Gratiano

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In the Globe Theatre Company's production of The Merchant of Venice, Gratiano was played by Andrew French.

About Andrew French

Andrew French trained at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. His most recent television work has been The Bill. In theatre, he has worked with Shared Experience, and at the Royal Court.

Click on the numbered links to follow Andrew's journey as he creates and plays the character of Gratiano in the Globe Theatre.

Andrew French - Introduction

The rehearsals for the Globe's 1998 Theatre Season take place in a converted warehouse in O’Meara Street; about 5 minutes walk from the Globe theatre itself. The rehearsal room is very large and has an outline of the Globe stage marked out in tape on the floor; there are also 2 pillars in the room. These arrangements help the actors to prepare for working on the Globe stage. The actors will not rehearse on the Globe stage until the technical rehearsal, although some classes are held on the stage.

Each day each actor will receive his/her ‘call’ which is the time s/he is expected to report for rehearsal. During the rehearsal period an actor's day will vary considerably, an actor may rehearse scenes, attend a class (voice, text and movement) or have a costume fitting with the wardrobe department. A typical day might begin at 10.00am and finish at 6.30pm – sometimes there are also evening calls.

During the rehearsal period (particularly at the beginning) an actor will research his/her character. To help the actors the assistant director will find relevant books, pictures etc. and bring these to rehearsal. Extracts from books and pictures are often stuck onto the rehearsal room walls. Actors will also experiment with using props in rehearsal; these will be rough versions of the final prop and will help them to build the prop into the scene. Similarly some form of rehearsal costume will be worn e.g. long skirts for the women, this will help actors to get used to moving, sitting etc. in their costume. In particular actors will use the actual shoes they will wear in performance during rehearsal. This is to wear the shoes ‘in’, as they are made using Elizabethan techniques and there is no specified ‘left’ and ‘right’ foot. Many actors also feel that wearing the correct shoes helps them to ‘get into’ character.

The companies have 6 weeks of rehearsal before the technical and dress rehearsals Generally the beginning of this period is spent improvising around the text and in development of character; towards the end of these 6 weeks actors will rehearse scenes in detail and run parts of the play. The exact method of working in rehearsal is established and shaped by the director.

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Andrew French - Character Notes 1

Andrew is delighted to be playing Gratiano – it's a great part, but quite complicated.

Gratiano is many things in the play: he is a clown, he is racist, he changes during the course of the play and falls in love with Nerissa very quickly.

At this stage Andrew is thinking about Gratiano all of the time – not just in rehearsal! Even the songs he hears make him think about the character – one song which made him think about Gratiano is Love Fool by The Cardigans.

Andrew feels that Gratiano speaks quickly – he often has a lot to say!

During the first weeks Andrew is asking himself lots of questions – What does Gratiano do in the play? Why is he there? At the moment Andrew thinks Gratiano might serve to show another side of friendship in the play. He is also a contrast to Bassanio and brings energy to every scene in which he is featured.

Andrew feels that Gratiano likes to play games and is considering carrying some dice as a prop. Dice in Elizabethan times were made out of pig skin and would act as further taunt to Shylock. There are aspects of Gratiano's character that are not attractive and Andrew must consider how to portray the character and the likely response to his performance from a modern audience in the Globe.

Andrew had a ‘character session’ on Gratiano – this is where the rest of the cast can ask him questions on Gratiano and give their opinions on the character. During the session the question that the company kept returning to was one of racism – what is racism and who is racist in the play?

The exercise was useful for Andrew as it allowed him to consider Gratiano from lots of different perspectives. At the end of the session the company could take turns to play Gratiano – giving the character their own interpretation. This was interesting for Andrew because it allowed him to see what other actors would do with the part and made him think about what would be different about his Gratiano.

During this period Andrew has also been considering the physicality of his character e.g. what part of the body does Gratiano ‘lead’ with? Or in other words which part of his body dominates the way he walks and moves? Andrew decided that for him Gratiano led from the upper body because he has high energy and is quite light (he is not a heavy person). Bassanio says that Gratiano he has a "skipping spirit"…so maybe Gratiano leads from his head.

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Andrew French - Character Notes 2

Andrew has now had his first voice session on the Globe stage – this proved difficult as Andrew felt that his voice and natural accent (SE London) did not work well in the Globe theatre – lots of sound was lost. He now has to solve this problem and is looking at where Gratiano speaks from – maybe his head. Andrew also believes that the energy he brings on stage as an actor will be vitally important if he is to be able to communicate clearly in the Globe.

