Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad you've decided to learn with me.

Today we are looking at "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and our focus today is going to be Puck's epilogue, the ending of the play.

We're gonna look at what Puck says in this epilogue, how we might interpret this epilogue, and we're going to develop our understanding of Elizabethan England, the plays first audiences work, of course, Elizabethan, in order to understand what is happening at the very end of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

I cannot wait to hear all of your fantastic ideas.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you are going to create a convincing interpretation of Puck's epilogue through performance.

So we're gonna read the epilogue, we're gonna read the last speech of this play, which is delivered by the character of Puck.

And we're gonna think, well, how should this epilogue be delivered? And you're gonna think, well, what do I know about the character of Puck? What is he actually saying in this epilogue? And how will that inform the choices I make in my performance? I cannot wait to see all of these different performances, all these different types of Puck that I'm going to see in today's lesson.

Now we've got some keywords which are going to help unlock our learning today, and they are epilogue.

This is of course the focus of today's lesson.

We've got breaking the fourth wall, hierarchy, Elizabethan and censor.

So let's go through their definitions.

An epilogue, this is a speech or piece of writing that comes at the end of a text and makes a comment on what happened in the story.

So today we've got Puck's epilogue, but you might see them in books, they don't just appear in plays.

We've got breaking the fourth wall.

Now, this is when a character in a play speaks directly to the audience, acknowledging that the audience exists.

And Puck does this in his epilogue, he speaks directly to the audience.

Hierarchy.

This is a system whereby people or things are ranked, with some being higher than others.

Now, hierarchy was very important to Elizabethan England.

And actually I often think this idea, this idea of hierarchy, can help unlock many of Shakespeare's plays, if not all of them, in terms of understanding what some of the things that Shakespeare is exploring.

And particularly in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", we see the hierarchy is disrupted and then order is restored at the end of the play.

And that's one of the key reasons that it is a comedy because there is order at the end of the play.

The hierarchy, which has been disrupted for comedic effect is now all back happily in the right order.

Elizabethan, a person alive when Elizabeth I was on the throne at 1558 to 1603, the first audiences of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" were Elizabethan and we're going to look at some really important ideas that were important to Elizabethans in order to understand the power, the impact of Puck's, epilogue and censor.

This is to remove parts of a text that you think shouldn't be seen.

We're gonna come back to this word when we are looking at Elizabethan England.

So these are our keywords for today.

They're gonna help unlock our learning and they're going to be referenced throughout.

Our lesson outline for today, we're gonna start just by understanding Puck's epilogues.

We'll read through it and we'll consider, well what is he actually saying in this epilogue? And then in our second learning cycle, we will perform Puck's epilogue.

Let's start off with understanding the epilogue.

So in Elizabethan England, the theatre was hugely popular.

However, there were also lots of people who considered the theatre and plays dangerous.

I'd like you to discuss in what ways might the theatre or play be considered dangerous? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Welcome back after some really interesting discussions there.

And I really liked how lots of people thought, well I'm gonna apply this not to Elizabethan England, but I'm gonna think about now.

Sometimes people think that certain art forms now are quite dangerous.

So they might think that certain films, certain videos, certain songs, maybe a video game is considered very, very dangerous, that has dangerous ideas or dangerous characters or dangerous situations.

And actually that can impact the audiences, the people who are experiencing that art form.

So maybe, just maybe, Elizabethans felt the same way about the theatre.

And you are absolutely right to apply the way we might feel about particular art forms now to the Elizabethan theatre.

Because even though they lived really, really long time ago, Elizabethans were people just like us.

So we can think of them just like us and the ideas, sometimes they might be a little bit different, different ideas for their society, but we can actually consider them, well how do I feel about this particular thing? And maybe an Elizabethan would feel the same because we are after all, both people.

Now some Elizabethans considered the theatre dangerous because of three main reasons.

So the first one was the atmosphere.

