tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40938160869375230902024-03-13T08:23:01.566-07:00John H BartlettRay Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-34484235770785736142011-03-15T14:57:00.001-07:002011-03-16T08:19:32.391-07:00John H Bartlett<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_PImz2jeLFE/TYADzq04FVI/AAAAAAAAAXs/DVgYsGyKBnI/s1600/jhb2bb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_PImz2jeLFE/TYADzq04FVI/AAAAAAAAAXs/DVgYsGyKBnI/s1600/jhb2bb.jpg" /></a></div><b>This site commemorates the British actor, writer and theatre designer John H Bartlett, who died on 12th December 2002. It features some of his significant productions, his artwork for costume design, and his interesting insights into Restoration drama.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Biography</b><br />
<br />
John H. Bartlett trained as an actor at London's Central School of Speech & Drama: his subsequent career was been divided between acting and designing.<br />
<br />
His acting roles included parts as varied as Benvolio in <i>Romeo & Juliet</i>, Petrovyan in <i>Chase me Comrade</i>, and countless Police Constables in Agatha Christie mysteries. More recently he played Banquo in <i>Macbeth</i>, the Bishop of Carlisle in <i>Richard II</i>, Andrew Wyke in <i>Sleuth</i>, and with the avant garde group Angelcast he was The Voice in <i>Archangel of Industry</i>, Bookkeeper in <i>Storehouse</i> and Father MacEvoy in <i>The Raw & the Cooked</i>. Later he was particularly known for his solo performances of Pope's <i>The Rape of the Locke</i> and <i>That Tiger Life</i>.<br />
<br />
His notable achievements in the field of design were several seasons at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, <i>The Prisoner of Zenda</i> at Chichester and <i>The Doctor's Dilemma</i> for Bristol Old Vic. John designed for many of the British theatre's best known stars; his costume drawings are collected as works of art in their own right, and have been seen in important exhibitions at Chichester Festival Theatre and the Royal National Theatre.<br />
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His interest in the classic repertoire of the stage was informed by extensive researches into Period manners and movement, into the history of art and theatre practices, and into Renaissance and Baroque Dance.<br />
<br />
John also contributed frequently to <i>The Stage</i> newspaper, writing on the colourful history of the theatre.Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-7591156159295391882011-03-15T14:53:00.000-07:002011-03-15T17:28:57.851-07:00The voice of Oscar Wilde from beyond the graveWe know what Oscar Wilde sounded like; many of his contemporaries attested to the quality of his voice. "He had one of the most alluring voices that I have ever listened to, round and soft, and full of variety and expression" [Lillie Langtry].<br />
But also an astonishing recording exists of a voice reciting from The Ballad of Reading Gaol recorded at The Paris Universal Exhibition of 1900, purporting to be that of Wilde. When the recording was first played to Wilde's son in the 1960s he declared it was assuredly his father. However he later recanted and said that upon reflection he thought he was wrong, but who else would recite such a work at that time?<br />
<br />
Even allowing for the deficiencies of early audio techniques the recorded voice is thin, reedy and affected, and, although the lilting delivery could well be derived from Irish inflections, the curiously suburban vowels betray no hint of an Irish accent. But it corresponds in almost every particular with a phonetic example notated by the American actress Helen Potter (who went on to give impersonations of Oscar as a career) during Wilde's lecture tour of 1882. She remarked "The voice is clear, easy and not forced.Change pose now and then, the head inclining towards the strong foot, and keep a general appearance of repose. This disciple of true art speaks very deliberately, ... the closing inflection of a sentence or period is ever upward."<br />
<br />
If the recording is Oscar it runs contrary to all the received ideas we now have about how he must have sounded. The influence of Micheal Macliammoir's rich, fruity Irish delivery in his famous impersonation has coloured modern expectations. (Macliammoir's Irish identity is however as spurious as Wilde's English: born Alfred Willmore in London without a trace of Hibernian lineage, Macliammoir assiduously cultivated an Irish persona, to the extent of learning Gaelic and moving to Dublin).<br />
<br />
All the contemporaries who remembered Wilde commented on the expressiveness of his speaking voice, Max Beerbohm told Lord David Cecil that it was like a flower opening. Although during his student days Wilde had self-consciously erased any vestiges of an Irish accent (and apparently a lisp), the lilt of the brogue must have contributed to the musical effect everybody remarked upon.<br />
<br />
The New York Tribune reported that his voice was anything but feminine, burly rather; The New York World said he stressed every fourth syllable in a kind of sing-song; "I came from England because I thought America was the best place to see." Helen Potter remarked on the frequency of his rising inflections. Walt Whitman noticed his "English society drawl, but his enunciation is better than I ever heard in a young Englishman or Irishman before."<br />
<br />
It was variously described as a light tenor or a mezzo voice, "uttering itself in leisurely fashion, with every variety of tone" [Beerbohm]. "A low voice, with peculiarly distinct enunciation; he spoke like a man who has made a study of expression. He listened like one accustomed to speak." [Julia Constance Fletcher/George Fleming]<br />
<br />
The recording reminds me of nothing so much as the ancient Edwardian ladies I remember from my childhood, who spoke in a strange fluting drawl and emphasised all the most unexpected words. They exuded a strange mixture of charm and intimidation, and fascinated me as they drove through our village, stopping outside the shops to be waited on by the tradesmen without ever alighting from their antiquated Gargantuan motors (my father even took shoes from his shop for them to try in the comfort of their own automobiles). When I later saw Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell in the film of The Importance of Being Earnest I noted the objective accuracy of her portrayal. Putting all the contemporary comments together with a close examination of Helen Potter's notation, and my own observation of these dinosaurs, once persuaded me that the recording was the genuine voice of Oscar Wilde.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the latest scientific investigation of the recording suggests that it cannot date from earlier than the 1920s, so cannot possibly be the voice of the writer. I do not know whether I am glad or disappointed ...<br />
