SCENE SYNOPSIS

ACT 1
PROLOGUE: Introducing the story. Setting the scene and introducing the audience to the concept of the play in a theatre.
SCENE 1: Archbishop and Ely are discussing the fact that Henry wasn't taking royalty seriously but recently he'd become more mature. They explain about his right to the French throne.
SCENE 2: They tell Henry that he has his right to France. Dauphin has sent a crate full of tennis balls to make a mockery of Henry. Henry decides to take France.

ACT 2
PROLOGUE: Explains to the audience that we are changing setting and scene. They have decided to go to war. Introducing Cambridge, Scroop and Grey.
SCENE 1: Pistol and Nym are arguing over a bet and money. Enter Nell and Boy. They are informed that Faltsaff is dying and that they must go to him.
SCENE 2: Cambridge, Scroop and Grey are called in to talk to the king. They're tricked into deciding their own fate and are arrested.
SCENE 3: Falstaff is dead. Pistol, Bardolph and Nym all decide to go to war. Boy goes with him.
SCENE 4: The French King and the Dauphin discuss how close and powerful the English - he's worried, the Dauphin is not. Exeter brings a message from the English monarch explaining that King Henry wants the French King to step aside from his throne peacefully - as he's legally entitled to it - otherwise he'll take it by force.

ACT 3
PROLOGUE: Explaining how Henry has left Dover and is on his way to Harfleur. The audience should imagine that they're travelling with him on the ship. The French King has refused Henry's offer.
SCENE 1: Henry delivers a passionate speech to rouse the English army and get them ready to fight.
SCENE 2: Bardolph, Nym and Pistol stay behind to avoid the fray. Boy explains how he wishes he was back in London and in the alehouse. Fluellen attempts to urge the men to start fighting again. Boy explains how Bardolph, Nym and Pistol are thieves and how he refuses to get involved.
SCENE 3: Henry delivers a speech to the Governor demanding that he opens the gates and that he'll have no control over what his men do if they do not let them in. Henry and his men rest until they push for Calais.
SCENE 5: The French King, Constable and Dauphin discuss how Henry is practically just walking through France completely unchecked. The King orders the army to completely take down the English.
SCENE 6: Pistol begs Fluellen to use his influence to spare Bardolph who's been sentenced to death for stealing. Henry tells Montjoy that the although the English army are exhuasted, they won't be backing down.
SCENE 7: Messenger arrives stating that the English are only 15,000 paces away. Orleans and Constable discuss how they're going to completely take down the English.

ACT 4
PROLOGUE: The chorus explains how the English are resting and are worried about the coming fight but the French are almost cocky. Henry walks around the camp consoling his soldiers.
SCENE 1: Henry is in disguise and talks to Pistol, Gower and Fluellen - to see how they are feeling about the whole ordeal. Bates, Court and Williams discuss how they're doubting the King and wish to be back in England. Williams and Henry argue over Henry's actions, they can't come to an agreement and exchange gloves (so that they can recognise the other and argue later). Henry prays to God to make his men brave and for him to forgive him for his father's sins.
SCENE 2: The French are over confident that they're going to be able to beat the English in battle. 
SCENE 3: The English are badly outnumbered. Montjoy brings a message giving Henry a chance to give up. He refuses.
SCENE 4: The battle.
SCENE 6: The English are victors. The Earl of Suffolk and the Duke of York have been killed in battle. Henry orders the English to kill all French prisoners.
SCENE 7: The French have attacked and killed all the young boys who weren't fighting but helping guard and carrying equipment. The French ask for permission to sort out their dead, Henry makes Montjoy agree that they have won. Henry gives Fluellen his glove and tells him if anyone questions him about it, they're an enemy - this is to play a joke on Williams.
SCENE 8: William returns, notices the glove and he and Fluellen fight. Henry admits it was him all along. Herald enters and we learn about the causalities. Henry orders the army through the village and anyone who doesn't thank God the English won, shall be punished.

ACT 5: 
PROLOGUE: The audience are told about Henry's return back to London but that now he is back in France. They're asking the audience to image the physical journey as the theatre couldn't possible possess it.
SCENE 2: Henry and the French King meet to organise a peace treaty. King of France gives Henry and Katherine his blessing.

EPILOGUE: The Chorus explain that Henry and Kathrine have a son, Henry VI but that he lead them to a bloody war and lost France.

