Dramatic Appreciation Final - Ruined

         Ruined is a play by Lynn Nottage, which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was commissioned by the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois and was a co-production with the, off-Broadway, Manhattan Theatre Club. The performance premiered in November of 2008. The play involves the dilemma of women in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. 

         

           Time and again, we are not conscious of the way the whole theatre space or location works to create sense and circumstances for a theatrical occasion. When we attend the theatre in an elaborate opera house with luxurious lobbies and bars serving expensive drinks, we acquire certain expectations for a lush and abundant production with thorough detail and performances by stars. When we go into a unconventional theatre behind a storefront, in a warehouse, or in a church basement, we expect experimentation, incitement, and very little visual or technical elements. We measure what we see against what we expect, and make sense of a performance accordingly. With Ruined I would set up my theatre space in Congo, in a local African village, outside in the environment. This way the performance and setup would be that much more authentic. The entire community (and anyone else who traveled from a far place) would gather in front of the performing grounds with the drummers and other musicians. My target audience would be everybody from people who have lived this story and people who know almost nothing about it. The audience would most likely be Congo natives than anything else. They would come to see the play, because of the way the story ends. It would give them hope. The other part of the audience would be foreigners of the country. They would come to see the play to learn about a war that most people do not know about and learn it from a very accurate portrayal. 

 

          The actual "stage" design would include nothing, because there would be no stage. The play would be performed right on the dirt. This would help describe the country as being broken or dirtied by the means of a violent war. The audience would be seated as if they were in a thrust theatre.

          For my scenic design, the scenes in Mama Nadi's bar would include old and rundown and somewhat broken down wood walls at the back and sides of the "dirt" stage. There would be a opening with a cloth hanging over at the back and right wall to act as doorways for the hallway to the bedrooms and the outside entrance. The cloths would be torn by all the run down and drunk soldiers and natives who have piled in and out of the bar from years past. Outside the doorway of the outside entrance would be a little porch. There would be a clearly homemade pool table made of a used table top and the side guards would be made from used beer bottles. The balls would be used tennis balls and the sticks would be old table legs. This would show that there isn't much money coming into this place. There would also be a few old tables with cheep plastic lawn chairs. The bar counter would be made up of a bunch of magazines and books stacked on top of each other with a wood board placed on top of it. Cheap but it works. More lawn chairs would be placed here too.

          For scenes in the bedroom there would be two cheap spring mattresses. No beds to hold the mattresses up, not enough money for that. There would be a radio and a lamp on a nightstand between the beds. One mattress would be shared by Sophie and Salima. The other had by Josephine. This will show the audience the bond and friendship between Sophie and Salima. It will also show the social distance between them and Josephine.

          For costume design the girls (Mama Nadi, Sophie, Salima, Josephine) would be wearing sun dresses with African tribal print on them. Josephine's dress would be shorter than the others to show her overcompensation to look sexy. Christian would wear old suits, preferably Miami vice type suits to clearly show their age and the fact that they are out of style. The rebels would wear everyday clothing like tee shirts and jeans and tennis shoes, because they are practically civilians, but fighting for what they believe in. The governments soldiers would wear camouflage uniforms to show they are part of the actual military. The miners would wear dirty work clothing, preferably white too easily show how unclean their clothes are from work.

          They natural lighting of the outside would be dark because the play would be performed at night. This darkness will help amplify the sadness of the story. There would be artificial lighting for whatever circumstance is needed. When it is a bar scene the lighting would be bright, because there is usually a lot of energy and commotion going on. The wall between the bar and porch will block most of the light from the outside. This will help with the scenes where Fortune is standing outside waiting for Salima all by himself. The darkness will help portray him being alone. In the bedroom scenes the lighting would be dimmer because Sophie and Salima are usually whispering about secrets or keeping secrets and dimness to me means quiet for some reason.

          For sound design, I would not use any. I would not expect a extremely huge crowd to show up to a lesser populated area, like Congo. It would not be like doing an outside play in New York City. Also, the natural sound would add to the realism of the story. Most of the dialogue is pretty energetic so I would not worry too much about volume.

