A Man of My Word by Jefferson Farber

To fulll the requirements for the Master of Fine Arts degree in Classical Acting from the Shakespeare Theatre Companys Academy for Classical Acting at the George Washington University Washington, D.C. ! December 2011

In the bodiless presence of the writer, the narrator can submerge himself in the ux of existence, admit it into his own soul, and survive; for in the act of molding that ux in artistic creation he nds a more exible and encompassing mode of self-presentation. -Ellen OBrien

Introduction: I would fain leave the paper; only one thing aficts me, to think that scenes invented merely to be spoken should be enforcively published to be read, and that the least hurt I can receive is to do myself the wrong...but I shall entreat..that the unhandsome shape which this trie in reading presents be pardoned for the pleasure it once afforded you when it was presented with the soul of lively action Quoted in the book, The Sound of Shakespeare, by Wes Folkerth, John Marstons

words of 1604 could not be more appropriate to start this paper. Actors spend weeks rehearsing a play, learning hundreds of lines, deciding upon the exact meaning and intended connotation of each thought. I have done that here. I have treaded water for months now, never writing more than a paragraph. In fact, when I wrote the rst draft of this current introduction, I was proud of my one paragraph. It was a foundation, a beginning, and the most I had written up to that point. As I sit here with my deadline swiftly approaching, I am determined to persevere, to manifest, in writing, for all time, an examination and discussion of the evolution of my process as an actor and artist while creating the role of Amintor in Beaumont and Fletchers The Maids Tragedy. I mention time because I have come to realize that the temporality of a live theatrical performance, its lifespan of three hours, is fundamentally enmeshed in my process of working on a piece of theatre and to transliterate the performed word to the written word is not an easily achieved objective. Yet, as Shakespeares Richard II says in his nal soliloquy, Ill hammer it out. Let me begin by discussing my initial reactions to reading the play the rst time, any

preconceived notions I had about my character. I had never seen nor heard of The Maids Tragedy before the casting was announced. So, I searched the internet until I was able to piece together an outline of the plays plot. Then I ordered my copy of the script, which I found in an Oxford Worlds Classics anthology of Four Jacobean Sex Tragedies. A few days later I sat down to read it. I made the choice to not read the anthologys introduction to the play, only the notes on the text. So, I was surprised to see so much time devoted to what I originally thought was exposition. You read almost 800 lines of text before Amintor, and thereby the audience,

discovers that Evadne is having sex with the King. Up until that point I was struck by how festive this tragedy seemed to be, at least, until the shit hits the fan. I was excited to have a death scene, I will tell you that. I saw it as denite physical challenge to play dead in such a small space, and was very excited to try. In addition, I read somewhere on the internet that Amintor marked the transition from playing female roles to playing juvenile male leads for the actor who rst played him. On a psychological level I immediately connected with that piece of historical information. I want to be playing those same juvenile male leads. Going into rehearsals, I was genuinely excited to have such a challenging opportunity in front of me. Now for the rest of the paper. In Part One, I will discuss and analyze the content and

structure of the text that Amintor speaks. Thought will be used as the fundamental unit of measure in this part. Dominant images, as well as apparent contradictions in the characters thinking, will be discussed. In addition, speeches that became key to my interpretation of the character will be analyzed and presented. Please note that, unless stated otherwise, all Maids Tragedy quotes are from adapted text that was used for the performances. Therefore, quotations are are not cited within the text, in order to prevent disruption to the current of the thought. Part Two is my character analysis and will include exploration of Amintors biography, his relationship to the other characters in the play--I should say my relationship because this section will be written in the rst person singular--as well as a discussion of the world of the play and Amintors objectives in said world. The rehearsal process is the primary focus of Part Three. The application of my preparatory work in the rehearsal hall, successes and failures, will be examined. Particular attention will be paid to the Alexander Technique, learned from my studio work this year, that was used to navigate the process and overcome many challenges that were encountered. In the Conclusion, I will wrap up my discussion of this process with my nal thoughts on

the evolution of my work while creating the character. I will briey discuss how the role changed in performance. Finally, I will end with my synthesis of the work I accomplished

throughout my year at The Shakespeare Theatre Companys Academy for Classical Acting at the George Washington University. A large portion of that year was devoted to my learning how to present my self as a man, a man with a body, a voice, and a soul. I think I found a parallel in Amintors journey through the play and working together and through each other, both Amintor and I learned just what it takes to speak truth to power, to manifest our destinies. We have become, I hope, men of our word.

Let me please now take a moment to explain something. This paper will look somewhat

unconventional. I do not adhere to scholarly expectations of style and formatting. I use different typefaces to signify different elements of the papers infrastructure. For example, within the body of the paper, italics are used to give stress to a particular word within a sentence, to indicate a quotation, or to highlight fundamental concepts. The lightness of a particular word or phrase is also meaningful. How so? I am not quite sure. Although the vast majority of the paper is written in regular typeface, occasionally important conclusions with be bold. There is no absolute rhyme or rhythm to the text, no secret cipher. This is a process paper and, consequently, it is a work in process.

