Jessica

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In the Globe Theatre Company's production of The Merchant of Venice, Jessica was played by Lilo Baur.

About Lilo Baur

Lilo Baur has worked in theatre all over the world, including productions in Paris, New York and Switzerland. She has also worked extensively at the Royal National Theatre in London, and with Theatre de Complicitie.

Click on the numbered links to follow Lilo's journey as she creates and plays the character of Jessica in the Globe Theatre.

Lilo Baur - 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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Lilo Baur - Character Notes 1

At the beginning of the rehearsal period one of the exercises Lilo found most useful was an improvisation in which the company created the city of Venice. Each person adopted a role and explored what the city might have been like in the 16th Century. They also looked at the possible relationships between the groups that might have existed in that society and the status of women and the Jewish community. Lilo found that as a women in this improvisation she spent much of her time standing on a balcony waiting for people to come by to talk to her, she did not have the opportunity to leave her house and to explore Venice for herself.

To work on her character Lilo is trying to do as much research as possible, she is currently reading Shylock by John Gross.

Lilo has worked a great deal with Theatre de Complicite, which have a tradition of physical theatre, drawing on Commedia dell’ Arte. This experience influences Lilo's approach to creating the role of Jessica. Lilo is particularly interested in the way in which Jessica elopes with Lorenzo, for her, Jessica's most wicked action is the theft of her mother's ring, rather than the elopement itself.

Lilo feels that Jessica's actions are very much those of a young women who has fallen in love and is longing for greater freedom. Jessica is left alone in the house for long periods of time, all she has for company is Launcelot Gobbo. Lilo feels that Jessica has no privacy and wants to escape from the claustrophobic atmosphere of her father's house. After Jessica escapes it is not possible for her to go back to Venice – she and Lorenzo have to find a new place to live.

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Lilo Baur - Character Notes 2

At this point in rehearsal the company went for a residential week away. Lilo had the opportunity to improvise Jessica's life in between the scenes in which he is not featured in the play. She found this very useful, in particular it highlighted how much time Jessica spends with Gobbo, as they are both left in Shylock's house together for much of the day. She also thought about what Jessica would pack to take with her when she leaves her home, she felt that money, rather than objects would be most important for Jessica.

Lilo has decided that Jessica is like a bird which has been put in a cage.

Lilo has been working on the meaning of the text and exploring different ways of performing each speech – thinking about which words are the most important in each line and which to stress.

Lilo feels that everything Shylock says to Jessica is an instruction, there is no joy in Shylock's household, which is still effected by the death of Leah. She increasingly feels that everything in Venetian society is dominated by money and that Jessica is very driven by the desire for wealth and freedom.

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Lilo Baur - Character Notes 3

The production will begin with a specially devised masque. Lilo has been working on her character for this part of the show, which is very different from the character of Jessica. Lilo has also started to work with her costume, she has a pair of shoes which are raised at the front, but not at the back – this effects the way she walks, as she has to take small steps and it is difficult to move quickly. Lilo feels that this physical restriction adds to her understanding of Jessica as a small bird.

It has been decided that Jessica will sing a song before her first scene in Act 2, this will introduce her to the audience; originally Lilo experimented with ritual, lighting candles during the song - however it was felt that this did not work within the context of the play. Jessica is now occupied with household tasks – polishing cutlery during her song.

Lilo's biggest challenge is now to work with Act 3 Scene 5. Currently the scene highlights a problem in the relationship between Launcelot Gobbo and Jessica; Gobbo is jealous of Lorenzo and in this scene when Jessica tries to kiss Gobbo affectionately, he turns away. At present there is also tension between Jessica and Lorenzo as he is jealous of Jessica's friendship with Gobbo. Lilo feels that the scene should be lighter and that the actors should try to find an interpretation that incorporates some comic moments.

The runs of the play have given Lilo a sense of Jessica's place in the story as a whole and have also shown her how her scenes contribute to the overall pace of the production. She is now looking forward to working with an audience in the Globe.

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Lilo Baur - Character Notes 4

Now that The Merchant of Venice has gone into performance the company go into rehearsal for the next play in the season The Honest Whore by Thomas Dekker (with Thomas Middleton). Lilo will play Bellafront (the honest whore of the title) this is quite a substantial role and Lilo faces intensive weeks of rehearsal and performance. At present if Lilo has a matinee she rehearses from 9.00am-12.00 then performs in the afternoon. If she has an evening performance there will be a longer rehearsal period during the day.

Lilo ideally likes to have 2 hours to prepare for a performance. She begins this preparation by warming up physically and vocally. Lilo uses a range of exercises such as breathing exercises, Yoga (in particular to open up her rib cage) and some vigorous physical exercises (these help her lungs to open up and improve vocal quality and production). Jessica is not a particularly demanding physical role so Lilo will not do a more acrobatic warm up.

At this stage Lilo showers then has her wig fitted. This is quite a long process and Lilo uses this time to mentally prepare for the performance; she sings Jessica's song and goes through all of her lines in her head - concentrating particularly on parts which have proved difficult in previous performances.

