Race, Religion, And Identity Through The Events Of An Explosive And Unforgettable Dinner Party

Disgraced is easily a contender for the best play read in this class. This play makes the audience deliberately think about issues raised in the play and it does not favor one side over the other. I loved it because it didn’t just say Muslims are having a hard time in America or their perspective but also the side of people who are not Muslims. The sore topics that no one really brings up in Islam about dogs or women are brought up and discussed in this play between Amir and his wife Emily. Amir brings up the issues and kind of just leaves them in the air for the audience to wonder about and maybe even search for answers. Amir goes on a rant about, “let’s stone adulterers, let’s cut off the hands of thieves, let’s kill the unbelievers.” Although he takes that out of context, Emily brings perspective into the issue, “…the usual translation is debatable.” I like that fact that it causes this difference of opinion and it’s not just one sided. Also, the affair between Emily and Isaac is just another sucker punch to the extremely tense play. The drama is filled with eternal religious battel and rare outlook on the questions that aren’t really brought up, that was until this

Not only did it help to aid in giving the viewer an idea of the setting of the play, but also aided in the over feel and mood of the production.

On the other hand, some people say the movie displays emotions and the scenes in realistic ways that make each of the characters more believable as it cannot be done on paper. It does make sense in the idea that the characters’ all seem more realistic in what they say due to elements such as body language. However, the film does not pull readers to the story as the play does, and characters become harder to believe as the personal feel is lacking. The play has elements within that makes the reader wonder what is happening and it leads to an involvement as if he/she were there. Therefore, the idea that the film displays emotions make sense, it just does not pull to the reader.

By having Everyman interact with these conceptualized characters, the author externalizes his inner conflict. Perhaps this technique seems too obvious or almost condescending to our more literate age, but whatever the case, it effectively conveys the central message of the play.

11. Point out some moments in the play when the playwright conveys much to the audience without dialogue

The most successful aspect of the performance for me were the scene changes. I found that the rotation of the blackboard, center stage, where the actors were able to stoop beneath it in order to enter and exit the stage, was an effective touch to this

And the picture of you that was out front with all the casting actors, wow you looked gorgeous! Once again I was extremely impressed by the stage design. The back Catholic Church wall was such an amazing structure. The paint and texture that was used to build the wall, gave off the appearance of a real stone wall. The wall design was flawless, and the size and scale it in which it was done in is astounding! Ms. Livingstone office was also well placed; it kept a focus point to the center of the room. The decision to go with a see through glass desk and small offices chairs allow the stage space to seem larger and didn’t block or hide when the actors sat down or walked around the desk. The area with the steps that lead to Mother Ruth desk was also well crafted, but I felt it was not utilized enough. It was barley used and wasn’t sure if it was Mother Ruth office or apart of the church altar. The church pew was a nice addition as well. I was also really impressed with the lighting effects, especially from the church windows. I first thought the stained glassed windows were fixed lights that couldn’t be changed, but once Livingstone took center stage and began to speak the colors changed to a red color (I think). When that happened it felt like the world froze in place while she spoke, and resuming when the light turned back to a bright morning light. I also liked how the lights would change throughout the play to set a different mood. For example, when Ms. Livingstone was hypnotizing Agnes, she told Agnes to imagine herself being in water all of the sudden the room color was

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 set was designed in a way that was very versatile and yet, still convey a serious message. By versatile, I am implying that the open-stage with two ramps crossing each other in the background was plain and simple but served a purpose of several scenes -- such as a bar, church, and even a funeral. A set prop that were a key pieces in the play were the wooden benches, these made it possible for the actors to switch scenes. Some examples on the usage of the benches were when they stacked two benches one on top of another and turned it into a bar, they turned the bench in a vertical position and created a podiums to express different religions, or setting the benches in a close and aligned design to create a church. Other props that influenced the scenes were snow, umbrellas, then using the umbrellas as angel wings, and of course lighting. Instead of building entire sets, or making the audience use their imagination with no props included in the play, the set designers and directors created visuals that were ordinary objects and interacted the audience to use their imagination and "build" the appropriate set for the scene in their minds. I believe by keeping a low budget, the designers of The Laramie Project accomplished a bigger impact on the audience with a simple-low-budget set rather than an expensive-big-fancy set.

The use of the dramatic element of tension is most evident when Lewis and Nick have a disagreement about the play and the mental patients. Nick’s attitude towards Lewis’ fellow actors enrages him revealing that he deeply cares for them and considers them friends. The dramatic action revealed in the stage directions would impact the audience because Nick is suppose to be Lewis’s Best friend but he betrays him. It is shocking to see men who were once friends, now fighting in such a short period of time over one silly

The set and props where very compact and were built and moved on and off by the cast because they are designed to be transferred by one person. The props where all cleverly done, for instance they made a bridge out of three ladders, a train out of four boxes and a house from just one door. The door I thought was one of the best props used because the cast managed to make a fairly small stage appear huge just by moving the door and pretending each time that it was a new room every time they passed through it. At one point in the play Richard and Pamela ask the scottish landlords for a sandwich and they come back with a loaf of bread cut in two with one slice of lettuce in the middle, this was such a simple idea but made a big deal and a laugh out of it

All plays have important historical information that is relevant to the overall concept of the play. Disgraced was written in 2012 by novelist and screenwriter Ayad Akhtar. The play was written in New York City and takes place in New York City. When Akhtar wrote this play, he wrote in a time that the United States was going through many changes. The play takes place post 9/11, during this era people had a lot of fears about the rise of terrorism. Many were questioning their attitude toward muslims. In Disgraced the main character Amir explores the concept of self-identification as a Muslim.Akhtar, emphasizes racial and ethnic prejudices that secretly exist in the most culturally liberal groups of people. This play is a play that is still relevant to today because people are always trying to

Throughout the play, I enjoyed the role of music used to set a comic atmosphere and replace the dialogs during comic scenes (e.g. when they chase each other around). I also thought that they made a good use of light to indicate the moment of the day the scene was happening or to set the atmosphere of the scene (e.g. pink colour during the romantic moments). Lastly, I liked the way the play ended. Even though it was a little messy with everyone running after each other off and on stage, and this policeman coming out of nowhere, which really surprised me; I couldn’t think of a better way to end the play.

with the power of the audience in the play as well as the story seems

The overall play fit well within the space of the theatre because the layout corresponds with the flow of the play. The play itself didn’t need a large or over the top spacing because of its few actors. Throughout the play there were at least two to three actors sharing the stage. The play was done on a proscenium theatre and it is stage outlined by what is called the proscenium arch. This arch is architectural in nature and serves as a picture frame surrounding the view of the action on stage. The layout of the stages gives the actors the ability to use the apron more often especially when there’s a moment between actors or an actor by themselves. For example, there were moment between Jack and Gwendolen that they were in conversation in the apron area also Cecily and Algernon. The actors use that part of the stage because it gives the audience a better view and it flowed with the play itself. The architecture of the theatre adds to the performance by extended the stage to bring about more in the actors to fully enhance the character.