<br />
- John H. Bartlett<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S2iGUEKa6f8/TYAELpNsbkI/AAAAAAAAAX0/EiXC0qtVOCc/s1600/ghost.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S2iGUEKa6f8/TYAELpNsbkI/AAAAAAAAAX0/EiXC0qtVOCc/s400/ghost.jpg" width="168" /></a></div><br />
<b>Oscar from beyond the grave!</b><br />
Oscar Wilde was notoriously superstitious, firmly believing in the powers of necromancers, witches, clairvoyants and palmists; if anyone was going to try to come back after death to the earthly stage where he had had such triumphs, he was. There are two famous cases of his supposedly returning from the dead to communicate through mediums.<br />
<br />
In the early 1920s a Mrs Travers Smith received messages through automatic writing and the Ouija board, and some years later in 1962 a Mr Leslie Flint was a vessel for a voice purporting to be that of Oscar Wilde. Doubtless there have been other instances.<br />
<br />
The transcripts of Mrs Travers Smith's seances were published by the Society for Psychical Research and Mr Flint's manifestations were tape recorded (examples of a fruity voice in the Macliammoir vein can be heard on the Internet).<br />
<br />
However, unless Wilde entirely lost his talent in the passage to "the other side" I find such material unconvincing.<br />
<br />
<b>Relevant links</b><br />
<br />
The 1900 recording<br />
<br />
Leslie Flint's tapes<br />
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Macliammoir's Importance of Being OscarRay Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-89040373415372123592011-03-15T14:50:00.000-07:002011-03-15T18:33:11.359-07:00That Tiger Life: Reviews<b>That Tiger Life</b><br />
A solo performance by John H. Bartlett<br />
<br />
Oscar Wilde lay on his tomb, like an effigy of himself in front of the open french windows, with a wreath of lilies around his neck. In one corner of the room a young man called Robin Davis was playing the piano.<br />
<br />
Suddenly Oscar Wilde sat up, removed his wreath, lit a cigarette and smiled at us. He had been dead, he said, for a hundred years!<br />
<br />
What followed was a sparkling and brilliantly witty one-man show about Wilde's death, life, disgrace, imprisonment, release and back again to his death. It was written and performed by John H. Bartlett, actor, writer and theatre designer.<br />
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What was extraordinary about this performance was that it managed to convince the audience that it was written by Wilde himself and not by John Bartlett at all. The puns, the turns of phrase, the light, throwaway references to the best-known lines of the plays might have been Wilde's own. The very slightest hint of an Irish accent crept into the beautifully drawled sentences, where every consonant was bitten off at precisely the right moment.<br />
<br />
John Bartlett trained to be an actor at the Central School in London and has made careers in both acting and design as well as writing regularly for 'The Stage' on the history of the theatre. Don't miss him!<br />
<br />
Robin Davis, who has just taken his A-levels at Exeter School, has won an organ scholarship to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he will study Maths. At the end of the performance he played a John Field Nocturne about which I know absolutely nothing except that it was exactly the right piece, played in exactly the right way, to conclude such a witty, precise and haunting piece of theatre.<br />
<br />
- Sara Vernon<br />
(This review appeared in Estuary Magazine, August 2000) <br />
<br />
<b>That Tiger Life</b><br />
<br />
The deliberations of the centenary of the death of Oscar wilde have spread to mugs and key fobs. You might wonder what the great man would have thought of all the hullabaloo. Well here is dear old Oscar - in the person of John H. Bartlett - risen from the grave to give us the inside story.<br />
<br />
Bartlett's timely impersonation at the Central Library Music Room allows Wilde to comment on his place in literary history, his weaknesses, his trial. He has been dead for 100 years ("more if you count my time in America"). The great man, always a sucker for a stunt, springs from his coffin, resplendent in a waistcoat, watch and chain, and, naturally, a green carnation buttonhole. The actor has written the script, which cleverly paraphrases many of Wilde's epigrams, and presents him in all his inverted snobbery, his pretentiousness and scathing wit on his contemporaries and reveals the underlying seriousness behind the studied flippancy.<br />
<br />
Wilde explains why he ignored the opportunity to escape prosecution, speaks of his upbringing with an uncaring father and a posing mother, shares his realistic view of Lord Alfred Douglas, and says "Why not?" to a series of outrageous propositions.<br />
Underneath the banter is a man dedicated to beauty in all its forms. Of course he was artificial. How could he be otherwise when real life was so grim? He gave stable lads champagne and silver cigarette cases. They wouldn't have known some of the best things in life otherwise. But they blackmailed him just the same.<br />
His script ... is a glorious amalgam of well placed Wildeisms, getting to the heart of the writer's lofty view of life.<br />
<br />
The performance is underpinned by pianist Andrew Daldorph, playing light classical pieces by the 18th century Irish composer John Field.<br />
<br />
- Allen Saddler<br />
<br />
(This review appeared in <b>The Stage</b>, December 7th 2000)Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-84271172047385435122011-03-15T14:37:00.001-07:002011-03-15T17:32:46.011-07:00The Way of the World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JfX8cSwJEzw/TYAEpe73SXI/AAAAAAAAAX8/QuP6pzR5_Uc/s1600/fainall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JfX8cSwJEzw/TYAEpe73SXI/AAAAAAAAAX8/QuP6pzR5_Uc/s400/fainall.jpg" width="287" /></a></div><br />
