Performance Research

In this section, you can explore our performance research in a series of interactive modules which are designed to bring you inside the creative process of our research experiment. If you wish to access our production records directly including video from the shows, then please visit our Resources page.

Rehearsal Process

What are the differences between Elizabethan rehearsal practice and our own?

The SQM company adopted and adapted Elizabethan rehearsal practices. Hear the actors talk of their experience using Elizabethan ‘parts’, working with master actors and without a traditional director, and preparing three plays for performance in the space of seven weeks

Doubling

What do you do when there are more characters than actors?

Doubling roles was standard practice in Elizabethan theatre. Try your hand at creating your own doubling chart and learn about the thought process that informed our doubling decisions…

Gender and the Queen's Men

How does a man play a woman?

Essays and video examples illuminate the representation of women in the plays and the use of men to play the women in our production…

Traffic on the Stage

How do you interpret stage directions and cope with the challenges of touring?

Learn about the stages the company performed on and follow director Peter Cockett through the thought-process behind the staging of two pivotal scenes in Famous Victories: Henry’s Conversion and the King’s Death..

Modern Acting

How does an actor bring text to life?

Our actors relied on their own training while they were exploring the possibilities of old rehearsal practices. Learn techniques modern actors use to turn text into performance in an interactive exploration of the Prince’s conversion scene in Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay..