THeiges+Final+Exam

1. Identify the features of __Angels in America__ that qualify it to be categorized as an example of theatricalism. In what ways does the play differ from the various video illustrations provided to you on the wiki schedule page for Oct. 23? Provide specific examples to support your opinions. And finally discuss how the video examples from the film demonstrate some of the unique features of the HBO film version of the work linked to Oct. 30 schedule page

While realism focuses on replicating reality in it’s purest form upon the stage, Theatricalism accepts that film is a far better medium for such a task and instead chooses to revel in the deeper truths of the human condition. Angels in America possess many qualities of the theatrical play by drawing upon aspects of abusrdism as well as expressionism. The play contains many scenes involving unreal spaces such as the intersection of Prior’s dream intersects with Harper’s hallucination and they progress in a vague dreamlike state. Additionally the actors all double as various characters leading the audience to question what exactly is real upon the stage. Harper points out that Prior shouldn’t be in her hallucination due to her not having met him at that point in the play and she somehow knows Prior is sick before he tells her. However this theatricalism is tempered with certain realist qualities. It is in this way that Angels in America differs from the videos of the 23rd which tend towards the more surreal end of the spectrum. Firstly Angel’s contains a coherent plot and somewhat defined characters, which marks it as different from the works of Bob Wilson, Beckett’s Play, and Shin Wei’s works. Additionally even though Shockheaded Peter and Apollo Lunch counter possess something of a plot, they too delve into a more surreal scenario than Angels does. The video examples of the HBO film highlights some of the key advantages film has over the stage, primarily in the form of cinematography. The HBO film uses a variety of cuts, to shape the audience’s perception of the events surrounding the story, to allow for entrances from a variety of spaces, to artificially construct a three dimensional space for the action to take place, and to force the viewer into Prior’s subjective point of view at various places. The stage is confined by the fact that the audience’s vantage point can never move and the stage’s position is fixed, but in film you can move the audience anywhere in a scene and use editing to generate an artificial space. The Kuleshoveffect allows for the use of eye line matches to create a wholly artificial space for the film, which the audience will accept and which will allow a far greater freedom for the staging of the action. Additionally the special effects for the angels are superior to what they would be in the theatre, do the director’s ability to manipulate the perception of the audience.

Question 2: We spent considerable time in class seeing a DVD about the development, rehearsal, and presentation of 4 Broadway musicals. Discuss some of the major topics that were introduced on the DVD. Next discuss what you learned from the DVD about the making and development of these commercial ventures. How did they differ one from the other? What were some of the unique features of each? What were some similarities that they all seemed to share? The documentary viewed in class touched upon a variety of diverse subjects involved in the creation and production of a Broadway musical. The documentary chronicled the productions of 4 disparate musicals including Avenue Q, Caroline or Change, Wicked, and Taboo. The plays were presented from their inception through the Tony awards, demonstrating the somewhat chaotic way in which certain plays are chosen for success and some close after only one night. One of the major themes discussed was the budgetary concerns that arise from producing one of these great endeavors; each play cost millions to produce and it’s a big chance whether or not it will make back its money. In so, one of the stages of production highlighted by the film, especially in regards to the somewhat unorthodox Avenue Q was the process in which backers are gathered and the money is put together for the production. This also affected Taboo, due to the high tensions surrounding the money put up by Rosie O’Donnel leading to gossip which put severe stress on the show. Additionally Rosie’s personal financial difficulties threatened the show’s stability. Another theme touched upon was the commercial appeal of the various plays and who their target audience was. Avenue Q was lauded by critics but it did not stay on Broadway long after the Tony’s to it’s key demographic, young males 18-26 not being avid theatre goers. Wicked, on the other hand, ahd immense success by marketing to young girls with its themes of empowerment and embracing your physical differences. Caroline or Change and Taboo also failed to find their target audience and closed shortly due perhaps to their lack of accessibility to the layperson. The Dvd also went in depth in to the various stages the plays went through. All of them began as an idea from a writer but had different inspirations. Taboo was pitched as a biopic about the life of controversial musician Boy George, whilst Avenue Q began life as a proposed TV show that would present Sesame Street style lesson aimed at adults and Wicked was adapted from a popular book series. Finally Caroline or Change came from the boyhood memories of the playwright and the consideration of the civil rights movement contrasted with the main character’s role as a domestic servant. The video then followed the four plays as they proceeded through the various stages of production, the casting, the rehearsals, the advertising and finally the length of the shows’ runs. Additionally the film also touched upon the importance of the critics to a show’s life or death by highlighting 4 critics in particular over a series of lunches discussing the various plays at various points in production. They often gave scathing reviews of shows that were still work shopping, and were appropriately blown away when Wicked debuted eventually to critical aplomb. The video also shoed a variety of shows that closed in a very short period of time, some of them not even making it out of rehearsals before producers decided to pull the plug. All of the plays had certain similarities; they were all musicals with large budgets and serious pressure put upon them. They all were new comer to the stage and thus were not only untested productions but untested scripts as well. All of them were relatively unconventional in one manner or another; Caroline had an unusual lead actress, Taboo had garish shocking costumes and story matter, Avenue Q used both puppets and profanity and Wicked presented an alternative take on a much loved children’s classic by setting the villain as the heroine. However the plays did possess some marked differences, Avenue Q and Wicked were far more successful than the other two and have gone on to have various touring shows. Taboo, in particular, was plagued by a much more significant media frenzy due to its producer which likely led to it sinking and had some serious conflicts amongst it’s personnel. Caroline or Change was a story that does not often come to Broadway and while it deals with important themes it is not particularly entertaining to the casual theatergoer who looks for tales with more energy and productions with more flair. Avenue Q also differed by targeting an audience not know for attending the theatre and for it’s rather interesting style of melding human performers with puppetry.