Costume design for Fainall, a character from the Restoration comedy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_the_World"><i>The Way of the World</i></a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Congreve">William Congreve</a>.Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-67943569187826526822011-03-15T14:36:00.001-07:002011-03-15T17:34:04.896-07:00Camelot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--AKmnFwxvOA/TYAFb2nwEfI/AAAAAAAAAYE/ZLAqqkizSrk/s1600/mordred.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--AKmnFwxvOA/TYAFb2nwEfI/AAAAAAAAAYE/ZLAqqkizSrk/s320/mordred.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><br />
Costume design for Mordred, from the musical <i>Camelot</i>Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-19348623836272001292011-03-15T14:35:00.000-07:002011-03-16T03:50:06.383-07:00Kismet<table><tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jbfq5zSrerU/TYAF10Qsz0I/AAAAAAAAAYM/AZHRklT3f9I/s1600/jewels2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Jbfq5zSrerU/TYAF10Qsz0I/AAAAAAAAAYM/AZHRklT3f9I/s320/jewels2.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><br />
Costume designs for the musical <i>Kismet</i><br />
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When the Caliph, the ruling Prince of Baghdad, plans to reveal his real identity to his beloved, Marsena, the daughter of the rascally King of the Beggars, he meets her in great state with a dazzling parade of riches and exotic gifts.<br />
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Here are designs for jewel bearers and masters of peacocks and leopards in the Caliph's Procession.<br />
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<tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wm17gvMjt0o/TYAGHU79niI/AAAAAAAAAYU/FXi1IOk1qTc/s1600/jewelman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wm17gvMjt0o/TYAGHU79niI/AAAAAAAAAYU/FXi1IOk1qTc/s320/jewelman.jpg" width="215" /></a></div></td><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOCoRALZ_Bo/TYAGQDCRfDI/AAAAAAAAAYc/_6-zCOe6fTk/s1600/jewelmen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOCoRALZ_Bo/TYAGQDCRfDI/AAAAAAAAAYc/_6-zCOe6fTk/s320/jewelmen.jpg" width="212" /></a></div></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yxFmEK_KQis/TYAGYQY1KEI/AAAAAAAAAYk/9AYQZIX_oCk/s1600/leopards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yxFmEK_KQis/TYAGYQY1KEI/AAAAAAAAAYk/9AYQZIX_oCk/s320/leopards.jpg" width="216" /></a></div></td><td><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z9ZADASDE64/TYAGdBdtDpI/AAAAAAAAAYs/OBG8ZyXCrPs/s1600/peacocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z9ZADASDE64/TYAGdBdtDpI/AAAAAAAAAYs/OBG8ZyXCrPs/s320/peacocks.jpg" width="236" /></a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-56807403211863739252011-03-15T14:34:00.001-07:002011-03-15T17:43:35.449-07:00Casanova<i>Casanova</i> is an operetta derived from music by Johann Strauss, drawing largely from <i>Eine Nacht in Venedig</i>.<br />
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During the course of the drama the Italian adventurer travels to various courts of Europe and dallies with some of the great ladies of his day including Maria-Theresia, Empress of Austria and Catherine, Empress of all the Russias.<br />
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<tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u_EGWNlD4c4/TYAHMkm1ciI/AAAAAAAAAY0/9Ew4QYHU3iQ/s1600/casanova.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u_EGWNlD4c4/TYAHMkm1ciI/AAAAAAAAAY0/9Ew4QYHU3iQ/s320/casanova.jpg" width="228" /></a></div></td><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LOmUt-e-uso/TYAHSUZCkxI/AAAAAAAAAY8/6_EhZ-IalNc/s1600/catherine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LOmUt-e-uso/TYAHSUZCkxI/AAAAAAAAAY8/6_EhZ-IalNc/s320/catherine.jpg" width="227" /></a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UFpYEqd0678/TYAHpqHbuZI/AAAAAAAAAZE/1PXt31ianmo/s1600/theresia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UFpYEqd0678/TYAHpqHbuZI/AAAAAAAAAZE/1PXt31ianmo/s400/theresia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-89618981973329547742011-03-15T14:33:00.001-07:002011-03-15T17:57:44.863-07:00The Rape of the Locke: reviews<b>Reviews</b><br />
This production was first presented at the Cabaret Theatre, Exeter & Devon Arts Centre on 15th december 1993.<br />
<br />
"AND lo! the board with cups and spoons is crown'd,<br />
The berries crackle, and the mill turns round,<br />
On shining altars of japan they raise<br />
The silver lamp; the fiery spirits blaze:<br />
From silver spouts the grateful liquors glide,<br />
While China's earth receives the smoking tide:<br />
At once they gratify both scent and tatse,<br />
And frequent cups prolong the rich repast ...<br />
Coffee (which makes the politician wise,<br />
And see through all things with his half-shut eyes)<br />
Sent up in vapours to the Baron's brain<br />
New stratagems the radiant lock to gain.<br />
- Canto III, <i>The Rape of the Locke</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>Backstage with Bill McMillan</b><br />
<br />
A 30 year-old dream is to be realised tomorrow when John Bartlett gives a one-man performance at the Exeter and Devon Arts centre.<br />
<br />
Since Alexander Pope's 1714 poem The Rape of the Lock was one of John's A-level study works, he has had a hankering to stage it. So, in wig and courtly costume, he will present this example of 18th century wit and impudence. A crowded life-style .. has been suspended while he completes the solo enterprise, which he has devised and adapted.<br />
<br />
"Tour de force"<br />
Review: The Rape of the Locke - Cabaret Theatre, Exeter 15th December 1993<br />
<br />
Just like the girl with the curl of the nursery rhyme, Miss Arabella Fermor, prized her tresses. Imagine her outrage when the Baron Petrie stole up behind her and lopped off a lock of hair.<br />
<br />
To try to settle the resulting family feud, fashionable poet Alexander Pope was engaged to pen a piece of verse in mock heroic vein. The aim was to make light of the incident and bring the couple together, sharing a laugh.<br />
<br />
Exeter actor and stage designer John Bartlett made his debut as a solo artist on Wednesday night, treating the audience to his virtuoso adaptation of 'The Rape'.<br />
here was a tour de force, deserving to be seen at any venue where elegant acting and skilled posturing are appreciated.<br />
- Bill McMillan, <i>Exeter Express & Echo</i><br />
<br />
<b>REVIEW: The Rape of the Locke</b><br />
<br />
