A Theatre Passe Muriell Analysis

For our critiquing assignment in our Introduction to Stagecraft 1, I ventured to downtown Toronto, to a small indie theatre called, The Unit 102 Theatre. There I saw the production of MISS; written by Dora Award-nominated playwright Michael Ross Albert who wrote such works as Tough Jews, The Spadina Avenue Gang with the Storefront Theatre. The set takes place in the aftermath of a shocking accident in a boarding school classroom, the story explores the tenuous connection between a high school teacher, her fiance, and a troubled student whose lives have been irrevocably changed by tragedy caused by a miscarriage, an affair, and the fear of the consequences that are not yet revealed, and finally, murder. This is a one act showdown between three

Dora’s impact on the theatre in her time period was tremendous. She believed that Theatre was a necessary part of society’s social structure. Before Dora introduced Canadian theatre through the Village Players and the New Play Society, the stage in Canada had been dominated by foreign interests. Dora noticed that audiences seemed content experiencing theatre through touring companies from elsewhere and wanted to show Canadians the talent that existed in Canada. During this time period, the war was raising questions about the national identity of Canada. To develop Canadian theatre, Dora took inspiration from Europe and the Little Theatre Movement in the United States but used these ideas to create a separate identity for the theatre in Canada.

On Thursday 29th September 2016, we attended a performance of ‘The Woman in Black’ at the Fortune Theatre in the West End, London. It was set in a traditional proscenium arch theatre which is situated on an enclosed street which applies to the horror genre and the idea of isolation. The size of the theatre was alarmingly small with compact seating, creating a sense of claustrophobia, suffocation and lack of escape from ‘The Woman in Black’. The stage seemed diminutive with the curtain, and the minimalistic set with old-fashioned props instantly set a Victorian impression. The minimalism conveyed how the actors could present a play without ostentatious props and keep the focus on themselves. The monochromatic colours of the programme enhance

Since the differences that characterize the two plays stem from their diametric perspectives on life—The Rez Sisters displays an essentially optimistic stance on Native peoples, whereas Les Belles-sœurs presents the Western world’s postmodern spiritual vacuum—any similarities may appear absolutely contradictory. However, their parallels are ultimately derived from their respective positions and impacts within history, both pieces standing at the precipice of postcolonial liberation and merging identity. Tremblay’s, Les Belles-sœurs, intercepted the path of the Quiet Revolution during the 1960s, advocating for the Québécois sovereignty movement through the highly controversial use of the working-class dialect, joual. Similarly, the very existence of Highway’s, The Rez Sisters, represented a political act in itself, echoing the Aboriginal peoples’

The set used for Vernon God Little was highly symbolic and simplistic; when we walked into the theatre we could visually see that there were flowers, cards and memorable items attached on the audiences seats above our heads, which already created a sombre atmosphere around the theatre.

Branden-Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon and David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly are both sophisticated works centered around sociocultural problems in their respective settings. In An Octoroon, Branden-Jacobs Jenkins presents his own adaptation of Dion Boucicault’s The Octoroon critiquing Boucicault’s depiction of race and identity on the plantation Terrebonne in Louisiana. The play is centered around the sale of the plantation and a girl who is one eighth black by descent, an octoroon girl named Zoe who is tied to the estate. While M. Butterfly is the story of Gallimard, a French diplomat who is sent to Beijing and slowly becomes enamored with an opera singer named Song Liling, who turns out to be a man. This analysis however, will focus on the Brechtian elements that Hwang and Jacobs-Jenkins implement to evoke a certain response from their audience. These elements include gests or “Gestus” in Latin, and historicization to present an alienation effect in the audience that Brecht coined “Verfremdungseffekt”. These elements contribute to the presentation of an “Epic Theatre”, an undramatic way in which the audience watches the play in a isolated, critical frame of mind.

At the Nottingham Festival on November 12, I attended an Act called “Passado Action Theatre” which consisted of four amazing actors. They performed three scenes from three different Shakespeare plays. Each scene was filled with action and laughter. What I liked about this group was that before they started a scene the leader would give a brief summary of the play which they were going to perform from. This was very helpful since I’ve only read two Shakespeare plays. The setting was outside with a huge stage, they had benches at the back of the stage for the actors that weren’t in the scene to sit and enjoy the scene. I liked how they kept their facial expressions as they watched and didn’t act bored. They

The history of theatre in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries is one of the increasing commercialization of the art, accompanied by technological innovations, the introduction of serious critical review, expansion of the subject matters portrayed to include ordinary people, and an emphasis on more natural forms of acting. Theatre, which had been dominated by the church for centuries, and then by the tastes of monarchs for more than 200 years, became accessible to merchants, industrialists, and the less privileged and then the masses.

The oral presentations on Michel Tremblay’s Les Belles Sœurs allowed me to broaden my comprehension and knowledge of the social and cultural conditions in Montreal in the 1960s. The presentations related to the religious crisis and the Quiet Revolution developed my understanding of the play and caused me to make links between what was happening in the real world at the time in comparison to what occurred in the play.

This play mostly focuses on women’s social roles by focusing how they are treated and the roles they are expected to be aligned in. For example, throughout the play, the women in this piece of literature are only noted through their husbands using titles of “Mrs.” or when one does mention a woman’s name is in context to one's appearance. Women are also domesticated and treated

Since the beginning of human existence, Artists try to communicate an emotion, a point of view or even tell a story through different medium. They are all running for the same ultimate goal, share. Share with an informal and sometime abstract language, art. Plays are a great example of this. Annabelle Soutar’s Watershed present environmental activists’ difficulties to influence governmental decisions in a capitalist society like Canada. Multiple patterns in the acting of this play shows this. Moreover, parts of the text clearly underline the situation.

“Theatre makes us think about power and the way our society works and it does this with a clear purpose, to make a change.”

The participatory theatre for children does not only entertain children with the fantasy world but the aim of this theatre is providing high quality arts projects for young audience and open the door for children to be more cooperative and social development from involving the performance. Fortunately, children have huge enthusiasm to response the performance that it is different from adult character who do not want to be expose in the stage so this benefits can reduces space of theatre that will provides opportunity of children can have deeper understanding. This essay will explore the four main elements which activate the success of participatory children’s

The first technical aspect which caught my interest when walking into the theater was the scenery with the lighting. The scenery had several different stages or platforms raised to different levels. This technique helps to create an interesting stage because it can provide separate settings for the play. For example, there was a café area located right/middle down stage on ground level, which was made apparent through the floor painting and with set properties such as bistro tables and chairs. On the other hand, located right/middle up stage was a bed room area which was raised to approximate 6 feet.

The theatre is a wonderful place to go and relax with friends, family, or by yourself. I am delighted that you decided to watch The How and the Why. This play is modern, and it is very different from other plays. The How and the Why involves feminism, science, and a lot of dramatic scenes. In addition, it is a very surprising and touching play that relates to everyone’s life.