Part One: Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning. -Maya Angelou If I learned anything at all this year it was that words have meaning. And those

meanings have a way of changing in the act of being spoken. The written word, when well preserved, can stay as-is for centuries, but the spoken word, unless recorded, is ethereal. The Maids Tragedy was written at a time when more than a three-quarters of the population of England was illiterate and greatly dependent upon verbal communication. So, for the time being, let us assume I did my basic preparatory homework. I looked up my words, I scanned my lines, and I found my standard pronunciations. Now let us jump right into the text. In this section, I will quote specic lines and thoughts that proved to be fundamentally signicant to my interpretation of Amintors character. When images, denitions, rhetorical devices, and other structural highlights are of particular interest to this discussion, I will analyze them. But moving forward, let us use thought as our basic building block and point of discussion. Thoughts are emergent, they arise and exist only as a phenomenon of independent parts working together. They are the synthesis of all the logic already implied in the use of language and would not be possible without being built upon that foundation. So, I will try my best to be as clear as possible in my analysis of Amintors thought process. If I lose you, I will summarize, as best I can, at the end of the section. In his very rst scene, Amintor says she had my promise; but the king forbade it. This is

the justication Amintor gives to Melantius for breaking his engagement to Aspatia. He tells Melantius that [the king] made me make this worthy change, thy sister, and then makes a joke about sex and losing his lusty youth to Evadne. He loved Aspatia, but the king demanded something and Amintor saw no choice but to do as he was commanded. The king obviously had everyones best interests at heart and had, presumably, gone through some considerable discernment prior to affecting such an enormous change in the life of one of his courtiers. Later

on, however, Amintor comes to the startling revelation that, actually, he may have made a bad decision, maybe even the wrong choice. In Act II, scene i, in the ante-chamber to Evadnes bedroom in the Palace, the attending

ladies usher Amintor in, and straight into a one-on-one confrontation with Aspatia. After they share one last kiss, she leaves, and Amintor has his rst soliloquy with the audience, I did that lady wrong. Methinks, I feel her grief shoot suddenly through all my veins. For the rst time in the play Amintor questions his actions. Which, he then realizes, lead him to question his reliance on the kings commandment. As he says, It was the king rst moved me tot, but he has not my will in keeping. Amintor has hit on something here, yet he quickly shifts gears when he asks himself, and the audience, why do I perplex myself thus? The OED denes the verb to perplex as, to cause to feel trouble by deep uncertainty.

Obviously, something is troubling him, but he dismisses his idle fears and chooses to ignore the deep uncertainty to which he gave voice a moment before. He only breaks a promise, he rationalizes, and twas the king that forced me [him]. However, we know, as Maya Angelou knows, spoken words have meaning, and that promise had power. When he betrayed his betrothal to Aspatia, he broke his word, and thus spends the rest of the play realizing the deep signicance of such an error. From that moment on, the schism between heard and unheard, spoken and unspoken,

begins to widen and Amintors world is blown apart. Once Evadne informs him of her oath to never have sex with him, he pleads to the gods for help: Ye powers above, if you did ever mean Man should be used thus, you have thought a way How he may bear himself, and save his honor. We now see how deeply Amintor is rooted in the Elizabethan idea of honor. As he later entreats Evadne: Have mercy on my youth, my hopeful youth, If thou be pitiful, for, without boast, This land was proud of me. What lady was there That men called fair and virtuous in this isle, That would have shunned my love? It is in thee

To make me hold this worth. O, we vain men, That trust out all our reputation To rest upon the weak and yielding hand Of feeble woman!

He realizes he has sinned, and now must beg for mercy; he expects Evadne to be pitiful, full of pity. In his world, people work hard to build their reputation, that reputation is social currency, and that currency is written on a gold standard. By marrying Evadne, he is trusting her with his reputation as a man, and thereby, what he considers to be substantial social worth. Unfortunately, he is asking for mercy and pity from a character that does not necessarily

care as strongly as he does about reputation. He quickly decides: Methinks I am not wrongd: Nor is it aught, if from the censuring world I can but hide it. Reputation! Thou art a word, no more.

He now seems to be dismissive of his hard-won reputation. It no more than a word. In his mind, it has been destroyed, its value lost, but that may not necessarily be true. If he can keep this truth from the rest of the kingdom and not let the king know that he knows, he just might be able to bear it. Thus, he discovers a way to preserve his honor, and so asks Evadne for her compliance: Nor let the king Know I conceive he wrongs me; then mine honour Would thrust me into action, that my esh Could bear with patience.

And thus the abstract idea of honor is once again the primary source of action and the esh is meant to bear Amintors fortune with patience, but by the end of the scene, he has left one desire. Evadne must pretend that their vows did have meaning, and that they were consummated. They walk out with their hands intwined, and Amintor says: Down all the swellings of my troubled heart! When we walk thus intwined, let all eyes see If ever lovers better did agree.