John Bartlett, whose debut at the Cabaret Theatre before Christmas was such a success, has been concentrating on the design side of his career since appearing in Sleuth at the Barnfield Theatre in 1988. After the first laugh in his adaptation of Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock he rattled off the mock heroic poem in fine style.<br />
<br />
As befits a designer, John's costume was opulent; his beauty spot, wig and blusher gave him the right roguish air for a knave possessing a wily way with the scissors.<br />
- <i>Exeter Leader</i>Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-63752743102970420072011-03-15T14:32:00.000-07:002011-03-15T18:16:05.156-07:00Pope's address to Miss Fermor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mQhni_j4SmA/TYAPRgco28I/AAAAAAAAAaM/vxwQV3RR9-U/s1600/arabella2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mQhni_j4SmA/TYAPRgco28I/AAAAAAAAAaM/vxwQV3RR9-U/s320/arabella2.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br />
Alexander Pope added to the second edition the following dedicatory letter:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>To Mrs. Arabella Fermor<br />
<br />
Madam,<br />
<br />
It will be in vain to deny that I have some regard for this piece, since I dedicate it to You. Yet you may bear me witness, it was intended only to divert a few young Ladies, who have good sense and good humour enough to laugh not only at their sex's little unguarded follies, but at their own. But as it was communicated with the air of a secret, it soon found its way into the world. An imperfect copy having been offered to a Bookseller, you had the good nature for my sake to consent to the publication of one more correct: This I was forced to, before I had executed half my design, for the Machinery was entirely wanting to complete it.<br />
<br />
The Machinery, Madam, is a term invented by the Critics, to signify that part which the Deities, Angels, or Dæmons are made to act in a poem: For the ancient poets are in one respect like many modern ladies: let an action be never so trivial in itself, they always make it appear of the utmost importance. These Machines I determined to raise on a very new and odd foundation, the Rosicrucian doctrine of Spirits.<br />
<br />
I know how disagreeable it is to make use of hard words before a lady; but 'tis so much the concern of a poet to have his works understood and particularly by your sex, that you must give me leave to explain two or three difficult terms.<br />
<br />
The Rosicrucians are a people I must bring you acquainted with. The best account I know of them is in a French book called Le Comte de Gabalis, which both in its title and size is so like a novel, that many of the fair sex have read it for one by mistake. According to these gentlemen, the four elements are inhabited by spirits, which they call Sylphs, Gnomes, Nymphs, and Salamanders. The Gnomes or Dæmons of Earth delight in mischief; but the Sylphs, whose habitation is in the air, are the best-conditioned creatures imaginable. For they say, any mortals may enjoy the most intimate familiarities with these gentle spirits, upon a condition very easy to all true adepts, an inviolate preservation of Chastity.<br />
<br />
As to the following Cantos, all the passages of them are as fabulous as the Vision at the beginning or the Transformation at the end; (except the loss of your Hair, which I always mention with reverence). The human persons are as fictitious as the airy ones, and the character of Belinda, as it is now managed, resembles you in nothing but in Beauty.<br />
<br />
If this poem had as many graces as there are in your person, or in your mind, yet I could never hope it should pass through the world half so uncensured as you have done. But let its fortune be what it will, mine is happy enough, to have given me this occasion of assuring you that I am, with the truest esteem,<br />
<br />
Madam,<br />
<br />
Your most obedient, Humble Servant,<br />
<br />
A. Pope</blockquote>Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-20880497681041068942011-03-15T14:31:00.001-07:002011-03-16T08:25:20.037-07:00Martin Scriblerus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-diWGPJKokLM/TYAIHHDK3vI/AAAAAAAAAZM/Vb5r47YJdA4/s1600/popeshow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-diWGPJKokLM/TYAIHHDK3vI/AAAAAAAAAZM/Vb5r47YJdA4/s320/popeshow.jpg" width="279" /></a></div><br />
John H. Bartlett as Martin Scriblerus in <i>The Rape of the Locke</i>.<br />
<br />
Around 1713 Pope, Swift, Gay, Parnell and Arbuthnot formed themselves into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scriblerus_Club">The Scriblerus Club</a>. taking on the fictitious collective identity of one Martin Scriblerus they took the opportunity to compose scurrilous lampoons of figures from current literature, society and manners, mainly for their own amusement, but also in the spirit of correction so dear to the members of the Enlightenment.Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-43889443164878332192011-03-15T14:30:00.000-07:002011-03-15T17:46:44.795-07:00Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UhFOxgPjQJQ/TYAIUIapRpI/AAAAAAAAAZU/mu1jjLyaWMk/s1600/vanitas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UhFOxgPjQJQ/TYAIUIapRpI/AAAAAAAAAZU/mu1jjLyaWMk/s320/vanitas.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br />
<b>Vanitas paintings of the 17th-18th centuries</b><br />
<br />
A sumptuous and colourful decoration for a banqueting room, a virtuoso rendition of painterly skill, or a homily on the vanity of human existence?<br />
<br />
The still-life paintings of the17th Century, in Europe in general and in the Low Countries in particular [known as Pronk Stilleven in those parts, meaning Splendid Still-Lives], are undoubtedly all of these.<br />
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The art historian, E. H. Gombrich said a painter might pick up any object that took his fancy, meticulously to depict the evanescent sheen of glass and metal, the luxurious texture of silk and tapestry, the voluptuous colour and bloom of fruit and flowers. He called such work the triumph of artistry over a trivial subject matter, but it is now agreed that the subject was paramount, and the choice of objects far from frivolous. Each item in the painting contributed to the melancholy sub-text of mortality and futility.<br />
<br />
These paintings are usually, though not necessarily, opulent, the objects costly and modish. The immediate appeal of their surface magnificence is undermined on closer inspection by the emblematic significance of the objects, and by their often subtly imperfect condition.<br />
