What We Do
To put on Early Modern style productions, we employ some of Shakespeare's staging conditions to bring audiences as close as we can to experiencing what Shakespeare's audiences may have experienced (minus the surprise at the end of Romeo and Juliet).
Those tenants include:
Universal Lighting
Our productions are meant to take place in any space we can fit them in. This means that we do not employ theatrical or specialized lighting of any kind. As such, our audience and actors share the same light just as Shakespeare's actors and audience shared light. This allows for our second condition.
Direct Audience Address
Our actors speak directly to members of the audience. This allows audience members to take on the roles written into the texts for them. They play the court, the army, or simply the butt of a joke or two. This interaction brings the actor and audience in the world of the play together.
Doubling
There is strong evidence that many early modern playing companies doubled their actors into more than one role. Because our shows are meant to be highly portable, our casts are even smaller than what would have been typical. We use no more than 8 actors in any given production. As such, every actor, including those with lead roles, plays more than one part.
Gender
While Early Modern companies had only men in their playing companies, we are fortunate to include both men and women in our ranks. We still employ their practice of cross-gender casting, but these days we have our women playing men instead of the other way around.
Length
While the full text of any of Shakespeare's plays could run upwards of four hours, no one is likely to sit through, let alone enjoy, a production of that length. Normally, productions are cut to be between two and three hours. Here at Savage Wilde we go one step further. Our productions run no more than an hour and a half. They are fast paced and in your face, while not sacrificing any of the story.
Costuming
Early Modern companies used the clothing of the time as indicators of status and rank. We, again because of our small company size, take this one step further. We use a base of modern clothing and layer select pieces on top to differentiate between characters.
All of these elements come together to create a fresh perspective to the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
Those tenants include:
Universal Lighting
Our productions are meant to take place in any space we can fit them in. This means that we do not employ theatrical or specialized lighting of any kind. As such, our audience and actors share the same light just as Shakespeare's actors and audience shared light. This allows for our second condition.
Direct Audience Address
Our actors speak directly to members of the audience. This allows audience members to take on the roles written into the texts for them. They play the court, the army, or simply the butt of a joke or two. This interaction brings the actor and audience in the world of the play together.
Doubling
There is strong evidence that many early modern playing companies doubled their actors into more than one role. Because our shows are meant to be highly portable, our casts are even smaller than what would have been typical. We use no more than 8 actors in any given production. As such, every actor, including those with lead roles, plays more than one part.
Gender
While Early Modern companies had only men in their playing companies, we are fortunate to include both men and women in our ranks. We still employ their practice of cross-gender casting, but these days we have our women playing men instead of the other way around.
Length
While the full text of any of Shakespeare's plays could run upwards of four hours, no one is likely to sit through, let alone enjoy, a production of that length. Normally, productions are cut to be between two and three hours. Here at Savage Wilde we go one step further. Our productions run no more than an hour and a half. They are fast paced and in your face, while not sacrificing any of the story.
Costuming
Early Modern companies used the clothing of the time as indicators of status and rank. We, again because of our small company size, take this one step further. We use a base of modern clothing and layer select pieces on top to differentiate between characters.
All of these elements come together to create a fresh perspective to the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.