So theatres drew large crowds which become unruly and in crowded theatres there was fighting, gambling and pickpocketing.

The ideas.

So lots of people talked about in that discussion, our first discussion of today's lesson, the idea certainly sometimes seemed dangerous.

Elizabethan society was hierarchical and plays often presented disorder to the hierarchy.

And we know "A Midsummer Night's Dream" definitely does that.

And three, its immorality.

So plays often included rude jokes, immoral characters and events.

And for a highly Christian society, this was offensive and ungodly.

Now Elizabeth I, she was the monarch when "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was first written, first performed.

She loved the theatre, but she did also controlled it.

For example, she appointed a Master of Revels who censored anything considered too rude or unsuitable in a play script.

So this was one of our keywords today.

We know that to censor means to take out bits of writing that you think that people shouldn't see.

So the Master of Revels, that was their job, to censor anything that was considered too rude or unsuitable in a play script.

And Elizabeth I, she wouldn't allow theatres to be built inside the city of London.

Now the city boundary was quite small in Elizabethan England.

So many theatres were built just outside of it.

Now I'd like you to discuss, do you think there are any ideas, moments, or lines that the Master of Revels might have considered censoring in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? So do you think they sat down to their job and thought, "I've got to look through "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

"Are there any ideas that I should censor? "Any moments that I should censor?" So I'd like you to imagine that you are the Master of Revels just now and think, consider the script.

Should there be anything that should be censored in here? Pause the video and discuss this question.

Some really nice discussions there, some really nice embodying of the Master of Revels.

I think you would be very good at this job.

Some people thinking a lot of the script should actually be censored.

There are lots of rude moments, particularly with the character of Puck who seems to enjoy creating a lot of chaos, laughing and a lot of the chaos.

And he seems to enjoy the disruption to the chaos, to the hierarchy more than any other character.

There are also sometimes some quite rude jokes where people are falling on their bottom.

That is how the character of Puck is first introduced.

We hear about one of the practical jokes that he likes to play and obviously the biggest practical joke where you could consider a practical joke, you could consider it something crueller, is when he transforms Bottom's head into that of a donkey.

So there are some moments in the "A Midsummer Night's Dream" which you could could consider censoring if you were the Elizabethan Master of Revels.

Now "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ends with an epilogue delivered by the character of Puck.

The epilogue breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the audience.

So this comment on the story on the play, which is what an epilogue is, it breaks the fourth wall, which means the character speaks directly to the audience, acknowledges that the audience exists.

Because obviously during the play, the characters, the actors on stage, they ignore the audience, they don't engage with them usually.

So breaking the fourth wall is a really conscious choice to say, I'm gonna look at the audience now and really interact with the idea that they have been watching at this play throughout.

Now Puck seems to worry that some people have been offended and ask those people to consider the play that they have just seen as a dream rather than real.

And this is in Act 5, Scene 1.

And you can see the line references there as well.

Now I'd like you to discuss, why might Shakespeare have used the word offended? Consider what you know of Elizabethan England to inform your response.

So pause the video and discuss this question now.

Some really lovely discussions there, tying in your knowledge of Elizabethan England, all the things we just learned about theatre and how it could be considered dangerous to this question about Puck's epilogue.

And I absolutely agree that maybe this word has been used because Shakespeare realises that this play, which has lots of disruption to the hierarchy, which has lots of rude but could be considered offensive.

And there were people who thought the play, the playhouse, theater's plays, they are deeply, deeply offensive and we shouldn't have them.

And some people really wanted to ban the theatre, they thought it was that dangerous.

And so here maybe Puck is saying, "I'm aware that some people will have been offended.

"That is why I'm using this word.

"And so I'm apologising "and saying that you should consider "that what you have just seen as a dream, not as real." Now a quick check for understanding before we delve into Puck's epilogue in a little bit more detail.

