We’ve been talking about how to incorporate music into our production of King Lear. I stumbled upon an ongoing blog with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust that’s examining the importance of music Shakespeare’s plays. I’m going to read the more detailed blog posts as they appear, but the first two came to the following conclusion:
“Music, then, was seen as something with universal importance and significant power. It did matter greatly to Shakespeare and his contemporaries. As well as animals and the elements, Shakespeare and Case both explore music’s power over the emotions, thoughts and actions of people in far more detail. As this is such a vast and fascinating topic, it’s something to look out for when the exhibition is launched, as it will form a key underlying theme.”
I’m looking forward to reading more about what music meant in performance when Shakespeare’s plays were originally staged. From there, we can compare it to music in contemporary Shakespeare performances and how it can enhance our own production.
This Great Stage of Fools 