de+Armas,+Miguel

Chicago Critique Chicago was obviously the big budget production of the season that was supposed to finish things with a bang. Unfortunately, the musical left a lot to be improved this time around. I felt like the only reason the performance was pulling the crowds that it had been was because of its notoriety as a successful and entertaining musical in other venues. Discussing the performance with one of my friends at Brenau, who had also seen it, it felt like a high budget production with high school quality blocking and work.

The plot of Chicago did not do a great job at challenging me to think. Unfortunately like with a lot of musicals I have seen, they are meant to merely entertain and provide some amusement. The script was written to entertain the masses and that is what is does. It does not give a whole lot of wiggle room with the characters. It just specializes in what it is meant to be. This is one of the main reasons I tend to prefer straight plays over musicals. Sadly enough, this has been my least favorite play of the season. The major characters seemed very flat and could have been swapped around with any number of stereotypical people. While I enjoyed the music in the production, I feel like it overpowered the basic concept behind Chicago which is how the justice system was corrupt and too much like a cabaret performance. The main idea did not have a lot of punch in the production I think because of the prominence of the music and dance.

I did enjoy the set used onstage. I felt like it was appropriate to the play and the largeness of the stage. My favorite part of the set had to be the band stand section that was used. I might have given the set pieces a more gilt, metallic look to them with the paint, but that boils down to opinion. The set’s size compared to the stage reminded me of when I saw Chicago at the Fox Theater down in Atlanta. They both seemed to fill the stage without too much effort.

I was not a fan of the costumes. When you were able to get a good look at them, they looked rather cheap and not cohesive as a cast. I would think with a big budget production like this that they would have tried cutting corners elsewhere and used a better base material for the costumes. While I know it kept with tradition, I wish the chorus line was not always cast in black. None of the major characters had a costume that stood out as really good or really bad, just mediocre.

The lighting seemed okay. I was not expecting a lot outside the usual convention of it being a dark show with lighting merely highlighting the individuals who are at the forefront for the moment. I think that with the full assembly of lighting equipment in the main theater, maybe a few more stops could have been pulled out to really build up climatic points. Earlier this season, the other productions had to be innovative with the lighting based on space and availability between the two smaller theaters, and I think they did better jobs overall.

The musical score was my favorite part of the musical. While I do not like the play as a whole, I really enjoy that style of music. The jazz style music just seems to hit a spot with me, and it makes me wonder if I am going to like the musical we have in our textbook that incorporates Spanish style music. With music tying everything together in a musical, I wonder if it might not have been better with a live orchestra instead of recordings. I know it greatly increases the difficulty of the production with timing, but I think it could have been pulled off.

Overall in the cast I thought the vocals were really good. Everyone seemed to have a clear voice. The chorus line seemed together in their work, but they seemed separated from the major characters. Whether this was intended or not, I think it broke up the cast’s feel as an ensemble look. Cell Block Tango turned out being a notable disappointment for me. It is usually one of my favorite scenes in Chicago, but I did not agree with the blocking and movement during the scene. It was too simplistic for a college production to me.

I think the fact that the director was not always at the theater working with the cast had a noticeable effect. It did not feel like he had a lot of commitment to the show and did not put his best effort into it, but that might be because he is used to working on bigger or better productions in the professional circles. I think the casting choices were good overall, and it was interesting to hear about the group dynamics from my friend who was one of the dancers.

Overall this was the worst production of the season for me. It goes to show how the best shows are not necessarily the ones with the biggest budget. Also, seeing Chicago done professionally does influence my judgment of this performance despite the fact I have taken into account the difference in acting ability between the professional and student actors. This is the first time I felt like the money spent on a ticket was not well worth it, and I will probably stick to straight plays at UGA. Word Count: 926

Dark Ride Critique The past two performances I have seen have been attention grabbers with their use of nudity and theatrical elements, and Dark Ride has been a change in pace this season. The play was hard to understand but enjoyable. If anything I felt like this play engaged the audience the most keeping them involved trying to figure out what was going on throughout the play.

