Artistic Vision

My artistic vision for our play, “Going Nowhere Apace,” is focused on the analysis of my character. I played Cecilia, a young woman who is most simply defined as Swedish. Besides the fact that she is married and likes to go to the gym, the playwright gives me no information about Cecilia. So it became my job to develop an interesting, three-dimensional person with only limited background knowledge and a short dialogue with Judd to go on.

I needed to create a little bit of a past for Cecilia, because even though the audience never learns these imagined details, they can be helpful to me as an actor. When I “know” about her past experiences and present circumstances, I have a better idea of how she would act in this crazy situation at the gym. So Cecilia is Swedish: not just of Swedish ancestry, but she is a Swedish citizen. She was born and raised in a small town outside of Stockholm, and lived in Sweden until she got married two years before this scene occurs. Her husband is an American businessman who was working in Stockholm, but they moved to the states after their wedding. So although she speaks English well (probably because she studied it in school), she still has a heavy accent. She’s also still adjusting to American lifestyles and social customs. When she meets Judd in the gym, she naively thinks he is merely being friendly. Her thought process is simply that American people must be really chatty when they’re working out! That’s why when Judd asks her out she is flabbergasted. She didn’t see it coming at all because she thought he was just being friendly. However, Cecilia isn’t stupid, and I tried to make sure she didn’t come across that way. She’s smart enough to get out of the uncomfortable situation she has found herself in once she realizes Judd’s real intentions.

The truth that I had to come to terms with is that Cecilia is not really a comedic character. Just because she is Swedish doesn't mean she is supposed to be over the top. During our first rehearsals I played her as larger than life, giving her an outrageous accent – one that any Swede would be offended to hear – and treating her like a cartoon instead of a real person. As we dug deeper into the script, it became clear that Judd is the comic, and the three girls are kind of like his sounding board. We’re not really cracking the jokes; we just act normal so that he looks funny in comparison to us. It makes me think of Abbott and Costello: there has to be a straight man for Costello to be funny. So I tamed Cecilia a little bit. I tried to play her as an average person who just goes to the gym for an afternoon, only to find herself talking to the strangest American man she has ever encountered!

"For colored girls" production

I’m so glad I took time out of my afternoon to go see this production (whose full title is “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf”). I didn’t really know what to expect, except from what I could gather from the unusual title of the play. The production was loosely structured as a series of monologues, and it included elements of music, dance, and singing. Maybe it was because it was being performed in the lab theatre, but I couldn’t help comparing it to our monodrama performances we did in class. Compared to what I saw today, our monologues were so stiff! Looking back, I know I just sort of stood there while delivering my monologue. But these girls, they weren’t just reading words off a page, they were presenting a piece of their hearts to the audience, if that makes any sense. They moved about the stage so gracefully and naturally. Even though some of the girls had ten-minute or more long monologues, it didn’t feel like I was listening to one person talk non-stop for that long; they were really brilliant at keeping the audience’s attention. But I was so impressed by the amount of passion and depth that those seven actresses brought to the stage. The final monologue performed by Shamiah Palmer’s Lady in Red brought tears to my eyes. I got so lost in what they were saying because there was so much drive behind their words. Also, I liked how the play was performed in such an intimate setting. I feel like some of the connection the audience feels with the characters would have been lost if this were performed on a bigger stage. That being said, this production also deserved a bigger audience.

Dedication to Group Projects

I think our discussion in lab today was a helpful one. We talked about the importance of being committed to our group work, something that we all know already, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded. Though honestly, I am so proud of my company. I think we collaborated really well on our monodrama project and literally every member of the group put forth effort to make it successful. Most of us missed one rehearsal because of other committments or because we forgot, but because we met outside of class so much we could afford that. For this project, we definitely have bigger time constraints and so everyone is going to have to show up every time. But I'm really confident in my company's dedication to the class and, more importantly, to each other. Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I think we're going to manage our final project just fine. Another cool thing happened after the lab dispersed into the two separate companies and our group was talking about who would do what job for the project. I love acting, and so I was hoping that I would be able to act in the scene. But I also knew we needed a director and a couple of designers, so I might not get to act like I wanted. As it turned out, Kat wants to study lighting design so she's our lighting/set designer, Abby loves costumes so she's our costume designer, and Shifra was really pumped to direct the scene! It worked out perfectly; I think everyone ended up with the role they wanted, something that I think will help our group work well together again.

