Queen Lear Memory Video

Evaluation

Evaluation 

I believe that our performance went well, better than I thought honestly we put a lot of hard work and thought into getting the show to where it was the day of the performance. Especially because her dress run went pretty bad it really pushed us to do better in the performance. 

On show day one of the hard things we came across was that we changed the opening number slightly last minute, but we managed to pull through it and make it look like we've been rehearsing that opening since the very beginning. Personally I was a bit shocked that we changed something but it looked and worked so much better. In the original when we were growing into tree's we would clump together than die again but in the new one we would all grow separately than freeze and grow into our character when young Cordelia comes through us. I really believed that this was much more effective than our original idea because it was a bit weird us dying and coming back alive three times, and it was much more significant because we wouldn't away from the emotion we were feeling when growing. 

One thing that really put most of us off was our dress rehearsal it wasn't as good as we thought and it put most of us in a bad mood. Personally i don't think i was loud enough in the dress run, and i didn't do the best acting. I believe that part of the problem was that, it was our first time doing the new opening so we weren't really familiar with it causing us to be a bit nervous. In the first show i think our disappointment really came through because honestly we were all so down with how it went it really effected our performance and how we felt about it.

In both performance i do believe that i took on my feedback from the dress rehearsal: to speak louder and have more energy. when performing i added those qualities into my acting so i spoke louder than i normally would, and it worked out better because after the show my friends who came to watch said that they heard everything i said, which made me feel much better. Also before performance i thought that i would be fully aware of the audience but i wasn't i was totally consumed by the world of the play that i even forget they were there. 

Another thing i believe went well was in the first show in the scene where me and Katie give a necklace to rob it took long to take it off Katie's neck and put it on Robs so he quickly took it out her hand. So in the second show we used initiative and took of the necklace before going into the scene and just gave it to him instead of placing it round his neck. 

In addition to that the set and costume really helped us develop our characters and really get engrossed into the world of the play and they played a big part in the performance. For example there was a fridge on stage which helped us convey which characters had a lot of power in that scene while also using it as intimidation. Furthermore my costume just made me feel so cool and powerful i felt like no one could threaten or intimidate me. 

One thing i think i could improve on was my tone and pitch while i was speaking my lines, because my voice naturally is quite soft and airy whereas my character Goneril is very strong and rooted I don't think i managed to get her power across in my voice, or at least i didn't think i did. So to try and make up for that i tried to make my stance and physicality much more stronger and direct 

Overall i believe that the performance went good not amazing, there was a lot of things we could of improved on as a company but i did enjoy myself and i loved surrounding myself with the cast we all just connected and it felt like a little family. I think that was one of the best things about this term, how close we all got and the comfort we all felt around each-other

King Lear: The oldest daughter Goneril

Kate Fleetwood as Goneril

Kate Fleetwood as Goneril

Kate Fleetwood played Goneril at the Nation Theatre in 2014, i believe that she was an amazing actor and took on the role as Goneril so beautifully that even though she was evil you still loved her. 

Her version of Goneril was very cold and icy, she displayed a very powerful and manipulative character. 

When playing Goneril, you can really see the desperation in her eyes how much she wants her mothers title.  

I really took inspiration from how she played Goneril because i wanted to have that fierce and powerful look in my eyes but also show the audience that Goneril is just a young girl who was never loved by her mother, all she ever wanted was her mothers acceptance and love, ut she never got it. 

What poeple said about her Performance: 

"The Wicked sisters are terrific too, with Kate Fleetwood a tense and ruthless Goneril"
- Charles Spencer 
The telegraph


"Kate Fleetwood's quietly venomous Goneril is perfectly contrasted with Anna Maxwell Martin's extrovert and hysterically cruel Regan"
- Michael Bellington 
The Guardian 


"As Lear's eldest daughter Goneril, Kate Fleetwood is icily seere"
- Henry Hitchings 
London Evening Standard 

Annotated Script

Choices we made in our version of Queen Lear

Choices we made in our version of Queen Lear 

• We chose not to do traditional Shakespearean voices with RP accents because we want to link it to the present and relate it to our generation.
• We added Everychild we chose to add her because i believe that she represents everyone in the play and everyone in the show, she shows how we are changing the world and the planet either for the better or the worse.
• We also based it on politics, so we chose global warming and how slowly we are damaging and destroying our planet and our lives in the process. 