ACT 1 PROLOGUE

This opening monologue is simply to introduce and open to play the audience and set the scene. "O, for a muse of fire that would ascend, The brightest heaven of invention! A kingdom for a stage, princes to act, And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!" The chorus are saying that if they had a stage as big as a kingdom, a wild imagination and monarchs to fill the scene - then it would be as truly as it was at the time. However as they don't, they're asking the audience to use their imagination to develop and conjure the scene as they only have the stage and the written words to aid them. "Can this cockpit hold the vastly fields of France?" Can this theatre hold the fields of France? Definitely not physically, but if the audience work with the text, then it can hold whatever it needs to. "Or may we cram, within this wooden O the very casques, that did affright the air at Agincourt?" Can the theatre - this wooden O - hold all the helmets that were so frighting in Agincourt? "O pardon!" Nope. It can't but, please work with us and imagine that it can. "Suppose within the girdle of these walls, are now confined two mighty monarchies, whose high uprearèd and abutting fronts, the perilous narrow ocean parts asunder." Imagine that in these walls, there are two mighty kingdoms, England and France, who are divided by a dangerous and risky ocean - the channel. "Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts." We're not perfect, use your imagination to make us perfect. "Into a thousand parts divide one man, and make imaginary puissance. Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them, printing their proud hoofs i' th' receiving earth, for ’tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings." Divide one actor into a thousand men and you shall have yourself an army, imaging the horses that we takl of and their hooves pounding into the ground, your imagination and thoughts will decorate and dress up our kings. "Carry them here and there, jumping o'er times, Turning th' accomplishment of many years, into an hour-glass; for the which supply." Let your mind jump between different times and take years of accomplishment and events and fit them into one hour. "Admit me chorus to this history; who, prologue-like, your humble patience pray, gently to hear, kindly to judge our play." As the chorus who reads prologue, I (we) ask you to hear and kindly judge our play.

I really like this opening prologue as I feel it definitely not only sets up the story - two mighty monarchies - but also allows the audience to transport themselves from being in a theatre - wooden O - to the fields of France. It directly asks the audience to use their imagination to create the story, that although they may be in an Elizabethan theatre, their minds can help create the journey. It's a brilliant opening to the production which really helps to kick start the slow of the show.

By understanding what I'm truly saying and the purpose behind my lines means I am able to perform the lines to the best of my ability and speak the lines with the energy Shakespeare intended for them to have. It also mean's learning the lines is easier as I am visualise what they're presenting allowing me to easily memorise them. It gives me a lot more to work on in the actual scenes once I understand what I'm saying as I have his lines and the intention behind them to work off.

Staging

Though it's hard for everyone to 100% grasp what they're doing involving the set as we are currently working with stand in props rather than the actual pieces of set we're going to be using in our production.

This means that everyone in the cast has to be extremely focused and know their blocking so they know what pieces of set they need to use and more to ensure that the scenes run smoothly. It would also be worth it that everyone in each scene pay attention to each other's blocking and their use of set so that if someone forgets in the middle of the actual show, someone else would be able to take over and allow the scene's flow to keep moving.

My character is using a lot of the different pieces of set, in the actual show I will be standing on a steel table and grates but currently in rehearsals we have to substitute with what we have, for example; the raised stage and the blocks. It will be really interesting to see how our pieces pans out and how the actual set fits into the piece and how that may or may not add to the effect and impact. 

Our set, so far, is really interesting as all the different pieces of props from the war factory are being turned into something that has it's place in King Henry's world. The steel tables that are our main workstation in the factory are doubled up as our main stage. The crates are stacked into steps and the thrown for the king. The guns we make in he factory are doubled as the swords used in our battle scenes. I think that the woman's use of everything they find in their factory is really effective and special because it truly shows how much these women want to understand what's going on in the world - they'll go to the extent of finding everything in the room and turning into Shakespeare's vision and world.  

LABAN EFFORTS

Having previously explored the Laban efforts in the naturalistic term, though I may have forgotten the details over time, my basic knowledge was there. I find using Laban efforts extremely useful when developing roles as it enables you as an actor to simply begin to look at the small details of your character's physicality. I found that as soon as I applied a Laban effort to my World War One character, I began to think about other aspects of her life, personality and physicality. By looking at Laban, I am able to simply explore and colour different characteristics of my character from the very beginning of the development process, it gives me a really powerful starting point to continue building on.

Though some of the movements - like flick and dab - may seem similar,  the strength, timing and control you carry them out at allows them to develop into distinct and unique actions. By looking at each effort individual and breaking them down into each component, really allowed me to get to grips  with of each different movement and how  they may combine to and add an effect to different characters I may develop in the future.