"It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman!"

This weekend I saw "Superman" at PBK for their final performance. I'm glad I went because it was an entertaining show, but I have to say that overall I was a little disappointed. What the director, designers, and actors did with the play was really good, but I think the script itself was only mediocre. The songs were pretty bland and didn't have very memorable tunes. The performance was funny, but I think it was largely due to the talent and the comedic timing of the actors as opposed to well-written jokes. That being said, the creative team behind the production did an excellent job. I loved the backdrop covered in pictures like those out of a comic book; it made for an exciting first image at the beginning of the show. The bold colors and angular shapes used in the set pieces also enhanced the idea of a cartoony and unrealistic world. The choreography was cute and well executed, but sometimes the actors looked a little bored with it. Now, it's worth noting that I saw the last performance out of six (or was it seven?) shows and it was a matinee, both of which probably contributed to a lack of energy among the performers. But it made me sad that some of the ensemble didn't appear to be enjoying themselves. Overall, the W&M company did a good job with what they had, but I wish, for the sake of the cast and crew, that a better musical had been chosen.

after-performance reflection

Our midterm performance is over. The weeks of work, the several meetings outside of class with my group all came to a climax on Friday morning when we performed our piece. I have to say, I'm really proud of my group. I feel like we presented a well-rehearsed and polished little production that we can honestly say was completely our own work. Besides the occasional guidance from Jason, we put it together entirely on our own, from original scripts to deciding how to stage our monologues to coming up with a plan for costumes, albeit simple: black shirt and jeans. But the simple stuff can go a long way; I think our clothing choices made our performance more unified. As far as ways I could have improved my individual performance, I think I was holding back a little bit. There's no reasonable explanation for it, but looking back, I feel like I could have let myself go even more. My monologue was a pretty emotional piece (it was about my grandmother passing away) and I should have really taken my time with it. Let words sink in. And apparently, or so I've heard, we could have made our pieces a lot longer. It's kind of frustrating that I misunderstood the directions because there were other things I had wanted to say, but I limited myself because of time constraints that didn't actually exist! Oh well. I think I did good work, but of course the monologue could have been improved.

costume design

If a person were playing me in a play, they would be dressed casually. They would definitely be in pants, because I usually only wear skirts or dresses if there’s an occasion for it. Jeans make the most sense, because not only do I wear jeans most of the time, I think they’re reflective of my relaxed personality. As far as the shirt, I think a light blue matches my personality the best (and blue is my favorite color). The shirt would be long sleeved because I always get cold, even when it’s summer! It would be feminine and pretty, but nothing very eye-catching because I find myself wanting to blend in a lot of the time. The shirt would definitely be long enough to cover my stomach because I’m kind of modest with clothing. The material should be soft because I would like to think that have a soft and approachable personality. For shoes: gotta go with the flip flops. You can’t go wrong with those. The only other must have is a hairband. I find myself wearing hairbands all the time because I'm too lazy to make my hair look perfect in the morning.

monodrama update

Today I spent some time editing my monologue for our midterm project. I hadn't changed much of it since the beginning of the process and it was still looking like a first draft. Maybe I hadn't tried to fix it because I figured it was good enough to get me a decent grade. But today I finally sat down and looked at it and I realized it was very stale. There were no glaring errors or anything I could label as particularly "bad," but it was just really flat. My monologue was originally about receiving my acceptance letter from William and Mary in the mail, something you'd think could make for a really exciting monologue. Well, it wasn't. It was pretty boring, and I didn't hear much of my own voice coming through it. So I sat down to edit it today, planning on tweaking things here or there, and I ended up with an entirely different piece! It would take a long time to explain how it got to this point, but now my monologue is about how my grandmother's death this spring affected my family. It's a very different subject I know, and one that's kind of hard for me to talk about, but I feel a lot better about my monologue now. It's genuine, and, cheesy as this sounds, I'm speaking more from the heart. Even if the monologue is a bit of a downer now, I'm glad it says something that matters to me.

