Threepenny Opera As A Mirror To Society

Theatre is intended to reflect society and provoke thought. Select one theme from A Streetcar Named Desire and discuss. (800 – 1000 words)

That’s the ending? The Mousetrap owes us—and has earned—more than a simple, laughter-inducing, tension-relieving conclusion. In his post-production talkback at Princeton’s McCarter Theater, director Adam Immerwahr told the class that laughter is precisely what the audience needs after such a nail-biting affair. However, is this truly the best option? Yes, considerable tension has been building throughout the course of the show—but why not leave some with audience members? Were the production to directly succeed its murderer reveal with a final tableau of Trotter and Miss Casewell standing side by side—all at once together yet apart—it would initiate consciousness, shining light on a truly muddled scenario. Complex issues would rise to the surface: ones of torture, injustice, revenge, and trauma—of scars that can never be healed. By quickly brushing Trotter and Miss Casewell offstage and aside, however, the play is not doing its intricacies justice. The world is not a place where issues are solved at a moment’s notice—has The Mousetrap not spent its duration proving this point by showing the past’s persistence in the present? And yet, the Simon French version of the play culminates with the swift disappearance of problems, an exuberant gift exchange, and a line about a burning pie. Similarly, in the West End version of its script, The Mousetrap concludes with Christopher Wren popping onstage and

Trifles, Susan Glaspell’s play written in 1916, reveal concerns of women living in a male dominated society. Glaspell communicates the role that women were expected to play in late 19th century society and the harm that can come of it to women, as well as men. The feminist agenda of Trifles was made obvious, in order to portray the lives of all women who live oppressed under male domination. John and Minnie Wright are two main characters who are never seen; however provide the incident for the play. In this play women are against men, Minnie against her husband, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters against their husband’s, as well as men in general.

Texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times. Within Shakespeare’s Othello and Geoffrey Sax’s appropriation of Othello, the evolution of the attitudes held by Elizabethan audiences and those held by contemporary audiences can be seen through the context of the female coupled with the context of racism. The role of the female has developed from being submissive and “obedient” in the Elizabethan era to being independent and liberated within the contemporary setting. The racism of the first text is overtly xenophobic and natural, whilst the “moor” is unnatural whereas the updated context portrays Othello’s race as natural and racism as unnatural. Therefore these examples show how Shakespeare’s Othello, and it’s

Ever since I can remember I have loved theatre. It’s been a constant presence, and an important touchstone, in my life. However, for as long as I’ve loved theatre, I have also been ridiculed for my enjoyment of it. As a child, my interest was tolerated as something precious, something I was bound to grow out of. My parents and teachers would sit in the audience, clapping and cheering me on, all the while thinking to themselves “I bet she’ll make a great lawyer one day.” They thought, like most of society, theatre was an unnecessary luxury; a pastime for the rich and powerful, for those who didn’t have to worry about putting food on the table, or clothes on their children’s backs. Certainly not

At first glance or giving a slight ear to the two plays “Trifles” and “Othello” the differences can be very noticeable. “Othello” was written by a man William Shakespeare and “Trifles” by a women Susan Glaspell. While Glaspell authored her play in the twentieth century, Shakespeare on the other hand penned his play in the seventeenth century. “Trifles” theme dealt with isolation whereas jealousy was the theme in “Othello”. When taking a closer look and compare the two the use of verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony are used in the same way to keep the audience intrigued and full of suspense.

Cultural criticism is exploriing or examining the relationship of dominant role based on ethnicity, and sexual identity of person, also a great understand of yourself. Historical is basically know the background story before you making assumption off the text, and to better understand text lookup time period close to the time like 1600’s for Othello by William Shakespeare. To sum up the whole play Othello, in act one Othello is Accused of using black magic, witchcraft, and etc on Desdemona by her father Brabantio. Othello tells he that he has not using magic or witchcraft on Desdemona she just fell in love with his war story. And also state that Brabantio used to love him and his war story. In Othello by William Shakespeare Othello represent

Using the most compelling lens to analyze the play by William Shakespeare, we’ll learn that even in 2018 it’s eye opening even if Othello is 400 years old. To get the best experience you would have to view it through a cultural lens where you’ll learn that when you compare the culture 400 years ago and the culture today not much has changed when it comes to racism.

