Don 't Dress For Dinner

A well-made play is a comedy of manners. A comedy of manners is laughing at words that are used. The plot usually focuses on intrigues among the upper class and focuses on witty language on witty language, clever speech, insults and put downs are traded between characters. Elements that make up a well-made play is a misunderstanding between characters, mistaken identities, secret information, romantic conflicts, lost or stolen documents, and artificial plotting as seen in the book of “The importance of being Earnest” and the television show Seinfeld.

The summary of the play includes the insight of multiple characters’ lives, all within the Hispanic community of Manhattan’s Washington Heights. One story includes a street market owner, Usnavi (Steven Pego), who’s in love with a girl named Vanessa (Lexi Marta) and is encouraged to make a move by his co- worker, Sonny (Edwin Rivera). Vanessa works at a beauty shop owned by Daniela (Goldera Surles) AND struggles to pay her, all while being bullied at work. Benny (Makay Johnson) and Camila (Kimmy Paltz) are a happily married couple who owns a business, while their daughter, Nina (Lauren Guerra) struggles in school but is in love with Benny who works with her family. Their love is forbidden by Nina’s father because he wants her to finish her education. The town’s grandma, played by Deidre

When the audience first sees Sheila in the play she is described as "a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited." At the beginning of the play, she is sensitive and very easily moved, the audience can see this when she is told by the inspector about the

“Naked Lunch” is a short play, written by Michael Hollinger in 2003. In this single-scene play, a pair of exes are having an uncomfortable meal together. A miss-matched vase of flowers on the table, “a small vase with too many flowers in it” or “a large vase with too few” (Meyer, 1086). Wine was being consumed, or at least a “bottle of wine has been opened” (1086). The male character, Vernon, had personally prepared the meal, steak, and was upset when she would not eat the meat. The woman, Lucy, explained that she had become a vegetarian, but Vernon could not accept this as an explanation. He proceeded to tease and then to ridicule her for her newfound vegetarianism. He could not accept her choice to decline the steak, seeming to take it personally. His insults turned to insistence, eventually escalating to literal force. By the end he literally forces her through volume, and forcefulness, to eat the meat against her will, ”I SAID EAT THE MEAT!” (Meyer, 1089). She capitulates rather easily, preferring to avoid further conflict, but then quietly returns to the corn.

On February 10, 2017, I attended Chris Botti's nearly sold out show at the Hilbert Circle Theater. This was the most brilliant performance I have ever seen. While I was not familiar with Botti before the show, I had been asked on a date by a guy from church who was a fan of his work. After having dinner at Oceanaire, we arrived at the Hilbert Circle Theatre, where women were dressed from casual attire with black pants to full length ball gowns with mink fur coats, while the men wore suits or sports coats with dress pants.

DuRant played Ethel Savage and nailed the role as a witty old woman. Throughout the play, Ethel’s laughter, smirks, and comments showed how Ethel was fighting between acting crazy for her stepchildren and being a perfectly sane woman when they weren’t around. In the end as Ethel was leaving and her friends were giving her gifts, you could see DuRant in tears to show how much Ethel truly cared for them. Titus on the other hand, was loud and boastful all the time. You could see on his face his frustrations and forced smiles when dealing with his stepmother’s shenanigans. Tompkins played Samuel’s character as a timid judge who was always clinging to his brief case, on edge throughout the whole play. Scott played Lilly Belle to the tee! Through her pursed lips and clenched pearls, you could see Lilly Belle looking down on everyone else as if she was better than them. Scott demeanor exuded Lilly Belle’s spoiled personality and how she only cared about money. Fairy May’s high energy captured the hearts of everyone in the facility. Miller’s laughter and innocence added to Fairy May’s character, as she was over the top throughout the entire play. Mrs. Paddy’s character played by Steffen, was always with a stone face who only spoke when talking about the things she hated. Throughout the play, she turned the lights out, which she hated, at just the right moments that made the play hilarious. The other