<br />
The context of the vanitas still-life is usually some kind of banquet, or, if it is an arrangement of ostensibly unrelated objects, it contains material associated with eating, the most basic kind of conspicuous consumption.<br />
<br />
It is easy to dismiss these works as meretricious entertainments, as self-congatulatory displays of the painter's technique, designed merely to enhance the decorative life of a privileged elite, but they also represent a vital element in the Baroque ethos. The 16th and 17th Centuries contained most of man's fundamental discoveries in art and science. Amid all the magnificence of, and pride in mankind's achievements winds a vein of melancholy, grotesquerie and pessimism. Time, Decay, Disease and Death are the eternal victors, conducting man to the ultimate arbiter, his Maker ........<br />
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The principal symbolic constituents of a vanitas still-life are as follows:<br />
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A LARGE TABLE, not unlike an altar; on it a rich pall, or a Turkey rug, often in a rumpled arrangement (perhaps to denote the turbulence of life?). It was customary to cover tables with carpet, a smaller white cloth of cotton or linen would be spread on top of it for eating. The designs of Islamic carpets had their own symbolism (formalised plant forms evoking gardens indoors or in the desert) of which 17th Century artists, used to working in metaphorical terms, could have been well aware.<br />
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FRUIT of all kinds, the more exotic the better, on a stand or in a bowl. A half-peeled lemon, with its brightly coloured curl of rind, is often a prominent feature. The impermanence of fruit is axiomatic, and sometimes it is actually depicted in a state of incipient decay; maggots and other pests may well put in an appearance.<br />
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FLOWERS in a vase; again an obvious symbol of transitory things. The blooms are usually fully blown, or indeed overblown, with falling petals. Bees, butterflies and other insects associated with plant-life, ephemeral in themselves, are often shewn in close proximity.<br />
<br />
DEAD GAME, birds, animals or fish represent death in its most overt manifestation, the pretext for their inclusion is that they are ready for consumption, they may be in a butchered, prepared or even half-eaten state. A bright red lobster, probably, like the lemon, chosen for its striking colour and the challenge of capturing its texture and grotesque detail, is a favourite device.<br />
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BROKEN BREAD often accompanies other eating matter and is charged with obvious liturgical and atavistic meaning. Fruit, flesh, fish, fowl and flowers are frequently presented in the fashionable blue-and-white Oriental and Delft pottery of the period; it might be slightly damaged.<br />
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WINE and drinking vessels, a tankard, a Roemer goblet or a tall flute glass, with or without accompanying liquor and bottles, are almost always included. Norther European wines tend to be commonly white, but, although the wine most consumed at the time was usually red, gold coloured liquor is a favourite in these pictures.<br />
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A CANDLESTICK could be of any material, but the brilliance of metal or glass gave an opportunity for some bravura painting. The candle itself is always in an advanced state of its life (for obvious reasons). It may be burning, or, even more tellingly, just exinguished, so that a wisp of smoke drifts portentously into the air.<br />
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CLAY PIPES and other smoking equipment continue the symbolism of the transience of smoke ("a limbeck, or a fume..."), coupled with the censorious implications of time-wasting and pollution associated with smoking that obtained even then.<br />
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SOAP BUBBLES, their surface glitter, pompous inflation and hollow emptiness, provide an evocation offutility related to that of smoke. They are only occasionally seen in still even, as the figure developed into a<br />
separate genre of its own: a child or naked putto playing with pipe and bowl to blow bubbles. The witch-ball, or crystal sphere, that often occurs in still-life pictures may be a variation on the theme.<br />
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GLOBES, astrolabes, maps, scientific instruments, and even occasionally, a model ship point to knowledge and exploration, and to the awareness of man's place in the world, the universe, and, by extrapolation, the after-world.<br />
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BOOKS, calligraphic materials and specimens of writing, often bearing portentous mottoes like Mors omnia vincit or Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas convey the tension between the (comparative) permanence of the written word, and the evanascent nature of the thought or spoken word, plus the ambivalence of learning and philosophy.<br />
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MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS and manuscripts make a similar point, with the added poignancy of music's being a sign of an unspecific and contemplative aesthetic.<br />
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PAINTERS' EQUIPMENT, busts or small figures of sculpture are related to the above.<br />
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TIME-PIECES, watches, clocks, hour-glasses -- do we need to spell it out?<br />
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PLAYING-CARDS, the gambler's downfall, signify impermanence linked with folly, indulgence, deception and self-delusion. Tarot cards (The Hanged Man, Death etc.) add another layer of meaning.<br />
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MASKS are infrequently shown, but occur often enough to be noted. The symbolism is obvious, and related to the above.<br />
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JEWELLERY, money, gold and silver objets de vertu make an obvious point; "lucre" has always been "filthy" ...<br />
<br />