We see, now, that transliterating a thought into a spoken word creates the opportunity

for illusion. And thus, Amintor is sufciently disillusioned. Appearances are no longer what they

seem and he, now, must begin a life of lying. Sadly, the hard thing about telling a lie is the realization that comes with it: A liar soon realizes that if he can lie, anybody can lie. Thus, interiority is born. The power of words has multiplied by the power of deception. Things then fall apart so badly that Amintor reaches the point of entertaining suicide--in

fact, Aspatia, Evadne, and Amintor, all commit suicide, assisted or other, by the end of the play--and ultimately, we learn it is the word cuckold that he fears the most. He still is battling with words and meaning. Are words meaningful, he wonders. How can one assign meaning in a world he cannot quite understand anymore? So when Evadne comes asking for forgiveness, he is a bit reluctant at rst because he sees deception everywhere. Since the moment he realized he had broken his word to Aspatia,and how important that was, he has been the one looking for forgiveness. Eventually, Evadne wins him over by convincing him that he is still pure and innocent, not the sinner he thinks himself to be, and he forgives her. If he can forgive Evadne, perhaps God will be able to forgive him. As we see when he forgives her, he tells her to take heed: mock not the powers above, that can and dare, give thee a great example of their justice. He still believes in a fair and balanced world; he still has faith in the idea of justice. The

OED has many denitions of the word. I would like to use, here, the denition: exercise of authority or power in maintenance of right; vindication of right by assignment of reward or punishment; requital of desert. Amintor believes forgiveness must be asked for, and given when asked. He feels as though he has the right to be asked for forgiveness because Evadne did sin against him, and sees it as his duty to forgive her. Following still the commandment of his Lord, he forgives, but Evadne has already decided to kill the king. We come now to the next dominant image: the king. Shortly after the banquet scene,

Amintor comes running on stage to Melantius, begging for his assistance: Out with thy sword, and hand in hand with me Rush to the chamber of this hated king, And sink him with the weight of all his sins To hell for ever.

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The word king does not seem to mean as much to Amintor as it once did; he is now willing to commit the mortal sin of regicide, or so he thinks. A mere ten lines later, Melantius is able to stop Amintor dead in his tracks with the word king: Amintor! No! Think what thou dost. I dare as much as valour, But tis the King, the King, the King, Amintor, With whom thou ghtest!

The word is even repeated three times, possibly a veiled reference to the Christian idea of the Trinity, and God incarnated as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In any case, the word still has meaning. Amintor exclaims: What a wild beast is uncollected man! Amintor is now disconcerted and, another dention of uncollected given by the OED, not yet under rational control. This idea is furthered when Melantius replies, Alas, how variable are thy thoughts! To which Amintor reponds: Just like my fortunes. This scene marks a pivotal transition in Amintors thinking process. Now, not only do words have meaning, but so do thoughts. Rational thought is the emergent mutation of billions of years of evolution. If the theory of evolution holds true, that mutation must hold some benecial signicance and power in order to sustain and regenerate itself. Thus, it is not too much of a leap to think now that: Thoughts have power. The scene ends with Amintor walking out in a daze, saying to Melantius, Why, come then, and still remember we may not think revenge. The boldface is my emphasis and intended to stress the signicance of this change in thought. Clearly, Amintor has learned something. And to reinforce that fact, it is quite awhile before we see him again. In that time, Evadne has killed the king and Aspatia returns, disguised as her brother, to seek her own death. Aspatia is looking for a ght, but Amintor warns: For thy sisters sake, know I could not think that desperate thing I durst not do. Amintor is starting to see that a connection exists between the three discrete abstractions: thoughts words actions

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These three ideas are tied together in language. When we speak the same language, we

can assume that there is enough correlation between our own idiosyncratic meanings of words, and the laws governing their use, that we may deduce or interpret another persons thought process, their meaning. At least, that is what Amintor would like to believe. But in runs Evadne to inform him otherwise. She has killed the king in hope that their marriage vows may now be consummated. She reasons that meaning can be assigned after the fact, that the act of speaking a word can be changed just by assigning new signicance to words that were spoken. To which, Amintor replies: I dare not stay thy language...There is no end to womans reasoning. In his book, The Sound of Shakespeare, Wes Folkerth gives a very convincing argument

that Renaissance thinkers (read: people) conceived, at least partially, of the ear and hearing as objectively feminine. Ears cannot close, as eyes or lips can. They remain open and receptive and thereby exhibit no self-control, a quality deemed specically masculine by Early Modern sociological thinking. Man is blessed with a capability and god-like reason, as Hamlet calls it, and he is to use it to discern an appropriate course of action. There is a distance between thought and action, and that distance is: the word. As Amintor says, Theres man enough in me to meet the fears That death can bring, and yet, would it were done! I can nd nothing in the whole discourse Of death, I durst not meet the boldest way, Yet still, betwixt the reason and the act, The wrong I to Aspatia did stands up.

