Goneril

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In the Globe Theatre Company's production of King Lear, Goneril was played by Patricia Kerrigan.

About Patricia Kerrigan

Patricia played the role of Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at the Manchester Royal. She has also appeared in Loves Labour Lost, All's Well That Ends Well and Twelfth Night. Her television work includes a production of Macbeth for the BBC, Where the Heart Is, Dalziel and Pascoe and The Bill.

Click on the numbered links to follow Patricia's journey as hse creates and plays the character of Goneril in the Globe Theatre.

Patricia Kerrigan - Character Notes 1

These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and frequently change as the rehearsal process progresses.

Everything I had previously read about King Lear, ‘lumped’ Goneril and Regan together. When you actually come to play the characters, it is very important to find the differences between them, simply because they are very different. Their language is different, and that has become very apparent this week.

When Lear asks his daughters to declare their love for him, he says "Goneril our eldest, Regan our dearest, and Cordelia our joy." I am starting to develop the idea that Goneril is the least favourite, the most neglected and the least appreciated. I am also wondering if Lear wanted his first born to be a boy, and of course Goneril is not a boy. That may influence her character later on in the play. Goneril is quite tough, maybe she tries to be more like a boy because she is not a boy.

The other questions that have been asked this week are:

  • Why is Goneril married to Albany?
  • What is that marriage like?
  • Why have they got no children?
  • Why is someone like Edmund so attractive to her?

We had a discussion about costume yesterday. It was with the designer and Barry (Kyle, Master of Play). I disagreed with some of their ideas. They saw Goneril's journey, in a costume sense, starting with a plain dress (the same as Regan's dress, but with a very soft shape) and progressing towards a more masculine look. I disagreed because of one particular line where Goneril says something like ‘I had rather lose the battle than lose Edmund to my sister’. That suggests to me that at the end of the play, instead of being concerned with looking like a soldier and being like a soldier, she wants to be like a woman. Therefore, I felt it was wrong for me to wear trousers. Goneril should be at her most feminine as she tries to maintain Edmund's attention.

Another question I am thinking about is how Goneril can justify killing her sister. I have not got anywhere near an answer. I don’t believe that anyone considers themselves to be evil, that is a judgement made by people on the outside. So, to play Goneril, you have to create a real person, you can not just be Cruella DeVille.

I am interested in the idea that, from Goneril's perspective, Regan has tried to steal Edmund's love in the way that she previously stole the love of her father. Regan is the second born child and it is conceivable that the little love Lear gave to Goneril was transferred to Regan after her birth. In Edmund I think Goneril believes she has found the love of her life, when Regan ‘moves in on him’ it may seem to her a repetition of that of her early experience. Creating a character is about exploring relationships and finding the world of the play – a world that would justify people being so very harsh to one another.

We have been exploring Goneril's relationship with Oswald. It is too simple to say that Oswald is a servant. If you look at the first scene between Goneril and Oswald, she is telling him to treat her father badly. What she is asking him to do is risk his life, because Lear is not going to react well to a servant snubbing him. She confides in Oswald in a way that suggests there is more to their relationship than simply that of a servant and a mistress, there is a history, and Goneril trusts Oswald.

I have been terrified this week. It is very scary to start working on a play like King Lear. It is like standing at the bottom of a mountain and thinking ‘I am never going to get up there, I’m never going to make this verse sound as though that is how I really speak.’ We have got wonderful help, from people like Giles (Block, Master of Verse) who is working on verse with us. You feel ‘pumped up’ and inspired because he gives you something and you think ‘I can do it, I can do it!’ and then you get into rehearsals and you open your mouth and you can’t do it!

Goneril is a very difficult character to understand. Lots of people have opinions about Goneril. Before I starting rehearsing, when I told people I was doing this job, they said some big sweeping things like ‘ she is pure evil, there is nothing good in that woman at all’. I don’t believe that, and I don’t think you can play that. It is like playing a king. How can you play a king? You can’t play a king; everyone else has to play as if you are the king. I am trying to concentrate on ‘what makes Goneril tick’. Why is she this closed off, damaged and disappointed person? I am trying to find out what has informed or formed her character. I have been thinking about what it must have been like for Goneril not to have a mother. There are no mothers evident in the play. What is it like to be neglected? Also, what is it like to live in a very male world? It is quite funny in rehearsals, as there are only three women in the cast! It can seem very ‘male’.