Going into this performance, the house manager gave me a heads up that themes were really prevalent in this play, and after seeing it I could not agree more. There were multiple plots that tied together in the oddest of ways and the overlapping of them all created a vast sense of confusion. Communication seemed to be the main theme of the play in my eyes. There was a scene early on involving Margo and her television that summed it all up. It was something to the effect that communication is comfortable only when it is within established parameters with certain individuals, in this case the television, and when things change comprehension is lost though communication is still prevalent. This lack of understanding creates a sense of unease and discomfort, so she is debating about whether to stick with the comfortable but expectable dialogue with the television or to branch out.

This idea is similar to what is going on in the play thanks to the ever changing dynamics of the dialogue. Just when you start to understand everything going on stage, things are either upset or layered upon each other to create confusion. There were multiple times throughout the play that I could not tell what was going on exactly, but I had a hunch it had to deal with communication.

My favorite character in the play was the Jeweler, because his role seemed to be the most developed of the lot. The layering of the Jeweler’s back story about his lover, the correlation with the bandage patient in the clinic, and the way the play seemed to center around the Jeweler, if it could be said it centered around anyone character, gave the actor a lot of play room for his take on the Jeweler. The General’s character surprised me when it went into his past to help explain what made him the man he is today. I expected the character to be even more static than it was.

Ed and Edna’s foil was well created. You could tell they were philosophical opposites but perfect for each other, and their reunion in the play was sadly an underplayed moment. Everyone Else was a very unique character, and I enjoyed the light comic relief he brought at times, especially when he came onstage to sweep while the actors took their bows.

The obvious emphasis on media use for the performance was an interesting facet of the play. To me, the play was addressing our sense of communication and how the media changed our perceptions, so the use of media during pivotal moments and background images played up that theme. When I saw the performance on opening night there were some technical delays with the screens, so I can only hope they worked out all the kinks that night. Luckily there did not look to be any snaffoos during the show, just a delay before the start and during intermission. The fact multiple towers of media screens were effectively used, despite all the cords, on the set was quite amazing. I do not think the overlay of an actor’s voice and image on the screen was necessary during the performance and that the towers should have been strictly focused on background images and designs.

I think the Spartan set design was a good choice for this play. Between the platforms, the media screens, and the plain bar there was enough to create a definite location, but each could be changed to greatly alter the portrayal of a setting. I do wonder how the blocking would have changed if they had moved the platforms to one side of the stage instead of being center stage. The placement of the towers was well thought out to give the actors space to move and hide behind them. I enjoy seeing a play on a more Spartan stage like this, because it causes the audience to use its imagination and engage with the play to get a sense of what is going on. The one disconcerting thing was that the Cellar Theater was already black and then the black platforms and props made it hard to judge distance in the dark theater. The colors in the play were mainly found in the towers, and I think it was more effective than using a cyclorama. It allowed for more vivid pictures and images along with more vivid colors.

With the play being set in modern times, I thought the costumes were rather ordinary and typical. I almost think they were too generalized between the characters. Almost everyone was wearing dark colors with muted tones which gave everyone a washed out appearance. This looks to be a planned decision on the part of the costume designer, but he did separate the characters enough to not confuse them with each other. The General’s and Zendavesta seemed to be the best, but it should be noted that the costume designer was also the actor who played the General. The Jeweler’s costume could have been nicer in appearance to set him apart as well off due to his occupation. With the play being called Dark Ride, the use of dark colors in the costumes, set, and lighting tied everything together.

Sound was pivotal to this production, because of the theme of communication. It was the overlaying sounds both soft and hard that created moments of serenity, confusion, comprehension, and discord. The sound effects were well done with the actors’ voice lay-overs, the clubbing sound, and the music. With sound being so crucial in my mind, I wonder what the director’s overall take was on the actors’ voices. They helped create much of the confusion and clarity in the play, and I feel like the voices should have been utilized more. Except for Zendavesta, the vocal range of the actors I felt was not utilized effectively.