THE HUMAN SKULL -- the ultimate memento mori.Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-5696244447536110032011-03-15T14:25:00.000-07:002011-03-15T17:49:39.089-07:0018th century cards and the game of Ombre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TlMPhKZ3feo/TYAItkUXvfI/AAAAAAAAAZc/EMiAT59WZ4Y/s1600/kings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TlMPhKZ3feo/TYAItkUXvfI/AAAAAAAAAZc/EMiAT59WZ4Y/s320/kings.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><br />
Before the 19th Century cards were generally hand-made and of a larger format than the modern mass-produced variety. The size could vary as cards were usually made from hand-coloured engravings, but were generally around 16cm x 10cm (and consequently less easy to shuffle in the modern manner). Beautiful examples still survive.<br />
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Court Cards retained vestiges of fashions from the 15th Century and were not made double-headed as they are nowadays. Pope goes to some lengths to describe the Royal characters.<br />
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<blockquote>"Behold, four Kings in majesty rever'd,<br />
With hoary whiskers and a forky beard.<br />
And four fair Queens, whose hands support a flow'r,<br />
Th'expressive emblem of their sofdter pow'r.<br />
Four Knaves in garb succinct, a trusty band,<br />
Caps on their heads, and halberds in their hand."</blockquote><br />
The Kings of all four suits sport forked beards. They all carry short broad-swords, except the King of Diamonds who is usually seen in profile with a halberd behind him. The King of Clubs also carries an orb (or terrestrial globe) in his left hand.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cGTJMeh9kao/TYAI8_abKiI/AAAAAAAAAZk/0gfR-shrEP0/s1600/queens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cGTJMeh9kao/TYAI8_abKiI/AAAAAAAAAZk/0gfR-shrEP0/s320/queens.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><br />
Their consort Queens all carry the flower Pope describes, and the Knaves wear long coats, the front points of which are tucked back into their belts in the manner of the Blue Coat Boys ("in garb succinct").<br />
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Numbered cards rarely carried an indicating number in the corners as modern cards do, and as they were of rather simple design, the suit emblems usually all pointed in the same direction.<br />
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The Game of Ombre was Spanish in origin as the name implies [the leader of the game was called the Hombre = man].<br />
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The full rules are arcane and elaborate, but Pope condenses the normal process of the game for the purposes of his poem.<br />
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Three players are dealt nine cards each and vie with each other to make tricks in the usual manner.<br />
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Matadors [Spanish meaning 'murderers'], the two black aces, always ranked as trumps; the highest ranking is Spadillio, the Ace of Spades; the next is Manillio, the Deuce of whatever suit is called for trumps; and Basto, the Ace of Clubs is the third.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gGG3bYKvrRo/TYAJGA06CkI/AAAAAAAAAZs/bPdVChfm1DQ/s1600/jacks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gGG3bYKvrRo/TYAJGA06CkI/AAAAAAAAAZs/bPdVChfm1DQ/s320/jacks.jpg" width="236" /></a></div><br />
Pope calls the Knave of Clubs Pam, which was his name in the other popular card-game of the 18th Century, Loo, where he featured as a paramount trump.<br />
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Codille, which Belinda fears so much, is the name given to either of the two opponents besting the Ombre and receiving the stakes.Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-71278725406106437912011-03-15T14:23:00.000-07:002011-03-15T17:50:41.221-07:00Thomas Betterton, the great Restoration actor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bLT337mGydU/TYAJV9HYDmI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/aMS4BnK7AZE/s1600/beterton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bLT337mGydU/TYAJV9HYDmI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/aMS4BnK7AZE/s320/beterton.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><br />
Thomas Betterton was born in Tothill Street in the parish of St Margaret's in Westminster shortly before the beginning of the Civil war between the King of England and parliament. The theatresof London were all closed by order of parliament in 1642, so we can safely assume that the young Thomas never saw a perofessional performance.<br />
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Upon the death of lord protector Oliver Cromwell it seemed inevitable that the monarchy should be restored, and in 1660 Charles II, the son of the executed Charles I, was invited back to reign over England again. One of his first moves was to reinstate professional theatre in the capital, granting powers to two of his courtier poets/dramatists, William Davenant and Thomas Killigrew, to form acting companies. The young Thomas Betterton was working at that time for John Rhodes,Davenant's publisher and book-seller, and he was immediately recruited to play for Davenant. His natural talent and intelligence must have been obvious for he was immediately entrusted with leading roles alongside the few surviving leading players from the previous era, and it was not long before he was being regarded as the finest actor of his generation.<br />
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What was it about Betterton that made so many hail him as the greatest actor who had ever lived?<br />
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We know what he looked like. Engravings of Kneller's portrait were said to be 'very like', and sold well. Colley Cibber, a fan if ever there was one, flattered him: 'not exceeding the middle stature, inclining to the corpulent; of a serious and penetrating aspect; his limbs nearer the athletic, than the delicate proportion; yet however form'd, there arose from the harmony of the whole a commanding mien of majesty.' His colleague and rival, Antony Aston, remarked, less devotedly; 'Mr Betterton, although a superlative good actor, laboured under an ill figure, being clumsily made, having a great head, short, thick neck, stooped in the shoulders, and had fat short arms which he rarely lifted higher than his stomach ... He had little eyes and a broad face, a little pock-fretten, a corpulent body, and thick legs, with large feet. His aspect was serious, venerable and majestic -- in his later time a little paralytic. His voice was low and grumbling; yet he could tune it by an artful climax, which enforced universal attention, even from the fops and orange-girls.'<br />
