Globe Education Online

David has decided to devise some slapstick routines for some of his scenes, possibly the scene with Corin – Act 3 Scene 2 and in the ‘Seven lies’ speech in Act 5 Scene 4. He is finding this latter scene particularly challenging and is experimenting with a routine in which Touchstone attempts to beat himself up! He is becoming more aware of the physicality of the character and the need to alter to alter his physical posture to create a misfit. The costume will help, it will resemble Elizabethan ‘motley’ and will be red and gold in colour. One definition of Elizabethan ‘motley’ was that it should resemble the clothes of a child.

David is now considering asking the director to re instate some of the lines which were cut earlier, but knows that this will depend on the final running time of the play, if the play is too long it will not be possible.

The scenes with Audrey are becoming very physical – David and the actor who plays Audrey have decided she is the one to make physical contact and that she is very excited about the prospect of marriage to Touchstone. Both actors want to feel free to play their scenes in a way which is different for each performance.

A useful discovery came from another actor who observed how Feste, the fool in Twelfth Night demanded payment for everything he did that was witty or entertaining. This helped David to explore the mercenary side of Touchstone’s nature and to explain why he finds the forest tedious.

David is now looking forward to working with the audience in the Globe and using their reaction to Touchstone to help him further develop his performance.

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.

Back to Touchstone