The acting appeared to be acceptable throughout the performance, but a lot more of my time was spent trying to understand the play instead of analyzing acting qualities. The actress who played Margo did not seem to have explored her character that well. I felt like her take on Margo was very static and that there could have been a lot more pulled from the character. Not that she did a poor job, I just feel like she could have done better. The actor who played the Jeweler did a wonderful job. To me, he seemed to capture that right amount of paranoia and crazy for the character. I do not think the accent was necessary, but that is trivial when looking at the bigger picture. The actor who played Zendavesta definitely capitalized on his characters maniac moments, and he helped bring energy into the performance.

The actress playing Mrs. Lammle seemed to force her character too much. Yes, she was playing a hyper women going off on crazy tangents, but she did not feel believable. I enjoyed the actor’s take on Ed. It was enough realism mixed with a philosophical side that it made you stop and really focus on what he was saying. The Translator, General, Edna, and the Waitress seemed to do alright. Nothing jumped out about their characters, and they were pretty believable. The actor playing Everyone Else did well with such a simple, non-speaking role.

On the directing front, I felt like the tempo of the play was very even and got the most of its short performance time. It felt like an hour and a half went by, and that was just enough for this play. There was one casting choice I did not agree with and that was the Jeweler. While I thought the actor did a wonderful job with the character, I think his voice of all things was way to feminine sounding for the role. That is where I think the director should have had him try to deepen his voice or cast someone else, because he came off sounding gay which conflicted with the idea he had a girlfriend and likes Margo. Besides that, I thought the casting was spot on.

While I think the play was a good choice for someone working on their Masters degree in theater to tackle, I do not think it was a good choice to produce for a general public audience. I have had such a problem trying to comprehend that play, and I can only imagine what my fellow students and audience members got from the play. This would have been a good play to perform at a festival or competition I feel, somewhere where the audience is geared completely to theater and has a deeper understanding of theater.

Dark Ride was definitely a challenge to engage with. Most of the time is was hard to follow, the plot lines grew confusing, but it was still a good play in my mind. When you realized it was about themes and how it leaves you feeling, it made the experience a lot more enjoyable. I would probably not revisit this play in its entirety, but it would be interesting to use for developing characters and micro-scenes. The play did tie in very well with the rest of the plays this season.

Word Count: 1,598

There are important differences between __And the Soul Shall Dance__ and the video illustrations linked to the schedule page demonstrating "realism" in the European, English and American theatre. Briefly discuss a few of them that you consider the most important. While all the productions are forms of realism, there are several major differences in the script, setting, and point of view.  The script of “And the Soul Shall Dance” is considered to be based more on poetic realism with the inclusion of the songs and dance, and the other productions are straight out realistic in their scripts with their ordinary conversations. (1)  The setting of the other productions is a fixed set that does not move during the plays and open with the props. The props are there for the actors to use or add to the setting. With Yamauchi's production, a rolling set involving two houses is used along with more symbolic props. (2) The props are symbolic in their meaning and convey underlying themes in the production.  The differing points of view for the audience change the perspectives on the plays.  Yamauchi’s has the audience watching the play as a set of memories of the main character, with her onstage “watching” as well. The other productions have the audience merely watching the actions onstage like a giant television screen or the fourth wall.  While there are differences between all the productions, all of the plays do focus on believable people going about their ordinary lives with real dilemmas. For me, that really helps to define a play being realistic instead of theatrical. Word Count: 229 1.Richmond Lectures 2. Arnold