Another thing I have been thinking about is Goneril and Regan's relationship. Because Goneril and Regan join forces in the play, I had assumed that they operated together. However, I am not so sure now, after considering the later section of the play. It seems they are only working together because it suits them, not because they are ‘big buddies’, but I am not sure about that yet, I’ll have to wait and see.

We have been singing a lot with Claire (van Kampen, Master of Music). I think there may be folk singing in the production. We may sing as ensemble when not in a scene. We have been singing English folk songs in some rehearsals.

I think Goneril's husband, Albany is a very difficult but interesting character. It would be so easy to write him off as a ‘wimp’. I don’t think this is the case, I think that he is the voice of reason in an unreasonable world.

At the moment I have masses of questions. Questions seem to breed more questions. I do look forward to when we actually stand up and get over the feeling of having never acted before. With a difficult play like this you do have to discuss things. You feel very clever in your head. However, when you actually stand up it means nothing! You imagine that you have ‘cracked’ it or that you have taken a step forward, but this is only in your seat, not when you are acting. Obviously, all of our discussion work feeds into rehearsals later, but it would be quite good to stand up and do some acting soon, even if we are terrible!

This week has been like planting lots of little seeds all over the place and seeing which ones take root, which ones need more attention and which ones are never going to grow in that soil. Hopefully we will build a subtle basis for a wonderful production.

Activities

Patricia's Questions

Look again at Patricia's bullet point list of questions. What do you think are the answers? Try to find lines from the play that ‘back up’ your ideas. Send any suggestions to Patricia.

Dress Vs Trousers

Patricia does not want to wear trousers at the end of the play as she feels that at this point Goneril would be trying to impress Edmund with her femininity. She may have to argue her case with the designer. Do you agree with Patricia? Can you think of any arguments that may help her win her case? Send your ideas to Patricia.

Pre conceptions

Do you have preconceptions, or firm ideas about the character of Goneril, if so what are they and why do you hold this opinion?

Playing Evil

Patricia feels that you cannot play evil, just as you cannot play being a king. The effect depends on the actors working around you as much as the actor themselves, as their reactions to the character help to create that character for the audience. Test this idea for yourselves. In groups try two improvisations. Ask one member of the group to improvise a scene in which they are a King and the rest of the group his subjects. First play this scene with the group treating the King with deference and respect and as the ruler of all, then play the scene again but with the group treating the King as they would an other citizen. What is the difference ?

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Patricia Kerrigan - Character Notes 2

These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and change frequently as the rehearsal process progresses.

My ideas and work are gaining more of a structure. I now have a better idea of Goneril and her relationship with Lear. I have decided that Goneril is a person who wants to be loved because she feels she never truly has been. I think that Goneril thinks that her father does not love her, he prefers Regan and Cordelia. I have also decided that Goneril is in a loveless marriage. This might be the reason why she turns to Edmund - for love.

I am more confident with the language of the play, after working with Giles (Block, Master of Verse). The language seems to hold clues about the characters. An example of this is in Act I Scene IV. In this scene Goneril is telling Lear that his behaviour is unacceptable. She is trying to have a grown up conversation with Lear, who will not listen to her. Her language is quite formal and at first, which is demonstrated by her repetition of ‘sir’. As her mood changes, so does her language. In her speech, there is a lack of punctuation at the end of the lines. If a line does not end with punctuation, it means that the last word of that line is intended to be emphasised. It also indicates that the person was unsure how to end the sentence. I believe that punctuation in the middle of a line means that as you finish one sentence, you immediately begin a new one. This has led me to believe that Goneril is not in control of her emotions and the situation as she has been in previous scenes. Goneril seems to be deeply lonely, but her language is always ‘controlled’. However in this scene Goneril's speech patterns are broken. From working on this scene with Julian (Glover, King Lear) we have decided that both father and daughter are very similar to each other. They both have bad tempers.

Goneril does not trust anybody. I have been discussing her marriage with Harry (Gostelow) who is playing the Duke of Albany. We both think that the marriage may have been arranged. We have also speculated whether the marriage has been consummated. Goneril and Albany do not appear to be in an intimate relationship.

