Globe Education Online

This is Belinda’s second season at the Globe and she is looking forward to performing at the theatre again this year. At the beginning of the rehearsal period for any play Belinda goes through the text and writes down everything that is said about her character and everything that the character says about herself. When doing this for As You Like It, she particularly noticed how many times Phebe is described as proud. Belinda is also trying to build up a picture of the physical world in which Phebe and Silvius live. What would life be like for them in the Forest of Arden? – What would they do?

To research the role Belinda is reading Shakespeare’s source for As You Like It, Rosalynd. Phebe plays a much bigger part in this story and Belinda is finding these extra details very helpful for her understanding of Phebe’s character.

Belinda feels it is important for Phebe to like Silvius at the end of the play and be happy with the prospect of marrying him. She would therefore like to find a journey for Phebe in the play at the end of which she is a different character than she was at the beginning. When the play begins, Belinda feels that Phebe and Silvius have reached a stalemate; Silvus has been pursuing her for a long time. Both need Rosalind’s intervention to move on and to resolve their conflict. Belinda feels that, at the beginning of the play, Phebe needs Silvius to feed her vanity, but doesn’t need his love.

There is the possibility at this stage that some of Phebe’s lines might be cut. The director would like to cut some lines from Phebe’s speech in Act 3 Scene 5:

That eyes, that are the frail’st and softest things,
Who shut their coward gates on atomies,
Should be call’d tyrants, butchers, murderers.

Belinda however would like to keep these lines and she must find ways of convincing the director that they are important to the speech.

Belinda has been thinking about Phebe’s costume and would like her to be dressed individually - possibly overdressed for the forest. Phebe would like to fly from Silvius and her life in the forest, and as a result of this, acts in a manner way above her position in society. Although Phebe is a very hard character, Belinda feels there is something likeable and recognisable about her. She has been thinking of possible contemporary comparisons with Phebe, ladies such as Madonna and Paula Yates; driven people who are perceived to be, to a certain extent, misfits in society.

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

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