          And of course my mock play of Ruined would be extremely successful, because of all the amazing and highly expensive advertisment I would put up all around the world. It would eventually make more money than Wicked too. Haha.

      

Attendance Make Up: Play Review - Equus

The play, Eqqus, was written by Peter Shaffer in 1974. It was performed by the College of Charleston at the News Journal Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. The story of the play is about a teenager, Alan Strang, who blinds several of horses, by gauging their eyes out, in the stable of his workplace. Most of the story takes place at the psychiatric hospital, where Alan is sent to help him get through this ordeal and to find out what actually happened and why it happened. The psychiatrist, Martin Dysart, tries the whole entire play to get Alan to talk openly about the whole ordeal. He tries to do this by prying and asking a lot of question to get him to remember, which Alan does not want to do. He just wants to act like nothing happened. With time Alan builds up some trust towards Martin and finally breaks down and tells him of all that happened and why he did what he did. He tells Martin of his horrible relationship with his parents and even his intimate and kind of awkward relations with his boss’s daughter and how all this eventually caused him to lose it and gauge the horses’ eyes out.

The play to me was an extremely deep portrayal of psychotherapy. Exposure was the key. Martin wanted to Alan to expose everything. The exposure terrified Alan though, until he finally trusted Martin enough to tell him of the disaster that had happened. But, I thought it was kind of boring at times because of the fact that most of the play takes place in the same spot, the psychiatrist office, where most of the time it is just the two of them sitting and talking or Martin trying to get Alan to talk. It was very dramatic though and at one point very surprising. The part that stunned me without warning was when Alan and his boss’s daughter lose their clothes to full nudity. I give the two actors major credit for going through with it. It took major guts to do that in front of a huge crowd that there was. At the time I really did not see it coming. I guess it really did not make me extremely uncomfortable because of how deep and dramatic the story was all ready at that point. It kind of just went with the flow. The play had its points where it was funny too so you could get off the edge of your seat for a little bit, whether it was a joke here and there or just because of how crazy Alan was in the head. Overall, it was an good performance. It was just good, because of the dull and boring parts of the play. The thing that kept my interest was the drama and intensity throughout the story.

Bat Boy: Performance Response

"Heed the tale of a filthy freak, who's just like you."

     On Thursday, March 31, 2011, I went to go see Daytona State College's musical performance of Bat Boy: The Musical. It was performed in the Gillespy Theatre at the News Journal Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. The musical was directed by Zeina Salame.

     The moment I stepped into the theatre to see Bat Boy the energy was way up. There was a lot of commotion around the place. It seemed like everyone was really excited to see this performance. There were a lot of students there, so more than likely the fact that their school was performing probably had something to do with the overall excitement going around. The theatre had a three sided seating arrangement so seeing everyone's reactions was pretty well visible. Everyone seemed to have a smile on their faces throughout the performance.

     The performance would have to be listed as a comedy horror musical. Throughout the whole show there was a lot of jokes and a lot gore and violence. Everyone was laughing none stop the whole time. Even in the serious parts they were laughing, because that was what the mood of the musical was set at. The main character, Bat Boy or Edgar, craves blood at certain points throughout the musical. So obviously, there was a good amount blood too. There was even several people who gasped at the blood and the violence involved with that. There was also a live band to play the instrumentals of the songs in the performance. That was a really cool and impressive touch. They were situated on the stage above a cave. It added to the impressiveness of the songs to have a live band perform with it.

     Afterwards I myself did not discuss the show that much. That has nothing to with whether I liked it or not, because I loved it. It was a very good performance. It was actually my first viewing of a musical too. But, I did over hear a few people who were talking about the wardrobe malfunction once they got out the theatre after the show. The mom got her heel caught in her skirt and tripped and had trouble getting up a couple of times resulting from that. Then a few minutes later her blouse became accidentally unbuttoned in the front while she was singing. That was really the only thing I could negatively criticize about the performance. A few days later, I heard numerous people talk about the musical at school too, especially in my acting class.

     Overall, it was a great performance. It was extremely funny and also gripping. It had great acting to go along with amazing singing. Everyone clapped every chance they got throughout, so I am pretty sure that that everyone liked the show.

