Acting
Harris, Shanti
THF 101
School For Scandal: Report
Research: Topic C, Women and The Politicization of The Body In Ancient Greece
Instructor: Sholem Dolgoy
Still Need: article for research, point form ticket pricing,
To cite: stratfordfestival.ca, globe and mail article
Part 1: Stratford Festival and the Show Itself
The Stratford Festival and John Hirsch
The Stratford Festival was first founded in 1952-1953. The Festival opened on July 13th, 1953 and was welcomed by a generous swarm of viewers. The city of Stratford was overwhelmed, local businesses and parks were packed full and overflowing with visitors. Tom Patterson was the founder of The Stratford Festival and the vision behind this grand opening. Patterson saw the town slowly crumbling and understood that soon the steam engine repair shops would be replaced by diesel. Stratford was saved as the Avon Theatre brought in a whole new chapter of success for the town. The wonderful six week season, in the summer of 1953, came to a triumphant end. On the last night, a full house of 1,477 people gathered excitedly to watch a performance of Richard III.
Throughout the years, The Stratford Festival recruited many talented artistic directors. John Hirsch, artistic director, had a challenging yet successful run with the Festival. Hirsch “was the second Canadian to head the festival, but his appointment was as much an act of desperation as of patriotism” (Downey). He was called on short notice to replace John Dexter, who had been refused a work permit in Canada. In result Hirsch had to pull together a summer season with a suitable cast in a short amount of time. In 1965, he was invited by the Festival to direct The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov and then proceeded to return in 1966, 1967, and 1968.
Ticket Pricing
Accordingly, tickets are priced depending on the age of the viewer. Tickets for children, eighteen and under and seniors are cheaper than tickets for adults. There is also a student discount for full time students under thirty.
Shown below is a structure for ticket pricing from lowest to highest for various performances:
Theatre
Show
Full Value Lowest
Full Value Highest
Avon Theatre
HMS Pinafore
$25
$139.93
Festival Theatre
Tartuffe
$25
$191.43
Tom Patterson Theatre
The Challenging
$39
$153.50
Studio Theatre
The Virgin Trial
$39
$135
Deals:
2-for-1 evenings
Online buyers
$49 Sundays with the Bard
Discounts:
Students can get tickets for any 2pm matinee from $20 to $34
Tickets for children, eighteen and under, only $39
Senior discount prices for anyone 65 years and older
The Audience
Mostly, the audience that attended this play consisted of seniors, probably between the ages of fifty to seventy five. I noticed a trend for business casual dress, nothing too fancy but something that one might wear to work or church. When taking a look at the cars parked around the building, I noticed that most licence plates were from Ontario and a couple from Michigan. Most cars that I saw were not overly expensive, but more middle class. The cars ranged from Honda and Toyota to Lexus.
The Avon Theatre
The Avon Theatre has a classic yet modern feel to it. There are large display boards on either side of the building, one currently containing a poster for The School for Scandal. Windows line the top of the building and a few larger windows occupy the centre of the building. The inside of the building has a very comfortable and welcoming atmosphere. It is lit by natural light coming in through the windows and soft overhead lighting. The theatre house is very classic, with red velvet seats and beautiful hanging chandeliers. There are two seating levels; orchestra and balcony, both with a left, right and centre section. Extending off the balcony section were four cubicles, two on either side of the stage, with a few seats each. These private seats are more expensively priced than the general seating area. The show was performed on a large, open proscenium stage.
The Avon Theatre has many front-of-house departments and services. There is a concession with a “theatre bar,” selling anything from coffee and tea to premium wine. The box office is positioned on the left side of the room, opposite the concession. An information desk is in the centre of the room, where hearing devices are offered. Furthermore, the orchestra level of the building contains the Theatre Store, which sells an impressive variety of items, such as plays, souvenirs, and t-shirts. The basement level of the theatre, consisted of a set of washrooms and the coat room. Artistic and acting company photographs line the walls leading to the facilities. The balcony level holds another set of washrooms and the Chalmers Bar/Lounge. I found the ushers and front-of-house staff to be very friendly and helpful. They made sure to show everyone to their seats and assist the elderly as needed.
The Program
The program that I received from the usher was a 48 page booklet. It is comprised of various advertisements, a recognition of the Festival’s sponsors, director’s notes, an article on the performance by Brian Corman, biographies of the artistic and acting company, a biography of the playwright, a cast list, artistic credits, a salute to the donors, a recognition of the Prospero Society, and a list of all the festival staff and guest services. It has a bright, closeup picture of Sr. Peter and Lady Teazle on the cover. Stratford Festival (“The School for Scandal.” Program. 2017).