//Hidden Man// Critique Going to see //Hidden Man// on its last performance here at UGA, I was slightly nervous about what to expect based on what my classmates had said. However, I found I thoroughly enjoyed the play and never felt like it was awkward or forced. I wonder though if I was desensitized to some of the play because I have watched different productions of //Rent,// which touches upon controversial topics such as homosexuality, religion, and drug use. Regardless, I think the cast and crew did a phenomenal job at putting the show together. I did get to go with a good friend of mine, who is a theater major, and I think talking with her after the performance helped me analyze the play. Having someone who knew several of the actors, and has studied theater already, helped me delve into aspects I have not touched upon before. I loved the simple language used in //Hidden Man//. Growing up in North Georgia and being around the rural population, I could relate to the dialect as well. The building up in Act 1 was great, because it set up the climax in the second act. I did not think the guitar jam session was needed in Act 1. I think something else could have been done to show he was strung out, but I do understand how the loud, offensive music was perfect to show how much Robert was hurting. The wife was not played up much in the dialogue and plot which I was disappointed to see. I felt like she was part of the glue keeping Howard together and should have been played up to emphasize the difference between the two. I think the Hidden Man was an interesting character, but I was confused about who he was until a good way into the play. I was not sure if he was merely an eccentric member of Paradise Farms or a hallucination, until the star gazing scene. In the second act, I feel like the reunion between the roommates was not bitter enough to show their underlying desires for each other. It was like “play” bicker, and then they were suddenly together naked. I thought the music was interesting in that the characters sang what they were feeling or going through, and then Robert never sang once he went to Paradise Farms. He was trying to figure out what he was feeling inside, but Howard was always singing as an affirmation of his faith in his identity. Despite the difficulties of using a confined space, I think the Cellar Theater was the best venue for //Hidden Man// out of the theaters the department has at its disposal. It created for a very intimate space where the actors were close no matter where you were in the house. Despite the stage being pushed downstage, I can only image the logistical nightmare it was, having to use the narrow wings to the sides. Also, I enjoyed how the actors were close enough that they did not have to overtly project their voices to be heard, so it helped give a more realistic feel. The main item that drew my attention about the setting was actually the backdrop of burlap interwoven with the vines. It reminded me of the overhanging branches of a willow tree, and how everything underneath its branches is secluded from the rest of the world. It closed in the stage and gave it a comforting feel. The mosaic paths painted on the floor were a nice touch, but I did not feel like they were or should have been used as paths on the stage. They seemed to just be a little detail adding to the feel of the setting. I thought the house being raised up slightly was important, because it gave the impression Howard and his wife were speaking from on high to Robert whenever they were on the porch. It definitely put Robert’s restless pacing on the stage in perspective when they were higher than him. The moving bed was used very well to create a mini-setting separate from the rest of the stage when it was representing the apartment, and even when it was not used it helped balance the rest of the stage. The contrast between the sides of the stage led to a mixture of poignant moments and stage images. Probably my favorite moment that I wish I could have captured with a picture is during the hospital detoxification and cult-like snake healing scene when everyone is centered around the bed except for Howard, who is highlighted in the doorway. Without researching the actual style of artwork Howard created, I felt like the pieces on stage gave off a rugged feel that was realistic and harsh. While I liked the use of the bikes in the tower, I was not sure if there was a specific reason for the use of bikes or if it was just a good idea. The gilded frames used in the Temple of Sodomy were great for conveying Howard’s interpretation of homosexuals as having a fake outside and broken on the inside. The use of muted and darker colors for the setting was understandable. While //Hidden Man// is self-labeled as a gothic story, found on the department’s homepage, I felt like the darker colors gave off a calm, homey feel instead of one of darkness and despair. The calmness the setting seemed to be exuding did do a good job of being a foil to the dialogue which was definitely gothic in nature. The two costumes that stood out the most in the production were Robert’s and the Hidden Man’s. Robert’s was definitely 80s punk rocker wear, and it was perfect for representing him throughout the play. As he comes to terms with himself, you see his costume change and become less outlandish and attention grabbing. The Hidden Man’s costume drew the audience’s attention to him whenever he came onstage. The design on his overcoat gave a butterfly feel which was contrasting to what seemed like a fish scale pattern on his pants. I could not figure out why he needed the drastic makeup, unless it was just meant to be striking. The one interesting thing I noticed about his makeup was that it always put his facial features in stark relief whenever he looked up and the light played off it. The lighting in //Hidden Man// was what really stood out to me. The different tinges of red and yellow helped convey a sense of how the different characters perceived what was going on, and in the absence of music it took center stage. It was a noticeable difference from the lighting in the chapel during A//rmitage//, and you could tell it was mainly due to accessibility to overhead lights. When the band performance scene was going on, I thought the guitar should have been hooked up and actually producing sound like the drum, but the actor probably did not know how to play if they did it that way for the production. Besides that, the one sound that I thought was played up beautifully was the sound of the running and splashing water. Its use on the stage and the sound of it running during the bathroom scenes helped create a vivid image. The acting in this production was good for the most part. While the actress who played the wife did not have a hard role, you could tell she had put a lot of effort in perfecting her portrayal as a preacher’s wife. The actor who played Robert’s lover seemed to give the weakest portrayal. While he seemed natural in the scenes of Paradise Garden in the second act, he did not feel very believable in the first act. It felt like he was going through the motions at times, but then again it was the last performance. He could have been having trouble keeping up the illusion of the first time. The actor who played Robert captured my attention and kept me riveted throughout the performance. He never broke character with his actions, and I was wondering if he had underwent measures to change his physical build for the play. The actor who played Howard was obviously an expert who has had years of experience. Hearing he is a professor here, I wonder how much of his character was created and how much was just him. I feel like the foil between Robert and Howard was played up beautifully and helped bring them to the forefront of the play. I had mixed feelings about the Hidden Man. While I enjoyed his acting, I could not help wondering if his movements should have been slower, more ephemeral. For being someone who does not exist, he made his role feel very real. The play flowed so well that I did not realize until intermission that a whole hour and a half had passed since the lights dimmed. I was kept enmeshed in the story throughout the whole production. I think the casting was spot on for the production, and I do not think a younger actor could have portrayed Howard as well. While I do not think it would have been necessary, it would have helped add to the overall setting if a younger actor had been cast as one of Howard’s children running around. All in all, I really enjoyed the production of //Hidden Man.// The intense agony Robert was going through with his drug addiction and the relationship between Robert and Howard are what I enjoyed the most in the play. The nude scenes and the hanging scene did not bother me at all like it did my classmates. If anything I appreciated the bravery of going stark naked onstage and the effort in making the scene look completely natural and not awkward. While Robert and Howard formed the base of the play, I also enjoyed the Hidden Man and his involvement in the play. I do not think the play will ever make Broadway, but I do see it becoming popular at performing festivals. I will be interested to see what sort of following it will gather. Word Count: 1695

