ENGL 339: Introduction to Shakespeare
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz

Shakespeare on Film:  Performance Analysis
(scroll down for clips screened in class)

Any production of a play is the result of numerous interpretive decisions by the director, actors and production team.  The text may be altered -- lines, speeches or whole scenes modified or cut completely -- to correspond to the director's understanding of the play, to shorten a text, to provide greater clarity, or for some other reason.  The choice of setting (ancient Athens? Shakespeare's England? San Francisco during the Summer of Love? the bedroom of a little boy who has fallen asleep reading the play?) immediately telegraphs the director's vision, as do the sort of actors who are cast (physical types, age, etc.), the ways in which they are are costumed, and their blocking (how, when and why they move about the stage).  As you consider the films which are discussed in lecture or screened  in class, note specific details from the performances and production values (e.g. set and lighting design, costumes, make-up) and consider how these details communicate a specific interpretation of Shakespeare's text.

Video Analysis Worksheets are provided for the three required film screenings; these worksheets (available on Polylearn) are ungraded, but must be completed and brought in hard copy to class on the day of the video discussion.  Additionally, an electronic copy of the completed Video Analysis Worksheet must be posted in your PolyLearn Discussion Group.  While ungraded, both the hard copy and the electronic posting count towards your participation grade. 

The three video analysis worksheets are adapted from the questions found on the Video Questions pages below; these pages are included here for the convenience of persons who are not enrolled in my classes.  NOTE: Because I am no longer using Video Analysis worksheets in my classes, the following paragraphs [in square brackets] do not apply to my current students, but are included here because they help articulate how performance analysis contributes to one's understanding and interpretation of the text.

[The video questions for each play consist of a two-part general question which applies to any Shakespeare performance and two questions which are specific to the required video / play under consideration.  The two-part general question asks you to identify what you feel is the central issue in / message of the play (including what speeches and scenes best embody that central issue) and then to describe some non-textual means you would use to communicate this idea to an audience:   these might include casting decisions; blocking and/or choreography; visual elements (set and lighting design; cinematography; costumes and make-up); sound design / music, etc. -- NOT the textual elements which are common to ANY production of the play (such as plot lines or speeches that are in the script regardless of the director's interpretation).  When you analyze the assigned video, you will consider the same two-part question, but approach it in reverse order:  begin by noting concrete, non-textual details from the video that are clues to the way the film's director might answer the question and then consider what message those details help communicate to the audience -- what central message they help convey.

Some questions specific to each play are found on the Video Question pages listed below:




Recommended filmed versions (these videos/DVDs are on RESERVE FOR ENGL 339 at the Kennedy Library circulation desk).  Films are listed chronologically; required screenings are listed in red.

1) A Midsummer Night's Dream:

Students are responsible for specific scenes from the above films which are screened during class, as well as for the complete Joseph Papp / Public Theater version.  Students are also encouraged to see one or more of the other five filmed versions of the play in its entirety.
 

2) Henry V:

4) Macbeth: 5) Hamlet: 5) The Tempest:
 

Contents of this and all linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2012