Andrew feels that Gratiano's first entrance should really change the mood of the scene and that he should be like a ‘bombshell’ in contrast with Antonio's sadness. If the scene were a piece of music Gratiano would be the trumpets and would come in loud and blasting.

Gratiano is the only person who marries in the play and does not gain by it financially; therefore Andrew feels his marriage to Nerissa must be for love, although they come from different backgrounds and classes.

Gratiano means grace. Andrew feels that Nerissa grounds Gratiano and gives him grace.

As part of the rehearsal process the whole company went away for a residential week to an old air craft base where they created the appropriate environment for their characters and acted out the scenes that are not in the play – in other words what happens to the characters when they are not on stage. This is helpful because it gives the cast a common memory, which they can draw on in later rehearsals.

Andrew feels that Gratiano is the kind of person who would not do very well at exams! He is always playing a part – one of his first lines is "Let me play the fool" – he talks about putting things on, when he goes to Belmont with Bassanio he agrees to "..put on a sober habit". At one part in the production he will also wear a rabbit costume – for Andrew it is as if Gratiano is always trying on different roles - this ends after he meets Nerissa in Belmont.

One thing that Andrew has to decide is if Gratiano has meet Nerissa before he goes to Belmont as there is no space in the text for this to happen.

Andrew would like Gratiano to be a very attractive character as this then makes his racism even more difficult to deal with.

Gratiano speaks about animals a lot "let no dog bark"; he also describes his desires as "wolfish" – all canine references. This might give Andrew a way into Gratiano's character and the way he looks.

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Andrew French - Character Notes 3

As the rehearsals progressed Andrew felt that he was coming to understand Gratiano's motivation, intentions and line of thought – the journey he goes through in the play. He has been thinking of helpful images for Gratiano, Andrew saw him as the last person at a party in the kitchen looking at all the empty bottles of wine!

He decided that for his interpretation Gratiano has meet Nerissa before on a previous trip to Belmont - the reason he is so anxious to go with Bassanio to Belmont is to see Nerissa again.

Andrew feels that Gratiano cannot bear silence – he has to talk!

Andrew initially saw Gratiano as very vibrant – a character who is very large. Towards the end of the rehearsal period he experimented with toning his portrayal down, concentrating on making sure he was communicating the ‘truth’ in the lines – having done this he was then able to return to a more exaggerated portrayal – the blasting trumpet that he spoke about earlier. Andrew feels that the most important things for him as an actor are to base his character in ‘truth’ and then be as brave as possible in his performance.

Andrew now considers that Gratiano is basically shy and he over compensates for this by being loud. The world that Gratiano inhabits at the beginning of the play is Venice, a world in this production at least, of commerce, Christianity and womanizing, a place where the appearance of success is the only thing that matters. When Gratiano reaches Belmont he realises that there is another way of living.

Andrew knows that a key issue for audiences will be Gratiano's racism – the fact that Andrew is black will add another dimension to the questions raised by his performance.

Andrew now feels like Gratiano is an old friend, he is eager to try working with an audience. He hopes that all his work will come together to enable him to portray Gratiano as a truly complex character.

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Andrew French - Character Notes 4

Now that the play has gone into performance it is important to Andrew to constantly try new ideas and experiment with his performance. Andrew feels that it is vital to do this even if his ideas do not work.

The relationship between Gratiano and Nerissa has developed a great deal in performance – the audience relate to their story in contrast to Portia and Bassanio’s. Andrew now delivers the speech in which he declares his love for Nerissa to the audience rather than the characters on stage.

One technique Andrew uses to keep focused during the performance is to imagine the audience as different types of crowd or people. For example he might imagine them as people in Portia's household, or as a massive court. All of the actors have to be very careful to play to all of the audience and not just the groundlings standing in the yard. Andrew tries hard to look up during speeches to address the audience seated in the upper gallery – there are practical problems, however, as Andrew's hat is prone to fall off when he does this!

Whenever Andrew feels happy with an aspect of his performance he looks at ways to change it in an effort to avoid complacency. It is particularly difficult for Andrew to change those elements of his performance which generate laughs from the audience, but he feels that he should never expect an audience to laugh at a certain moment just because a previous audience reacted in that manner.

When Jessica and Lorenzo enter in Act 3 Scene 2 Gratiano remarks:

"But who comes here? Lorenzo and his infidel!"

