FlagShakes is dedicated to Shakespeare’s Original Staging Practices. These practices allow us to produce Shakespeare’s plays in the most authentic and accessible way. These practices include:
UNIVERSAL LIGHTING
Shakespeare had one outdoor theatre, The Globe, and one indoor theatre, The Blackfriars. The Globe was open in the center, and its lighting was from the sun. The Blackfriars was lit by candelabras that ran the length of the theatre. So, in both spaces, the actors and the audience shared light. Shakespeare and his contemporaries used this lighting in their plays. When audiences share lighting with each other and the actors, they are more able to share an experience, an emotional journey, a laugh.
LIVE MUSIC
All of Shakespeare’s theaters had a gallery where talented musicians played contemporary music before, after, and during the plays. Musical instruments can also be used to create many of the sound effects needed in Renaissance plays. We love to follow their lead by giving our artists space where they can showcase all their talents, so we include live music in every show.
MINIMAL SETS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS
Shakespeare didn’t have access to million-dollar sound systems or pyrotechnics. If he had, he would have used them. Since he didn’t, he wrote his plays to be most powerful when performed using minimal sets and maximum acting. Leaving out modern conventions like huge sets and high-dollar special effects allows us to put our money into paying our artists and to keep the running time for each play close to Shakespeare’s promise in the Romeo and Juliet prologue, “the two hours’ traffic of our stage.”
DIRECT AUDIENCE ADDRESS
You’ll never see an actor in a FlagShakes play on stage talking to themselves. Shakespeare wrote soliloquies and asides so that audiences could participate as active members of his plays. Universal Lighting makes direct audience address possible.
CROSS-GENDER CASTING
In Elizabethan England, actors were cast according to who was best for the role, regardless of gender: it’s just that all the actors were male. At FlagShakes, we follow the same principle and always cast the best actor for the role, regardless of gender, but luckily our pool isn’t just limited to men. Since roughly half of the population is female, we aim to ensure that roughly half of our cast members are female as well.
FOCUS ON THE LANGUAGE
Did you know the vast majority of Shakespeare’s audience was illiterate? It’s true. He was a playwright of the masses, and the reason all that fancy language and confusing syntax didn’t keep them away was that his actors knew how to work with the poetry instead of against it. At FlagShakes, every show has a text coach who works with actors to make sure the meaning of every line is clear. This way, the audience can relax, enjoy the show, and pick up some sweet new vocab.
All of this information and more can be found at: flagshakes.org/about-the-festival/
UNIVERSAL LIGHTING
Shakespeare had one outdoor theatre, The Globe, and one indoor theatre, The Blackfriars. The Globe was open in the center, and its lighting was from the sun. The Blackfriars was lit by candelabras that ran the length of the theatre. So, in both spaces, the actors and the audience shared light. Shakespeare and his contemporaries used this lighting in their plays. When audiences share lighting with each other and the actors, they are more able to share an experience, an emotional journey, a laugh.
LIVE MUSIC
All of Shakespeare’s theaters had a gallery where talented musicians played contemporary music before, after, and during the plays. Musical instruments can also be used to create many of the sound effects needed in Renaissance plays. We love to follow their lead by giving our artists space where they can showcase all their talents, so we include live music in every show.
MINIMAL SETS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS
Shakespeare didn’t have access to million-dollar sound systems or pyrotechnics. If he had, he would have used them. Since he didn’t, he wrote his plays to be most powerful when performed using minimal sets and maximum acting. Leaving out modern conventions like huge sets and high-dollar special effects allows us to put our money into paying our artists and to keep the running time for each play close to Shakespeare’s promise in the Romeo and Juliet prologue, “the two hours’ traffic of our stage.”
DIRECT AUDIENCE ADDRESS
You’ll never see an actor in a FlagShakes play on stage talking to themselves. Shakespeare wrote soliloquies and asides so that audiences could participate as active members of his plays. Universal Lighting makes direct audience address possible.
CROSS-GENDER CASTING
In Elizabethan England, actors were cast according to who was best for the role, regardless of gender: it’s just that all the actors were male. At FlagShakes, we follow the same principle and always cast the best actor for the role, regardless of gender, but luckily our pool isn’t just limited to men. Since roughly half of the population is female, we aim to ensure that roughly half of our cast members are female as well.
FOCUS ON THE LANGUAGE
Did you know the vast majority of Shakespeare’s audience was illiterate? It’s true. He was a playwright of the masses, and the reason all that fancy language and confusing syntax didn’t keep them away was that his actors knew how to work with the poetry instead of against it. At FlagShakes, every show has a text coach who works with actors to make sure the meaning of every line is clear. This way, the audience can relax, enjoy the show, and pick up some sweet new vocab.
All of this information and more can be found at: flagshakes.org/about-the-festival/