It all begins with the playwright when it comes to theatre as they are the artist who develop the characters, dialogue, theme, and the story of a play. However, playwriting is restricted to dialogue and stage directions so it is up to the director to have the artistic vision to transform the play script into a production. In this paper, I will point out how Valerie Curtis-Newton directed Sons, a play written by Oni Faida Lampley, with regards to the theatre size, actors, and different production aspects. Sons revolves around an African-American family living in the troubled neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York, and it is about 17 year old Artest as he strives to find his place in a society that provides limited opportunities for young black men. This paper will examine the acting, lighting, and costume design used by Valerie Curtis-Newton and analyze how effective these mediums were at bringing Oni Faida Lampley’s script to life. I attended the workshop production of Sons at the University of Washington Jones Playhouse. The theatrical space consisted of a thrust stage with the audience sitting on three sides, and the distance between the actors and audience was small. To combat this tiny space, the fourth wall was established to keep the actors separate from the audience. As a result, the audience was kept at an aesthetic distance thus allowing them to envision the events unfolding. My viewing was positively affected by the close distance because it permitted me to
Theatre is not only presented as a piece of art, but as a tool of social reform to express the feelings of humans and contemporary notions of society. Plays are designed to reflect significant issues of a society, on which they were created. The play Black Diggers by Tom Wright, uses certain devices and forms of symbolism to emphasise not only the historical relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, but to link ideas to contemporary issues to provoke ideas of empathy. Wright creates a series of character encounters, to express how an Indigenous racial identity is perceived by society and compare a period of discrimination and infringement of rights to how it is expressed at war during World War 1. This provokes ideas of repentance
life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.
Theatre has evolved over the many years. As it has grown, it moved to include more diverse performers, crew, producers, and audiences. This is an exploration of the expansion of diverse theatre.
This book holds scenes from 16 individual plays during the Harlem Renaissance. It holds scripts from playwright and social activist, Langston Hughes. This
The article is about black creative production (theater) since the play is directed by African American playwright Richard Wesley. In addition, the predominantly black casts are spectacular and deliver a strong performance. The ability to be multi-skilled in your craft displays creativity and versatility where the actors can utilize their many talents.
The performance hall was designed in a thrust manner, which from a frontal view of the stage, I sat on the left hand side. This designed allowed for an unorthodox relationship between the actor and the audience. The actors would commonly come off the stage and run around the hall, lacing the rows. While running around, they would sometimes sing to one individual or extend their hand for
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
The origin of this novel stems from a time with great attitude changes within the African-American way of life. Tensions between gender specifically had begun to emerge, women, who were thought of as subservient, belonging to the house as well as to their husbands. During the timeframe of this story, women had been beginning to emerge with dignity, grace, and authority. The play takes place in Pittsburgh, during the 1950’s when the gap between genders had been shrinking, as women had been introduced further into society as more than just mothers. To most, this diminishing gap, to most would be a seamless concept, however, to the characters of this play would be a deciding factor for many conflicting scenes. The main characters of this play
The play “No Child”, written by Nilaja Sun showcases a teacher, Ms. Sun as a teaching artist who is under a grant to facilitate the production of a play, teaching and encouraging live theoretical performances in a dysfunctional environment.No Child is a reflection of Nilaja Sun’s experiences as a teaching artist in the public school system in New York. In the play Ms. Sun brings a senses of hope and inspiration not only to the students but to the teachers as well in one of the toughest classrooms of Malcolm X High School, in Bronx, New York. The narrator of the play is a observant Janitor of the Malcolm X High School. Since he has been performing his job related duties as a janitor he witnessed the struggles and obstacle faced by the school and students. No Child accurately illustrates students, teachers and communities imprisoned by a corrupted public school system.
creates a play that illustrates not only the struggle of growing up in a prejudiced world but also
August Wilson’s plays relate directly to his African heritage, and were and are a part of his success. His expression of the struggles of the blacks
Aesthetic distance refers to the mental and physical distance an audience member has from the fictional reality that a play may present. Aesthetic distance is important because it allows the audience to get a full observational view of the story at hand rather than to be completely engrossed in the fictional reality of the story as the performers are. However, performances can play on this by choosing how closely to involve it's audience in a story's fictional
Three sources analyze the racial conflicts of white actors playing colored parts, and all agreed that it was not a trivial situation, for audiences, or actors. Racial tensions are very popular with the media. While there is some minor tension today, the movies and plays of Othello top the charts for most racial conflicts. First, The article, “Othello: the role that entices and engages actors of all skin colours,” by Andrew Dickson shows the history of the actors that played Othello, and when the actors were black, they were either not cast, due to segregationists, or were criticized in their performance for the same reason. Also, this article uses diction to convey the seriousness of white vs. minority crisis. Next, the video, “SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED White Actors Playing Othello” by PBS, shows the performances of many Othello actors that were white. Additionally, the video shows one white actor who used makeup to make himself more than than black. The video uses hyperbole to describe the absurdity of Othello movies. For example, Laurence Olivier, the 1964 Othello was black-top showing how far film industries will go to cover-up racial tensions, and the narrator describes the makeup as ridiculous,and dramatic. Finally, the last article, “Aladdin: putting a white character in Disney’s live-action remake is offensive,” by Hannah Flint displays that film industries feel obligated to please a white audience, keeping the minorities second fiddle by adding characters white people
Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were
The production spearheaded with a solemn poem by Langston Hughes entitled "Harlem." Preparing for an emotionally empowering theater piece, the poem quieted the audience and placed a serious blanket over us. While appropriate for me, I found it extremely coincidental that the poem's title, ties in directly with James Baldwin and his extensive writings on the 1943 Harlem race riots. With the lights off and just a solitary voice reciting the poem, it gave us, the audience, an immediate notion of play's melancholy style.