Stratford’s Brand
After analyzing the Festival’s web, print, and media advertising, I perceive Stratford’s brand to be portrayed as quality entertainment of classical masterpieces. Stratford attracts a wide range of audiences but especially speaks to the senior community, by choosing to put up mainly classical pieces. The Festival started by producing solely Shakespeare plays and then added in other playwrights’ classic and contemporary pieces over the years. The Stratford festival is known for its quality live entertainment (Stratford). According to Anne Swerdfager, the Festival’s Publicity Director, “Stratford’s mandate is to provide an economic stimulus for the town of Stratford while doing something of value” (Swerdfager).
The School For Scandal
The School For Scandal is a comedy. Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s script is witty and entertaining. I enjoyed the stage design and costuming. Women were dressed in detailed and elaborate, big skirted dresses. These dresses had beautiful lace detail and ruffled trains. During act one, Lady Teazle had a dress that matched the furniture in her home, pink with white stripes. Men wore tailcoats, ruffled collars, high socks and heeled shoes.
Craftily, the set was designed for easy and smooth scene transitions. Revolving, four sided, periactoids were built into the walls. Each of these were painted differently to demonstrate a location change. Lighting in The School for Scandal changed from darker to lighter depending on the home that the scene was taking place in. Candles were utilized for a source of lighting, creating a cozy and homely atmosphere. Projections were used between set changes and helped to establish a new location. There was one projector that displayed various images of flags, people and places. The music in this production was all instrumental and off stage. It was captivating to the audience and played during pre show and set changes. A violin was played in one scene. However, it was not live, the actor was simply miming along to a recorded song.
The actors in The School for Scandal were very talented. They had excellent characterization and technique. The utilization of voice in this production was incredible. Comedy was successfully portrayed through the high and lows of the actors voices and the way they lengthened or shortened certain words.
When comparing an article review by the Globe and Mail on a performance of The School for Scandal, in 1999 at The Stratford Festival and the one I saw recently, I noticed that the characterization and comedy was portrayed in a lot of the same ways. “Skillfully modulated voice and exact comic timing carry the day” (Taylor C3). Illustrated through this quote I can see that the comedic timing and use of voice contributed to the comedic aspect of the play and this is exactly what I noted when I saw the performance myself. Although, there are some things that are evidently different, the play has the same comedic value as it did years ago.
Summary
As a whole I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. It was very exciting to see a play at the Stratford Festival for the first time. This was the biggest professional theatre show I have ever seen and I was very impressed by the production values. However, there were some things that I did not like from the performance. I found the projections distracting and inconsistent, along with the references to modern day technology. At the end of the play, I felt annoyed by these factors and how they had affected my overall experience. Although, upon receiving more insight on why the Festival had chosen to do this play my original feelings changed. According to Anne Swerdfager, the Festival’s Publicity Director, the reason they chose this production was because it relates to the “scandals” seen through modern technology and media today (Swerdfager). Once I understood the reasoning behind the modern references and the use of projections, I was able to appreciate their quality in a new way. I appreciated the thought and detail that was put into this production. It was well done, entertaining and comedically genius.
Part 2, Topic C: Women and The Politicization of The Body In Ancient Greece
During the Bronze and Classical ages, women’s bodies were politicized by the patriarchy in Greece in order to strengthen the supremacy of males. A patriarchal order was put in place surrounding the limitations of women's roles in society and highlighting the power of males. Consequently, men had outright control over the female body.
A woman's body was restricted to the bare use of necessity. Women were put to the tasks of housekeeping, preparing food, caring for the children and tending to the men. Mostly, the women were ordered to stay at home, isolated from the outside world. “A woman could not buy or sell land, she could not vote, nor hold public office” (Vigier 35). In fact, women were so isolated from society they were not even permitted to make purchases in the market place. While the women tended to strenuous household duties, the men were free of chores and could exercise their power in the “body politic” among the presence of other men (Vigier 35).
Demosthenes sums up the condition of women in democracy in Vigiers novel Gestures of genius: Women, Dance, and the Body: “We have mistresses for our enjoyment, concubines to serve our person and wives for the bearing of legitimate offspring” (Vigier 36). This quote demonstrates the roles women played in Greek society and what little power they had. Women were considered servants to men, they were required to obey and serve the men as requested. As stated in this quote, women are “wives for the bearing of legitimate offspring” (Vigier 36). This illustrates the reality of a woman's purpose, to simply bring a man’s children into the world. Women were not actually considered a parent to their child, but the bearer and grower of the seed. Men, on the other hand, were considered the parent to the child, as demonstrated through the Oresteia by Aeschylus where the author has the goddess Athena judge that: “The parent is he who mounts” (Vigier 36). Even though women have a deep connection to their children, having given birth to them, living at home and caring for them, the men are still believed to be “the true parent of the child” (Dean-Jones 150).
Men and women’s roles in society are merely stereotypes. A child is born and is determined whether they are a female or a male and from there they are subject to gender roles. Women are not truly any less capable than men, but because Greek society had these beliefs at the time, it seemed that way. The body you were born in determined your future, and for women there was a major disadvantage.