I have also been exploring the relationship between Goneril and Oswald. There is an intimacy that exists between these two characters. Goneril trusts Oswald in a way that is not demonstrated in her relationships with the other characters. We must be careful when developing the female roles in King Lear, as there are only three of us. Cordelia is considered as the ‘pure’ sister. Regan seems to have a good marriage with the Duke of Cornwall, however she is clearly disturbed in some area of her life. I did not want Goneril to be ‘tagged’ as the promiscuous sister simply because there was a need to define her nature. Instead I am eager to explore other areas that may explain her situation.

The only way in which I can understand the situation between Goneril and Edmund is by considering the idea that Goneril is inexperienced romantically. This is portrayed in the way that she gets very ‘giddy’ and jealous towards Edmund, in a way that reveals an immaturity in her nature.

The costumes for the sisters will be skirts with corset tops. These dresses start off stiff, with high necks, and look ‘closed in’. This changes as the play progresses. I am not wearing trousers at the end, however the costume must suggest that I am going into battle. Goneril wants to look as good as possible (taking into account the situation) as she is in love with Edmund and wants to present herself in a feminine way.

Activities

Patricia's ideas

Re read the first paragraph of this bulletin in which Patricia describes her ideas for her relationships with Lear and Edmund. Do you agree with her ideas, or do you think her character may be driven by other factors and motives?

Emphasis and lines

Patricia describes the work she has been doing on verse. She believes that if there is no punctuation at the end of a line the last word should be emphasised. Pick any of Goneril's speeches or lines and try reading them using Patricia's theory. What difference, if any, does this exercise make to your understanding of the lines?

Design Goneril's Costume

At the end of the bulletin Patricia describes the look she would like for Goneril at the end of the play. Design this costume for Patricia and send her your sketches with some notes explaining why you made your design decisions.

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Patricia Kerrigan - Character Notes 3

These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and change frequently as the rehearsal process progresses.

This week we have been thinking about the type of relationship that Goneril and Oswald have. Is Goneril in a romantic relationship with him? Barry (Kyle, Master of Play) said that it was normal, at that time, for a person to become ‘involved’ with their servant. However, Jaq (Bessell, Head of Research) disagreed and said that it would not have been possible for Goneril and Oswald to have this kind of relationship. This is due to the fact that there was inequality between men and women. It might have been possible for a man to start a relationship with his servant, but a woman would not have had that freedom. If King Lear had mistresses people would have considered this to be normal and even ‘manly’, but a woman would lose her virtue and respect.

I have been trying to imagine the type of house that Goneril and Albany would have lived in. I think that it must have been huge if they were able to accommodate a king and 100 of his men.

Rather than beginning to research the expository elements of the world of the play, I have been trying to understand Goneril and her loneliness. This is interesting because every role that you play has a different starting point. If you are playing a character that has a particular profession then you must research that profession. If I were playing a seamstress then I would have to learn about sewing. With Goneril I do not feel that I have a particular point of research, my starting point is to look at the text and think about how I can develop her character and how I can relate this to my own experiences.

I have been looking at Act I Scene IV when Lear curses Goneril's womb and calls upon nature "dry up in her the organs of increase" so that she cannot have children. How does Goneril feel after her father says such a thing? It must change her feelings towards him. Maybe her pain from Lear's curses can justify her actions later on in the play.

I am currently trying to get a line reinstated into the text that is in the Folio (Arden edition), but not in the Quarto (Oxford edition) which is what we are using. This line is in Act I Scene IV after Lear exits and Goneril and Albany are having a conversation. Goneril is saying that it is dangerous and too political to have 100 of Lear's men in their house. Albany tells her that she fears "too far" and Goneril responds by saying "safer than trust too far". I think that this line is very revealing in relation to her character and relationships, and therefore I think that it is an essential statement. I would like to exchange it for another line.

Activities

Goneril and Albany's House

Patricia has been trying to visualise the house in which Goneril and Albany live. What do you think the house would look like? Are there any clues in the text? Send your descriptions or drawings to Patricia.

Cuts

Patricia in her final paragraph describes one of her lines which has been cut and she would like to reinstate. Look again at the scene and moment Patricia describes. Do you agree that the line "safer than to trust too far" should be reinstated?

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Patricia Kerrigan - Character Notes 4

These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and change frequently as the rehearsal process progresses.
I have quite a strong sense of my journey through the play now. I am trying out different ways of playing Goneril to make sure that the choices I have made are the right ones. I have been paying particular attention to the opening scene of the play. To an outside eye it seems that the scene is about showing the difference between Goneril, Regan and Cordelia and their relationships with their father. People tend to be very judgmental about the characters. They think that Goneril and Regan are hypocritical and say what they think their father wants them to say and that Cordelia shows great strength of character by not resorting to that. But these are just judgements, which are impossible to play. I have been trying many different approaches to the scene in order to find one that works.