4. The videos that you were assigned to see regarding __Water by the Spoonful__ provide some revealing things about the purpose, development, and presentation of the play on stage. Comment on each of the videos that were assigned to be seen that help shape your opinion about the work. Knowing what you now know about production of a play from the work you’ve done on your final projects, what were some things you wish you could have seen that would have helped you to better understand __Water by the Spoonful__ and the production of it? The first three videos are discussions of the piece by the playwright about the various inspirations she took for the play. In the first video she discusses the nature of family and how the play comapres the families that the characters are born into, and are geographically close to with those adopted families one can find on the intenet. This refers to the plays juxtaposition of biological relatives fighting over family issues with the broader family found online by the addicts and their own struggles with human connections. The second video discusses the use of music in her plays, specifically how she used jazz in this piece in opposition to the Fuges used in her previous work. She stated that she felt the precision of the fuges lent a certain quality to Elliot a soldier’s Fuge that she did not want for Water by the Spoonful. The playwright is a trained musician and thus found the score of the piece to be essential to the overall tone of the production. The decision to use jazz stressed the chaotic improvised nature of life. The third video discusses the various characters and their positions in the class system, all along the socioeconomic ladder. It refers to the way the play delves into the nature of poverty and the way in which addiction is undiscerning in who it effects, destroying the great and small alike. The fourth, sixth and sevent videos all contained interviews with various members of the production team, specifically the producer, the dramaturge and the director. The producer gave an overview of the play’s principal characters and the shape of the story whilst stressing that the playwright took much of her inspiration from the life of her brother who was a veteran of the Iraq war and who helped to influence the character of Elliot. Both the dramaturge and the director focused on the fact that the playwright is a trained musician and the use of Jazz in the piece. The dramaturge also discusses the play’s status as part of trilogy and how each piece deals with similar themes through the lenses of different musical styles. The director also makes mention of the importance of the lines discussing the importance of Coltrane The fifth video contains a trailer for a production of the play a the Oregon Shakespeare festival. The trailer includes a variety of scenes from the play including scenes of Elliot and Jas, Elliot working out and being haunted by the spector of the man he killed overseas, the various members of the online forum and their respective usernames, and the discussion of Coltrane’s significance. The trailer refrained from revealing too much story information, choosing instead to focus on conveying the mood and atmosphere of the production by including the rich jazz soundtrack. The video also included a variety of reviews of the play, however they are not from very illustrious sources. The last several videos contain scenes taken from different productions of the play excepting the last one, which details a critic’s review of the piece. The scenes chosen are the ones in which Elliot breaks onto his mother’s computer, the one in which Odessa and Fountainhead discuss his issues and his lies about his addiction, and the one in which Orangutan returns to the site for the first time in 3 months and Coltrane is discussed. These scenes give glimpses into potential staging for the show as well as the intricacies involved with presenting online conversations in a way which feels emotionally authentic yet retains the realism of the technological medium. Additionally these scenes contrast Odessa’s failure with her own child and the mothering role she has taken with the members of her recovery site, going so far as to meet with Fountainhead in person and work with him on his recovery. This contrast touches upon the emotional center of the play and begs the question can someone who has failed as a parent ever redeem themselves even as a surrogate mother. The last video depicts two theatre critics discussing the play play before it begins, during intermission, and after the curtain closes. They give credit to the script and consider that it might have worked better as a film. They take issue with the lackluster staging and feel the production does not due the words of the writer justice. Having worked on the final project I would have liked to see a layout of the set for each scene, and pictures of the set from various angles. I feel this would give me a better feel for the direction the various productions were taking. Additionally I would like to have been given the costume bible for each character and for the directors to have discussed why they chose the particular actors they did and maybe give a brief concept statement for the play.