The actors have been disturbed by the audience's reaction to this line, as audience members often laugh at Jessica. Andrew found this reaction very difficult to deal with initially, but now is able to handle it with more confidence. The way the audience reacts definitely influences the tone and focus of the actor's performances. Andrew also feels that the audience may be laughing at Gratiano rather than Jessica – previously in the play they have seen him dressed as a rabbit and as Nerissa's suitor – hardly a figure to be taken seriously.

After the first night of a play the director's daily contract with the company ends. It is customary for directors to see the show occasionally and afterwards hold note sessions for the actors. Andrew feels that sometimes actors change their performance if they know the director is ‘in’ – Andrew is less likely to try an new idea, but will give a ‘safe’ performance – one which he hopes will please the director.

The trial scene still provides an interesting challenge for Andrew. Gratiano is upset during the scene but also taunts Shylock. Andrew is experimenting with use of volume levels during the scene to help him convey the range of Gratiano's emotions.

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Andrew French - Character Notes 5

At this point, just over half way through the run of the play, The Merchant of Venice was given a 3 week break from performance. This was to give the actors in the White Company the opportunity to rehearse full time for their second play of the season, The Honest Whore and to open the production with a week of performances, before the play went into repertory with The Merchant of Venice. This means that Andrew has been very busy with rehearsal, technical rehearsal and previews.

As the company had not performed The Merchant of Venice for some while they were called to rehearsal before the show for a line run of the play (for which the actors just say their lines, without movement). This helped all of the actors to think about their characters and the words and rhythm of the play.

Andrew has found that his work on The Honest Whore has made him appreciate the language and structure of Shakespeare's plays. He has missed the linguistic fun of performing in The Merchant of Venice and his character's relationship with the audience. Andrew had also forgotten how much energy it takes to perform the role of Gratiano – as his role in The Honest Whore is less physically demanding.

The break from The Merchant of Venice has also caused some subtle changes in the production and individual performances- these might only be noticeable to the actors but they are important, as they help to keep the play fresh as the run enters it's final phase. For example during the trial scene Jack Shepherd, who plays Antonio, now stands downstage of Andrew and weeps – something which he did not do before. This slightly changes the focus and pace of the scene and Andrew must subtly alter his performance to respond to and build on Antonio's reaction.

In a recent performance a member of the audience told Gratiano to ‘shut up’ during his long speech in Act 1 Scene 1. Some of the audience gasped in reaction to this comment, while others laughed. Andrew was then able to play with the audience and use this incident to build a relationship between the audience and the character of Gratiano. Andrew feels that it is important for the audience to engage actively with the play, otherwise the experience they have at the theatre can be no different from watching television.

After the season finishes at the Globe in September, Andrew will be working with English Touring Theatre playing Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew. He will be traveling around the UK, playing in various regional theatres until December. Rehearsals for the play will begin before the end of the Globe season, so Andrew will be rehearsing The Taming of the Shrew in addition to playing in two plays at the Globe.

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Andrew French - Activities

The activities have been devised assuming that students know the story of the play. For more detailed work it may be useful for students to look at Gratiano's speeches in Act 1 Scene 1 and Act 2 Scene 2.

Where appropriate there are notes for teachers (TN) at the end of each activity.

1. Songs

2. Rehearsal Calls

3. Venice and Belmont

4. Adjectives

5. Can someone change?

6. What happens off stage?

7. What has Gratiano done?

8. Animals

9. Speaking the verse

10. Imagining the Audience

11. Director's Visits

12. The Trial – Act 4

13. The final lines

1. Songs

Andrew found that the song Love Fool by The Cardigans made him think of Gratiano because he is a clown and seems to fall in love with Nerissa very quickly.

Which songs remind you of the character of Gratiano? Write a list and by each one explain why you have chosen it. Compile a tape to play to other members of your group.

TN: Students not studying the play can simply look at Gratiano's first speech and base their ideas on the impression they get of Gratiano from this passage.

2. Rehearsal Calls

Look at the copy of the call sheet for the first 4 days of rehearsal. Work out what your actor would be doing on each day.

Write a day or days in the life of an actor at the Globe – try to think about how s/he might feel in these early days of rehearsal. … Many of the actors compared them to the first days at a new school.

3. Venice and Belmont

One of the first things the company did was an improvisation around their ideas of Venice; they could represent or play anything/body they wished. It is very important to the actors to develop a sense of where and when the play is set. Try some of the following activities: -

Brainstorm – what do you think of when you think of Venice? (You could compare your ideas with how you think Venice might have been in the 16th century).