I just wanna check that we all have this fantastic understanding of Elizabethan England because obviously Elizabethans watched "A Midsummer Night's Dream", they were its first audiences.

So true or false, Elizabethans both loved the theatre but also recognised its dangers.

Pause a video and select whether you think this is true or false.

Pause a video now.

Well done if you selected true.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it, A, Elizabethan society was hierarchical and citizens knew the Queen, Elizabeth I, wanted to ban the theatre.

When they went, they knew they were offending their monarch.

Or B, the theatre was a hugely popular form of entertainment.

But some Elizabethan thought the theatre was, theatre, sorry, were filled with dangerous ideas and inappropriate humour.

So I'd like you to pause the video and select which justification you think is true.

Pause the video and select your justification now.

Well done if you selected B.

So it was hugely popular.

Some Elizabethans thought the theatres were filled with dangerous ideas and inappropriate humour.

It is not A, because Elizabeth I, she didn't want to ban the theatre, she loved the theatre, but she did impose some limits on it.

So remembering that she elected the Master of Revels.

And she also said theatres cannot be built inside the city of London.

Alright, we're now gonna look at Puck's epilogue.

And I would first like you to read it then you are gonna select quotations which match the modern translations below.

I've got one, two, three, four bullet points, four sentences, and you're just gonna match the Shakespearean language from Puck's epilogue to those modern translations.

And then the final task, number three, I'd like you to answer the three questions in full sentences.

So the first is, what is Puck worried about? The second is, what is Puck's advice to those who may have been offended? And finally, why do you think Shakespeare has a character of Puck say this epilogue rather than any other character? So you're going to reach for your copy of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", you can also find this in the additional materials.

First is just to read Puck's epilogue and to enjoy it.

The second is to select the quotations which match the modern translation, so you've got a really thorough understanding of it.

And the third thing to do is to answer those three questions in full sentences so that you are beginning to interpret this epilogue.

So pause the video.

I'm really looking forward to you hearing all of your thoughts about Puck's epilogue.

Give this activity the time it deserves.

So you've got a really strong grounding understanding of this final speech in the play, and I'll see you back here shortly.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back, fantastic to see you after reading through that epilogue so beautifully, doing a really nice check for understanding by making sure that you get that Shakespearean language by matching it to that modern translation, and then some really interesting answers to these three questions.

So first of all, let's self-assess your selected quotations.

So the first modern translation was that Puck says, "Think of the play as nothing more than a dream." And this is, "This weak and idle", which means worthlessly theme.

"No more yielding than a dream." Not giving you anything else as important as a dream.

It's not important just in the way that your dreams are not important.

That is what the character of Puck is saying.

The second modern translation, "We will fix everything "so that you don't hiss us off at the stage." "Now to escape the serpent's tongue, "we will make amends ere long." So you know that sometimes when audiences are not happy with what they're seeing on stage, they can hiss, they can boo.

And Puck is saying, "I don't want that to happen.

"So I'm gonna make sure that I fix everything "if you are indeed offended." He then says, "Clap, to show that we are friends." And in the Shakespearean English, this is, "Give me your hands, if we be friends." So he is actually asking for applause here.

And finally, "I will make everything better", is, "Robin shall restore amends." So he's trying to reassure us that we don't need to worry because he's got everything in hand if we have indeed been offended.

So well done for matching that modern translation to the Shakespearean English.

So you've got a thorough understanding of this epilogue.

Now I just want to look at this question.

Why do you think Shakespeare has a character of Puck say this epilogue rather than any other character? 'Cause it's really gonna get into his characterization.

Now here's Andeep's answer to the question.

He says, "I think Shakespeare has Puck say this epilogue "because he's the one who caused "most of the chaos and the offence.

"For example, when he turned Bottom's head "into that of a donkey and Titania fell in love with him.

"This is a moment of disorder in the play, "and especially for the play's first Elizabethan audiences, "this will be something to apologise for." So really nice substantial answer there from Andeep.

