Question+3+JG

Watch the following recording of a live performance by a group of well-known NY actors, then identify and discuss the genre of the work citing specific moments when the genre is revealed through dialogue, story, and performance techniques and staging.
 * Question 3:**

[|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AVifTdjtvE#t=38]

 //The Regard of Flight//, released by Bill Irwin in 1983, is a vaudeville masterpiece. Throughout the video, I couldn't help but rewind to re-watch Irwin’s hilarious “hat moves” and dance numbers. Despite the goofy exterior, //The Regard of Flight// has an underlying message. Irwin highlights how difficult it can be for actors to create a new form of theatre with critics breathing down their necks and directors taking away their creative power. Irwin tries to explain the importance of keeping old themes as we progress in theatre and his performance highlights one of these older genres known as vaudeville.  Vaudeville productions were often several unrelated acts slapped together to entertain a general audience. These acts could be ventriloquism, dancing, singing, acrobats, animal trainers, or anything that could keep the audience’s attention for a short span of time. While the acts were unrelated, they all had one common focus—comedy. If an act worked, it would be performed for crowd after crowd, until the actor became known for that single act. The mixture of performances symbolized a mixture of culture in America as immigrants came in from other countries, as well as a mixture of traditional versus non-traditional theatre performances. Vaudeville had the old traditions of the English Musical Hall and Yiddish Theater fused with fresh, new ideas. Vaudeville has become less prominent in society as we’ve moved onto films as a source of entertainment; however, in //The Regard of Flight//, Irwin does a fantastic job showing the silly brilliance of a dying genre.  The most apparent use of Vaudeville would be in Irwin Bill’s performance techniques. His walking and dance numbers are extremely goofy, verging on clown-like. The movements were huge and exaggerated with lots of leg kicks and toe-taps. There are also moments in the play (13:23, 43:58) where Irwin appears to shrink and then stretch himself out, emphasizing the cartoonish aspect of vaudeville. One of my absolute favorite parts would be 9:11, when his foot almost seems to get away from him during the dance number. Irwin also mimes a lot of his actions and dialogue as if he’s Charles Chaplin in a silent film. He also has a number of other party tricks including his “hat moves” at 9:35. These tricks highlight the quirky acts of a true vaudeville performance. The stoic piano player also paid homage to the genre with a quick ventriloquist act during one of the chasing scenes between Irwin and the critic (40:44). The humor doesn’t let up for a second, and I laughed out loud as Irwin’s slow dance at 10:27 turned into a fight scene that ended with a gun shot. The most iconic vaudeville inspired scene came at 18:36, when the critic and Irwin began slapping each other. This was something that the Three Stooges, a famous American vaudeville act, used in many of their sets and short films. Finally, Irwin’s pantomiming showed the genre, especially at 29:08 when he kept “tripping” over an object in the middle of the stage, then jumped to avoid it only to trip on it and fall anyways. While there are a plethora of performance techniques used to highlight this classic genre, //The Regard of Flight,// also uses dialogue and the storyline to give a vaudeville vibe to the production.  The dialogue is quick, witty, and often laced with puns. For example, at 12:13 Irwin and the critic are going on about “devices”. Irwin angrily claims that it would take more than a “device” to get onto the stage, implying that acting takes a myriad of skills. However, the needling critic takes Irwin’s statement literally and decides to challenge him by using a trampoline to jump onto the stage. As the two face each other, they give the audience a moment to catch the hilarious pun in the situation. As the play progresses, so does the conflict between Irwin and the critic. At 22:36 the two characters have a heated conversation concerning the storyline of //The Regard of Flight.// The critic tries to make a definite storyline out of the play, but it’s impossible because vaudeville plays don’t have a definite storyline. This heated, yet goofy interrogation really highlights the genre of the play in a more obvious way. Finally, staging was an essential part to really portraying the vaudeville genre.  Irwin used the curtain and proscenium arch of the stage throughout the play. In fact, early in the play the piano player explains that contemporary actors have a great mistrust for the proscenium arch. This theme is brought up again at 27:42 when Irwin is trying to push his vaudeville trunk off the stage, and runs into the arch much to his angry dismay. The actors break the fourth wall immediately through staging when the critic comes from the audience at 4:05. This occurs again at 30:09 when Irwin stops mid-chase and tells an audience member “I would like to involve you in the work at this time”. Irwin also seems to have a problem escaping the curtains, which often try to suck him in throughout the play. In fact, the play ends with Irwin being gobbled up one final time (44:59). The actors also use the house as their stage during their comical chase scenes creating a wild, circus feel. For example, when Irwin uses the trampoline to hop on the stage just to hop off and run through the audience again with the critic behind him, cane in hand (29:37).  Through performance technique, dialogue, story and staging Irwin truly represented vaudeville in //The Regard of Flight.// I truly enjoyed watching this timeless production and would highly recommend it to anyone that wants a laugh. Irwin shows the importance of keeping the old as we forge into the “new theatre”. []
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