS-- which is MONDAY, FEB. 25th from 5pm-7pm at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River.

Full payment ( $125) is due on or before the first night of class. Your payment secures your place in class. So if you are serious, get that check in the mail, my friend. Mailing address: Althea Hukari, 4665 Kenwood Drive, Hood River, OR, 97031

Looking forward to seeing you all on Monday! Feel free to post any questions here. Thanks!

Our First Class

2008-02-07T10:49:00.000-08:00

Our first meeting is Monday, Feb 25th, 5-7 pm, Theatre in the Columbia Center for the Arts. (I apologize for misdirection on my part about the starting date via recent email!)

Please come on time--early is good. Wear (or bring) soft, comfortable "gym" clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. (No jeans!) Dress in layers in case the room is cold or we get warm from the work. Bring water. You might bring a towel or yoga mat for floor work. And, of course, you'll want some kind of notebook and writing instrument.

BEFORE CLASS:

1) Please choose one of Shakespeare's sonnets that you'd like to work with, and bring TWO easily legible copies of the sonnet with you to class. (You'll find a link to the full text of all the sonnets under the Links sidebar.) You are welcome to choose any sonnet that speaks to you--there are more then a hundred! If you'd like to narrow your options down, here's a list (by number) of some of my favorites:

18, 23, 27, 29, 30, 34, 55, 64, 71, 94, 116, 129, 130, 138, 140, 141, 143, 147

2) Please read your choice of one of the "Scene-by-Scene Summaries of the Play, Measure for Measure" (here after referred to as M4M) listed under the Links sidebar . If you like, you are welcome to read the full text of the play, as well as the commentaries, historical info, anything else you find of interest in the links provided.

Yup, that's right, homework before class even gets started! Just to get you in the Shakespearean frame of mind. As one of my most beloved voice teachers used to say: Are you ready for a heightened experience?

Check Out the Flyer!

2008-02-05T17:09:00.001-08:00

(If you click on the image it will enlarge. Magic!)

Kick the Tires, Baby

2008-02-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

Anyone who was invited to this blog should be able to post on it. In fact, I think until and unless we "close" the blog, ANYONE should be able to post.... Or at least comment. Well, clearly, I am no expert at this stuff, so I would love to hear from you "invitees" just to reassure me that this oh-so-helpful-technology works as it should....

So, please, if you hear me out there, post away!

althea

Welcome, Strangers!

2008-02-04T12:04:00.000-08:00

I'm launching this blog as a way for people interested to exploring Shakespeare in the Columbia Gorge area to get and stay in touch. As some of you know, I have big dreams for an outside Shakespeare-in-the-Parks-like event happening in our area. Someday, maybe soon.

I am also committed to teaching Shakespeare from the inside out-- by that I mean that I've found the most effective way to study these texts is by embodying them. Shakespeare's works were written not to be read, but to be spoken out loud, to be inhabited, to be put into action and shared with an audience. In short, Shakespeare wrote for actors. When you act a Shakespearean text you enter a uniquely intimate relationship with him-- you enter his mind, and he enters yours. Believe me, you will find things out about the text, the world and yourself you would not discover any other way.

You don't need to know "how to do" Shakespeare. In fact, such a notion can be severely limiting. You need only to bring your humanity, your capacity for wonder, your curiosity about yourself and the world around you, an open mind, and a willingness to try things out on your feet. The texts will teach you everything else.

In this spirit, I am offering my first local class on Shakespeare starting Feb 25, 2008: Shakespeare Without Fear. Meeting for eight Mondays from 5-7 pm at the Theatre in the Columbia Center for the Arts, we will work on sonnets, scenes and a single play, Measure for Measure. The work will be physical as well as mental and emotional (and hell, maybe even spiritual-- have you read this stuff?) -- so please dress in layers and for freedom of movement, and bring water with you, as well as a notebook and pen.

I 'll need 8 participants to make the class happen, and I will not take more then 10. Cost for the 8 weeks is $125.00 due on or before the first night of class.

Please feel free to ask any questions you have about the upcoming class by commenting here and I will try to address them the same way. If you want to reach me privately you can email me: althea.hukari@gmail.com

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Althea