Feedback I received

Feedback I received in rehearsals

• Be Louder 
• Have a stronger voice 
• My feet are very light i need to be rooted 
• Morph into my characters physicality 
• when i'm not on stage make sure i'm still alive and not frozen 
• When Lear is talking to me, be strong 
• don't be afraid to face and intimidate Lear

Challenges we came across

Challenges we came across

One of the challenges we came across was the double casting of the characters for example we had:

• 3 Queen Lears 
• 3 Fools
• 2 regans
• 2 cordelias
• 2 gonerils 

I believe that this was challenging because we didn't split the entire play with our dual character we had both of the actors on stage together at the same time, so they were playing shadows of each other when the other talks.

This was hard to do because at first we didn't really know what do with ourselves when our other part was talking in a way that the audience would understand. 

However me and Katie decided to do it in a way where we were like twins always defending and helping each other, also when one of us were talking we would display the physicality of the other. 

Also another challenge we had to overcome was how to connect with all 3 Lears at the same time even if we're are in a scene with one of them, a way we did this was in my pocket i had a mirror so at times i would look into the mirror than reflect it on the 3 queens and show how i am a reflection of them. 

Opening Scene

Goneril's relationship with Queen Lear

Goneril's relationship with Queen Lear

I believe that Goneril's relationship with her mother was always flawed from the start.

In the beginning Goneril was always trying to make her mother proud by doing the best that she could in everything she did, however she never seemed to get that appreciation from her mother there was always something wrong with what she was doing.

However i think Queen Lear was just doing this t try and get Goneril to be the best that she can, so she kept pushing and pushing. 

Then as soon as Regan was born it became harder to try and get her mother attention because she had to share it with her sister.

Things became even worse when Cordelia was born, she was good at everything she did causing their mother Queen Lear to solely put all her focus on Cordelia. This really upset Goneril because she's done and tried everything to get her mother to look at her with pride, then this young girl is born and gets her mothers pride without even doing anything or trying. 

I believe that growing up Goneril done many nice things to try and get her mothers attention and none of them seemed to work, so i think eventually she just gave up and learnt to accept that she will always be the least loved or it felt that way anyway. 

By the end Goneril lost the love she had for her mother, she never saw her as a mother figure, she never felt the nurture or love that a mothers meant to share with their children. That's why i believe that it was so easy for her to betray and manipulate her mother. 

I think that the relationship Goneril had with Queen Lear affected her future relationships with men, because she never felt that love and care, she didn't believe that Love actually exists because she never felt it from the one person whose meant to love you the most.  

Rehearsal Pictures

Queen Lear Trailer

Goneril and Regan's relationship

Goneril and Regan's relationship 

The rivalry presented by the sisters is somewhat conveyed as a childish game, each trying to outdo the other.
However I believe that Goneril and Regan connect over the jealousy for their youngest sister Cordelia and how they  have never been in their mothers eye, they've always been in the background. 

In the beginning i believe that they are both very smart and manipulative as they managed to deceive their mother into thinking they love her a lot.

In the beginning of our version in the play I feel like the audience will first Sympathise with them because its clear they just want there mother love, especially where we copy Cordelia's dance to try and get our mother attention but she pays no attention to us.

However the sympathy will quickly go after they discover how horrible they begin to act to their mother, especially when they pull out Gloucester's eyes. On the other hand some audiences members might feel like the Queen deserves what happens to her after what she's put her daughters through. 

By the end of the play, their power hungry ways become their undoing, their hunger for power and the sexual desire both Regan and Goneril feel for Edmund lead them to destroy their alliance and eventually lead them to destroy each other   

Goneril

Goneril

Facts:

• She is the oldest daughter of Queen Lear
• She is married to Duke of Albany 
• Has an affair with Edmund 
• Wants more of the kingdom 
• Jealous of Cordelia 
• Poisons her sister 
• Kills herself 

I believe that a Goneril is a very complex character when people watch king Lear or read it Goneril is mainly describes as the evil sister but i feel like there is more to her and the reasons she does what she does. 