Something is stopping him from taking his own life. He has come to the realization that words do, in fact, have meaning. When he broke his promise to Aspatia, he broke his word, and with it, his honor. No one else but himself is responsible for the destruction of the thing for which he cared most. As the old saying goes, All a man has is his word. Amintor has acknowledged the signicant power he wields when transforming thought

into the spoken word. He then realizes he must atone for his wrongdoing before he can be reunited with God:

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My soul will part less troubled When I have paid to her in tears my sorrow. I will not leave this act unsatised If all thats left in me can answer it.

He runs out, ready to act, but is stopped by the words of the young boy who, in turn, is discovered to be Aspatia. They share a beautiful scene together before Aspatia dies in Amintors arms. The chain of events he began, by choosing to acquiesce to the kings commandment and not giving voice to his own will, has led to the destruction of his honor and to the death of the king, Evadne, and the love of his life, Aspatia. All this happened because when he was told, by the king, to marry Evadne, he chose not to speak. As he picks up the dying Amintor, Melantius says: Amintor, give a word to call me to

thee. All that Amintor can muster is an: O! The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. He no longer has the power to yield such weight with his words because he has lost faith in the existence of a world where words do, in fact, mean something. Melantius pleads with him to: Speak, speak! Amintor then manages to speak one word (What?) and Melantius replies: That little word was worth all the sounds that I shall ever hear again. This validation, that he was right, that words do have meaning in this world, empowers Amintor to speak one last thought: Tis Aspatia. My last is said. Let me give up my soul Into thy bosom.

With that he dies, never to speak again. However, before he dies he speaks what he has learned: Tis Aspatia. It has always been Aspatia.

In this section, I hoped to convey the required information and discussion of the text

which my character speaks, but do it in a dynamic, and hopefully interesting way. Dominant images, pertinent denitions, and analysis of certain speeches were used. I am a systemic

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thinker and, thus, my textual analysis tends to be systemic as well. I tend to believe that the playwrights were dealing with something within themselves that prompted them to create The Maids Tragedy in the way that they did. Just as I was dealing with something when I created the role of Amintor the way that I did, and as I am dealing with something different now, as I am writing this paper the way that I am. Language is the art of dealing with meaning. As I wrap up this section on the text, I cannot help but think that this is not exactly how

I was dealing with the text at the beginning of the rehearsal process. I looked up my words, scanned my lines, and knew my pronunciations, but the discussion here is the product of having done all that work and, in addition, rehearsing this script for two months, playing the role for ve performances, and letting these ideas swim inside my mind for the three and half months since graduation. During the rehearsal period I had dogeared no less than ten speeches in the text which I planned to use in this section of my paper. And although lines from most of those speeches do appear in this section, the section itself looks nothing like what I had thought it would. And thus we come to my conclusion about textual analysis: Words do have meaning,

but meaning has uidity. Denitions move in currents, what is popular changes with the tide, and speaking is the act of creating sound waves. However, proper textual analysis provides an actor with the ability to make informed choices with his words, to know the laws that govern the tides, and to create better waves. Coming to The Maids Tragedy for the rst time felt like standing at the bottom of the ocean, in the deep dark sea, just listening. By listening, I intend a denition similar to that of Folkerth, where: Listening is not simply accoustic sensation, but the process through which acoustic information is processed and rendered meaningful to us, by us. To listen is to winnow meaning from the acoustic environment, and as I stood there listening, with every sound I was able to see more of every word, to know more the creatures that swim in this sea. Those creatures are the subject of the next section.

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Part Two: In this section, I am to discuss Amintors biography--from his point-of-view--, his

relationship to the other key characters in the play, as well as his objectives. Forgive me for the change in format, when it happens, but I feel it to be necessary and benecial to the readers comprehension of the ideas presented. I feel that the previous part is quite dense--perhaps, abstruse at times--so I decided to make this part as straight forward as possible. I will begin with a discussion of Amintors objective throughout the play. This is paramount to the discussion that follows, a breakdown of every scene in which Amintor appears. It is here where I will introduce key biographical, relational, and objective-related information. That information will be presented here under the heading of whatever scene in which these ideas are most pertinent, and can be seen to be new information. I will analyze the way in which this information is rendered to audience throughout the play, and then conclude with my synthesis of the work that I did, both then and now.

Amintors Objective: His worth is great; valiant he is and temperate; And one that never thinks his life his own If his friend need it.

Within three lines from the rst time his name is mentioned in the script, we hear these

lines about Amintor. He is mentioned rst as Melantius friend, and we are told to: wonder not that I [Melantius] call a man so young my friend. The lines quoted above became central to my exploration of Amintors super-objective. I decided that his super-objective throughout the play and, therefore, throughout his life is: to be valiant and temperate in all things. Right away, I headed for the OED. I found the following denitions: valiant: having or possessing courage; esp. acting with or having boldness or bravery in ght or on the eld of battle; bold, brave, courageous, stout-hearted.