The production of Three Penny Opera here at the University of Minnesota was an interesting work of art. Many artistic choices, which turned out to be very successful, can be seen in this production. The amount of work that went into this play is shown through every aspect of theatre. From the acting to the set design to lighting, everything fit nicely together to create a wonderful piece. This production was artistically beautiful and impactful to the audience.

In a burnt out theatre in Australia, a young director and group Melbourne mental institution patients come together in an effort to produce Mozart’s Così fan Tutte. Despite many obstacles to overcome, such as a pyromaniac originally supposed to be in the play and the negative opinions of the director’s commanding girlfriend and political extremist mate, they still get the show done. This play was very engaging and really connected to today’s society. Though it may have started slow, once things got rolling, it continued to get better. The show as a whole had some deep connections to current events. It connects with those who suffer from mental illness and people who are actually admitted to mental institutions. It connects with those who are always put down, like minorities, those less fortunate, young people. There are things that relate to the current political system, and there are events and groups that the show alludes to things today’s society can relate to. Love and fidelity are topics that the show discusses, topics that resonate in current events. All in all, this show relates, resonates, and connects with people of today.

The opera Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera was conducted by Pablo Heras Casado. The three principal singers were Piotr Beczala as the Duke, Zeljko Lucic as Rigoletto and Olga Peretyatko as Gilda. This being my first opera, I was surprised by how large and grandiose the house was, which is in sharp contrast to my typical experience when I see musicals.The production decided to place a modern twist on the setting of the opera, rather than the original setting of 16th century Italy, the story is placed in Las Vegas in the 20th century. The set is constructed to reflect that in the first act with a casino scene complete with neon lights, card tables and roulette. In my opinion, this all seemed to distract the viewer from the story and the change in setting didn’t enhance the production itself. Rather it made me think about how out of place this all was instead of focusing on the opera itself. The first act was fairly difficult for me to suspend disbelief and get into the plot of the opera. This had much to do with me being initially turned off by the casino as the setting for this opera. Although in later acts I was able to move past the modern set that was only because this set became less pronounced in the second and third acts.

Within the assigned reading, it was John Fiske, who said “the concept of critical discrimination has been applied exclusively to high culture in its constant effort to establish its superiority over and difference from mass or popular culture,” (John Fiske 2005: 216). This supports the belief that opera is aimed towards those of a higher class. Those who are well off financially and educated above the ordinary know that opera is not popular amongst popular culture, but I suspect that they are okay with this because it adds an element of exclusivity. I believe that the masses of the ordinary are okay with this as well because they enjoy being a part of what is popular now rather than being a part of what is considered unpopular, even though it is also seen as elite and of a higher system to participate

Music has the capability to bring forth many emotions and feelings in a person. Depending on the tone and the melody of the music, emotions such as anger, joy, and grief may arise. For example, rap music, in general, brings forth emotions such as anger, frustration, and rage to a person's mind. Melodies such as Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On and Aerosmith's I Don't Want To Miss A Thing often arouse emotions of love, sadness, and hope; "lovey-dovey" feelings which remind a person of a past or current love. In Mozart's Opera Don Giovanni, many emotions and feelings, such as hatred, distress, and sorrow are portrayed and felt through the characters.

Honesty is a concept that is constantly used in The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice, although used for the wrong people. The theme of appearance vs. reality in this certain play is easily confused due to the deception of honesty, frequently because of Iago. The notions of loyalty/dishonesty as well as love/lust, rich/poor, and witty/dumb are also used as a dramatic irony to help the drama progress. The characters in the play used cunning tactics to achieve their ultimate goal, whether it was to win the woman they love or trying to bring down a powerful man. Honesty is a term used very loosely due to the fact that no one knew what was actually happening behind the scenes.

Donald Grout defines opera in his text, A Short History of Opera, as “a drama in music: a dramatic action, exhibited on stage with scenery by actors in costume, the words conveyed entirely or for the most part by singing, and the whole sustained and amplified by orchestral music” (4). A literal translation of the word opera is simply work, and although the term opera was not coined until 1634, one of the first known operas was performed in 1597 (Grout 1). Grout explains that there are two types of opera. The first type is when the main emphasis is on the music (Grout 6). Examples of this type of opera can be seen in the works of Lully and Wagner (Grout 7). The second type of opera is characterized by the music and other factors being of