Act 3 Scene 5 is still the most difficult scene for Lilo particularly the lines:

"…..it is very meet

The Lord Bassanio live an upright life

For having such a blessing in his lady,

He finds the joys of heaven here on earth,

And if on earth he do not merit it,

In reason he should never come to heaven!"

Lilo cannot decide why Jessica talks about this, it seems to Lilo almost as if Jessica knew Bassanio before, as in the play she has only just met him. Or do her words contain a veiled message to Lorenzo about how he should behave?

New things happen all the time in performance that subtly change the way Lilo plays Jessica e.g. Lorenzo has started to throw the bunny head he wears during the elopement scene up to Jessica, who wears it during her flight from her father's house.

At the moment there is no opportunity in the play for Jessica to speak directly to the audience and Lilo would like to find a moment where she can interact with them.

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Lilo Baur - Character Notes 5

At this point, just over half way through the run of the play. The Merchant of Venice was given a three-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. Lilo plays the title role in The Honest Whore, and this means she has been very busy with rehearsal, technical rehearsals and previews.

The Honest Whore has a relatively contemporary setting and uses quite an elaborate set in comparison to other productions at the Globe. Lilo has found it quite strange to work with this type of set on the Globe stage, but has become accustomed to the way it affects her use of space. The opening of any new show is a challenging time for an actor, so Lilo is pleased to be performing The Merchant of Venice again as it is already established in performance.

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 (where the actors just say their lines, without movement). This helped all of the actors to think about their characters as well as the words and rhythms of the play.

Lilo has felt much freer in her role as Jessica since her work on The Honest Whore. In this play, Lilo's character has an emotional and traumatic time, and is therefore exhausting for her to perform. Consequently, it is a real pleasure for her to come back to The Merchant of Venice. She is now much more confident in the role of Jessica and more willing to experiment, taking her interpretation of the role to extremes. For Lilo, it is like coming to the play again for the first time. She has also noticed that her delivery of her lines has become faster.

Since taking a break from The Merchant of Venice, Lilo has found that she is able to take more time to relate to the audience as Jessica and to express her joy at her new life. She has also been more able to express to the audience the inner conflict she feels as a result of her elopement.

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Lilo Baur - 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 Jessica's lines in Act 2 Scene 3 and Act 3 Scene 5.

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

1. Rehearsal Calls

2. Adjectives

3. Venice and Belmont

4. Say each word

5. What happens off stage?

6. Animals

7. Jessica's Song

8. Packing

9. Rehearsal: Act 3 Scene 5

10. Performance: Act 5 Scene 3

1. Rehearsal Calls

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

Write a day or days in the life of your actor – 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.

2. Adjectives

One way Lilo worked on her character was to write a list of adjectives which she felt described Jessica.

Either: From what you know about Jessica write your own list of adjectives to describe her.

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.

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?

4. Say each word

Another technique Lilo uses is to go through a speech building it up word by word eg.. for her first line "I am sorry thou wilt leave my father so." Lilo would go through the speech saying "I", then "I am", then "I am sorry" and so on ..

Try this technique for yourself with any line or speech in the play. Do you think it is a useful technique? What effect does it have on your understanding of the language and line/speech as a whole?

5. 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 Jessica in between her exit in Act 2 Scene 3 and when we next see her in Act 2 Scene 5? You could improvise this scene in groups, or write down your ideas in a script format.

6 .Animals

One exercise actors often use in rehearsal is to decide which animal most reminds them of their character. The animal Lilo chooses may effect the way he moves or stands as the character of Jessica.

What animal does Jessica remind you of? – Give reasons for your answer.

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.

Think about the way the animal you have chosen might move, sit or stand if it were a person. Try these ideas out practically.

7. Jessica's Song

Jessica will sing a song before her first entrance, the song should tell us something about the character of Jessica and establish the atmosphere of the scene.

Write the words for Jessica's song and instructions for Lilo of how to perform it.

What do you think Lilo should be doing while she is singing the song? (At the moment she is polishing cutlery). Explain why you feel your suggestion is appropriate for the character of Jessica.

8. Packing

One exercise that helped Lilo was to decide what Jessica would pack to take with her when she elopes with Lorenzo.

Imagine you are Jessica – what would you take with you? Remember you will not be able to return to your house again.

Either: Improvise this scene individually, or write down your ideas – remember to give reasons for each object that Jessica packs.

9. Rehearsal: Act 3 Scene 5

The scene that Lilo finds most challenging is Act 3 Scene 5, she is looking for ways of finding more comedy in the scene.

Can you help Lilo? Look at the scene (or a section of it) and try to think of some ideas to make it less serious. Why do you think Lilo feels a comedy is important at this moment in the play? Do you think this scene should contain comedy?

10. Performance: Act 5 Scene 3

"…..it is very meet

The Lord Bassanio live an upright life

For having such a blessing in his lady,

He finds the joys of heaven here on earth,

And if on earth he do not merit it,

In reason he should never come to heaven!"

Look at Lilo's lines from Act 3 Scene 5 which are quoted above. Look at them in the context of the scene.

Why do you think Jessica says this?

How do you think Lilo should play this moment?

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