Motivation Of Mr Burns : A Reflection Of 'Mr. Burns'

In both live and filmed performances, the performances will often differ in small ways from the plays. Whether this is due to the actors, the set, or to a change in the story itself, these often small differences can have great impacts on the finished product. In Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” play and “Our Town” performance there are various differences and similarities between the two. These come out in how well the performance follows the play, in the actors interpretations of their parts, in the scripts, props, and in the setting. The “Our Town” performance viewed in class was one of the more faithful of performances in regards to following the play.

Thornton Wilder again brings innovation on stage by introducing an omniscient stage manager as one of the characters in the play. Usually, the stage manager is the person who blends into the background and is never seen on the stage, but that is not the case in Our Town. This play begins with its stage manager already on stage who introduces the setting and the characters. This allows major people

Carthage College’s production of Urinetown offers an engrossing visual and aural experience that seamlessly combines spoken dialogue and musical performance to create a unique theatrical event. Playwrights Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis infuse their provocative subject matter with colorful satire and acerbic wit. By simultaneously exposing theatrical conventions and providing commentary on governmental and societal ills, Urinetown compels viewers to reflect on themes of oppression, deception, and rebellion. Although the show suffers from moments of distracting lighting cues and occasional errors in line delivery, a first-rate script and inspired costume design contribute to its ultimate excellence. By closely analyzing these successes and failures, one can better understand the exceptional amount of collaboration, preparation, and creativity required to produce a quality piece of

This past week, I had the opportunity to experience a magnificent play called Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin. This performance was the third of three plays I saw at the Arizona Repertory Theatre. The other two plays were Epic Proportions by Larry Coen and David Crane and Hands on a Hardbody by Doug Wright. These were the first plays I have been to, not only while attending the University of Arizona, but in my generation as a teenager. All together, these performances were amazing and have brought a newly improved insight to my perception of theatre. The hard work and dedication by the actors, directors, producers, cast members, and sound developers were absolutely incredible and I have tremendous respect for their efforts during the overall sequence of producing the plays. The most recent performance I saw, Born Yesterday, can be described and reflected on through various topics such as lighting, sound, directing and producing.

The beginning of the play was very interesting in several ways. Firstly, the choice of dialect took me surprise because of its vulgar nature. I personally enjoyed the use of speech because I find it interesting when people use words freely when they are normally looked down upon. The music that was played gave made another strong impression on me. The title of the song was Bonfire by Childish Gambino, and it set a very interesting mood. It definitely took me by surprise and I did not know how to react in that situation. I just stared with my mouth open and tried to figure out why that song was being played. Another thing that I found interesting was when the actors put makeup and different clothes on in front of us. Seeing the actors start changing into new characters right in front of me made me very intrigued about how people can break the socially constructed ideas of how theatre works.

The performance of Arthur Millers drama, The Crucible, put on by the WolfPack Players is one that has taken a fair bit of polishing to go from an average high school show, to a great show; the director, Patrica Scarborough, can certainly attest to such a bold claim. While we were held back by petty issues such as lines, we were, as a company, able to pull it together, just in time for opening. I can honestly say, in my heart, that this show could have gone better. In no way am I marking this a shameful show, nay, in my opinion, the show is quite good. I, for one, love the cast that had been assigned to perform this drama. But the basic act of line memorization had bogged us down, and I primarily attribute that to the language of Arthur Miller's piece; The Crucible is indeed a heavy show, the Director had announced to us that many times before. Even for myself, The Crucible is a dense, heavy story. From my transition from the auditions to the performance, I can say that personal growth had happened, not continuously, but in small spurts. At the audition, I had felt like this wasn't really my show. That feeling I had made me nervous and uncomfortable about auditioning, but I had decided to keep at it; I put on a straight face and acted happy to be there, auditioning, even though I was unsure about the show. I had learned, later on, that even if insecurity strikes during an audition, that its always better to act like its not there at all. Keeping a straight face, as opposed to

With the title alone, it is easy to assume that Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play would not be a typical play. Unlike other performances, Mr. Burns is not a simple narrative. Quite literally, it is a play within a play. The narrative lacks structure due to how it stands as a social commentary on the importance of entertainment to society.

