Question #1

1.    Select a passage from a novel you have chosen to study where the appearance of a character in a specific setting raises unsettling questions for the reader. Outline how you would stage this appearance and setting for an audience, paying particular attention to elements of intrigue and/or surprise.

 

One passage from the book My Love My Love or the Peasant Girl, that shows a good example of when the appearance of a character in a specific setting raises unsettling questions for the reader when Papa Ge takes over the body of Lucifus. I would do many things to stage this appearance and setting for the audience. For the appearances I would start with Lucifus. Papa Ge has taken over his body so his eyes would be red. He would be wearing a trench coat and he would have a cigar in his mouth so that the audience would recognize him as papa ge. He would wear a black shirt and black jeans to resemble Papa Ge but he would not wear a robe the way that Papa Ge would is his own form. Lucifus would also have on black boots to complete his costume. For his appearance he would have a beard and he would have to be tall and strong so that it would be believeable for Desiree to be afraid of him. His preseance on the stage would be very strong and the audience would feel it as soon as he entered because of his size and his costume. His character is meant to be intimidating. 

Desiree's appearance is very important in this scene because she is so beautiful that Lucifus would not touch her. So for this scene she would be wearing a white gown and her hair would be nice and she would look very pretty. Her facial expressions would have to be very good because she is deathly afraid of Papa Ge. She might scream when she sees him because he is trying to attack her. There is no dialogue in this passage of the book so the actors would have to do a good job of stage directions, facial expressions and silent communication so that the audience will understand. 

The way that I would stage this is Desiree would be running around in the garden and pool trying to find a butterfly. Then the lights would dim and Lucifus would enter onto the stage. Desiree would be facing the audience while he walked up behind her. In the scene I would add some sound such as a drumb beat every time the Lucifus walked closer to Desiree. I think that he should walk slowly behind her so that the audience gets more time to understand who it is that is on the stage with Desiree. This should get the audience interested into whats about to happen. Some questions that I think this would raise are, is Desiree going to die now? Is Papa Ge here for her soul because she said that she would give it up for Daniel? 

This scene is so important in the book because it shows that Papa Ge can find her and get her at anytime in any place. This should let the audience know that Papa Ge is going to get his promise no matter what. The keys to raising these questions in the audience's head are the lighting and the sound. These are two elements that create a feeling. If the lights dim, the audience should get that feeling of what is going to happen. The music should let them know for sure that something bad will happen. These are some of the thingd that I would do to stage this appearance in a play.