Now he's got a really clear idea.

So he says, "I think Puck says the epilogue "because he is the one who caused "most of the chaos and offence." That's Andeep's interpretation.

And then I really like how he has justified that idea by reference to the play.

So we got a specific example there.

And actually Andeep has also thought about and Elizabethan audience.

So a very well crafted answer there.

Now I'd like you to self-assess your response to this question using the checklist.

So you've got a really clear idea about why you think Puck says the epilogue.

Andeep's idea is not the correct idea, it's just his idea.

So you might have a different, different argument.

And then have you justified your idea with reference to the play? So pause the video and I'd like you to self-assess your response just to this final question about why Shakespeare has the character of Puck say the epilogue.

Pause a video and self-assess now.

Welcome back and lovely to see people engaging with that self-assessment.

I saw lots of people saying, "Yep, I do have a really, really clear idea, "but actually I need to add "justification with reference to the play.

"So I'm going to do that now." Use all of my knowledge of the play in order to justify my idea.

So now you have a really, really strong sort of mini paragraph in answer to this question.

Okay, we're now gonna move on to performing Puck's epilogue.

You have a fantastic understanding of what he's saying at the end of the play.

And now we are going to use all ideas, of all our ideas about this character in order to create a really convincing performance of this epilogue.

So Lucas prepares to perform Puck's epilogue.

And I'd like you to discuss what advice would you give him in order to make the performance as rich as possible? And I'd like you to consider what aspects of Puck's character you think Lucas should try and express and how he should engage with the audience given that the epilogue breaks the fourth wall.

So consider this question.

What advice would you give to Lucas? Use those two prompts to guide you.

Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back, some fantastic advice being given to Lucas.

I'm really excited about your performances because you've obviously got some really keen eye for what makes excellent, excellent drama.

So some people saying, I actually think that it would be really important for Lucas to express some of the cruel sides of Puck in this epilogue.

And I would have him say it as if he doesn't quite believe what he's saying.

He doesn't really want to apologise for what he's done.

He hasn't seemed very apologetic across the rest of the play.

But others saying, actually Puck is just a harmless figure of fun, and I would really like to emphasise that at the end of the play.

That's what Lucas should be emphasising at the end of the play because we shouldn't take this too seriously 'cause the play is after all comedy.

So it's a very different interpretations, very different advice being given to Lucas.

And Lucas of course will think, well, what would I like to do? How would I like to interpret this character? Just as you will do when you perform Puck's epilogue at the end of this learning cycle.

Now before Lucas prepares to say his epilogue, he abates it so that he can use it as a guide during performance.

So a really, really helpful thing to do things that lots and lots of actors do, just to make sure that they think, okay, this is what I want to do at this moment.

I'm not just gonna read the lines with no tone, with no animation.

I'm really going to think how do I want to express myself when I'm saying at this epilogue, and this is what Lucas is doing now.

So Puck is, sorry, Lucas is looking at these first two lines.

If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended.

And here is annotations.

And he says, "I will look to the side at this point, "as if Oberon is making me say this epilogue "because Puck never seems that worried "about causing offence or creating disorder, "unlike his master, Oberon, "who makes him restore order in Act 3." So I really like this note because we've got an action that Lucas is gonna take, he's gonna look to the side as he's saying these two lines.

And he's also justified it by showing off his fantastic knowledge of the text by saying, "Well, this is what Puck, "how I interpret puck throughout the play", that he doesn't care about disorder but his master, Oberon does.

And Puck always does what Oberon says.

So this is why, and this is how I'm gonna justify my performance, my choice for performance here.

So really, really nice clear annotation there, which is really going to help Lucas as he, as he performs his epilogue.

Now we'd like you to discuss how would you annotate this section of the epilogue.

So you might have a completely different interpretation to Lucas, and I would like to know what that is.

So pause the video and discuss this question.

Just these first two lines of the epilogue.

