HJLExtremities

__Extremities Questions__

1. If you had to take credit for having designed one of these posters, write a defense for your work and argue how it would attract an audience to the play and help that audience to understand what kind of play they are likely to see. Be sure to refer to the number of the poster as well as it's content when making your argument.

If I were to have designed any of the posters given, I would most certainly have created poster number three. It brilliantly induces fear and curiosity at first glance, with its penetrating, fearful eyes gazing out. The use of the color red pulls the viewer in, as well as adding to the sense of urgency and fear. Red is used for emergencies – emergency vehicles, exit signs, fire alarms, stop lights – and hints at the state of emergency within //Extremities.// The eyes appear to be bloodshot, suggesting stress or lack of sleep; both of which demonstrate the anxiety and craziness with which the play is filled. Also, due to the red and white, the black title of //Extremities// stands out as a dark sign of what is to come, giving appropriate foreshadowing to the piece. After the viewer's eyes wander down the poster, they come to an appropriate warning of “mature content discretion advised.” I believe it is important to place this somewhere on the poster in order to give the audience a fuller picture and better expectations of the play they are about to attend. Not only this, but those few words also give the face, eyes, and red of the poster a more serious and disturbing appearance, revealing even more of the play. It is also appropriate that //Extremities// is being performed within “The Dungeon.” This location's name ties in well with the themes of captivity and darkness within the piece, and it is well placed on the poster. Overall, if it is possible for a poster to reveal so much of a piece and represent the mood and ambience as well as this, it is only natural to use it to advertise to the masses.

2. Discuss some of the other ways you could use to help educate the audience about the work, above and beyond the performance of the play?

In order to further the general knowledge of the play, it could be helpful in order to increase the number and type of advertisements. The public pays much more attention to the media in advertisements than many people believe, and increasing advertisements could be a wonderful way to educate potential audience members about the piece. One could reveal more about the piece than the previous poster did if necessary by giving short descriptions to tease the audience. A website could be formed if the public wants to research more information on //Extremities// and how it will be performed. Just aiming to address these two issues could increase one's potential audience exponentially, as well as educate the general public about //Extremities//.