We have decided that it is a surprise to Goneril, Regan and Cordelia that they have to stand up and make speeches. We have also decided that they do not know that the land is going to be divided into three. We do know that it is going to be divided, but I have good reason to think that it might be all given to me because I am the eldest. I am shocked that it will be divided into three. Goneril is unfortunate enough to have to speak first, so she does not get the time that Regan has to think about what to say. I have tried to play the speech in the more conventional manner, where Goneril is planning how to get as much land as possible. This way, I cry because I think that I am not getting anywhere. I have decided that Goneril does love her father but that she has been overlooked and bullied all her life and has no confidence that he loves her. She has to stand in front of people knowing that she is the least favourite child. So, it is very hard and humiliating for her to make her speech.

She does love Lear. ‘A love that makes breath poor and speech unable’ that line seems to say that she is telling the truth –it seems very heartfelt. Her breath is becoming a bit shallow and she is finding it difficult to speak. I tried to play this speech as if Goneril was crying and lying but have discarded that idea. Now I see her as a grown up woman who is put in the position of a 5 year old when she is asked to public.

If I play Goneril as schemer in the first scene then it gives me a much less of an interesting journey. I haven’t solved the problem of how to play bit at the end of the scene between Regan and Goneril – I think they are negotiating. Verse changes to prose at the end of the scene, which is always a clue that something is changing. According to Giles, when you go into prose it means that quite often you are hiding something. It can mean that you are upset and don’t want to appear so. I think that in this case it is a clue that the relationship between Regan and Goneril is not very intimate. The language is careful and a little formal.

Scene 3 has become the scene where you see Goneril begins to change. She knows that she has to put a stop to this humiliating behaviour. Lear has given his power away and she knows that if she and Regan do not do something about it they will never have a chance to rule. He will always interfere and undermine. That is when she sees what she has to do in order to change her father. She doesn’t come into the scene having thought this out before hand.

Goneril tries to reason with Lear but he is not a reasonable man and that I think that Goneril is terrified. I show that she is scared even if she is shouting. Lear does terrible things to her, he puts her curse on her womb. Julian does it so that it is just horrific. She gets very upset. Hopefully, in this scene the audience will see where she gets her potential to be selfish and cruel from.- like father like daughter.

The scene between Goneril and Edmund is being played as if we have just left and have come straight from Regan's house. We have our shoes off and I have a blindfold. It is a very free, innocent and childlike. She has found her soul mate. Her emotional life has been so baron and lonely that Edmund is offering her something.

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Patricia Kerrigan - Character Notes 5

These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and change frequently as the rehearsal process progresses.

We have had nine or ten performances, and it feels as though we can begin to enjoy them. It has been rather terrifying, but I think this is normal when you first start a run of a production, particularly at the Globe, as it is such a daunting space to act in. You wake up in the morning and you do not feel excited, you feel scared. This is now starting to change.

The period of technical rehearsals lasted for five days. During this time the emphasis for our work was on the music starting, timings, entrances and exits.

We were lucky because we had two dress rehearsals before coming to perform the play in front of an audience. King Lear is a big and complicated play. These two rehearsals gave us the opportunity to consolidate entrances, exits and when to move. Some things did change because of the Globe space. During the rehearsals it became apparent that some of the staging of the play was not appropriate when taking into account where people would be sitting. We had to change the staging to help people see more of the story.

The first preview was terrifying. It was not so bad for me because I have been on that stage before, along with some of the other actors. I think that you have to have great courage in this space. It is important not to let the space dominate you because you can see everyone's face. The audience is usually very nice and they want you, as an actor, to be nice. However, when you are playing Goneril this is difficult. When you go out on stage, you do not want to be unsympathetic. In another theatre you would not know the effect that you are having on the audience.

I do look into the audience when I am on stage. I did not do this as much in the first preview, as you need so much concentration because people talk and move about. It is very easy to get distracted and forget your lines. I know that I am going to adore it, but it is a very challenging space to work in.

