Time and Setting - Free Essay Example

This is the first scene of the play that is expected to take place in King Lear’s castle, therefore, the arrangement of the place must depict a sense of royalty. However, an ancient setting will be preferable because it will concur with the theme and culture that exists in the play. The ancient scene will be achieved by the type of dress code of the cast. In this case, Victorian fashion will be a perfect dress code for this scene.

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The Victorian dressing code is unique because of its unique features such as the low shoulder neckline, boning corset, tightly fitting sleeves, and silhouette for the female dress. The gown of the female dress should cover their entire feet. On the other hand, men will wear long frock coats, a waistcoat vest, and, a pointed pair of shoes. Hats and gloves were also a significant part of the dressing code of important men and women in society.

Actors and Actresses

The scene will require fourteen actors and three actresses. The fifteen actors will play the roles of Kent, Gloucester, Edmund, Lear, Duke of Albany, Duke of Cornwall, France, Burgundy, and five bodyguards. The actresses will play the roles of Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. The King, (Lear) will have three daughters (Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia) and two Earls. The hand of each daughter will be held by their husbands except for the case of Cordelia. The Earl of Kent will stand on the right-hand side of Lear while Gloucester will be on the other side of the king.

Costume and Physical Appearance

The person playing the role of King Lear, Kent, and Gloucester will be expected to have the features of old men. Therefore, a makeup artist will have to ensure that these characters have grey facial hair and bald-like features. I addition, Lear must wear a coronet, a red and carry a royal sculpture as a symbol of authority. Goneril and Regan must be women aged about 26 years while Cordelia, the youngest, must resemble a teenage girl about 18 years old. Unlike Goneril and Regal that will be elegantly dressed with visible pride, Cordelia must appear with a simple dress and a down to earth character. Goneril and Regan will have to speak with great courage but Cordelia will be reserved.

Cornwall, Albany, France, and Burgundy should be young men between the age of 30 and 40 years; full of energy and enthusiasm. These four men should be well dressed to befit the status of men of royalty class. The person to play the role of Edmund must be fairly dressed to show a young man from the nobble class below the royal class. While Edmund and Cornwall are expected to be of the same age group, these two characters must have suspicious facial features, and expressions. The soldiers or bodyguards should wear old English military attire and long rifles. Albany and France must stand out as calm and well-composed as compared to the other young men in the scene.

Background and Props

The background must be set to depict the scene of the royal palace specifically the room that contains the king’s throne. Therefore, only one chair will be placed in the room, for the king to sit on. The chair will be well decorated to symbolize royalty. The rest of the actors and actresses will stand about a meter and a half from the king’s throne. Two soldiers will carry torch flames from either side of the background.

Movement

All the soldiers will remain standing at the scene from start to end. Therefore, apart from these soldiers,

The first people to enter the scene from the left-hand side will be Kent, Edmund, and Gloucester.

The second group to enter the scene will be Lear, Albany, and Cornwall from the backstage then closely followed by Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. The followers have been left out to avoid congestion on the stage.

Later, Gloucester and Edmund will exit the stage from the left side but the former will enter the stage again from the right side accompanied by France and Burgundy.

An angry Lear will leave the stage from the background and he will be closely followed by Cornwall, Albany, Burgundy, and Gloucester.

France will leave the stage from the left side while holding Cordelia’s left arm.

Only the King will have freedom of movement on the stage, the rest of the speakers will have restricted movement. The king will also have the freedom to move as he touches the shoulders of the other actors and at times expressing extreme happiness or anger. Since all of them will be addressing the king one at a time, they will be expected to slightly move towards the king.