Voicing the Sonnets as Theatrical Experiences
Convener:
Liviu Dospinescu (Université Laval, Québec, QC., Canada)
This workshop aims to explore the theatricality of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, from both a reception and a production point of view. More precisely, we will look at ways to develop the theatricality of Shakespeare’s Sonnets though aural means of representation, that is, especially through voice, but also through music, while also preserving the spirit of the poetry they represent and of the Shakespearean spirit. The workshop addresses various interests specific to. various categories of participants: to any Shakespeare lover, it facilitates the understanding of the Bard’s poetry and poetics and stimulates its reception from a theatrical point of view; to educators it might also offer ideas to a better approach to teaching the sonnets and making the students discover and appreciate their theatrical potential by highlighting the aspiration of Shakespeare’s poetry to theatre, through discussing various aspects of the configuration of the characters, their intentionality and their projection into the dramatic space; finally, practitioners (actors) could find an interest in some creative tools this exploration offers for the configuration of the theatrical imagery and the character’s imaginary, especially in working with the rhythm and modulations of the voice as gestural projections. Finally, and most importantly, this workshop is about demonstrating how the Shakespearean sonnet can unveil a whole dramatic world, ready to be experienced only through the vocal expression. While trying to preserve the sonnet’s poetry, we will also look to enhance its theatrical spirit in ways that seek to naturalize the vocal poetical expression. The main objectives of the proposed demonstration are to give shape to the character and to the dramatic space through the voice (of the speaker or of participants in the audience willing to perform), to make the audience experience its various theatrical nuances, and to finally discuss the theatrical and the presence effects, as well as to appreciate the theatrical creative potential of the approach.
Workshop details:
- Minimum duration: 90 minutes
- Participants: up to 20 persons
- Space: A studio kind of space – modular intimate space – not too big (for around 30 persons maximum), with chairs that we can move, and place at our convenience.