Collaboration

Today in our lecture about five professors talked about the work they’re doing on the musical, “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman!” It was really cool to hear their perspective and to be reminded of how much work goes into putting up a show. We heard from the director, the choreographer, and the lighting, costume, and set designers. There must be even more people involved that we didn't hear from today, like the sound and makeup designers. It was evident that each person has to put in a lot of individual effort, but that it is all very unified and it comes together as a collaborative effort, too. The whole structure makes so much sense to me: that there are several people who are experts in their field who do their specific job but they are all working towards the same vision as the director. Without communication, the show would probably fall apart, or at the best, it wouldn’t make any sense. It would lack cohesion. When I watch plays, I’m aware that it takes a lot of hard work to put it together, and that there are many more brains at work than just the actors that we see, but I often forget about how difficult it must be to create the unity of a finished product. Everyone probably wants their own way, but they have to make the harmony of the play the priority. When they do, the finished product is truly magnificent.

From Collage to Set Design

Our collage focused on the opposing forces of Antigone and Creon and how their differences clashed. If made into a set, I would want to make that big idea a central part of the design. I would keep the arches and set of stairs upstage that are outlined in the script, but I would also place a podium or platform of sorts in the center of the stage. When Antigone and Creon have their heated arguments I would want them to be focused around this podium, at times having them stand to the right and left of it and face each other while they fight. I would keep Antigone on stage right and Creon on stage left, never having them cross into each other's respective zones, showing how they are both stubborn and unbending in their choices. I would also want to play with the lighting a bit to further highlight the contrast between the two characters. At moments when Antigone has the upper hand in the argument, I would have her half of the stage bathed in a soft blue light. When Creon seems to be winning, I would want the same effect on stage left with purple or red lighting (our group decided that these colors represented these characters' personalities well). At the end of the play, when a messenger tells Creon how Antigone, Haemon, and Eurydice have all committed suicide, I want a noose to be lowered down from the ceiling upstage. This image was at the top of our collage with all of the other images being directed towards it, showing how even after all the fighting and struggling, the death of these characters was inevitable. Because it's a tragedy, all roads lead to death. The noose would hang above the stairs and be well-lit. As the lights fade at the end of the play, I would want it to be the last image the audience is left with.

Scenic Design

"Describe a performance that you have seen in which you were moved by a vivid scenic image. What elements of the image make it memorable for you? How did they enhance the meaning of the play (or film) for you? Do you think the image fit the director's interpretation of the play (or film)? How did it help convey the mood?"

This summer I was lucky enough to be able to see "Wicked" on Broadway. Needless to say, it was definitely one of the best shows I have ever seen. The image that sticks out in my mind occurs at the last moment of Act I, when Elphaba is singing "Defying Gravity." She's belting out this emotional song and suddenly she rises into the air, holding her broomstick and flying over the heads of the people below. The actress probably got more than twenty five feet above the stage. It was such a cool special effect, with her enormous black cloak fluttering behind her and the blue and green lights shining on her from all directions. It was absolutely breathtaking, even though I knew it was coming! The action fits the text of the play perfectly. Elphaba is singing about how she's through trying to please everyone else instead of doing what she thinks is right, and that she's going to live by her own rules. When she soars above the other characters, it's a physical representation of how her status has changed and how she has power over them. Then of course there's the more obvious connection between the idea of flying and "defying gravity." The image is so powerful because it leaves the audience in awe of her character, thrilled and excited for her, and terrified at the same time.

The Physical Actor

Whenever I was in shows in high school, we usually had a warm-up before we went on stage. We would do tongue twisters and sometimes we did jumping jacks. But our warm-ups were never as thorough or complete as what we did in class yesterday, and I wish they had been. I felt so relaxed and refreshed after doing simple things like rolling my shoulders and bending down to touch my toes. I was more awake (which is good because I came to class half asleep) and loosened up. And when we were doing the exercise where we started out as babies on the floor and then we slowly "learned" to walk, I couldn't help but think of the exercise we did in lab on friday. I kept thinking about how silly I felt crawling around on the ground pretending I was an infant, but when I looked around the room, everyone else was doing the same thing. I didn't feel as ridiculous when I remembered that all the other students were following the same instructions I was. It was also cool to try and figure out the way a baby moves. Stumbling around, pretending like I didn't know how to walk was actually difficult. Putting one foot in front of the other has become so second-nature to me, that it was challenging to act like I couldn't do it.