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temperate: 1. Of person, their conduct, practices, etc.: Keeping due measure, self-restrained, moderate. a. In earlier us esp. =...not swayed by passion, gentle, mild, forbearing; in later use esp. not extreme, violent, or strongly partisan; moderate, dispassionate. b. Moderate and self-controlled as regards the indulgence of appetites or desires; abstemious, sober; continent; in late use spec. moderate or abstemious in the use of alcoholic drinks. The idea being that two signicant, and sometimes opposing, forces are operating within Amintors persona. There is a need to be valiant, which, in turn, implies a battle being fought, a side being taken. For one to show courage, one must rst be plunged into a situation in which it is required; a battle must be occurring. Yet, to be temperate, to restrain ones self from violence and overly passionate displays, implies quite an opposite tendency. However, valiant also has an implication of worth, both in the OED and in the text. The OED also denes valiant as: of great worth or merit; worthy. We see this mirrored in the thought quoted above. In the worldview of Melantius, these

words do not contradict each other. He is a soldier, life is a war, and a man who shows courage and a level head in battle, usually, displays those same traits in his life as a civilian. However, things are different with Amintor. This goes right to the heart of Amintors character, as I see it. He sees worth in being temperate. He believes that it takes great courage--and effort, I suppose--to behave temperately at all times. Of course the temptation to react emotionally or violently is there, but life calls on us to restrain ourselves, to be temperate. One must have the strength to endure, while maintaining a level head and moving forward. But what happens when one reaches the point where he can no longer endure? This is Amintors problem. The life he has worked so hard to build, the wealth he has

accumulated from the investments he has made, suddenly is gone without a trace. Like a victim of an elaborate Ponzi scheme, he wakes up to nd out that he now has no social currency. He is worth nothing. And yet, he still strives to remain temperate in the face of such adversity. He is the biblical Job, a man battling God and nding his own strength.

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Unfortunately, only hindsight is 20/20. Us mortals, as hard as we try otherwise, can only see cause after we have experienced the effect. From that experience we learn and Amintor is no exception. The lesson I believe he learns is that: life is not to be endured, it is to be created. Now, we turn to the scene breakdown. From here, as I said before, I will present each

scene in which Amintor appears. First, a scenic objective will be stated. Second, a brief description of the physical environment of each scene will be given, followed by a discussion of certain biographical, relational, and physical information to be glossed from each particular scene. For the ease of the reader, I list scenes chronologically,as they happen in the play. Also, please remember that, for this portion, everything will be discussed in the rst-person, from Amintors own perspective. Scene I.i. Objective: To see my best friend, Melantius, and to invite him to the festivities celebrating my marriage to Evadne, his sister. Locale: This scene takes place in the Great Hall of the castle. A space has been designated for the performance of the masque, and Strato is practicing when Diphilus walks in on him. Melantius enters, engaging Lysippa and Diphilus. Abandoning engagements elsewhere, I drop everything to run and see Melantius. Biography: In this scene, we learn exactly how close I am to Melantius. He mentions my mother at one point, which, ultimately, brought up questions of my parenthood. The text does not specify in any way, so I was forced to create and, it turns out, my father is a diplomat. He was the right-hand-man of the current kings father. When our current king came to power, he had my father sent to Rome, where he now serves as the Rhodian ambassador. Relationships: We see in this scene the trust I place in the king. I am clearly willing to comply with the kings commandment, to break my betrothal to Aspatia and marry Evadne. Although, I joke with Melantius about losing my lusty youth to Evadne, implying that the only benet I can see to marrying Evadne is her sexual appeal. I let the king tempt me with the idea of having sex with, arguably, the sexiest woman in the kingdom. World of the Play: We learn, in this scene, that most everyone in the kingdom expected me and Aspatia to get married and live a long and happy life together.

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Scene I.ii. Objective: To break up the ght between Calianax and Melantius, because the king has learned of it, and he is upset. Locale: Same as before. Biography: In this scene, we learn that I have considerable wealth, and enjoy a life of what is, essentially, a courtier. In my imagination, my family is, after the royal family, the wealthiest family in the kingdom. We are old money and, thus, I have lived a privileged life. I was Rhodes Most Eligible Bachelor, and my wedding is an important social event. Relationships: In this scene, we get a hint to what will become of my relationship with Evadne. She says to Melantius: O, my dearest brother! Your presence is more joyful than this day Can be unto me. Needless to say, I was quite taken aback when she said that. Obviously, neither of us is terribly excited about being married to the other. Again, the only solace I nd is the fact that at least I get to fuck her. Please, forgive my vulgarity. World of the Play: We see in this scene that Rhodes is a very religious place. Or, so I thought. Historically, after Delphi, Rhodes had the second most important oracle in the ancient Greek world. Great emphasis is placed, in this scene, on the rituals of wedding ceremonies and festivities, and the different customs therein implied. Scene II.i. Objective: To have sex with Evadne. Locale: This scene takes place in the antechamber to Evadnes bedroom. Biography: We gleam from this scene that it was, indeed, the king who rst prompted me to marry Evadne. My relationship to the gods is also highlighted within this scene. I speak directly to them and begin questioning their motives. We see, for the rst time, that my monetary wealth is mirrored by, what I perceive to be, social worth. Relationships: At rst, Evadne provides a potential remedy to the unease I feel going into this scene. I have just encountered Aspatia, directly, for the rst time since I told her I could not marry her, and now my wife, Evadne, refuses to consummate our marriage. The scene ends, after much swelling of the heart, with an agreement between me and my wife: we will pretend that everything is as it should be. As long as the king does not know that I am in on the secret, I will bear the weight of the world. It seems that Evadne has been used by the king, just as I have been. Together, I believe, we can endure this indignity and, by bearing it, turn it into something sacred.

