1. Research the director/ company of the show
a. what is their primary philosophy?
b. development of the performance?
c. what do you think their intended goal was in terms of the audience response?
2. write a description of your first raw impressions
3. describe any and all scorched moments
4. provide descriptions of elements of inspiration imitation influence you might use in your development of your play analysis/directors n.b.
5. specifically describe elements of mis en scene you might able to use in your own design
The Berliner Ensemble is a German theatre company created by practitioner Bertolt Brecht. Shakespeare's Sonnets was a collaboration project between Robert Wilson and the Berliner Ensemble and presents a series of beautiful vignettes depicting the essence of some of the world's most famous poetry.
This theatre company's philosophy lies within the bounds of epic theatre. Epic theatre was first proposed by Brecht and aims to present the audience a performance that does not emotionally immerse the spectator but rather keeps a distance and thereby makes the spectator think critically about the purpose of the show.
This kind of theatre practice generally involves the use of montages or snippets of inter related yet separate scenes that are united under the same concept. This unique philosophy combined with Robert Wilson's avant-garde approach creates a performance that not only captivates the audience but makes viewer's think.
I think the intended goal of Shakespeare's Sonnets was to make the audience feel the poem rather than truly comprehend it. More specifically, emotions and themes were explored in this performance instead of direct dialogue that was meaningful on its own. Most of the speech was repeated and served almost as a beat, pulse, or a rhythm to the dynamic's happening on stage rather than a means by which actual "sense" was communicated.
Like most of the people in the audience, I did not speak german and did not understand anything other than the word "no." Yet, I did not by any means leave the theatre thinking "what a complete waste of time I did not understand a single word." The reason being that, this performance (as mentioned above) focuses on exploring themes, concepts, and emotions rather than the direct regurgitation of a story. Hence, as long as I am a human being I am able to feel the eeriness, the chaos, and the humor permeating the room. I am not dismissing the fact that further and more sophisticated understanding could have taken place had I understood the spoken language. I am just saying that the language "barrier" did not necessarily feel like a barrier at all but was rather just another element of sound. Something beautiful to hear.
Mis En Scene was truly the forte of this performance. Such as the way in which Wilson blocked his actors on stage and truly maximized the benefits of spacial awareness and used a monochromatic scheme for his backgrounds and lighting. The use of juxtapositions were also highlights of this performance. For example, dark and serious scenes were followed by comedic relief, or by high key festive scenes.
The entire play was a scorched moment but I will mention how impactful it was when the stage suddenly blinded us with an utterly white background and actors. This monochromatic concept was very impactful because it not only visually shocks the audience but also contrasts starkly to the darker and deeper color scheme of the rest of the play. The music for this scene was also very contemporary which contrasted with the time period in which Shakespeare wrote his sonnets.
Finally, Wilson used a lot of symbolism in his set. His set was very rarely realistic but was rather large, simple, and abstract. These large sculptures were placed in the centre of the stage such as the carcrash scene. Sometimes they would be moving, such as the bicycle scene which is another one of my favorite moments. The music was very eerie. The theatre almost felt cold. The background was...I'm not absolutely sure but very dim.
Two people were on huge 2D looking bicycles that were going opposite ways one was really big the other very small. So much juxtaposition present here once again. This scene is also representative of how language functioned as a sound device rather than a regurgitation of information. The voice of the narrator was so feeble yet almost dripping and sticky. It was creaking like a centuries old wheel and was so weak but so so creepy. Also because german is a very guttural language the feeble voice tone combined with the roughness of the language was extremely memorable.
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