Thoughts about "Roar"

So why is it that male characters in plays are always unfaithful to their wives? Why is this an accepted norm? Troy Maxson in Fences, by August Wilson, fathers a child outside of his marriage, married men in Tanglao-Aguas' When the Purple Settles run around with their servants, and Ahmed runs off with his wife's sister in Roar. Obviously, not every male character in every play has an affair, but I wonder if it's a coincidence that all the plays we've studied have this quality in common. It's kind of disheartening. Are these playwrights trying to send the message to the audience that infidelity is inevitable and that men can't be trusted? Interestingly enough, only one of these three playwrights is a woman. Does this mean that these male writers are disappointed in the way real men treat their wives? Are they endorsing this behavior? I don't know. I do know it doesn't make me want to rush into marriage.

9/14/07 Lab Activity

So if I can get past how the activity we did yesterday was weird, then maybe I can really see its value. Obviously, I don't go around with my eyes closed grabbing people's ears, but that's what was called on me to do. Because I couldn't see what was going on, I felt like the whole world must be watching me and laughing. They weren't. In fact, what's cool about the activity is that everyone in the room was doing the same thing. When we all opened our eyes, we could see that we weren't alone in our awkwardness, that our classmates were right there with us. I guess doing something strange as an individual is more difficult than doing it with a group. You're all there to support each other.

Female Roles in Early Theatres

It's an interesting trend that a lot of cultures excluded women from participation in theatre for some time. For that matter, some theatrical traditions still exclude them. I simply can't imagine the role of Juliet being played by a teenage boy, arguably the most awkward of people. How did audiences not laugh when the boy said "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" Naturally, if having boys play female roles was what the audience came to expect than they would probably get over it. But were there people who wished women could play the roles? Were there women dying to be in a play but knew that it was like committing social suicide? What keeps coming to mind is the movie Shakespeare in Love where Gywneth Paltrow's character dresses like a boy so she can play Juliet. But that's not exactly historical fact. Obviously, Elizabethan England was not the only culture that didn't permit actresses. Kabuki in Japan remains a male-only theatre. Do people feel that women would make the performance worse? I can't wrap my head around that.

"When the Purple Settles"

"What is the Purple? How did it settle for the characters? For you? For Francis? Or was it not resolved?"

It can be assumed the title of the play comes from Bilma's line about Victor's injuries: "Once the skin is void of space for welts and bruises, once the blood seeps out and the purple settles..." I guess this means once a bruise sets in, after a little time has passed since the injury was afflicted, the skin becomes purple. To me, this gives the impression that the wound is healing as it should. But the physical injuries that Victor sustained and the emotional injuries Junior tries to overcome never really heal. The purple never fully settles. Perhaps this means that the title is ironic. The time when the purple settles is far off and intangible; they can't quite reach it because the pain they've been through has scarred them.

Thinking About Fences

Sorry this response is a little late :/

"How do you regard Troy's actions? Does his sternness or unfaithfulness change your perception of him?"

It's difficult to judge Troy's character fairly, expecially from my perspective. Let's face it, I'm a white, middle-class, educated girl who has never experienced the kind of desperation that Troy has faced. I almost feel out of line to say anything negative about him, but since he is just a character and not a real person, I suppose I'm allowed to analyze him. Troy has obviously lived a life filled with disappointment and heartache. Although we don't know the details, we do know he was married once before he met Rose, so there must be some bitterness or sadness associated with that failed relationship. Also, although he's not impoverished, he is clearly struggling to make ends meet as a garbage man. And the fact that he was never able to play professional baseball is a constant source of resentment and anger in his life. So it's safe to say that Troy's life hasn't been an easy one.

But even after all that, is he still justified in having an affair? To me, the answer is a definite no. As he himself says about Rose, "See this woman, Bono? I love this woman. I love this woman so much it hurts" (I.1) and "You can't find a better woman than Rose" (II.1). If he loves her, doesn't he respect her enough to be faithful to her? He mentions also that she's the best thing that ever happened to him. So Troy takes the one thing in his life that's actually going as planned, that actually brings him happiness, and he messes it up! What bothers me even more is the fact that Rose has suffered right beside Troy. She has had to buy food with his meager earnings, and she's raised his children, and yet she's never been unfaithful. Why is Troy allowed to sleep around and Rose isn't? In one of my favorite parts of the play, Rose defends herself so passionately: "What about my life? What about me. Don't you think it ever crossed my mind to know other men?...You not the only one who's got wants and needs...But I held on to you, Troy. You was my husband" (II.1). Troy looked out only for his own needs when he slept with "that Alberta gal," but Rose made a decision to put her family first. To me, I can't help but have a negative perception of Troy because of his unfaithfulness.