The actor’s satirical portrayal of his character, along with vocals and body techniques, brought out funny moments which I believed were true reactions with emotional honesty. I thought the actor’s performance was genuine and really enjoyable to

I am reviewing the University of Colorado’s performance of Karen Zacaria’s play, Legacy of Light, directed by Jennifer Hubbard. I will be focusing on the shifts between time periods and how these convey the overall message of the play, along with analyzing the acting for their overall effect on the performance. The production was complex but I will explore these specific points more closely to understand the overall meaning.

On June 4, 2015 at 7:30pm I attended Bill W. and Dr. Bob play by Stephen Bergman and Janet Surrey at the Trustus Theatre in Columbia, South Carolina. I have always seen this theatre in passing and always wanted to go see a play, but I just never took the time out to do so. This play was my first play I have ever seen in person, and I must say I was a little apprehensive but it turned out to be nothing I expected it would be.

In the fictional play Our Town written by Thornton Wilder, he uses a stage manager, Mr. Morgan, to tell the story. His idea was to use a metatheatrical style in his work. Wilder uses modern stage presentation by experimenting with a scene-less stage, flexible jumps in time sequence, and imaginary props. There was no scenery nor a stage curtain used in this play. Wilder’s purpose in using a bare stage was to set his audience free from the meaningless particularity of the box-set. This play explores traditional American values of religion, and the simple pleasures in life. He tells us the story of a small town life back in the 1900s. This is a world that most of us have never experienced before. For example, there

The actors in the play were very remarkable and true to their roles. Each actor was cohesive in portraying realistic and natural emotions as well as humor in the play. There was a particular scene in the play that was very emotional, causing me to tear up. In this scene, Gladys is sitting in her kitchen crying, feeling lost and confused about her own existence. Not only was this scene emotionally touching, but it helps the audience to connect with the characters on an emotional level. The comedy in the play consisted of satire and was effective in keeping the audience interested and entertained throughout the play, with lots of laughter. The acting certainly contributed to the goal of the play, making it a successful

Wallace Michael “Wally” Shawn, one of the better-known playwright and actor in the American theatre, draws a parallel between the mentality of his characters and the role of the government through his work The Designated Mourner. However, Shawn’s foremost drive in this dramatic play is to literally play with the audience; not through content, but through form that dictates how the audience will interpret a play. A monologue drama narrated by the accounts of three characters, The Designated Mourner’s style is marked by digressive monologue, simple dialogue, and limited action. By abandoning the orthodox “conflict-and-resolution” structure, Shawn creates a honest world with thought-provoking and provocative ideas where traditional “thoughts and feelings” are void. Nevertheless, Shawn creates a powerful tragedy of love, humanity, politics, and whatever it is deeply in us that can become afflicted.

O’Donnell wrote a play about two actors, Jeff and Joe, who are acting to be terrible actors. Jeff tends to misdeliver his lines, while Joe skips large portions of the play. It also involves a girl named Jane and the stage director, Jed, who fills in for another character. The technology is the bad acting and the confusing of what’s going on the whole time. How they keep going and try to cover up their mistakes are what I see as the creative elements in this story. There are times where Jeff points out that Joe is skipping lines by saying “You have read my mind. Like a man who has skipped many pages in the script”. I really enjoy when Jed, the stage director comes in because you know he has absolutely no clue on what to do. Jane is caught up in all of this mess trying to make it seem like everything is going according to plan. In the end, nothing goes right and it all of a sudden blacks out randomly. I feel like O’Donnell intended for this play to be a comedy and I can see that it some areas. I feel like he wanted to his audience to see how crucial each part in a play. Even the backstage people are important for sound cues and doing the blackout

Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone, Ed Norton, Amy Ryan, and every single other actor in the production execute their roles with professionalism that most movies are lucky to see in just one of their actors. Each actor didn't wait for their time to shine to pull out the big guns; every moment of screen time was utilized to its full potential. There isn't a second where the audience's immersion is broken by an awkwardly delivered line or a slightly out-of-place facial expressions or