The first preview was performed on sheer adrenaline. I cannot remember too much about it. The second preview was a bit less scary, I found that I could start to look around while I was on stage. Then, we had rain for the first time. I am not joking; the noise of everyone taking their raincoats out was deafening. The sound of the rain crashing on the raincoats was really loud as well. We had to speak louder. I found it quite funny and wanted to laugh! It was quite distracting, like someone holding a plastic carrier bag up to your ear and rustling it. It was hard to ignore!

Some things did change during the previews. Some things that had seemed like a good idea in the rehearsal room did not work with an audience. They were too complicated. The Globe is a great theatre for simple storytelling and you have to remember that whilst there is someone at your feet there is also someone high up and far behind you. You cannot be seduced into speaking quietly just because someone is near by.

At this point, having performed the play nine or ten times, I am interested in how much I can look out to the audience. Last night was the most I have looked out. I found a few points to look at the very inaccessible seats that are very high up. Even if you can do that just once or twice a night it is good, so that the audience know that you know they are there. This is wonderfully challenging.

Things are starting to settle down. We have had a few days to ourselves, as there have not been rehearsals. I now feel more relaxed. I would like to take this opportunity to say how reassuring and touching it was to receive all the messages and cards.

I have a routine before a performance. In the daytime before I come into the theatre I try and do some exercise – going to the gym, stretching and general physical warm ups. When I get to the theatre I like to do a vocal warm up, humming and sharp articulation work, in the theatre. This is to make sure that I can speak quickly. Then I try and go through my lines in the play at least once, in the space that I am going to speak in. At 6:30pm I come in and get my hair done. I then sit in the dressing room and relax, concentrating on the world of the play. At 7:00pm I put my costume on and think about the first scene of the play, who Goneril is, where she is, what she wants and how she is going to get it. Five minutes before the beginning of the play I wait in the wings and clear my mind.

I found that the work I did in the rehearsal room has expanded. This is partly to do with playing in a theatre rather than a small rehearsal room. Everything is more vivid. I am finding more repression at the beginning of the play, and more freedom at the end. It is exciting to play such a vivid character, and I am starting to appreciate this.

At the Globe, the space is more a part of your work than any other place I have worked in. I did more detailed work about what makes Goneril the way she is and the areas that she is lacking in confidence. If I was working in a little studio space I could convey all of these things. However, in this space you cannot hint at something, you have to show it fully. If you are feeling sad, happy, angry, or afraid, you have to inhabit these things fully so that everyone can share them. I did not inhabit things as fully as I am now.

During the first few previews I was upset, as it became clear that the audience did not like Goneril as a character. However, the audience is not supposed to like Goneril. As I have looked out more I have seen the audience smiling in recognition because everyone has known a person as bossy or angry as Goneril. I do understand that people can appreciate what I am doing. I have got over my crises of feeling disliked and misunderstood!

I have a bit of a problem with my final costume because although I had wanted it to look a feminine and sexy, it is now too open at the front. I do like it but sometimes it makes me feel self-conscious!

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Patricia Kerrigan - Character Notes 6

These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and change frequently as the rehearsal process progresses.

We are still performing six shows per week, and so we are tired. It is quite difficult, particularly as I am also studying at the moment. Next week we will not be performing any shows, as we will be re-rehearsing the play. I am hoping that we will not be called in all day, everyday, so that I get some free time to complete two essays. I have to write an essay on memory and I cannot remember anything!

The show has now settled down. It is solid, secure, we are getting very good audiences and the sun has been out. It is a bit miserable performing when it is cold. However, when it is raining it does suit the mood of the play. King Lear is not a cheerful play, so if the weather is gloomy it is easier to tell the story. It is not very easy if you are freezing on stage, or having the rain pelt down on you in the Yard.

Stewart Pearce (Master of Voice) came to see the show, and he thought that it had moved on after not seeing it for a week. He felt that Felicity (Dean, Regan) and I had become more confident in the second half, when we have to act cruel and nasty. This was something that I was not aware of; it is very useful if someone else points it out.

Next week we will be re-rehearsing, and we may get to change things. The reason it was planned was because the company was going to Cambridge, to perform the play. However, we are no longer going. If you are re-rehearsing it is good to rehearse during the day, and perform during the night to see if the ideas and changes work. I think that having a week off will do the show a lot of good. We will all return with fresh eyes and more energy.