"Monodrama" - The Acceptance Letter

I came home from school just like any other day, parked my car in the driveway, and strolled through the back door. After dropping my backpack off by the stairs, I found my mother in the family room. We probably made casual conversation about my day, what I had done at school, the like. Ultimately it was pretty unimportant, looking back. I walked into the kitchen to get a snack because I can always eat, and I stopped by the kitchen table to see the mail. I looked through it, glanced through a Kohls' catalogue...those are cute shoes, I like that shirt...but then I saw the envelope. I dropped the catalogue like a hot potato and picked the envelope up with shaking hands. In bold, clear letters emblazoned across the front it said "Welcome." It was a big packet from William and Mary! Addressed to me! I couldn't believe it! I wasn't even expecting it! Of course, I opened the thick envelope hastily anyway, just in case the word "welcome" was a cruel, sick joke. It wasn't. It was just as it appeared. There was some shouting, not a little bit of dancing, and quite a bit of scolding my mom for knowing all along and not telling me. Then again, I guess I was secretly grateful she let me have this moment. William and Mary wasn't necessarily my first choice; in fact I really wasn't close to deciding where I wanted to go. But it was the school I really wanted to get in to. I wanted to know that I was good enough to be part of the tribe. Now, no matter what other letters I got, rejection or otherwise, I at least had the opportunity to go to a really good school.

Theatre from around the world

I love the idea of people using theatre to affect change. I studied a little bit of Boal in high school and I really admire his dedication to theatre of the oppressed. What an awesome thing that people can change their quality of life through theatre! It's very admirable that contemporary playwrights use the theatre medium to speak out about social and political issues. On the other hand, I think theatre for the sole sake of entertainment can't be dismissed either. There is absolutely nothing wrong with people wanting to go see a play in order to escape for a few hours, to get lost in a completely different world. I love musicals, specifically musical comedies, I guess. This world is so complicated and busy and bothersome. But in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Oklahoma" everything has a happy ending and the good guy wins the end. I'm a sucker for the romance stuff, too. Boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl get together, plot complication messes up boy and girl relationship, and boy wins girl back in the end. Call me old fashioned, but I love it. Now arguably, "Millie" is a mindless play. It's very funny and fun, but does it have any deeper messages? No, and that's what's wonderful about it! Entertainment for the sake of entertainment is nothing to be ashamed of. We can't lose the fun in plays.

Reflection on "Fences"

August Wilson's Fences is, understandably, an important part of the African-American theatre repertoire. It's a timeless play that speaks of racism, family relationships, and a sense of responsibility. Before I read the play, I assumed the racism mentioned on the back of the play would be white men harassing black men. I was surprised to learn that Troy Maxson is almost racist against his own people, if that's even possible. By this I mean that the only thing standing in Troy's way is himself. He doesn't seem to believe in himself, much less his son. He is satisfied accepting his situation as it stands and just running with it. Find a job, make an honest living, bring home money to his family. This is the creed which he lives by. And while there is certainly nothing wrong with that, it's a sad existence because clearly Troy doesn't want to live like that. He wants a better life but believes there is no way he can attain it. He clings with bitterness to his dream of being a baseball player that never came true. And while he blames it on "the white man," we find out from Rose that he was really too old to play baseball. It seems that Troy has a twisted view of the world, a view that limits him and, eventually, his son. Cory can't understand why Troy won't let him play football. In fact, it's this misunderstanding of his father that eventually motivates him to leave home. Troy thinks he's doing his ungrateful son a favor by not letting him play sports. In a way, he's trying to shield him from the disappointment he experienced. He's trying to teach him that dreaming of success in sports is a waste of time and he should just get a job instead. While Troy believes he's doing what's best for his son, what he's really doing is limiting Cory and making his decisions for him. The tension between father and son is an important theme in the play.