Our performance was effective because of how clear and straight forward it was, even though it was mime. The audience where aware of the setting and it being around a dinner table due to the two chairs being opposite each other with a ‘table’ in the middle, the audience where aware of which characters were which as we characterised the roles very well. For example, Anna was very giggly and hyper, contrasting Catherine’s formal demeanour and John and Maureen were a typical married couple. We used physical theatre for the oven and the stairs, which was stylistic and different for the audience to see, this fit in with the overall style of the lay as most of the stage directions involve physical theatre as in ‘The Brussels Sprouts Scene’ “the whole of this scene is performed stylistically with people frantically changing roles, playing scenery, properties and characters”. The use of thought tracking helped the audience to figure out which character is which. The use of gestures was also used, Maureen slapped Anna’s hand instantly giving away her very paternal and motherly role as Maureen. Our scene was effective also because the crackers being pulled apart in itself is representing the family being pulled apart for many reasons not just the economy, but the toll Catherine’s anorexia takes on the whole Dunbar family in different ways. Looking at Bleu’s group I could definitely see how they marked the moment: the tempo

Dinner is about communication whether it is with family or someone you have just met. You exchange stories and learn a lot about a person. So as I say this I have chosen three women to take to dinner not only because they are African American but because they are women so they had to not only deal with racism but also sexism. I am taking Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Angela Davis out to dinner at Paschal’s Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. I am taking them here because this is a place that used to host civil rights leaders and strategists for meals when they wanted to discuss what can be done. This place has a history with the African American community so it is not only a great conversation starter but also a place that all three the people I choose can have a connection to even if they were never part of the Civil Rights time period because they all fought for the same thing the people that used to meet here fought for.

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.

Sheila is the only daughter of Mr and Mrs Birling, in the stage directions described as ‘a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited’, most probably from her engagement to Gerald Croft. Sheila hopes and plans to be happily married to Gerald. However, early in the play, Mrs Birling informs Sheila that once married she will realise that men ‘spend nearly all their time and energy on their business’. Yet, Sheila disagrees with this and warns Gerald, ‘so you be careful’. This shows how Sheila wants her husband to be attentive towards her. Sheila appears to be ‘half playful, half serious’. Her

Sheila’s language changes throughout the play. She starts off very simplistic and quite excitable, “Careful! I’ll never let it go out of my way”. But the changes and becomes more stern and quite sincere as a reflection of the Inspectors speech. At the beginning of the play she calls her mother, “mummy” but by the end of the play she calls her “mother” showing her maturity and how she has changed her language.

“Always wear clean underwear.” That was one of the many flamboyant quotes stated by my dramatic father. Back in sunny San Jose, California, Frank Lewandowski, a college graduate from San Jose State University of the year 1980 was about to follow his dreams into the world of entertainment. Frank has been following these footsteps ever since the age of fourteen with experience in theater from back in the school days, choreography from his major, and training from the ballet academy in Paris, France.

The uncertainties Bernarda’s eldest daughter, Angustias, feels about love, and her inexperience of this is revealed by her apprehensive questions and statement of ‘I ought to be happy but I’m not’. This naivety is emphasised by the all-woman cast. The play opens with the death of the house’s sole male inhabitant which furthers this impression and creates an ironic foreshadowing of the extreme conditions of siege which Bernarda forces upon her daughters. The distance between Bernarda and her eldest daughter is made apparent by the short answers Angustias’ confidences receive and the physical violence Bernarda directs at her when she strikes her with her stick in Act one. This, combined with the large sum Angustias inherits from her stepfather, intimates that she was favoured in his will because of some closer relationship; a possibility that she, like the Servant, was sexually taken advantage of. This adds a greater emphasis to the implication of hidden secrets held by the household.

"Osborne chooses his characters to suit his needs and feelings" (Cook 4). Starting with the main characters, "Jimmy is…about twenty-five," "Cliff is the same age," and "Alison…is roughly the same age" (I.22,23). His choice of characters is potent as it produces the needed result; mirroring the real life. Osborne intentionally puts Porter in comparison with Cliff. When Alison has burnt her arm, Porter neglects the fact. However, the stage directions crystallize the sensitivity of Cliff when he "carefully…rubs the soap over the burn" (I.48). Furthermore, Cliff and Porter are from the working class. Cliff himself asserts the point when he says: "we both come from working people" (I.38). Finally, this choice of characters intentionally "puts the working class in confrontation with the upper class" (Marowitz

It is clear from Osborne's script that there was no lack of a sense of life's difficulties around at the time. But the emphasis had shifted from the martyred expressions of the British ruling class and their “white man's burden”, as represented in Colonel Redfern, to a more serious appraisal of life for those outside that ruling class. Perhaps the only truly sympathetic character in the play is Cliff with his role as Jimmy's foil in the early exchanges, to appearing as Alison's real friend, to the point when he decides that he does not want to stay in the flat, a magnificent portrayal of solidness. Whilst Alison is forced to accept Jimmy's rages because her family background has robbed her of any