9/9/18 - Journal #1 As I was reading "Theatre, Performance, and Society," by Vikas Shah Mbe, I noticed that many of the answers the interviewees gave resonated well with me, and that I agreed with many of their ideas. Specifically when they discussed the origins of dancing and how it is important as a part of theatre, I appreciated when they brought up the primitive nature of the art form, as well as how it truly is a universal language. Dance is a way of people relating and communicating with one another, without having to make a sound. There is a beat in every person, and I love the idea that "Dance is so basic, so human, that it can never disappear from our culture." (Shah Mbe) As they continued with the interview, I noticed that many of the questions that they specified to be in the context of theatre, also related to life in general. When asking what is the beauty and aesthetic of theatre, one could say that beauty and aesthetic can be found everywhere in society and in nature. In that sense, theatre can be applied everywhere, and I took this idea to be the main take-away form the article. In every question, there was a way of applying and circling back around to how it could fit in with society, and the world in general, and I especially think that this idea is very important to discuss and examine as theatre is becoming less and less important to many people and our culture in general.
Junior Year:
12/8/17 - Journal #9 This week we worked on deciding which scenes to do for our final from the play The Rivals. Having seven in our grade, we decided to split into a group of four and a group of three. Being in the group of four, we decided on act 4, scene 2. After we casted ourselves, our group began blocking the scene. Shortly after we started, we read the Backstage article on Restoration Acting, and we given a better way to approach the scene. For me personally, I found it was easier for me to remember to keep my back straight, but much more challenging to keep in mind the idea that whenever moving, women had to take into account their costumes and their hoop skirts. It was also very different from having just worked on Commedia which hugely focuses on the physical aspect of comedy, to then transition to restoration theatre which largely focuses on the writing aspect and the comedy that comes through the dialect. Overall I think we made great headway in our final, and I think we will be able to hone in on many of the skills needed to authentically portray our scene.
11/21/17 - Journal #8 For my HowlRound article, I chose to read "Sabine Women, Satire, and What is Truly 'Daring,'" by Cassidy Dawn Graves. In the article the author discusses multiple Broadway shows that use satire and specifically begins the article by examining and explaining the new production of The Rape of the Sabine Women. In the show, a young fifteen-year old girl is raped by two football stars, while her mother remains oblivious, and her only friend, a cheerleader remains in her position cheering for the young men who raped her. Many hard topics are brought up today whether it be in television or in live theatre, however, it is almost always done through satire. Many people still see satire as a way for hard topics and harsh realities to be discussed and brought to light through the arts, but Graves argues that satire such as that seen in TV shows and Broadway shows similar to South Park, Avenue Q, and The Book of Mormon have merely become the normal. It is no longer daring and shocking to discuss taboo societal problems in the theatre, and although it may poke fun at the wealthy, the well-off and educated white man, or those who turn their heads away from someone who is different, often it falls into the trap of being created by the same or similar people who they are claiming to make fun of.
11/21/17 - Journal #7 On Friday, we performed for the class our Commedia piece of two young lovers in middle school forbid to be together by the school principal and one of the lover's father. Overall, the piece went smoothly in terms of sticking to our storyline and making sure we hit all the points that we wanted to. There were a few rough areas and we were able to pick it a part a bit more when discussing it afterward with the audience. One of the most challenging parts of the skit is that we chose to speak in Grammelot, the nones-sensical language of Commedia instead of writing a script. The problem appeared when we realized that all our Grammelot stemmed from either our foreign language or our native language. We also were not speaking the same Grammelot, for example when one character would repeat a word many times, we were unable to pick up on its significance and use it to our advantage. We also had a few gags throughout the piece, that were a bit difficult to portray, and ultimately did not make sense to all of our audience. When one of the Young Lovers bribed Harlequino to take his place and then imitate the goofy servant in order to get closer to the other Lover, the audience did not understand that the Lover was impersonating Harlequino. Although other gags were portrayed well and worked, we could have used more blatant and obvious movements to portray our ideas to the audience.
11/15/17 - Journal #6 This week we worked on perfecting and finishing our Commedia piece. We focused on a few points and interactions that we wanted to hit on. We were going to have Pantaloon fall while trying to sit in his chair, and to have Harlequino constantly making clumsy mistakes. After deciding on these few gags to do during the performance, we realized that we needed to have more of a definite lazzi segment. We then scratched some of our previous ideas to make sure we hit on this. We watched a few Marx Brothers skits including the switching of hats segment, and decided to add a somewhat similar segment that would include all the characters switching seats around by the clumsy servant multiple times. This would not necessarily add anything to the storyline, but merely give the audience yet another funny moment. After solidifying this, we decided to also take another look at some of our other gags and add a few more. We decided to add times when the Young Lovers snuck or impersonated others to be with each other. I think that this gave us more of a Commedia aspect and helped to cement our piece as a whole.