I have not yet come to the stage with this play where I do not feel nervous. In the first half of the play I have to talk non-stop in short bursts. That is quite a scary thing to do. It is easier to have a bigger part, which is spread out. The other day I went on stage and was in the middle of a speech, when suddenly I had no idea of what to say next. I stood still for about five seconds, but it felt like five minutes. This only happened a few days ago, so I cannot become complacent. My mum and sister will be coming down from Scotland to see the show and I think that will be scary.

At the moment I am working on making Goneril's character more human. I thought it would be interesting to experiment with her character. One idea I have tried on a few occasions is to not smile in the performance, until I am with Edmund. By doing this, I thought that it would emphasise the idea that my true happiness comes from being with him. I am also thinking about my scene with Oswald in Act I Scene III. I am interested in making the scene appear as if it is not prepared, as I want Goneril's behaviour to seem like a genuine reaction to what is happening. If someone is annoyed, they react in a way that is not prepared. I am always conscious of people thinking that Goneril and Regan are evil. I dispute that. I think that they are extreme types of human beings who are very damaged.

I am trying to get a different costume for the end of the play (I am hoping to get a coat). I have spoken to Barry (Kyle, Master of Play) about this, who has spoken to the designer. I want to look more like a soldier.

Barry has been to Japan to look at the Globe Theatre in Tokyo, as we will be going there for two weeks at the beginning of October. I think it is a fantastic opportunity of a lifetime. Maybe in the re-rehearsal week we will discuss what will have to change in order to work in the space. The Macbeth Company is going to Italy.

I have travelled to many places. When I left school I went to London for one year, with a friend of mine who also wanted to be an actress. I worked backstage in the Opera House, Covent Garden during the day and in a sandwich shop in the evenings and weekends. I saved up all my money and went travelling for five years. I went to America, Honolulu and Australia (for one year, picking grapes). I then went to Europe via Singapore and Karachi, Pakistan. Once in Europe, I lived in Frankfurt, Germany for ten months. My friend was living in Amsterdam, and I went to visit her for the weekend. I ended up staying there for three years!

I did a lot of work with theatre companies. I started off doing stage management and lighting. This progressed to small acting parts and then developed into bigger acting parts. I then auditioned for drama schools in London, and got accepted. That was when I returned.

Audiences around the world are different. Even around this country they are very different. Over the past few years I have done many national tours. If you go up north people are less reserved. I think that people from Scotland (where I am from), Wales and Ireland treat going to the theatre differently from people in England (particularly London). I did a Shakespeare Festival in Sicily, and we were the only English speaking company there. The people out there treated us like popstars! They were grabbing us on stage to kiss us, because they had enjoyed the performance so much.

One of the fears of the company was that the audience would join in with the performance too much, and it would become like a pantomime. This is appropriate if you are doing a comedy, but not a tragedy like King Lear. You do not want someone hissing at you when you come on the stage as Goneril, which is what happened to me the other day. I gave the chap a very hard look and he did not do it again!

People stand in the yard for over three hours, sometimes in the baking heat and other times in the pouring rain. I find this very admirable. If the audience is noisy you find that you have to concentrate more. During bad weather I find that I have to try even harder for the sake of the audience. It is one thing to get lost in a play when the physical conditions are good, but it is another thing if you are standing up, wearing a rain mac, you are damp, sore and the rain is deafening you. As an actor you have to be in the ‘moment’ to engage people, otherwise they leave.

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Patricia Kerrigan - Character Notes 7

These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and change frequently as the rehearsal process progresses.

We have just had a period of re-rehearsal. I didn't find it all that useful because I am so tired at the moment. Some members of the cast felt that there were things that really had to be changed, so for them it was productive. There were one or two things that I wanted to change, but not a huge amount. I didn’t feel that it needed a whole week. The re-rehearsal would have made more sense to me if we had continued with evening performances, because we would have been re-rehearsing during the day and applying the changes to the performance in the evening. I found that it was difficult to re-rehearse and not put those changes into action for a week, especially when you have done so many shows and the action is so ingrained in your memory.

We have now done 54 performance of King Lear and we will be getting our holiday next week. We really need it! We were the first show to start and are the last show to have a holiday so we are all absolutely exhausted. I will be going home to Scotland for the week, where I hope to have a good rest and to celebrate my birthday.

It has been a long time since any of the directing team has seen the show, which means that no one has given us any 'notes'. This makes it very hard to know how the show is going from an outside perspective. I did have a breakthrough a couple of performances ago. I suddenly realised how to talk to the audience. I think that it was partly because I was so tired that I just stopped thinking and that was when it came. However, I wish I new what it was that worked that night as I have not been able to do it since. I just spoke to them as if they were friends rather than as if I was making some public speech. I am still discovering new things.

