Simmonds,+Tyler

TS Musicals

TS All My Sons

TS The 39 Steps

TS Life is a Dream

TS Realism

TS Play

Assignment 1


 * 1) In wayang kulit puppetry, comedy is communicated to the audience in ways that are obvious even to those who do not understand the Balinese language. The most obvious way that an observer would notice that the dalang is communicating comedic content to the audience is by the way the dalang raises the pitch of the voice he gives the characters. The way the dalang voices the characters gives an insect like buzzing to the characters voices, which signals to the audience that these characters are not intended to be taken seriously. The change in pitch and stylization of the character’s voice are key elements that the dalang uses to communicate comedy via the clown servant characters. The dalang also changes the way he moves the characters in order to convey their comedic role. The way he moves the clown servant characters is exaggerated and jerky compared to the fluid movements of the more serious characters involved in the performance. The difference in the movement and voices of the comedic characters clearly convey their comedic roles to all audience members. Even the members of the audience who are unable to understand what is being said by the characters can understand that these characters are intended to be comedic nature.
 * 2) The puppeteer uses comedy even in these serious, ritual events in order to draw the audience in and keep their attention. While the wayang kulit puppetry is a ritual event that is very important to Balinese religious practices, it is also a performance, and the dalang recognizes that. The wayang kulit performances take place during religious festivals that include dancing and other fanfare that is meant to entertain, so in the context of the setting in which the performance takes place, it makes sense for the dalang to include comedic elements in his performance in order to capture the attention of his audience. Keeping the audience entertained also serves to make the religious aspect of the performance more effective. A captivated audience will pay more attention to the content of the puppetry, which will then increase their understanding of the stories associated with the Balinese religion. By including an entertaining aspect in his performance of this age old ritual, the dalang incorporates the energy of the festival that is going on around the performance, and he ensures that the religious content that is contained in his performance is retained by the audience.

Assignment 2


 * 1) In the play, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”, racism is presented in two contrasting ways, which are shown to the audience via events that happen to Jeremy and Herald Loomis. We see the racism as both a force of change and as an ever present, yet ineffectual, cloud that hangs over the community. We first encounter an example racism in the play when Jeremy talks about a guitar contest that he competed in. In the contest, Jeremy obviously outperforms the other competitor, yet the white judge says that he cannot determine who won the contest. Jeremy attributes the judgment to the racism of the judge, and decides to stop competing in guitar contests, because he believes he will never win one. Later in the play, we see Jeremy flee from racism yet again, but Jeremy is mostly unchanged by this second encounter with racism in the play. The racism in question occurs while Jeremy is a work. A white manager goes to all the African-American workers at the site and demands that they all give him 50 cents or else they will lose their jobs. All of the workers comply with the demand, except Jeremy, who is quickly fired. Upon returning to the boarding house, Jeremy tells Seth about what happened, and Seth calls Jeremy foolish. Seth points out that Jeremy still could have made an acceptable amount of money working on the road, even if he did give the man 50 cents a week. The mindset that Seth displays here is an example of the accepting attitude that many people in this time period had formed regarding racism. Seth believes that one should tolerate the racism and try to do what is best for oneself. Jeremy, on the other hand, just tries to remove himself from the racism that he encounters. He is fleeing the South to escape racism, he avoids guitar competitions so he does not have to encounter racism, and now, he has quit his job just so that he can avoid racism. After this second encounter with racism, Jeremy begins to display an attitude which indicates that he will no longer tolerate the racism that he has to face so often. This change in Jeremy highlights to the audience the difference in the way the other characters treat racism. The other characters are passive towards racism and are unchanged by its effects, which is what allows them to go about their daily lives while being subjected to suck unfair treatment. On the other hand, the disastrous effects of racism can be seen in Herald Loomis. When he was captured by Joe Turner, Loomis’ life was filled with nothing but racism for seven years, which proved to be disastrous to him. After his captivity, Loomis’ emerged as a changed man. Loomis felt lost in this world and began to search for his wife, which represents his desire to return to his previous life. With Herald Loomis, Wilson presents the audience with a grave example of what can happen if one’s life is nothing but racism day in and day out The minor change we see happen to Jeremy over the course of the play and the drastic impact that we see on Loomis allows us to understand that racism can have a drastic effect on the people that it touches. Racism can cause a young man who is full of life to simply walk away with his tail between his legs, and it can cause a man to lose the only sense of identity he’s ever had. However, we can also see in the play that many people at this time just accepted the racism they faced and tried to make the best they could out of life, which we can see in the reactions of the other characters in the play, especially Seth, to the racism that Jeremy faces.

Henry V Comparison

By virtue of a director's role in the production of a play, they have significant power over how the play is presented to the audience. They can emphasize certain moments, while entirely removing others, in order to create a certain tone or emphasize a particular motif which the director finds important. The director also takes into account the social climate of the time that the production takes place during to assist in making their decision on how to present the work to the audience. The contrasts between 2 film productions of //Henry V//, one directed by Laurence Olivier and the other directed by Kenneth Branagh, provide us with many examples of how a director can greatly influence the way in which a work is presented to the audience.

Olivier's production of the work is a highly stylized one. The sky is a bright, vibrant blue and the grass is a glowing green. The French and English armies are gathering on this beautiful day in camps that have an air of celebration about them. This jovial tone is particularly evident in the French camp. Olivier chose to depict the French army in an almost comical light. They are shown laughing and celebrating on the eve of battle. They are even shown using some strange and convoluted contraption to lower themselves onto their horses, which adds to the audience's sense that the French are not taking the upcoming battle seriously. Olivier contrasts this with the serious and business like way in which the British are depicted. There is no celebrating in the British camp. Instead, their leader rallies his troops and gives a speech in order to rally his troops against the overwhelming odds that they are going to face in the battle. Overall, Olivier's production is light-hearted. His depiction of the idyllic English country side and the French army almost cause the audience to forget that the production is about war. This presentation of the work makes sense when you consider that Olivier's film was made in 1944, during the peak of WWII. Olivier most likely took a light-hearted, stylized approach to the play because he knew that Britain was war weary at the time, so he wanted to create a film that would take their mind off of the current war, while still presenting a story about England prevailing against overwhelming odds. Branagh's production of the play paints a more grim picture for the audience. The sky is a dull grey and the ground is a muddy mess. The English troops are depicted in a more realistic way. They are covered in dirt and grime, sport unkempt beards, and appear to be a rag-tag group as a whole. The jovial tone that is present in Olivier's production is completely absent here, and instead, both the British and French camps are cast in a somber light. Branagh does not attempt to romanticize the conflict that is about to take place, instead he presents war as a dirty and horrible affair. By presenting the work in this way, Branagh may be making some of his own opinions about war known to the audience. Branagh has the freedom to make his opinions known because there was not a specter hanging over British society when he made this movie, unlike WWII and Olivier's production.