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World of the Play: Evadne tells me that she has taken a vow not to sleep with me. At rst, I think she has taken a vow of chastity, but quickly, I learn that, in fact, she has vowed to have sex only with the king, and no one else. Vows are important to this culture. We stand by our word. I made a vow to Evadne, to honor, and I will not betray my word. Scene III.i.

Objective: To pretend that Evadne and I were up all night having sex. Locale: This scene takes places in what I imagine to be the living room or breakfast nook in Evadnes apartment in the castle. Biography: Although I do not necessarily hear it being said, we learn, in this scene, that Diphilus is doubting, already, whether Evadne and I have had sex. I think that says something about Evadnes reputation, something I may have overlooked. Diphilus also says that Dula swears she heard Evadne cry two rooms off. This is my rst inking that Dula may have been in on the secret. Relationships: We see in this scene the I have no one to whom I can turn. Even Melantius could be in on this. But, why? How could he lie to me? Everyone seems to have no idea of the truth of Evadnes relationship with the king. So, on that front, we are safe. No one has any reason to doubt whether Evadne and I had sex. But then the king enters and I nd out the truth. After rubbing my nose in my own shit, like a dog, the king actually has the balls to kiss my own wife in front of me. I am to be his bawd: One employed in pandering to sexual debauchery; a procurer or procuress; orig. in a more general sense, and in the majority of passages masculine, a go-between, a pander.

World of the Play: Rhodes is an island nation. In this scene, when talking to Melantius, I use a lot of ocean imagery: but, by the course Of nature, thou shouldst be as quickly changed As are the winds; dissembling as the sea, That now wears brows as smooth as virgins be, Tempting the merchant to invade his face, And in an hour calls his billows up, And shoots em at the sun, destroying all He carries on him.

Natural imagery is used through the play, and serves to solidify the fact that Rhodes is a volatile place. We quickly learn that Rhodes is a place where appearances are manipulated and objective truth disclaimed.

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Scene III.ii. Objective: To bear my grief, hid from the world. Locale: This scene takes place in a remote part of the fortress at Rhodes. After the disastrous morning that I had, I need to get away. I go for a walk to unwind, but end up running into Melantius. Biography: We learn, in this scene, of my driving motivation at the moment. I dread being called a cuckold. That is my worst fear. However, I am too scared to commit suicide--because it is a sin--and, thus, ask Melantius to kill me in pity. Relationships: I very obviously dread telling my best friend that his sister is a wanton whore. I know how much Melantius prides himself, and his family, on their good name. He would not dream of letting that name be deled. However, I want so badly to share my grief with somebody that I eventually tell him everything. At rst he does not believe me and I do not know what to do. We engage our swords, and the next moment I am trying to impale myself on his point. In the end, I realize that all I have is the love of Melantius. Why, I have nothing else. World of the Play: Rhodes, like the Jacobean world in which The Maids Tragedy was written, is obsessed with reputation and honor. We learn that it is socially acceptable for Melantius to kill Evadne for the crime she has committed. In fact, not only would it be socially acceptable, but Melantius would be honored for righting such a pernicious wrong. I, on the other hand, would be humiliated. So, I beg Melantius to keep this secret and to suffer with me. Scene IV.i. Objective: To hide in my room and not see the light of day for as long as possible. Locale: This scene takes place, once again, in the antechamber to Evadnes bedroom (and, thus, my bedroom, as well). I come in, with the intention of going to straight to lay down and sleep for the rest of eternity, when I nd Evadne, on her knees, begging for forgiveness. Biography: My deeply rooted religious upbringing becomes apparent in this scene. Evadne wins me to her side by convincing me of her own evil. She says, I am hell, Till you, my dear lord, shoot your light into me, The beams of your forgiveness. I was always taught to ask God to forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. In a world that seems dark to me, I, suddenly, emit light. I have beams of forgiveness, and so I forgive her. Relationships: I believe that Evadne has repented her sins and she will, from this point on, live a life of righteousness.

