Exit Pursued by a Bear
Exit pursued by a Bear
-Cross over point from comedy to tragedy.
-Debates have swirled around the bear for centuries. Initially, the arguments centered on whether Shakespeare intended for an actual bear to be let loose on stage - or for a man in a costume to act like a bear. "By now almost all the critics would agree that it would have had to be a man in a costume," Mowat says.
-In Elizabethan England, bears were familiar creatures. Men wagered on bear-baiting contests. Bears symbolized anger and tyranny; some likened them to the king. Some think the bear represents Leonte’s position in the play as he destroys his wife and child’s life out of irrational anger.
Though Shakespeare's odd stage direction involving a bear is the most famous, it was not the first, Mowat says. In Mucedorus, a romance originally performed in 1590, its playwright includes this instruction: "Exit somebody pursued by a bear."
Over time, the bear in The Winter's Tale has been portrayed as a hand puppet. A rug. A shadow. A man carrying a mask. Sometimes the creature horrifies the audience. Sometimes it evokes laughter. Sometimes it doesn't appear on stage at all.
How would we do it?
Leave it to imagination – sound effects, stemming off the symbolic side of it. Quite psychological.
Masks – artistic style throughout the whole show, everyone has something a little bit twisted about their costume to symbolize the disturbed elements within the play. Also symbolism of the word to ‘bear’ something bear the guilt or weight of Leontes. If the actor of Leontes was the one to wear the bear mask could symbolize how Antigonous is bearing the weight of the task Leonte’s has set him.
Bear costume, similar to Collin Morgan’s harpy costume in The Tempest.
Necklace, letters and her face/aura. what identify perdita as Leonte’s daughter.
Stories within the tale…
– Hermione asks Mamillus to tell them a happy tale and then Mamillus says a sad tale is better for winter.
-Cross over point from comedy to tragedy.
-Debates have swirled around the bear for centuries. Initially, the arguments centered on whether Shakespeare intended for an actual bear to be let loose on stage - or for a man in a costume to act like a bear. "By now almost all the critics would agree that it would have had to be a man in a costume," Mowat says.
-In Elizabethan England, bears were familiar creatures. Men wagered on bear-baiting contests. Bears symbolized anger and tyranny; some likened them to the king. Some think the bear represents Leonte’s position in the play as he destroys his wife and child’s life out of irrational anger.
Though Shakespeare's odd stage direction involving a bear is the most famous, it was not the first, Mowat says. In Mucedorus, a romance originally performed in 1590, its playwright includes this instruction: "Exit somebody pursued by a bear."
Over time, the bear in The Winter's Tale has been portrayed as a hand puppet. A rug. A shadow. A man carrying a mask. Sometimes the creature horrifies the audience. Sometimes it evokes laughter. Sometimes it doesn't appear on stage at all.
How would we do it?
Leave it to imagination – sound effects, stemming off the symbolic side of it. Quite psychological.
Masks – artistic style throughout the whole show, everyone has something a little bit twisted about their costume to symbolize the disturbed elements within the play. Also symbolism of the word to ‘bear’ something bear the guilt or weight of Leontes. If the actor of Leontes was the one to wear the bear mask could symbolize how Antigonous is bearing the weight of the task Leonte’s has set him.
Bear costume, similar to Collin Morgan’s harpy costume in The Tempest.
Necklace, letters and her face/aura. what identify perdita as Leonte’s daughter.
Stories within the tale…
– Hermione asks Mamillus to tell them a happy tale and then Mamillus says a sad tale is better for winter.