What kind of people would live in Venice in the 16th century? – (many were traders, businessmen or merchants) Present a freeze frame which shows the different activities which may have taken place.

As a group create a street scene in Venice - as you think it might have been in the 16th century – then repeat the exercise for the 20th Century.

Belmont does not actually exist; it is Shakespeare's creation. It is presented in the play as a place of grace and beauty.

As a group try to create a place that seems different from Venice – how will you communicate this difference to an audience?

How will Gratiano ‘fit in’ at Belmont? Andrew felt that Gratiano was very much a city dweller and that for him Belmont offered a new way of life. Suggest some ways that Andrew should react when he first comes to Belmont.

4. Adjectives

One way Andrew worked on his character was to write a list of adjectives which he felt described Gratiano....

Either: From what you know about Gratiano write your own list of adjectives to describe him (when you have done this you can compare them with Andrew’s).

Or: Choose a character you have played in Drama, or know well from a book and write a list of adjectives which describe him/her.

TN: Andrew's list of adjectives for Gratiano: Charming, Sensitive, Garrulous, Frenetic, Honest, Eloquent, Loud, Witty, Sardonic.

5. Can someone change?

After he meets and marries Nerissa Andrew feels that Gratiano changes. Do you think a person can change their personality?

Write a story or scene in which something happens to someone to make them change.

6. What happens off stage?

Actors work to understand their character as a whole, not just what s/he does and says on stage. To help them actors use an exercise in which they decide what happens to their character in between the scenes in which s/he is featured.

What do you think happens to Gratiano in between his first scene in which he tries to ‘cheer up’ Antonio and the second scene in which he wants to go to Belmont with his friend Bassanio? You could improvise a scene in groups, or write down your ideas in a script format.

TN: Andrew felt that something had happened to make Gratiano stressed – students might like to use this idea or think of something completely different.

7. What has Gratiano done?

Gratiano asks his friend Bassanio to let him go with him to Belmont. Bassanio agrees but only on the condition that Gratiano will behave himself. Bassanio tells Gratiano that he is ".too wild, too rude, and bold of voice.."

What do you think Gratiano has done in the past to give his friend this opinion of him? Improvise some of your ideas in groups or write them down as a story or newspaper report.

8. Animals

One exercise actors often use in rehearsal is to decide which animal most reminds them of their character. This animal might then influence the way they choose to speak and move as their character. Andrew decided that Gratiano was most like a dog or a wolf.

Do you agree with Andrew? – What animal does Gratiano remind you of?

Try this exercise for yourself, maybe with characters from a book you are reading or a television programme. Make sure you explain why the character reminds you of that animal.

9. Speaking the verse

Gratiano often says a lot very quickly. Andrew has to decide which bits of a speech to stress and when to breathe or pause during a speech.

Look at Gratiano's speech in Act 1 scene 1 that begins "Let me play the fool".

Try acting the speech out for yourself in a small group – experiment with different ways of saying the lines.

Decide which are the most important parts of the speech and suggest ways to Andrew that he can stress them to an audience.

Look at the speech without any punctuation – try putting your own punctuation in and send a copy to Andrew.

TN: Remove the punctuation from the "Let me play the fool" speech so students can put in their own punctuation for Andrew.

10. Imagining the Audience

When he is performing Andrew tries to imagine the audience in different roles eg. as members of Portia's household, or as a large court, (see Andrew's comments).

Can you think of any other roles in which Andrew could imagine the audience?

11. Director's Visits

Andrew knows that when the director visits the show he will try to give a ‘safe’ performance – one that he hopes will please the director. (See Andrew's comments).

Do you think Andrew is right to adapt his performance because the director is watching the show? Give reasons for your opinion.

12. The Trial – Act 4

Andrew tries hard to find different ways of expressing Gratiano's range of emotions in the trial scene.

Read Andrew's performance notes on this scene and the scene itself.

How do you think Gratiano would feel at different moments in the scene?

Choose the moment in the scene that you think would be a) most painful, and b) most joyous, for Gratiano. Send Andrew your suggestions about how he should play each moment.

13. The final lines

Gratiano has the final lines in the play, these are important as they are the last image the audience has of the production.

What advice would you give to Andrew about how to say these lines – where should he be standing on the stage and what impression should he try to give to the audience?

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