In debate, there is usually a question that is posed for debaters to answer. It is stated in the form of a resolution. So is the following question in which you may take either the affirmative or the negative position."Resolved, directing is a more important art and craft than acting."

 Acting like lighting, sound, or setting is a single facet of theater. To put on a performance takes a lot of complex interactions staged in a certain sequence. Acting is the most important individual part of a performance, but it takes directing to pull the whole production together. Directing is more important than acting due to its umbrella effect, artistic oversight, and complexity.  The umbrella effect could best be described as all the different things directing covers such as lighting, sound, setting, costumes, and props just to name a few physical things the director is over. The director does work with specialists in these areas, but ultimately the final decision lies with the director. Other things the director are over fall under the artistic oversight section.  Artistic oversight could be seen as the guiding force of the play, and it is the director’s sense of what message should be presented to the audience 1. Blocking, script changes, and working with the actors are things artistic oversight cover.  The very art of directing is extremely complex, because it deals not just with all the knowledge of acting, but also of everything else that goes into a play. The director might not know everything, but they do need a working knowledge in all the fields that can be tied together 2. Acting involves usually just the individual where directing tackles the whole cast. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Despite being a relatively new profession, directing has easily made its way to the forefront in drama 3. It takes all of theater and asks for one person to lead it all. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Word Count-260 <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1. Arnold pg.148 <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2. Arnold pg. 158 <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">3. Arnold pg.136

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Your text offers suggestion on two basic approaches to acting, ie. the internal and the external. Chose either one and take the scene between Emily and George as your reference point and develop a fragment of "inner monologue" OR tactic concerning interpretation underlying a short section from the scene. I suggest the men choose to deal with George and the women choose to deal with Emily, although if you wish you may choose to develop an "inner monologue" or "external tactic" for either character.

