Preparation: Dirt, Shepherds and Lessons

History with the Shepherds:

As required by the course, reading the complete play was necessary and at the time my group was given the task of answering research questions we had developed. This had allowed Kailey and I (a member of both groups I was a part of) to become increasingly familiar with the play. Using research methods I was able to interpret the context of the play more easily. Most of the research surrounded the purpose of the play when first performed. The fact that the play was used to teach lessons and had many elements of farce really helped me envision what we could do with our scene.

This image shows the summary of our group findings from research:

Handout was taken from Group 5 (1st half of the course), Handout created by Hilary, Kailey, Jane and I.

Fortunately during this the preparation for the research presentation i was able to focus on research findings. The findings provided the purpose of the Second Shepherd's Play which I brought up in our first get together as a new group. In the new group I addressed that we could stay true to the originality and try to make sure the audience understands there is a lesson to be learned from this play. However, we decided it may be hard to illustrate that because the play was in fact a farce. My first, thoughts of the play was it did seem to have a humorous nature but certain parts of the play were hard to understand because of the Latin (found a translated version later) and the switch to the nativity scene. Instantly after reading the scene to be played I was interested in acting (later also given the lighting role).

Plot Summary

Taken from Group 4’s presentation handout which consisted of Nathan, Nicole, Nikki, Derek, Adam, Rory, Kelly, Andrew and Anna:

·         Light heartedly complaining of weather and wives

·         Mak enters pretending to be a messenger

·         Shepherds make Mak fall asleep between them so he does not steal the sheep, but Mak steals a sheep anyways

·         Brings sheep to wife, goes back to shepherds

·         The shepherds wake and notice missing sheep

·         Mak runs home and dresses it as a baby

·         Shepherds come to Mak’s house accusing him of stealing the sheep

·         Mak said that he has a new baby

·         Shepherds want to see the baby

·         They discover the baby is actually a sheep

·         They tie Mak up, then punish him

·         Remainder of play cuts to the nativity scene

My Specific Scene Plot Summary:

·         Mak and Gill sing in their home, then are interrupted by three shepherds at their door

·         The shepherds are invited in after some hassle at the door

·         Shepherds suspect Mak of stealing the sheep

·         Mak lies and tries to rid of the Shepherds by complaining that his wife Gill is in childbirth

·         He convinces them to leave, when finally the shepherds want to give their baby a gift

The scene ends right before the shepherds discover Mak did in fact steal the sheep and lied.

Our first presentation required our newly formed group to sit down and think about certain topics as seen below:

 First Impressions:  Progressive tension, Incomplete, cut off, Interesting language

Emphatic Elements

• Blunt element of deception: Mak denies his accusations straight to the shepherd’s faces.  Whole play centered around deception
• Distinct difference in atmosphere outside Mak’s house and inside. The shepherd’s entering Mak’s house caused a increase in tension. (Like if your husband walked into your bedroom and the man you’re cheating with is hiding in the closet.)
• Hourglass effect. As soon as the Shepherd’s enter Mak’s home, an hourglass is turned on Mak and his time is running out.

While sitting here reading over the group's thoughts I look to the left of my desk and see a toy hourglass set for one minute. I decided to make a small animation to symbolize the time running out for Mak, The less sand at the top of the hour glass the more tension.

Research Questions

·         How do you pronounce or interpret the word ‘ye’?

·         Why does rhyming cut in and out sporadically?

·         Could it be taken as a musical production?

·         Why is there a newborn while the wife claims to be pregnant?

·         What is a knave?

Rationale For Research Question (Could it be taken as a musical production?)

·         Mak and Gill are singing at the start of the scene

·         The rhyming is in an irregular pattern but still carries through

Strategy

·         Essays and Reviews

·         Production History

·         Videos

Findings

• Second Shepherd’s play has a rhyming structure of a-a-a-a-b-c-c-c-b
• One production of The Second Shepherd’s Play was a full musical, however that particular production was re-written in a modernized text.
• One production was performed with Musical accompaniment carried throughout while actors spoke their lines as usual.

Structural Analysis

·         Genre: Comedy, there are many absurdities as well as the language itself

·         Style: Time and space operate in an unrealistic way in our scene. Many things that happen do not correlate with a realistic element.

·         Structure:

• Beginning World: Everyone is content and all is thought to be at ease
• Crisis: when Mak lies to the shepherds, it triggers the coming events
• Climax: When the shepherds ask to see the baby, tension with Mak is at its peak
• Conclusion: When Mak asks the shepherds to leave
• New Status Quo: There are unanswered questions and tension at its peak with Mak and Gill.

Line of Action: “To deceive”

Theme: The theme of deception in our scene controls the way the characters act and respond to each other and teaches us that deceiving other people can only lead you to a dead end.

Describing The World Of The Play

• Smell: Grass, dirt, old and wet wood, manure
• Sight: Yellows, brown, dim lighting.
• Sound: Rustling leaves, creaking floorboards, squeaking.
• Taste: Dust, thirst, moldy
• Touch: Bark, grainy, rough, itchy

• This world makes us feel uncomfortable and uneasy. How the shepherds and Mak and Gill feel at ease with this atmosphere shows that they might take on the same sense.
• The language and style used to communicate adds texture and

Affect

• Tense, abandoned, anxious, impatient, frustrated, uncomfortable, uneasy, need for justice