The audiences have been brilliant. I feel that it is the kind of audiences you get at the Globe that make it such a special place. They love the shows. My Mum came down to see it. She doesn't go to the theatre all that much. She enjoyed it and said it was wonderful to be able to look around and see all the other people in the audience and see what their reactions were. I think that a lot of the people who come here do not normally go to the theatre, which is wonderful, because they do not have so many preconceptions about the play or performance.

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Patricia Kerrigan - Character Notes 8

These comments are the actor's thoughts or ideas about the part as s/he goes through the rehearsal process – they are simply his/her own interpretations and change frequently as the rehearsal and performance process progresses.

We are now only doing three or four shows every week. This makes performances easier as we are not as tired, and I think that this benefits the show. It has been a long season; we have done about sixty-three shows and so it is difficult to keep the show ‘fresh’. It helps if we know that someone like the director or friends and family will be watching.

There are four weeks left at the Globe, we then have a five-day break and then we go to Tokyo, where we will be performing the show for two weeks. I am really looking forward to that and the rest of the cast have started reading their tourist guides! One of the actors will be unable to come, so we will be re-rehearsing with a new actor who will take his place.

Working at the Globe has been an amazing experience. It is definitely the hardest theatre I have worked in because of the technical demands. However, it is a very special place to work and we have had many wonderful audiences who have stood in the rain for three hours! In most theatres it is very easy to get used to the playing conditions and the technical considerations because everything goes dark and you cannot see the audience. At the Globe it took me at least fifteen performances to get used to the audience being visible, particularly when they move about a lot (putting raincoats on, eating, drinking or chatting). It can be incredibly hard to concentrate. I am only now completely comfortable in performances.

There are many things you have to think about during a performance. Generally the blocking of a scene comes naturally. If you are being confrontational then you will move near to the other character and if you are scared then you will move away. You also have to think about the language. Shakespeare's language is very difficult when you first read it, and there is no short-cut way of understanding it. When I first read a play it takes me a long time to understand it. The first thing I do, and I would advise everyone who is interested in Shakespeare to do the same, is to buy Lamb's Tales (written by Charles and Mary Lamb). They tell all of Shakespeare's plays like stories, so that it is easy to understand the plot. Once you understand the plot, you then have to start working through the language line by line. Stop every time you do not understand something and look it up in the reference section of the text. It also helps to look up words in the dictionary. I need to read the play at least three times before I can start talking about it.

If you are researching a character, go through the play and find out everything that is said about them. Important facts that I noted about Goneril were that she is the eldest daughter of three, has a difficult relationship with her father, has no mother around, has an unhappy marriage and she is aggressive. I discovered her aggression from the language alone, and by the way she reacts to events. She seems to plan ahead, and this seems to reveal to me a character that has spent a lot of time on her own and is lonely. Goneril's language is quite practical, whereas Cordelia's language is romantic and idealistic.

The end of the play is tragic, but I am not sure that the characters deserve their ends – nobody deserves to be murdered. However, I do feel that the tragedy could have been avoided. I think that Goneril goes mad at the end of the play, like many other characters, due to the kind of society that they live in. In the context of the play maybe Goneril does deserve to die, but it could also be said that she deserves a loving father or to be in a loving marriage.

I think that the play should end on a hopeful note, but I am not sure that this production does. I think that the last four lines of the play are hopeful:

"The oldest hath borne most: we that are young
Shall never see so much nor live so long."

I think that this is saying that the future will be easier to live in. However, by the end of the play, Lear has reconciled with Cordelia and so it is a shame that she dies. The way the play ends is a matter of interpretation, it can end in desolation or it can end in hope depending on the way you see it.

I have many favourite moments on stage from this season. There was one moment that was very funny when I was kneeling down on the corner of the stage, and when I stood up I realised that my skirt had gone over the head of someone who was standing in the Yard! Another day a big plank fell off the door (part of the set for King Lear are wooden planks along the back wall) and I had to try and kick it off, it took me six tries! The very first performance was scary but also very memorable.

This run has been very long and I think it will be a bit of a relief when it is finished! It is difficult to sustain a high level of performance when you are doing so many shows. Nevertheless, I have greatly enjoyed it.

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