An Amazing Play, Our Country's Good, Written by Timerlake Wertenbaker

The audience is seated, the lights dim, and all of a sudden, through wild anticipation, the music cues as a notification that the show is about to begin. Theater is a creative outlet for the soul to paint a picture towards showcasing a short story. This past weekend, I attended a play at Crabpot Players Theater to observe a parody of one of Shakespeare’s most famous pieces, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As a whole the play was fairly decent, but there were a few minor issues that held the piece back. It is officially time to analyze the good, the bad, and the ugly.

On February 26th 2016, I went out with my friend to saw this event. It was the first time of my life to be in such production. I was not a fan of theaters. I thought they are boring. Now, my mind has changed because the play was amazing. So, on the next day,

Above all, I wouldn’t be where I am today without theatre. Without the chance to perform throughout my life, I would be disconnected from the wide array of communities and histories that’s been imbedded in my daily routine. Unfortunately, it’s speculated that the theatre is a dying art form, because of the expanding popularities of movies (“Is”), but I think that it’ll remain a well renowned part of expressing imagination and interpreting history as years pass; it only takes cooperation with school faculty and young students that go above and beyond to change their

As a director, discuss how you would stage the following extract from ‘Our Country’s Good’ in order to bring out your interpretation of it for an audience.

Ever since I can remember I have loved theatre. It’s been a constant presence, and an important touchstone, in my life. However, for as long as I’ve loved theatre, I have also been ridiculed for my enjoyment of it. As a child, my interest was tolerated as something precious, something I was bound to grow out of. My parents and teachers would sit in the audience, clapping and cheering me on, all the while thinking to themselves “I bet she’ll make a great lawyer one day.” They thought, like most of society, theatre was an unnecessary luxury; a pastime for the rich and powerful, for those who didn’t have to worry about putting food on the table, or clothes on their children’s backs. Certainly not

The protagonists, by default, are Bonnie and Clyde. They are only protagonists, however, in the sense that they are the ones the audience root for and the ones with a definite goal, because in the real life events Bonnie and Clyde are the antagonists. For the sake of the play, these two criminals are made to be human and sympathetic. The antagonist, which are never seen onstage, is the rest of the world. This mainly includes innocent citizens and the police, hunting down Bonnie and Clyde to, eventually, shoot them down. The authorities are

The Pulitzer prize-winning play Disgraced explores the difficult topics of race, religion, and identity through the events of an explosive and unforgettable dinner party. The tension in this play is electric and masterfully intertwined with snippets of comic relief. Combine these elements with a set of accomplished actors and the wonderful location of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, and you have an excellent thought-provoking and entertaining play. During the performance, I paid specific attention to the acting skills of the performers, the arrangement of the set, the lighting techniques, and the directorial choices, most of which added to the performance as a whole.

Many things come into play after the announcement of the play being put on by convicts. There are several themes in the play, such as the judicial system and punishment, and sexuality. The underlining theme, the one with the repeating patterns and symbol, was redemption and theater as a humanizing experience. The judicial system used in Australia during that time period was during the Georgian era, which was the system used in England. This was the harshest system of Europe, and possibly the world during the era. Any crime, especially crimes that were minute, was punishable by hanging. The public usually gave punishments for crimes to the criminals. In that era, the public was more concerned about crimes such as theft and less concerned about crimes such as murder. The judicial system and its way of giving punishments mostly did not fit the crimes; criminals would be hanged for stealing food or money. Equality in sexes is another evident theme of the play. The convict

During the 19th century, theater adopted a realistic viewpoint by romanticism but also a rise in modern nationalism to give people a sense of belonging in a community or culture (Carlson 2014: 21). In the 20th century, realism in theater was challenged and plays were now easier to attend due to the improvements of communication and the ability to reach other areas of the world by travel (Carlson 2014: 23-24). Theater is another addition to the world of art that is continuously evolving and adapting to the world and cultures influencing its

There was a group of inmates in a Kentucky prison who created a program within the prison called Shakespeare Behind Bars. It helped the inmates put aside their past and connect with their present selves. One inmate who was changed by this program was Jerry Guenther. He is currently serving 45 years in prison for murder. Jerry said,”We live a lie. But in here, our acting is not acting: it’s telling the truth.” Another inmate who was changed by this program was Matt Wallace. He has directed the plays for the program for three years now. One thing that Matt said was,”The themes that are in these plays resonate so deeply in these guys. Through these plays they’re digging up some of the most painful and horrific parts of their lives.” These plays have helped inmates, who trust few people, open up to each other more. The Shakespeare Behind Bars program has helped inmates dig deeper into their own lives through the characters that they

This weekend I decided to go to a play that I have hear people talking about as I walked the streets. Many people were discussing the drama that goes behind this play and as much as I wanted to join the conversation, I had to find out for myself since no one will talk to me. I have much to say about this play so let’s get started shall we.

“Social Issues in Theatre” How has theatre reflected social issues throughout time? Olivia Little W.B. Ray High School Candidate Number: 006241-0009 Session: May 2015 Category: Theatre Supervisor: Mr. James Stroud Word Count: 3,092 Citation Style: MLA Abstract

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

There is no theatre without an audience. The audience is as much a part of the playmaking experience as the artists—so how do we incorporate them more actively into what we do? We must work with them – and I’ve learned, in so doing,

Academic and artistic interest in something is usually a sure sign that matters are unclear, conceptual boundaries are blurred and that old certainties are anything but that. There is also little doubt that the major challenges we face: the media revolution, globalization and migration, climate change, the erosion of public finances and services (to name just a few) – have all in some way a bearing on the public sphere, the realm where issues are debated and where citizens are free to enter and engage in discourse. As the public sphere is primarily a discursive arena located outside and between state bureaucracies on the one hand and economics and business on the other, it occupies a crucial role in the functioning of so-called free societies. The question to be explored here is what role theatre and performance in practice play in this realm and how performance and theatre theory can contribute to the debates.” (Balme