Essay on Live Evaluation of 39 Steps

The technical aspects of the production such as scenery, properties and costumes also played a keynote in the productions success. The scenery was fabulous it truly made the play. It was very realistic and extremely vibrant. Almost the entire play was performed in one setting, except for the railcar and dance scenes. The house, the main setting, was magnificent with painstakingly placed detail in every corner. All elements in the house matched wonderfully, for example the furniture, the photos on the wall, the telephone and even the trash can. Little bits of detail were everywhere adding to the beautification of the set, for example the lace decorations on the chairs, the etched glass above the front door and even the Christmas tree.

Each element gave the stage a different feel that matched every scene , complementing each brilliantly. The only element that lacked for me was lights, although very bright ; in my opinion the reoccurring blue wasn't the best option. I feel if the lighting designer would have had more warmer colored lights against the already vibrant set pieces, it would have made the stage pop more. But one thing i did particularly fancy, were the costumes the characters wore and how they fit each character. Each character's’ costume showed the dichotomy between the personalities and tastes of each individual. For example Ilona played by Jane Krakowski was dressed in a scarlet / pinkish dress with a high slit up the left side; showing her seductive character type. Meaning when i saw Ilona on stage, I immediately knew who i was looking at . Lastly the sound effects included , like the door jingle sound or The bike bell , added to the whole idea of being inside and outside of a retail building. These effects gave the stage an outdoorsy feel , drawing you in , giving the audience illusions of really being in 1930’s

Susan Glaspell’s one-act play “Trifles” was written in 1916. It was written based on real events. When Glaspell was a reporter, she covered a murder case in a small town in Iowa. Later, she wrote this short play which was inspired by her investigation and what she observed. Glaspell used irony, symbolism, and setting in her creation of the authentic American drama, “Trifles”, to express life for women in a male-dominated society in the early nineteen hundreds.

The space was a well-constructed thrust stage however, the stage was not raised off the ground and the seats appeared to be mobile which lead to the belief that this is an Environmental Theater. As for the layout of the stage, there was a couch and a table in center stage for the first two acts, a door to the unseen outside front of the house upstage right, there were two large double doors upstage center leading to the backyard garden, and a raised floor upstage left containing a piano, a bookcase and a door

The 39 Steps was one of the best school productions I had seen. One could easily notice the time and effort which was put in by the artists, school, and stage management. Undoubtedly, the clever use of the theatrical props really captivated the audience. A great example would be the “window” in which the spies had jumped through; this “window” was

Earlier this summer on the 14th of August at the Criterion Theatre in Oxford Circus, I went the evening performance of The 39 Steps. The 39 Steps was originally a book by John Buchan set before the First World War, the book was later adapted into a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was a serious book and film following a bachelor called Richard Hannay who meets a mysterious German woman at a play, the women begs him to take her home with him and later reveals she is a spy trying to discover the truth about an organisation trying to steal British defence plans and something called the 39 steps. Later the women is assassinated in Hannay’s home and he is the main suspect, he sets out to try and prove his innocence by finishing what the

For example during the first few minutes of the play, when Young Will was in bed, the bed got wheeled out and the whole place looked like a little kids room. I really thought that was pretty impressive. They made it look so realistic, almost like his room wasn’t even on a stage. I am huge fan of the way the assembled the props, and used them to make the play more interesting. An example of what I am talking about is that little river type thing in front of that stage. In the beginning of the play, there was a spotlight on it and it looked awesome with fish popping its head up every few seconds. Then the scene with the fisherman and all the fish flying out of the river, using that prop not just once but twice to catch the audiences attention. I can’t speak enough on how good of a job this crew did with the on stage props; it was truly a masterpiece in my

The set was very large for the small space. The stage itself seemed smaller because the legs on the stage were brought in and the middle scrim was decorated with Christmas lights hanging in a tent like shape. Then each character's tent was represented by a box shaped wagon that would turn to see the inside. It was very creative. All of these things made the stage look smaller. One nice touch was that the stage was painted like it was covered with hay that had been thrown or laid down. It gave the effect of a real carnival

What made the overall play interesting was where the actors preformed. The black box theatre, also known as the Mabee theatre, consist of a very small stage with certain adaption for the play shown, Sweeney Todd, and one background. The background was a grey bricked fence with lanterns at certain peaks of the fence, the darkness of the grey brick made the setting all the more earie. The unchanging background caused a challenge for the actors as some scenes took more skill than others. Sweeney Todd had many scenes with different settings than what was provided. The audience had to make a lot of inferencing which was quite enlightening considering how enjoyable the show was. Lighting played a major role in the play as it helped develop the idea of certain settings. With the acting, directing, stage setting, and technical roles the show truly felt as though it was not in one place but rather many.

Set in London in 1909 the play's first scene opens with Monty Navarro, played by Kevin Massey, sitting in a jail cell writing his memoir, he is being tried for murder. He then goes on to recount the details of the events which lead to him being tried starting with a visit from Ms.Shingle, played by Jennifer Smith. Ms.Shingle, a friend of

The lighting of any production is the most important part in my thought. the lighting puts you in the mood that you have to be in, in order to fully understand that part of the show and to actually live it like they do. For example, when they were in the park and it was raining, they had their umbrellas, and the background effects of rain made it really seem as if it was raining in the theatre. The lighting was always focused on every part of the stage, especially on those who were the main parts in that scene.

The actors knew their lines very well and their acting and movements were at a fine pace. The best actor in my opinion was Jeffrey Bean (foreigner), because he had to pretend not to speak English, make weird noises to have his own language, and act differently from the American culture. I believe casting his character would most likely be difficult because at every moment he should know how to move and when to express his acting to the audience and keep them entertained. However, Jay Sullivan (the Reverend) his circle of attention sometimes would shift from his partner to the audience and for a second his facial expression would become shy. Overall, most of the actors expressed their characters through humorous ways and the audience would laugh every ten seconds, which is a good sign that the play was

Most of the characters wore business like suits because it was mostly in an office like setting. The rebels wore 80s like punk rock gear. The watchmen wore old time like security uniforms. The special effects for the play was the disco ball scene used with the lighting. The major scene changers were the lights all went out. The machinery used in the play was the elevator opening for the actors to leave the stage. The music Beatrice came walking into during the opening scene was through were her headphones. The audience participation was when the actors left the stage to go down the aisles to dance to exit the play. The crowd was clapping to the beat as the actors exit the

In Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, the set design was very well done. It was a colourful set, that matched the time of the story. The set was very simple, but effective; there was two set of steps that could move, which allowed various levels throughout the performance, as well as a spot for the choir of children to blend into and act as a part of the set. There were many small set pieces and props that were gorgeously painted, and made the scene look as if they were in a children's pop-up book. Overall, the set was simple, but well executed and only took up a small amount of space, while also having the scenes filled with colour. Sound and sound effects were usually well done, but there were a few issues with hearing. Two

Costumes also deserve a huge round of applause. I quite often see productions default to the traditional firetruck red and forest green for Christmas productions. This production did otherwise, giving nice variations of these tones. The clothing also matched the timeframe, looking as if the play truly had occurred in the 1870s. The props weren’t too bad. I did have a problem with the burning candles smell distracted me throughout the play. The fact that they weren’t even an integral part to the play also makes me question the need for them. Otherwise I find that like the costumes, the props held realism to the timeframe. The music was a hit with me. The clearest example is when we watch Cole’s butler character as well as the character’s actress friend danced to what truly felt like a period