11/9/17 - Journal #5 On Tuesday, our group began working on our Commedia Dell'Arte sketch. With seven in our group, we had to decide which stock characters we wanted to leave out. After some time, we ultimately agreed to have a pair of Young Lovers, a Magnifico, a Pantalone, and doctor, and a Brighella, and Harlequino. Having learned about Commedia's language, Grummelot, we also decided to add a twist into our sketch by skipping creating a script and instead communicating our larger ideas through our movements and since we are without masks, facial expressions. Our basic layout of a scene was to have two middle school aged young lovers brought into a conference with their parents and the head principal. The two parents would be Pantalone and the Doctor, while two janitors, or Brighella and Harlequino would constantly interrupt the conference for minor excuses such as seeing a bug on the desk and so on. It was difficult for us to start the scene, as we were not sure how we wanted it to unfold, so we had to begin with some distinct blocking and move on from their. After the first time doing the scene, each time we went through it, improvising, but still ending up roughly with the same ideas became easier and easier. I noticed, that each time, it concluded differently, and am interested in finding one ending that we could go for each time. It was also a big challenge to speak in Grummelot the whole time, as it forced us to truly communicate with our bodies. I found this especially difficult trying to understand and communicate at the same time. Hopefully this will become easier, and we will be able to not only communicate to each other but also the absurdity and comedy of our scene to the audience.
11/6/17 - Journal #4 Imagination is a large fundamental requirement in theatre not only for the performers but also for the audience, and others associated with the performance. As a performer, one must use their imagination to round out their character, and make that character come to life by making it their own. They choose how to say their lines, and while they are following their blocking and the script, they must also paint a picture for the audience by showing the lives of their characters. They must make the audience feel how the characters are feeling, and show the audience another world. The audience must use their imagination to step into the world created by the sets, costumes, and actors. Whether that comes with filling in implied pasts of characters, or holding reality when it comes to magic and similar instances, it is needed to have the audience fully experience the performance. The stage crew, costumers, set designers, and countless others that contribute to a performance also must use their imagination when coming up with costume ideas, possible set designs, and other artistic elements of a show. In order to have a well-rounded and complete show, all the different parts must come together to relay a coherent story, and in order to do so, imagination must come into play and all aspects of the production must work together. Since I believe that theatre is an experience for both the audience and the performers, and to create the performance, both sides must participate to an extent, imagination is a requirement in order to create a theatrical space.
10/15/17- Journal #3 I think that theatre has multiple social functions, however the most recognizable is teaching lessons. Theatre, being a form or story telling, can be used to teach children life lessons, remind adults of morals, and bring thought provoking ideas to light in story form. In many works of theatre, at least one character goes on a physical or some kind of mental journey. That is to say, they begin somewhere, but by the end of the play, they are different from who they were at the start. Some plays model evil or bad characters to not be similar to for people, and sometimes it is the opposite. Either way, the audience is soaking in, and processing the story’s moral or lesson. By changing the setting, and time period, in my practice director’s notebook, I shift the way and context that the audience of my production will experience Lysistrata. Even though having chosen the American Civil War, and changes such as the Athenian women being southern belles exist, the audience will still get the message of the plot and be challenged to think about gender relations and other main ideas of the play. Because of this, the audience, being a part of society, sees the play’s message and by watching the characters experience it, is taught a lesson.
9/25/17- Journal #2 This week as a class, we were introduced to Lysistrata and have been tasked to come up with a different time period and geographical area to set the play. This will become a part of a practice director's notebook for us. When thinking of different wars and times to set the play, I initially thought about World War II, and was excited thinking of the costumes and such. However, I could not come up with a solid project from the conflict. I then thought about other wars and conflicts that involved the US, and decided to look into the American Civil War. This would fit nicely into the project, due to the fact that the enemies were close together, and some of the fighting was done in close proximity to southern towns. Since few Union civilians lived or were near the south during the war, the absence of their presence will be similar to the set up of the play as it is in Greece, and the backdrop of a Confederate town will be parallel to that of Athens.
9/18/17- Journal #1 This past week the class looked at Elizabethan theatre and more specifically, technical elements of the stage and sets during that time period in the Globe Theatre. I was particularly intrigued by the use of the stage that had permanent elements such as the inner above and inner below, the heavens, the balcony, and especially the trap door in the center of the main stage and in the middle of the heavens. I am fascinated by the idea that no matter where or when the play took place, the playwright could decide to either use these technical elements or just ignore their existence. When looking into the use of trap doors more and more, I found that with the actual stage being five feet high, the place underneath the stage, referred to as Hell could hold props, and actors easily. Both spaces would be used for actors to enter and exit. One would enter or exit above in the heavens and would exit or enter below in the main stage. I also found that for Shakespeare specifically, he tended to use the trap doors in tragedies either to portray ghosts such as in Hamlet, or witches such as in Macbeth. I think its interesting how historically, theaters were able to portray special effects and mystical elements, without having the technology that theaters have today.