How would you annotate this section? Pause the video, discuss the question now.

Some lovely discussions.

There were such a range of interpretations.

So some people saying, I would say this as if I was laughing incredibly hard to the idea of offence is funny to the character of Puck, so I would be laughing as I said these lines.

Some people saying, I would have a more sinister kind of darker, more menacing tone as if he's kind of daring the audience to say, yes, we are offended because I have interpreted the supernatural as quite a menacing force throughout this place.

There some very, we're getting ready for some very different performances.

Some very different Pucks are going to be in this room very shortly.

So check for understanding before we move into preparing, annotating our epilogue and then performing our epilogue.

True or false.

The stage directions explain how to perform the epilogue.

Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected false.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it A, it's up to directors, actors, and readers of the play to interpret how the epilogue should be performed? Or B, Elizabethans would've known how Puck should perform this epilogue but a more modern audience has to make an educated guess.

Pause the video and select your justification now.

Well done if you selected A.

It is up to actors, directors, readers of the play to interpret how the epilogue should be performed.

There are no stage directions for this epilogue.

The Elizabethans do not have a greater insight than we do.

We are reading the play or seeing the play perform just as they would have done.

Okay, we're now gonna prepare for your own performance of Puck's epilogue by annotating it with short notes.

So annotate those lines just as we saw Lucas do earlier in this learning cycle.

Then you are gonna perform the epilogue.

I cannot wait to see all the different interpretations of Puck.

And then thirdly, you're going to explain why you chose perform it in this way.

So the first thing to do is to annotate the epilogue, then of course, performance, and then finally explain why you chose to perform it in this way.

Cannot wait to see all of these performances.

Give yourself the time that your performance deserves.

You might want to do one, two, three, or more takes of this just so you get the characterization of Puck absolutely right.

Pause the video and complete these three tasks now.

Welcome back after absolutely fantastic performances of Puck.

So many different interpretations of very, very convincing interpretations of this character.

It was amazing to see the difference, that tone, that attitude, that actions, that pace can make to this epilogue.

And I know you'll have learned a lot by seeing all of these different interpretations as well.

Let's have a look at this explanation why you chose to perform it in this way, because it's really interesting to hear people justify their ideas of their interpretation.

So here is Alex's explanation for his performance.

He said, "I tried to perform in such a way "that emphasised how lighthearted and fun "the character of Puck is.

"I emphasised the song-like rhythm of the epilogue, "and paused when I said, "Give me your hands" "to pretend I could hear the audience clapping.

"I even did a little bow at this point.

"I also really emphasised the lines "when he says he wants to mend everything, "which he does three times, "to show that ultimately I'm quite a harmless character "who restores order." So that was Alex's interpretation and really nice explanation there where he goes through a number of the choices that he made.

Now I'd like you to use Alex's answer as a model and explain how your choices differed from his.

So sentence started there, by contrast, I wanted to.

So pause the video and using Alex's answer as a model, explain how your choices differed from his.

Pause the video and complete this task now.

Some beautiful explanations of performance there where you saying, well, this line, I really wanted to emphasise this, so this is what I did.

And really interesting to see you just unpack that epilogue and show off your fantastic knowledge, not just as a character of Puck, not just of the entire play as a whole, but also what it means to be a fantastic performer.

After all, we go to the theatre to be entertained.

And you definitely have shown me today that you understand that that is a primary importance of drama to engage the audience, to connect with the audience.

So really, really well done for those performances.

In summary, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ends with an epilogue given by the character Puck.

Puck's epilogue breaks the fourth wall and offers to make amends for any offence caused by the play.

Perhaps this epilogue acknowledges some of the fears that Elizabethans had by the potential dangers of the theatre.

And some Elizabethans believe the theatres were a place of dangerous ideas and atmospheres.

It has been such a pleasure to work through today's lesson with you and see all of your fantastic performances.

I look forward to seeing you next time.