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Scene IV.ii. Objective: To get through my life as undramatically as possible. Locale: This scene takes place in the dining hall of the castle. Melantius, Evadne, Lysippa, Diphilus, and I enter the hall while Calianax and the king are quietly conversing. Biography: I am not a big drinker; I have never seen the enjoyment in it. However, tonight seems to be the perfect time to start. If this must be my life, at least I will enjoy living it, by making sure that I am sufciently inebriated at all times. Relationships: Something weird is going on between Melantius and Calianax. Melantius has been accused of trying to secure the fort, by way of Calianax, in order to kill the king. Is he planning something? Shortly after the banquet, the king calls for Evadne by informing me of his desire to see her tonight. I rush to nd Melantius, to enlist him to help me kill the king. But he tells me I am over-reacting. Apparently, I am crazy. Of course I am; I am thinking of killing a king. World of the Play: Melantius emphasizes his service to the crown in this scene. Rhodes at this time, is, essentially, a Roman held territory. We are the gateway to the Turkey and the rest of Asia and, therefore, very tightly contained by our Roman controllers. Really, the king is just a pawn in someone elses chess game, as I am, in his. His power is not as divinely guarded as I had originally thought. Scene V.iv. Objective: To get this stranger to leave as quickly as I can, so I can return to my ed b and my bottle of wine. Locale: I have returned to sleeping in my familys apartment within the castle, so this scene takes place in the courtyard, directly outside my front door. Biography: In this scene I have a bit of a chance to show off my swordsmanship. I trained with Master Swordsman Bradley Waller. Relationships: As I lay dying in Melantius arms, I cannot help but stare into the eyes of Calianax. He is the one person left with whom I need to atone. Those two words, tis Aspatia, say it all. I am sorry. Please, forgive me. World of the Play: Lysippa emerges, in this scene, as the hope for the future.

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As actors, we take all the information we can from the text and embellish it with our

imaginations. We are in the business of taking objectivity and converting it to deep subjectivity. Almost important as the information given, is the manner in which the information is presented to us and, then, by us. We encounter the world from our own little sphere of interiority, and, once we realize its existence, we spend our lives observing what happens when our sphere collides with that of someone else. And so, from the deep space of these interiorities, the need for interaction emerges as a vital part of creation. We want to be entangled in the world and, to share our story. But to do that, we must submit to the world. We must submit to the laws that govern this world. The other actors inevitably brought their own character analysis to the table, and each

idea must be accounted for and integrated into the ensembles understanding of the world of the play. That is one of the functions of the rehearsal process. As I will discuss in the following part, we may, or may not, have been as successful at this particular integration. However, whether we were, or were not, is of no consequence here. What is important is the idea that when two characters meet on stage, conict is inevitable. We always want something, expect something, need something.

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Part Three: The purpose of todays rehearsal is to negate yesterdays understanding. At some point during the rehearsal process, I jotted those words down at the front of

my script. Unfortunately, I cannot remember when they were said, who said them, or even writing them down, but they seem to encapsulate my conception of the rehearsal process. Thus far I have focused on analyzing the text for meaning, and exploring biographical and character-related information, all in order to understand the text. But rehearsal has a way of shattering and morphing any aspirations of understanding that you might have. Due, in part, to the equivocal and ambiguous guidance of our director, the rehearsal process did not go as smoothly as I imagined it would. We were never given the opportunity, as a cast, to really solidify our conceptualization of the world of the play. However, far be it from me to dwell on negative criticism. So, please, instead, allow me to use my time here to discuss how I addressed certain challenges in the rehearsal process by employing techniques I learned this year at school. As rehearsals progressed, Rod became increasingly nervous that I was being too

emotional in the role--a problem I have run up against in the past-- and he repeatedly told me to do your [my] best no to become vexed or vicious. He advised me to discover the moral outrage as a newly-mapped conceptual realization, as opposed to a well-accustomed indignation. As it turns out, my vexation was being displayed in unnecessary emotional gesturing and indicating. Through the year I began growing out my hair and as the year progressed, and my hair got longer, running my ngers through it became a habit. Looking back now, I was probably wringing my hands, as well and indicating in ways that I am too embarrassed to admit. To remedy this, a special rehearsal was called for me to meet with Chris Cherry, our Alexander Technique master. The Alexander Technique, offers a way to let go of such destructive tension by learning to monitor the way we coordinate ourselves in any activity so that we can carry out that activity with the minimum of strain. In exploring the text through

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the lens of the Alexander Technique, I was able to nd deeper subjectivity in the words. When I removed the excessive physical chatter, the words carried more meaning, and thus, I was able to conclude that: an appropriate response is an efcient and effective one. It was this day that crystallized, in my mind, that Amintors superobjective is to be valiant and temperate in all things. Building the Alexander Technique into my superobjective in this way, gave me a concrete physical action on which to build my characterization of Amintor, and helped me a great deal during the rehearsal and performance of the play. I am sure there were other obstacles that came up during rehearsals, but I cannot

remember them now. My work with the Alexander Technique became my primary focus during rehearsals. I had done the text work and the character research, but I still needed help physically. I was a toe-walker growing up, I tend to sit in my hips, and I hold unnecessary tension in my neck and shoulders. All these issues were addressed and overcome with the Alexander Technique. I can say, for certain, that I will take the Alexander work with me into every show until I die. Efciency of motion is fundamental to quality performance.