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Pepys particularly praised Betterton's Hamlet: 'And so to the Duke's house [that is, Davenant's theatre]; and there saw Hamlet done, giving us fresh reason never to think enough of Mr. Betterton.' Cibber described him as 'an actor, as Shakespeare was an author, both without competitors! form'd for the mutual assistance, and illustration of each other's genius!' The playwright Rowe said: 'Whatever part he performs, he does it as if it had been written on purpose for him, and that the author had exactly conceived it as he plays it.'<br />
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A heavy, rotund man seems an unlikely figure to succeed as Hamlet, but his other Shakespearean successes included Brutus, Hotspur, Othello, and his Falstaff was extravagantly praised. Betterton was a hit in a variety of characters, and it would appear to be mainly as a result of his obvious intelligence, unshakeable probity, and above all his vocal prowess. The theatrical conditions of the time were demanding, the rhetorical gestures had to be expansive, and the unruly audience was as much intent on regarding itself as the play. It took a powerful presence and a compelling voice to capture and hold attention.<br />
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Witnesses' impressions give us some evidence how the voice was managed; much was made of the need for variety. In his biography of Betterton, which served as a manifesto of the actor's methods, Charles Gildon insists on training and practice, 'employ much care and time in learning the art of varying the voice, according to the diversity of the subjects, of the passions you would express or excite, stronger or weaker, higher or lower ... A good voice, indeed, though ill-managed, may fill the ear agreeably, but it would be infinitely more pleasing if they knew how to give it the just turns, risings, and fallings, and all other variations suitable to the subjects and the passions.'<br />
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His voice at the age of 22 was described as 'audible, strong, full and articulate, as in the prime of his acting.' And Cibber described him in his prime: 'In the just delivery of poetical numbers, particularly where the sentiments are pathetic, it is scarcely credible upon how minute an article of sound depends their greatest beauty or inaffection. The voice of the singer is not more strictly tied to time and tune, than that of the actor in theatrical elocution: the least syllable too long, or too slightly dwelt upon in a period, depreciates it to nothing; which very syllable, if rightly touched, shall, like the heightening stroke from a master's pencil, give life and spirit to the whole. I never heard a line in tragedy come from Betterton, wherein my judgment, my ear and my imagination were not fully satisfied.'<br />
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Restoration actors were not so concerned as we are today with minute psychological examination, as with expressing high points of gesture or vocal expression, their famous 'clap-traps.' However, despite prevailing fashions, the actor's aim of convincingly depicting human behaviour has always been essentially the same. Quintillian, the Classical author, recommended a speaker recall all the emotional and physical aspects of his subject, until the accumulation of detail began to fire his imagination. The ancient Roman actor Polus took his own son's ashes onto the stage in order to help him find the truth behind Electra's mourning. Betterton 'from the time he was dressed, to the end of the play, kept his mind in the same temperament and adaptness as the character required' (Aston). Gildon recommended that the player 'form in his mind a very strong idea of the subject of his passion, and then the passion itself will not fail to follow, rise into the eyes, and affect<br />
both the sense and the understanding of the spectators with the same tenderness.' <br />
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All of this sounds perfectly acceptable to those of us brought up in the Stanislavsky tradition of using personal experience to identify with a role.<br />
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A version of this article by John H. Bartlett appeared in <i>The Stage</i> newspaper in 1995.Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-52350083025721509482011-03-15T14:21:00.000-07:002011-03-15T14:21:33.838-07:00Restoration and 18th century acting styleA reproduction of authentic 17th-18th Century theatrical practice today would probably seem at best sterile, and at worst preposterous, but in his solo performance of <a href="http://johnhbartlett.blogspot.com/2011/03/rape-of-locke.html"><i>The Rape of the Locke</i></a> John H. Bartlett gives a taste of how an actor of the time would use Rhetorical Gesture and Vocal Colour to illuminate the text.<br />
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Actors have always striven to convey the same thing: to convince an audience that what appears to be happening to their characters is really happening to them.The best actors manage to transcend the style expected of them to express emotional truth. Nowadays the sonorous vocal delivery of Thomas Betterton might seem ludicrous and monotonous. The use of illustrative gesture is not to contemporary taste, but in the Baroque theatre the practice was required and appreciated. Certain mimetic codes that an audience of the 18th Century would have recognised cannot be readily understood today.<br />
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Probably all a modern audience needs to bear in mind is that gestures performed on the right hand side of the body signify Affirmations, and those on the left Negativity.<br />
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In the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries Rhetoric was an admired accomplishment, respected as a method of sincerely elaborating an argument. Countless works on the rules of rhetorical address came out, derived from the writings on Oratory, Rhetoric, Logic and Aesthetics by Aristotle, Quintilian and Cicero. Gestures were prescribed, and the admired orators were those who contrived to fit their actions naturally to the import of their words. These works constantly refer to stage behaviour, sometimes disparagingly, so we can see that the art of theatrical gesture was similar to the art of the Orator. The best actors were admired for their restraint, but it seems that almost every other word would have had an accompanying gesture.<br />