All her life she had to live with the fact that her mother will never love her as much as Cordelia, this had a big impact on her and how she became who she is. 

I believe that when Goneril was younger she tried to impress her mum just to get a little bit of attention but it never seemed to work, that is when she discovered that the only way to get her mothers attention was to be mean and horrible. Her and Queen Lear never really had a mother, daughter relationship she was never loved as she should be. 

I also think that is why she had a lot of problems in her relationships, especially with Albany it was clear he loved her more than she loved him, this is because Goneril has never actually experienced love to know what it feels like. 

Why does Goneril kill herself:

I feel like Goneril kills herself because she has nothing to live for anymore, She's killed her sister and she knows her mother will never forgive her for all the things shes done. In addition to that I believe that Goneril didn't really think through the actions she was doing and eventually everything caught up to her, all the guilt just consumed her. She lost everything and everyone she ever had, i don't think she wanted to live with the guilt. 

My lines translated from Shakespearean

Goneril: 

By day and night she wrongs me. Every hour

she flashes into one gross crime or other

That sets us all at odds. I’ll not endure it.

Her knights grow riotous, and herself upbraids us

On every trifle. When she returns from hunting,

I will not speak with her. Say I am sick.

If you come slack of former services,

You shall do well. The fault of it I’ll answer.

She constantly offends me. Every hour she comes out with some horrible new offense that puts us all on edge. I won’t stand for it. Her knights are getting out of control, and she herself reprimands us about every little detail. When she comes back from hunting, I’m not going to speak to her. Tell him I’m sick. And if you’re not as attentive in serving him as you used to be, that’ll be good. I’ll take responsibility for it.

Goneril: 

Idle old woman
That still would manage those authorities
That she hath given away! Now by my life,
Old fools are babes again and must be used
With checks as flatteries

That useless old woman still thinks she can wield all the powers she’s given away. I swear, old fools become like babies again. You can’t just flatter them

Goneril:

Never afflict yourself to know more of it,

But let her disposition have that scope

That dotage gives it

Don’t even bother to ask the reasons. Just let him rant and rave. He’s senile. Goneril: safer than trust too far. Let me still take away the harms I fear, Not fear still to be taken. I know her heart. What she hath uttered I have writ my sister. If she sustain her and her hundred knights When I have showed th' unfitness— That’s better than exaggerating our trust. It’s always better to get rid of what you’re scared of than to be afraid. I know how his mind works. I’ve written to my sister telling her everything he’s said. If she welcomes him and his hundred knights after I’ve shown how inappropriately he’s behaved—

Goneril:

Take you some company, and away to horse.

Inform her full of my particular fear,

And thereto add such reasons of your own

As may compact it more. Get you gone

And hasten your return.

Take some men and horses and go to her. Tell her everything that worries me. Add details of your own to back up what I’m saying. Now go, and hurry back. Goneril: Why might not you, mother, receive attendance from those that she calls servants or from mine?  Why couldn't you be served by my servants or from Regan's?  Goneril: What need you five and twenty, ten or five, to follow in a house where twice as many Why do you need twenty-five nights or ten or even five when you're staying in a house with staff of double that  Goneril: Pluck out her eyes  Pull out her eyes  Goneril: I marvel our mild husband not met us on the way  ere long you are like to hear  if you dare venture n your own behalf  a mistress's command, wear this spare speech  Giving a favour  Decline your head, this kiss, if it durst speak  would stretch thy spirits up into the air  Concieve, and fare thee well  I'm suprised my husband  didn't meet us on the way  You'll know me  as my own mistress  Pull his hips towards me and give him something  This kiss should encourage you. Kisses Edmund on the cheek    I hope you understand me.  Goodbye, and good luck. Goneril: I have been worth the whistle  I've been whistled by another guy  Goneril: No more, the text is foolish  oh, be quiet your words are idiotic