Show and Tell (checkpoint 2)

I've chosen to do my show and tell on a play call Extensions. This play was actually written and directed by a friend of mine named India Hawkins-Ross and I was very proud to be able to get my hands on her script. Extensions ventures through the lives of a group of women who share their stories, experiences, and different "extensions" of themselves. The play expands on how as a woman our hair is a direct extension of who we are. We can cut, curl, wash, and color our hair to express our moods and situations. I thought the entire idea beyond the play was pretty creative. I myself am afraid to take an exaggerated plunge by drastically cutting or coloring my hair, but I do feel more stressed when my hair needs to be washed. I feel as though I am carrying all of the stress and strain of the week in my head. Once I wash my hair I always feel as though a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I feel refreshed. Extensions was a play that enjoyed reading and watching develop into a stage production. It is definitely one I feel that most women (and maybe some men) could identify with.

Buried Child by Sam Shepard

Sam Shepard's Buried Child is very....different. When I first read it I believed that it was realism. The script holds many "realistic" qualities as a real family (and by real I mean not the cast of a play) could live on a dried up farm and be dealing with the failures and dysfunctions of the loss of a child, the infidelity of a wife, and an incestrial (if that's a word) family secret. However, the individual events that take place inside the script are out of the norm and strip the play of its realism. Events such as Tilden miraculously picking corn from the 12 year barren field, Bradley awkwardly sticking his fingers in Shelly's mouth. Father Dewis (a Protestant minister) openly dating Halie (who is married), and of course Dodge's sudden death that the family handles quite casually. The entire world of the play for me personally was quite weird and eerie. Yes, most of those events and situations are indeed possible, but they are highly improbable. I found that the play was very surreal and I am not  quite sure exactly how to define it. It is not quite a play of black-and-white, truth-and-deception realities, nor is it a well-made play. I believe it is something else. As soon as I figure out what that something else is I will get back to you! 

Noises Off by Michael Frayn

To write about miscommunications and miscues would have made this job soooo much easier. However, I think a good motif for Noises Off would be BEHIND JAMMED DOORS. I say "jammed doors" not only because the doors literally gets jammed, but the fumbling cast continually gets jammed throughout their rehearsals due to stuck doors, dropped lines, and forgetting key props. The "behind jammed doors" is because we are literally getting a behind the scenes look on the rehearsal process of these struggling actors. Also, because each time the cast is in a jam they fall more and more behind leaving them in an even bigger jam because the show opens tomorrow!

Glass of Water by Augustin-Eugene Scribe

In Eugene Scribe's work Glass of Water, it is very easy to argue that any of his central characters can act as the play's protagonist. But if I had to choose one specific character to deem as the  protagonists of the play I would choose Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke's overall goal is to keep his country protected while working towards its improvements. Despite being forced from his position and thought of as lesser than by the other monarchs , Bolingbroke treks on towards what he truly believes in. I think that it is these underdog-like qualities that Scribe uses to persuade the audience to root for Bolingbroke. I guess you can say that Bolingbroke carries the plot from one point to the next in effort to obtain his goals. Without him in the play would most (if any) of the events that take place even occur? Although both the Queen and Abigail get a considerable amount of stage time, Bolingbroke is the character whose "struggles are most central to the plot" and are what I believe drives the play forward.

Trifles by Susan Glaspell

If Trifles by Susan Glaspell was proposed to be mounted as an LSU lab show, but with a very minimalist design, it may actually add creative freedom to each individual audience member. I think that without definite colors, styles, patterns, etc. to the set and costumes the production will be more "abstract" (as used in the prompt) and relieve the show of boundaries.

I think it is easier to visualize and still enjoy a stripped down show as someone like myself who has never seen a live production of Trifles, but have only read the script and imagined it. Much easier than someone who has sat in the audience of a fully mounted naturalistic production. A show with an "empty" set will indeed leave the audience to concentrate on the acting, language, and emotion.

I think that a production of Trifles with no physical and visible props can enhance the idea that only Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters can see the clues and link the crime to Mrs. Wright. However, for some audience members it would make it difficult to understand and to stay engaged in a show with such circumstances.

Overtones by Alice Gerstenberg

As a first time reader of Overtones, I was very pleased with the script. Alice Gerstenberg has made her way onto my list of loved playwrights. With the characters of Harriet and Margaret, and their primitive selves Hetty and Maggie, Gerstenberg definitely broke the rules or conventions of the normal (for lack of better words). Gerstenberg uses Hetty and Maggie (Harriet and Margaret's conscience) to own a physical body that can not only be heard, but seen by the audience. I think this was a brilliant move as it allowed us as an audience to better comprehend their relationship and inner struggles. If, when, where, and by whom a character can be seen/heard relies heavily on the text, costume choices, and stage directions. The text and conversations show the direct relationship between the physical and conscience selves of each character. One who is privileged to read the play can see "cultured woman" and "primitive self" indicating the difference between the two. However, and audience who cannot read the play but may perhaps be watching a production of Overtones are introduced to the relationship by the opening of Act I as Hetty says, "Harriet. Harriet, my other self. My trained self." This also applies with the costuming linking the cultured self to the primitive self.

The relationship between Harriet and Hetty (and Margaret and Maggie), because it is a conscience self, can only be heard. Harriet and Hetty can hear each other, but cannot see or touch one another. Nor can the primitive selves of Hetty and Maggie see, touch, or hear each other, but can only communicate through their cultured selves of Harriet and Margaret. There are very few moments where this created boundaries seem to be breached and it is questioned if Hetty and Maggie can actually hear each other, or that their conscience mines are only assuming the true reactions beyond what their cultured selves are trying to portray.

I thoroughly enjoyed this play.