When approaching this scene we, as a group, had many decisions to make. Some of them included: how we planned to portray the scene (whether it be completely tragic or have some comedy), where to shoot the scene (setting was important), how we intended on displaying a man being eaten by a bear. Before beginning to make any concrete decisions, we first had to read the scene multiple times to completely grasp the importance of the scene as well as to correctly interpret the characters within the scene.

After much discussion, we came to the conclusion that it was important to display the change in the play from tragedy to comedy. In order to commit to this portrayal, we created a comical-based scene. We began the scene in a dark place to represent the tragedy that was about to occur along with the sadness that preceded the scene, which led to the giving away of Perdita. The Mariner immediately begins the scene by stating that “the heavens with that we have in hand are angry/and frown upon ‘s.” This expresses how dark and stormy the clouds became upon entering the scene, and to our luck it was looking as if the “heavens” were “angry and frown[ed] upon ‘s” as well. Despite the cold and wet weather, we thought it would be perfect for the scene for us to go to the docks by the FDR drive to perfectly portray this scene rather than to create a fake prop. While running through the lines at the dock, we all began to have an even greater understanding for the scene. We were basically in the shoes of the characters created by Shakespeare. Placing ourselves in such a tragic setting, it became rather simple for us to get into character.

When approaching the Bear portion of the scene, we thought it would humorous to use a teddy bear to display the tragic, yet comical event. It seemed to be the perfect way to transition into a comedy. Instead of showing a person getting ripped to shreds, we also decided it would add to the scene to add a cartoon clip of a Bear chowing down on a man. Once we completed the transition, we thought it would be wise and, in a sense, metaphorical to move to Baruch’s campus to shoot this last portion of the scene. On campus the lights were brighter, and the it seemed as if there was no storm outside. This was done to express the change from a dark play to a play which has lightened up a bit. With a clown being introduced, we were able to portray his surprise of finding a baby with money. The shepherd and clown both saw this child as a gift since they suddenly became rich along with gaining a baby girl. Besides the clown displaying how happy he was to have riches, the clown also shared the news that he was the one who witnessed Antigonus getting brutally demolished by a bear. We saw this as Shakespeare’s way of blatantly telling his audience that this is going to become a comedy.

Through this scene study, we were able to get a sense of what it’s like to play a Shakespeare’s characters. We also had the opportunity to gain a full understanding of the scene and realize where the room of interpretation lies.