William Kraft, a musical composer and conductor, once said, “When you go to the theater, if you’re really involved in the play, you don’t think about it – you’re in it.” This quote from William Kraft is especially true for the One Act plays I attended. The smaller theater space and closer proximity to the stage allowed you to more involved in the play than if you were seated farther away. In the following response, a synopsis and critique of three of the plays I saw will be given.
The first act of the night was a play titled “Losing Sight.” To summarize this play, there was a talented painter with diminishing vision. Because of his impending blindness, the painter tried to seclude himself from and push away all his family and friends. With the help of his deceased grandfather and ex-girlfriend, the painter learned to accept his fate and return to life in the company of others.
The plot of “Losing Sight” is constructed around the painter’s search for a new identity after his old identity, which was found in painting, was taken from him. The plot follows a normal plot structure beginning with an exposition and ending with a resolution. The three characters in the play worked off each other nicely. The painter brought seriousness and sadness to the play while the grandfather added a comedic side to the play that kept it from feeling overwhelmingly depressing. The third character in the play was the painter’s ex-girlfriend who gave the painter something/someone to hold onto
Being in a one-act show, then having the opportunity to direct one only months later, opens up an entirely new perspective regarding the endless labor required, necessary love for your craft, and vital engagement with your cast and stage managers. The One Act Festival of 2017 was one of the most difficult processes and performances of which I have ever been part, with both an intense emotional and physical toll. Now I am stepping once again into the same festival, but as a director -- an entirely new perspective.
A short play is usually filled with a theatrical energy of diverse anthologies. The time allotted may be only ten or fifteen minutes, so it must be able to capture and engage the audience with some dramatic tension, exciting action, or witty humor. Just as in a short story, a great deal of the explanation and background is left for the reader or viewer to discover on their own. Because all the details are not explicitly stated, each viewer interprets the action in their own way and each experience is unique from someone else viewing the same play. Conflict is the main aspect that drives any work of literature, and plays usually consist of some form of conflict. In “Playwriting 101:
This play revolves around the flashbacks and memories of a little girl named Iris, as she recounts what she remembers of her childhood as it closed onto her 11th birthday. It shows the dynamic and different family structure of hers, and how that changed the way she looked at life. It also tells the story of an unhappy marriage between Iris’ parents, Sylvia and
Besides, there are other examples in the play that make us think as if were watching a theatre play within the
From the moment I sat on my seat, I noticed the scenery and the props for the play. The stage was set completely. My eyes wandered and paid attention to all the intricate details. The stage also captured the bright and colorful vibes that happened in 1970s. This was important since it set an illuminating atmosphere and a friendly mood. Moreover, Kyle Wessel’s portrayal
This film will provide you with an enhanced understanding of the play. Although, it is misleading at times, this version of the play will keep you fully entertained for the full 111 minutes and provide you with extra knowledge of the play. Casting The majority of the cast was well selected,
The poet becomes increasingly uncomfortable as he begins to read about specific colors. The "jacket yellow in the green meadow" and the "red rooftops easy to spot in the valley" would hold significance for an audience with sight, but in the case of the blind man, they are worthless beyond their literal meaning (15-16). While the poet may have meant to convey a message to the reader through the red rooftops, his efforts were nullified by the blind man, and he fears that his work is now inadequate. Again, the poet appears to hesitate; he wants to "pass over" the "cathedral's ceiling," "the farewell wave," and "the album with the faces," yet he knows "it's not an option" (19-23). He feels guilty for making his poem so reliant on imagery, and the fear that he is inadequate as a writer continues to
The production consists of three acts with total time duration of 2 hours and 24 minutes. The production in this report is performed by the Young Vic production. The play was captured live at the Young Vic theatre in London, on 17th and
Although the two men have very different situations, their blindness helps them to see what child of theirs was really there for them and who wasn’t in the end. What the whole theme of blindness really comes down to is the fact that both men needed to be blind in order to really know anything about the loyalty and dedication of their family members. The similarities between the plot and subplot deepen the story of the play, and overall give readers and viewers multiple parallels to figure out and connect together, making it more interesting to read and/or watch the
The absurdity and violence of the events in the narrator’s life reveal the difficulties of being a blind follower. All this within an atmosphere of racism and prejudice shows the allure of a
has been recognized as a new kind of musical play that denied its Broadway audiences many of their most treasured traditions, says David Ewen in American Musical Theatre. There was no opening chorus line, no chorus until midway through the first act, in fact. There was rather a serious ballet and other serious overtones, including a killing in act two. The story, which was so simple, seemed to engage the audience in more than mere evening diversion. (248) These changes, far from disappointing to viewers, were upheld by a success that had never been seen in the history of musical theatre.
Throughout this essay, I am going to critically discuss my involvement in the production. I will do this by reflecting on the planning process, rehearsal process and the performance itself. I will give insights on the production team as a whole, my role in the production and the importance of my character. I will show an understanding of the themes and politics in the play and how we presented them. I will give a brief introduction to the chosen play we performed and why it was a perfect christmas show. I will generally look into the role of an ensemble, the importance of having an ensemble and how influential Greek theatre was to the production. I’ll draw on techniques used by practitioners and how we incorporated it into our production such as Epic Theatre. I will discuss about the element of company and the relationship between actors, directors and audiences. I must be critical about myself and give an honest insight to the whole production by evaluating my engagement, collaborative skills, decision making and discipline. I will show a clear understanding of my approach to performance, my interpretation to the character and the productions interpretation of the whole show. I’ll discuss the wider context in theatre, theatre in society and what role it has thereof. I will give as much reference and theory as possible to support my opinions and I will demonstrate performance theory and relate to practitioners like Brecht, Stanislavsky and so on .
The beginning of the story presents the narrator’s wife working for a blind man one summer by reading, “stuff to him, case studies, reports, that sort of thing” (Carver, 34). She eventually extends an invitation for the blind man, Robert, to stay at their house after Robert’s wife had passed away. The narrator was not too happy about having a stranger stay in his home by stating, “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed” (Carver, 34). The narrator seems very timid about someone he had never met stay at his house who can see purely nothing. This gives off an impression that the narrator doesn’t want to have Robert stay with him because he will be a hassle to keep up with since blind people in the “movies” progress, “slowly and never
To complete this task, I intended to focus on literary analysis of the play, history of the plays staging, the time period of when the play was written and staged, and present day adaptations. The topic that may give me the most trouble is researching how the audience would have reacted to the play. Because of
This is a must watch Broadway show that makes your fine, terrible, or even boring day, an absolute blast. The Play That Goes Wrong has finally made its way to America and right at the heart of New York City near Times Square at the Lyceum Theatre. Therefore, the experience is a win-win situation for the audience. The Lyceum Theatre’s architecture is astonishing as it is filled with ornaments, I also realized the letter ‘L’ around the theater, but the most interesting fact is that it is a landmark. It has a proscenium stage while the audience is in the orchestra, balcony, or the mezzanine seats, like where I sat, and there is barely any space if you are a tall person. My seat was near the far end of mezzanine, I couldn’t see a part of the left side of the stage, so I found myself bending sideways to see what was going on, but I saw nothing. I found the side stage lights and a side balcony blocking my view and yet I had a great time.