For an interpretation of //Our Town//, a lot of background research is needed to fill in certain gaps. Taking an internal approach, the key is to try and understand and relate to the character as much as possible. Using inference, background, and hypothetical situations I came to understand George better in //Our Town// in the first bit of dialogue on page 50.

//Our Town// is set in New Hampshire during the turn of the century, so I started first with the accent. I could not find a good example of the different accent, so I imagined something similar to the one my cousins in Southern Georgia use. Then, with the turn of the century, and mentioned in the play, I knew automobiles were just coming around and soda fountains were popular. It is a rural town probably with conservative morals seeing as it is the turn of the century. The fact that the local high school offered Latin seemed a bit of a stretch for the period and setting, and baseball is all the rage.

A lot of what I understood took putting myself in George’s shoes or just visualizing him as a person, so I could then create body language. The whole first part of Emily’s dialogue I see her moving across the stage from person to person with George trying to keep up. I feel like he would become more frantic in his attempts to get her attention since it obviously is not working. With George’s first line, I see him finally catching up to her and triumphantly taking her books before he is done asking the question, almost with a smugness to him. It felt like an “I got you now” line, delivered more as a formality than anything serious. Emily’s cold reaction afterwards makes me feel George just got metaphorically slapped in the face. His usual plan of attack finally worked but then failed at the end.

A lot of the visualizing could be seen as hypothetical situations. When I was thinking about Emily’s reaction to George’s advance, I tried imagining what George would have expected from any other girl at his school, and I realized they would have fallen over him. The fact that Emily did not shows how much he has changed. Part of understanding George better took putting myself in Emily’s shoes to try and see George as she did. By imagining her reaction during her first line, the running around, I see she is trying to avoid him and his new jockey attitude.

Despite the fact only 3 lines were said during this part, I feel like the passage was heavy with meaning in terms of body language. What is understood from this part sets the stage for the rest of the scene, so I think it is the most important. This scene is where the false image of George is built up to be disproven later in the act.

Word Count: 488

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">(PLEASE REPEAT THE QUESTION ABOVE) <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">As culture evolved over time, drama shifted from educational to entertaining (AWKWARD) as economic stability and prosperity allowed for less time to be spent on survival and more on pleasure.(I DON'T KNOW IF YOU COULD SAY THAT THE MIDDLE AGES LACKED FOR MONEY AND PLEASURE IN CONTRAST TO THE RENAISSANCE) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Drama originally developed around religious holidays and events as seen in the medieval mystery cycles (1). (AND THE GREEKS ALSO HAD THEIR HOLIDAYS THAT WERE CELEBRATED IN A RITUALISTIC WAY. YES?) They were meant to teach illiterate people religious stories that were in the bible, and they would take place over several days. (THE LAST PART OF THE SENTENCE MIGHT WELL BE DISCONNECTED FROM THE FIRST PART, IE. TWO SENTENCES) The actors were recruited from the community, and it was seen as a way to unify the community and solidify feelings of good will, morals, and communally held social beliefs (2). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Secular drama developed later as a result of economic stability and prosperity, and took place year-round (3). The Elizabethan theater led the way during the fifty year reign of Elizabeth the First in England. Despite following the Wars of the Roses, she was able to allow enough time for economic prosperity to give rise to a national theater (3). It also focused on the internal struggles of men instead of religious events. This allowed for a more personal connection to the stories and actors. Language would develop into an actor’s main weapon in his arsenal during the Elizabethan period as the complexity of language was in itself entertaining (4). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> While religious drama has not died out, it has definitely taken a back seat to secular drama with the development of modern theater.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Word Count: 233

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">References <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1) Arnold. The Creative Spirit. Pg.19 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2) Arnold. The Creative Spirit. Pg.22 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">3) Arnold. The Creative Spirit. Pg.26 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">4) Arnold. The Creative Spirit. Pg.32