• Bat Boy: The Musical. 2008. Photograph. San Pedro, California. Splash Magizines. By Nicholas Tober. Web. 8 Apr. 2011. <http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Los_Angeles_Performances_116/Bat_Boy_The_Musical_Theatre_Review_-_A_Night_at_The_Warner_Grand_Theatre.php>.

  

Alternative Paths To Performance - American Musical



          It took many years for the American musical theatre to acquire its own identity. The first musical production was in the colonies. Named Flora, it took place in a court room in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 8, 1735. It was a show imported from European operetta. Yet all the while that the European influence on the American musical theatre was pronounced and inescapable, tentative efforts were being made to achieve a musical entertainment basically American in style, spirit and format.

        When we reflect on American musical theatre, we think of the style that originated in the United States and is today adopted by nations all around the world. Many of the complementary styles of the past may appear unknown, but musical theatre itself is one with which we are all familiar. Its establishment merges the talents of many artists, much more than just singers. The American musical has always joined written materials and included the association of many authors.

          Music, lyrics, choreography, and dialogue which expand and give substance to the story line are combined to produce the musical form. These are constructed by a composer, lyricist, choreographer, and a book writer. Musical theatre has always been a complex style. In its background, it joined components of American melodrama, dance, popular song, and variety show entertainments such as vaudeville, burlesque, and minstrel shows, in combination with European operetta. As the significance of story line has developed, plots have come to be more complex leading to book musicals, a story portrayed through text and song. Recent decades have seen a reoccurrence to the non-story musical style due to the increasingly serious subject matter in book musicals.

          Musical theatre was one of the first styles to discover multicultural written components and subjects. African American musicals first showed up on Broadway in the early 1920's, although three more decades would go by before serious shows by an African American could obtain a Broadway production with a black cast and director. Ragtime and jazz were musical works adopted by white composers, and black dance forms were included into the normal dance selection. The history of the American musical reflects the multiculturalism of our nation and its use of music and dance as a instrument for adjustment and the understanding of differences. 

          In recent times, more and more musical theatre is including dance as the vital dramatic component. While dance has always been part of the musical form, it has moved to a essential part of the dramatic text. Starting in the 1930's, dance came to be used much the ways songs were to expand the plot or expose a character's mood or emotions. Musical theatre sometimes has no dialogue, or almost none. So, in the times, dance will stand in for the word or goes beyond the word to state feelings and emotion.

Today, the American musical is universal. Broadway musicals are presented all over the world, and other cultures have developed their own types of the style by joining them with foreign books and lyrics.

Performance Traditions - The Haiti Carnival



 

          Haiti's motto is "unity creates strength". It is this statement that makes sense as to why they will be having their traditional, annual carnival just a year after the devastating earthquake that struck them January 12 of 2010.

          The carnival starts off one of the most divine times of the year. It precedes to a period of atonement and self-discipline. It is a time where millions of Christians from all around the world are immersed into prayer, thought, forgiveness and rejuvenation. It begins the rememberance of the miracle of the perfect life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The word carnival originates from the Latin word Carnavale which translates to "Meat Farewell". The time of carnival, which ends on Mardi-Gras (Fat-Tuesday), refers to the tradition of eating all the fats in the household before the start of Easter season. It is imperative to take notice that the Wednesday following Mardi-Gras, known as Ash Wednesday, marks the first day of the repentant season of Lent in the Christian churches. It is tradition for Roman Catholics to refrain from eating meat during the course of the 40 days of Lent leading up to Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.

          Since it starts the beginning of the season for atonemnet and self-discipline, it also finishes the time of gratification and pleasure. Carnival is one of the biggest festivals in the world celebrated all over the globe. Everyone is singing and dancing to the awe-inspiring rhythm and beats playing in the air in the extraordinary lights and colors around them.

          Simply put, the season of carnival preceding to Mardi-Gras is the last opportunity for gratification and pleasure in food, drink, music, et cetera before the self-discipline of Lent. The festivities of carnival is marked by stunning parades including floats, elaborate costumes, music and dancing. The most important element of the carnival is the music. Its intent is to emphasize the hopes and ambitions of the people. The musicians make it their obligation to speak the sorrow, happines, love, and spirit of Haiti.