I feel that the chorus would possibly operate mainly with a combination of glide and dab. This is because the chorus' role is to tell the story to the audience and to bring them up to date, so they sort of glide into the story at the beginning of every scene yet deliver the information and lines with such dab like likeness. I developed the physicality into moving quite lightly and sustained, then moving quickly onto the tips of my toes to raise my level, and then begin moving again. This was to show how the chorus insert themselves at the beginning of every act to perform the prologue, deliver it in a way that is quick and sharp in comparison to the rest of the show, then they leave until the next prologue.

I began to explore my World War One character by looking at slash and sudden. From those efforts I began to develop my character into a woman who really found her place in the factory, she enjoyed coming out of her shell and getting "down and dirty" doing - what was traditionally - a man's job. I used the efforts and those first initial thoughts to start to shape her character and it was really interesting to see how many different details and ideas I came up with just from exploring the efforts and applying them to a character.

Overall, I really enjoy looking at Laban as it really helps me focus on the simple details in a character's physicality that could completely change the way the audience perceive that character. A singular effort carries multiple of different offers that could be the starting point for development of a completely different range of characters. It's definitely an exercise and method that I like to use and will definitely be using it when looking at physicality in future roles.  Exploring basic physicality is something I don't usually think about when developing a character or I don't find it the easiest task, but with the Laban efforts I am able to develop and colour my character's physicality in such a way that's so simple yet so complex and able to carry so much meaning right from the very beginning of the development. I am able to get on with the physical development as soon as possible to leave as much time as possible to see how that may influence the further development of the character and how the character may end up being shaped.

Exploring the text

Starting simple with taking only one line each and going around the circle to say it really allowed us as a group get our tongues around Shakespeare's words and how certain lines may be pronounced. It's also extremely beneficial for myself as these are words that may be speaking as I am playing the part of the chorus and we're opening the play with this prologue.

Secondly, moving onto the one line push - in which we pushed the person to our right at the end of the line - placed particular emphasis on passing the line on and continuing the monologue effectively. This will help me when I'm working with the other two actors playing the chorus as we obviously have to share the lines and feed off one another. The endings of our lines have to be extremely strong to ensure that the other actor is able to follow and continue with the same energy and pace as if the ending of the line drops, it loses the entire effect. 

Thirdly, turning to the person on your right to really tell the line to them caused us to have to find the actual meaning behind what we are saying as you have to inform the other effectively so they can respond. This was really helpful as when I perform the lines, I will have to perform them in a way that informs and tells the story to the audience in a way that they understand and can keep up with the narrative. 

Lastly, having to walk quickly into the middle of the circle to say the line as soon as the person on the left had said theirs, ensured that we kept the monologue flowing. Having to make sure you said the line at the right time, it meant you had to pay attention to ensure that the monologue flowed properly and ended up sounding more natural than it previously did. This meant that I really had to focus on the pace of the piece as that will play a big part in the performance. 

Overall this exercise was extremely useful to prepare myself for taking on this role and also for the coming weeks of tackling Shakespeare's words. Shakespeare's use of language is possibly my favourite thing about his works so I am greatly looking forward to exploring his words further and delving into the meaning behind what he has written. 

17/03/2015's First Read Through

Reading through the play, especially on our feet, was not only extremely helpful with understanding the actual storyline of the play but also who's in what scene and who you're acting with. I was able to get my mind around moments that I was confused about or didn't really understand how they played out and develop my understanding further of the narrative. It was also really interesting to see instantly people's approaches to character's despite the fact it was just a read through. Many adopted physicality and experimented with their voice so it will be interesting to see how everyone develops their character further from the initial run through.

Going over every act after we had read through it, i felt, was imperative to aid our understanding of both Shakespeare's language within play but also the basic narrative he was telling. We were able to completely pick apart the scenes and go into deeper detail then what may initially be taken from the scene. I was able to go over different scenes I hadn't been previously clear on and take in my other cast mate's comments and perspectives about what they personally believe the scene was portraying and in what way Shakespeare was showing that.

I enjoyed our read through and I really helped me get an early idea of how it's going to end up shaping out and I think, with all the props, costumes and the right mindsets - it's all going to work out really effectively. I think our whole concept about a play within a play should work really well and it will be really interesting to see the stark contrasts between the world in admits World War One in comparison to Shakespeare's world of Henry V.