Today was the first double rehearsal back from winter break. Everyone was really excited to get started on this show. We started with blocking Act One and the cast quickly began exploring relationships and started forming chemistry onstage.
There were a lot of questions asking about physical contact while interacting with certain characters. Barbara and Adolphus were asking about showing signs of affection from putting arms around each other to holding hands. Stephan was asking about putting his hands on his mother's (Lady Britomart) shoulders. It's completely understandable that the actors would have these questions, as the way people conducted themselves in 1906 is much different than it is now in 2014.
During the Edwardian Era, the upper class was very concerned about appearance and social reputation. Simply tipping your hat and giving an improper introduction would lead you to being shunned from the aristocracy. Young women had to be escorted, and was seen as improper to be around a man they have not been properly introduced to. As Adolphus and Barbara are engaged, public affection would be seen proper to a certain extent. Out of respect to their mother, they would make their affection discrete while around her as in Act One and Three in the parlor room.
In the Victorian Era, most of the child rearing and care was left in the hands of wet nurses and nannies. As the children got older, governesses (who were normally middle class women with upper class education) taught the children. Boys were sent off to boarding school while girls were educated at home. The mother and father were seen as authority figures, and were to be respected and looked up too. As for their father, since their parents are separated and he has not been around since they were children, the children's relationship with Undershaft is as any relationship with a distant parent would be today. They still respect him as a father, yet also as an important business man. They treat him almost like an acquaintance of the family.
While close to Lady Britomart, there are clear signs in the script that the children know certain boundaries while around her. They wait for her command to sit without even being told. Stephan especially is very respectful, sometimes even intimidated, by his mother. It's not until Act Three til Stephan finally stands up to his mother while talking to Undershaft, taking hold of his adulthood. There is still affection for their mother; Barbara even calls for her in Act Three. However Lady Britomart takes offense to her grown children calling her 'mommy" and scolds Sarah for poking her in the ribs. However, these childish impulses are not intended to annoy their mother, but to show affection for her. Families of the twentieth century in England began to see the negative effects of wet nurses and a decline of their services were becoming noticeable.
The characters in Major Barbara are not the normal upper class family usually seen during the early twentieth century. This gives the cast a unique opportunity to incorporate conduct relevant to the time period while discovering situations unique of the Undershaft family. It will be interesting to see how relationships start to build between the couples of the play, Barbara and Adolphus and Charlie and Sarah. As our director told them yesterday, there wouldn't be any grinding on each other like there would be in 2014.
For more information:
Nannies and Governesses
http://www.likesbooks.com/nannies.html
Micheletti, Ellen . "All About Romance Novels - Nannies & Governesses." All About Romance Novels - Nannies & Governesses. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2014. <http://www.likesbooks.com/nannies.html>
There were a lot of questions asking about physical contact while interacting with certain characters. Barbara and Adolphus were asking about showing signs of affection from putting arms around each other to holding hands. Stephan was asking about putting his hands on his mother's (Lady Britomart) shoulders. It's completely understandable that the actors would have these questions, as the way people conducted themselves in 1906 is much different than it is now in 2014.
During the Edwardian Era, the upper class was very concerned about appearance and social reputation. Simply tipping your hat and giving an improper introduction would lead you to being shunned from the aristocracy. Young women had to be escorted, and was seen as improper to be around a man they have not been properly introduced to. As Adolphus and Barbara are engaged, public affection would be seen proper to a certain extent. Out of respect to their mother, they would make their affection discrete while around her as in Act One and Three in the parlor room.
In the Victorian Era, most of the child rearing and care was left in the hands of wet nurses and nannies. As the children got older, governesses (who were normally middle class women with upper class education) taught the children. Boys were sent off to boarding school while girls were educated at home. The mother and father were seen as authority figures, and were to be respected and looked up too. As for their father, since their parents are separated and he has not been around since they were children, the children's relationship with Undershaft is as any relationship with a distant parent would be today. They still respect him as a father, yet also as an important business man. They treat him almost like an acquaintance of the family.
While close to Lady Britomart, there are clear signs in the script that the children know certain boundaries while around her. They wait for her command to sit without even being told. Stephan especially is very respectful, sometimes even intimidated, by his mother. It's not until Act Three til Stephan finally stands up to his mother while talking to Undershaft, taking hold of his adulthood. There is still affection for their mother; Barbara even calls for her in Act Three. However Lady Britomart takes offense to her grown children calling her 'mommy" and scolds Sarah for poking her in the ribs. However, these childish impulses are not intended to annoy their mother, but to show affection for her. Families of the twentieth century in England began to see the negative effects of wet nurses and a decline of their services were becoming noticeable.
The characters in Major Barbara are not the normal upper class family usually seen during the early twentieth century. This gives the cast a unique opportunity to incorporate conduct relevant to the time period while discovering situations unique of the Undershaft family. It will be interesting to see how relationships start to build between the couples of the play, Barbara and Adolphus and Charlie and Sarah. As our director told them yesterday, there wouldn't be any grinding on each other like there would be in 2014.
For more information:
Nannies and Governesses
http://www.likesbooks.com/nannies.html
Micheletti, Ellen . "All About Romance Novels - Nannies & Governesses." All About Romance Novels - Nannies & Governesses. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2014. <http://www.likesbooks.com/nannies.html>
 |  |
RSS Feed