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In his biography of Betterton, which took the form of an extended dialogue with the actor and served as a manifesto of the great actor's methods, Gildon attributed to him the theory that "... Every Passion or Emotion of the Mind has from Nature its proper and peculiar Countenance, Sound, and Gesture; and the whole Body of Man, all his Looks, and every Sound of his Voice, like the Strings of an Instrument, receive their Sounds from the various Impulses of the Passions ... it is true your Hands ought not to be always in Motion, a Vice which was once call'd the Babling of the Hands; and perhaps, it may reach some Characters and Speeches in Plays; but I am of Opinion, that the Hands in Acting ought very seldom to be wholly quiescent." "It is impossible to have any great Emotion or Gesture of the Body, without the Action of the Hands, to Answer the Figures of Discourse, which are made use of in all Poetical, as well as Rhetorical Diction."<br />
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It was understood that negative elements were expressed on the left-hand side of the body, and affirmations on the right. "...If an Action comes to be used by only one Hand, that must be the Right, it being indecent to make a Gesture with the Left alone ... When you speak of your self, the Right not the Left must be apply'd to the Bosom, declaring your Faculties, and Passions; your Heart, your Soul, or your Conscience, but this Action generally speaking, should be apply'd or express'd by laying the Hand gently on the Breast, and not by thumping it as some People do." A movement of the hand starting on one side and crossing the body, would be transferred seamlessly to the other hand. "The Gesture must pass from the Left to the Right, and there end with Gentleness and Moderation, at least not stretch to the Extremity of Violence ... There are some Actions or Gestures, which you must never make use of in Tragedy, ... they being low and fitter for Comedy or Burlesque Entertainments. Thus you must not put yourself into the Posture of one bending a Bow, presenting a Musket, or playing on any Musical instrument, as if you had it in your Hands." Although the rules forbade such deviations as lifting the arms higher than the head, the great French actor, Baron, commented that the performer may be allowed to break a rule "... if passion carry him that way;" after all, he said, "Passion knows better than art." Gildon's Betterton continued "... In the lifting up the Hands to preserve the Grace, you ought not to raise them above the eyes; to stretch them farther might disorder and distort the Body; nor must it be very little lower, because that Position gives a Beauty to the Figure: Besides, this Posture being general on some Surprise, Admiration, Abhorrence &c. which proceeds from the Object, that affects the Eye, Nature by a sort of Mechanic Motion throws the Hands out as Guards to the Eyes on such an Occasion ... Your Arms you should not stretch out sideways, above half a Foot from the Trunk of your Body, you will otherwise throw your Gesture quite out of your Sight, unless you turn your Head also aside to pursue it, which would be very ridiculous." He goes on to recommend the study of history painting as an example to players, citing Jordaen of Antwerp's Descent from the Cross as an instance of committed grief, differentiated by character and relationship.<br />
<br />
Many religious, mythological and history paintings of the time are set up exactly as we would expect a scene in the Baroque theatre; the shallow plane of the compositions is typical of how actors arranged themselves on the narrow acting area of the forestage. The poses serve as a model for the way the actors' bodies could be disposed, and the arms and hands deployed. Striking an Attitude (the art of static posture) was the culminating high point of a succession of gestures corresponding with the high point in a long speech. Theophilus Cibber tells us that Barton Booth, Betterton's natural successor in dignified tragedy, collected prints and studied paintings and sculpture, so that "all his attitudes were picturesque ... which he so judiciously introduced, so finely executed, and fell into them with so easy a transition, that these masterpieces of his art seemed but the effect of nature ... warmed by passion, heightened by grace and improved by taste." Booth's mastery of striking Attitudes and his easy transitions from one emotion to another were so practiced and refined that admirers claimed they were indistinguishable from real spontaneity. Gildon made a great point out of Betterton's naturalness, and recommended that the player find "that nice Address in the Management of his Gestures, that there be nothing in all the various Motions and Dispositions of his Body, which may be offensive to the Eye of the Spectator; as well as nothing grating and disobliging to the ears of his Auditors, in his Pronunciation."Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-14833783805603516412011-03-15T14:10:00.000-07:002011-03-16T06:12:31.187-07:00AboutThe site was originally created by John's sister on the GeoCities free hosting service. I was disappointed to see that old the site is defunct due to the closure of GeoCities in October 2009, and only findable through the Internet Archive, so I decide to rescue it.<br />
- Ray GirvanRay Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4093816086937523090.post-80139901662121875792011-03-15T14:05:00.000-07:002011-03-16T04:04:48.551-07:00Original siteHaving recovered John's site from GeoCities oblivion, I find I'm not the only one with the same idea. <a href="http://www.gyford.com/">Phil Gyford</a> has preserved the site without stylistic revision. It's an interesting example of the kind of Baroque unstructured site design that prevailed on free sites before we had the slick Blogger format.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.gyford.com/archive/2009/04/28/www.geocities.com/scriblerus_uk/">Original John H Bartlett site</a></b>Ray Girvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05556764642402680159noreply@blogger.com