I conclude now with my ideas on rehearsing: If we return, once more, to Folkerths

denition of listening as, the process through which acoustic information is processed and rendered meaningful to us, by us, then we see how important the rehearsal process is. If listening is the way in which we, winnow meaning from the acoustic environment, then the rehearsal hall provides a test environment, in which different meanings can be discovered and strategically explored. The world is a sea of meaning, and each new rehearsal is a new expedition, with its own particular currents, winds, and storms. Fortunately, the playwrights are cartographers and have provided us with a map for our

journey. But, as Alfred Korzybski famously said, a map is not the territory. So, as actors, we must rely on preparatory work, and the navigational skills that we have acquired, to guide us through the undiscovered country of a new script. If we are sufciently prepared, and know

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how to navigate new waters, we can allow ourselves the benet of getting lost at sea sometimes. We can drift with the tide, or ride a wave to new places in the text, and thereby create a more interesting territory. That is denitely something I like to do in rehearsals. I swim in possibility and am very reluctant to concretize choices too early in the rehearsal process. However, the danger of this approach is, as I discovered in rehearsals, that you cannot

rely on your director to guide you back once you have been pulled off course. You must be the Captain, First Mate, and Navigator of your ship. This is something that I struggled with throughout the rehearsal process. I expected to come into rehearsals with my lines scanned, words dened, pronunciations mastered and, together with my director and cast mates, nd my performance. Whether out of laziness or naivety, instead, I found myself drowning in an ocean of interpretations. Basic chronology was rarely discussed, decisions would be made in one rehearsal, with one group of actors, and not communicated to the rest of the cast. Some scenes received fourteen hours of rehearsal time, while others only saw three. I mention all this only to draw attention to something I realized during the rehearsal process: I, like Amintor, did not use my voice. There is no gain in bitching about anything, especially now, so please allow me to turn

this into something more productive. I learned that I am a lazy actor. I rely, too often, on my environment to determine my circumstances. All winter Floyd kept telling us: there is a perspective for every character on stage. I did not come into the rehearsal process with a perspective. I had all these ideas oating around in my head and I did not take the initiative to organize them myself into a coherent character arc. The specicity I was looking for, in my characterization of Amintor, was not allowed to be found in rehearsal and thus, I ended up kicking myself for not having prepared it better. Luckily, I came to this realization before performances began and I was able to adjust. Looking down the road, I hope to never make that same mistake again.

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Conclusion: Before I begin my concluding remarks, let me rst, briey, discuss the evolution of my

performance and how it changed in front of an audience. Primarily, I think I felt more comfortable with an audience. I was generally uncomfortable and insecure during the rehearsal process and the audience remedied that. Amintor condes in the audience a lot. Even when he is unable to trust his best friend, Melantius, he trusts the audience. Amintors need to conde in the audience helped me, the actor, to relax into my performance and not try so hard. I was able to directly combat all the challenges I had come up against in rehearsals. I was able to be temperate. I was able to release unnecessary tension which, in turn, helped me to breathe Amintors thoughts better. It was no longer about me giving a performance. The performance was there, it just needed to be revealed. I would also like to point out how absolutely necessity of an appropriate warm-up. All

the preparatory work and rehearsal that go into a performance are for naught if you do not warm up before a show. To express the nuance and complexity of the thoughts discussed here, one much be warm and hydrated. I hesitate to say more than that about the performances. Each audience was different, so each performance was different. A live theatrical performance is a temporal experience, it is born when the lies come up and it dies when the lights go down. As actors, we work in this constant cycle of birth-life-death. One show ends and a role exists your life, just to make room for the entrance of a different character and a new opportunity to create. But with creation comes the threat of destruction. Even now, I struggle to nd the words

to write this conclusion because, I think, I am scared to end this experience. My time at the Academy has changed me, very deeply, as a person. My body changed considerably this year. My voice changed. I changed. And that change, although amazing, is scary. To combat my fear, I wanted to use this paper as a way to process my entire experience at the ACA, not just my performance of Amintor. Thus, all the crazy typeface and the convoluted structure of the paper, for which I am deeply sorry. I hope reading this has been, at least, somewhat interesting.

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I came to the ACA because I wanted to be a Master of something. My degree will be in

Classical Acting, but I think it goes deeper than that. Not only am I a better actor because of the Academy, but I am also a better thinker, a better speaker, and a better writer. In fact, I have been wanting to write recreationally for a long time now, but have never found the inspiration to sit down and do it. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and use this paper to start thinking of myself as a writer. I challenged myself to write a unique paper. I did not want to turn in a standardized, by-the-book process paper, like I did as an undergraduate. In writing this paper, I have learned why I am suddenly able to be more creative in my writing. This year, I learned more about the mechanics of the English language than I did sixteen years of schooling. Studying the texts of Classical English drama has helped me to build more complex thought structures and create clearer messages. In short, my time at the ACA has given me the condence to create something new with language. It has helped me nd my voice. And that, hopefully, has made me a man of my word.

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Bibliography

Beaumont and Fletcher. The Maids Tragedy. Ed. Rod Menzies. Washington, D.C.: 2011. Folkerth, Wes. The Sound of Shakespeare. London: Routledge, 2002. OBrien, Ellen. The Histrionic Vision: Dramatic and Theatrical Forms in the Novels of Herman Melville. Dissertation, Yale University. New Haven: 1976.