The play that I viewed was called Les Miserables. I saw the play on the 24th in the black box theatre. I really enjoyed the play and noticed a lot of the themes presented by the actors. I enjoyed the music and the singing and I felt like the main characters did an excellent job with their parts.
The plot of this play starts out with the main character named Jean Valjean. He is in a prison camp and is basically a slave. What happened is he is able to go on paroll. When he went to the city he ended up staying a a priest house. He stole some of the silver and was caught by a briars and was going to send him back to the prison camp, but the priest lies for him so that he can be free. The priest instructs Jean Valjean to use the silver to help him start his life again. The next scene we fast forward about 10 years and the scene is about a woman named Fantine. She is a single mother with a child who is sick named Cossette. She struggles to pay the bills and gets fired. Later, she is close to dying and she asks Jean Valjean to take care to Cossette. Meanwhile, he has turned himself in to Javert who has been hunting him for the last ten years. Valjean is the mayor of the town and everyone likes him. He takes care of Cossette and gives her to a family who treats her very poorly. Years after that he finds Cossette and takes her away from the family who he gave her to. Cossette goes and lives with Valjean and they go back on the run from Javert. Later in the play Javert is still hunting Valjean. He is determined to find him and take him back to prison. Cossette is now older and Valjean is getting older and tired. They want to stop running away and Cossette falls in love with Marious who is apart of this revolution against the government. Valjean helps the revolution while Javert tries to betray them. They want to kill him and Valjean asks that he is allowed to deal with Javert. He had the opportunity to kill Javert but instead lets him free. Javert wonders why he does this. Later Valjean finds out about Cossette being in love with Marious. He prays to God that Marious is kept safe during the fight. As the battle begins, Marious is shot and Valjean takes him a way from the fight and saves his life. Along the way he comes across Javert. He wants to arrest Valjean but somehow he lets him go because Marious was dying at the time. At this point, Javert has a reality check with himself and realizes that Valjean is not a bad person but that he is like a saint. Javert feels so upset that he kills himself. Later in the play Valjean wants to leave Cossette and let her live her life happily with Marious and he wants to tell her the truth about how he went to prison and his whole life story. So he writes it down on paper and gives it to Cossette so that she knows the truth about Valjean. Cossette and Marious get married and they return to see Valjean. At this point Valjean is ready to leave and he dies shortly after he gives Cossette the story. This is how the play ends.
One of the themes that I felt was present all the time was that people make mistakes but that is not what defines them. Valjean shows this them throughout the play. In the beggining of the play we see a criminal and by the end we see an honestly all around great person. Valjean made a mistake early in his life and he learned that it was wrong. So what he did was he picked himself up and changed his personality and his values and became a great person.
My favorite actor in the play was the person who played Jean Valjean. She did a great job of shows emotion and I could tell that she knew her part very well. I thought she was the best actor in the show.
She was able to show all of the emotions that I imagined in my head. In the last scene was Valjean dies it was so dramatic and very serious and I was in the moment the entire time because of the music and the acting skills. The only thing that kept this from me thinking that it was real life was that it was singing instead of regular talking. Otherwise I could have thought that this actually happened.
Overall I really enjoyed the play and I would definately see it again. The actors did a great job and the stage crew, the director and the musicians. This was one of the best plays I have ever seen.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Monday, February 26, 2018
800-1000 Word First Draft
The Glass Menagerie is a play that is about a very poor disfunctional family that lives in St. Louis. The three characters are Amanda who is the mother, Tom who is the son and Laura who is the daughter. They all live together and Tom is the one who works to pay the bills for the family. Tom is 22 years old and is works in a shoe factory. He has dreams of being a writer but is stopped by his mother Amanda.
Tom is a very angry person. One moment he is quiet and minding his own business and then the next moment he is yelling. This is for good reason though because Amanda is always telling him what to do. For instance, in the scene we performed, Tom had just arrived at home from his job and sat down and started eating. Amanda notices and starts to tell Tom how to eat his food in great detail. This always makes Tom mad enough to where he has to leave the room and get a cigarette. His feeling towards Amanda is very negative. Because she constantly disturbes him, Tom has an extreme motivation to leave the house and let Amanda and Laura live on their own which is nods up happening at the end of the book. When I was playing Toms character I felt the anger he was feeling in the book. Playing his role really helped me to understand how angry he was because I needed to understand when to raise my voice. Tom feels trapped and the only thing that calms him down is smoking and drinking.
One of the only reasons that Tom stays is because of Laura. Toms stays because he knows that Laura would have nothing if he left because she is so afraid to do anything accept play with her glass menagerie. She does not have any life skills to use and Amanda allows her to not do anything. However, by the end of the book, Tom is so fed up with how Amanda treats him, that he leaves anyway.
In my performance we acted out a combination of the first scene and the arguement between Tom and Amanda when he goes to the movies. We also included some of the beggining of Toms monologue. In the monologue I was talking very slowly and very sad. The monologue was to show that Tom is all on his own in the world. In the monologue, I felt like Tom was upset with himself because he left, but then he remembers all that had happened to him when he was living with Amanda and he then remembers why he did leave. In our performance, Tom entered into the scene from the bridge. We did this because we wanted to show Tom entering into his own memories. After the first scene that we performed, Tom exited out of the scene through the bridge.
There were two monologues that we did in our performamce. The first one was for Tom and the second one was for Laura. We did this because Laura did not have very many lines but also because we wanted to show the audience what Laura thinks about when Tom and Amanda are fighting. Tom and Amanda froze and the spotlight was on Laura and she started to talk about her glass animals. This is important for Laura because she always keeps her feelings to herself and does not like to talk to other people at all. When Tom and Amanda are fighting, this is what Laura thinks about because she cannot deal with all of the arguing.
Our second part of the performance was the climax of what we performed. It was the breaking point for Tom. This was our way of showing that Tom left them for good. In the beginning of this scene, Tom is minding his own business and writing. Laura tells Amanda that Tom is trying to write and so instead of leaving him alone, Amanda starts to bother him by telling him to turn the lights on and to sit up. She does not understand that Tom wants to be on his own and he gets very angry very quickly. Amanda treats Tom like he is a child even though he pays for the house and he does everything for both Amanda and Laura. She does not own a single thing in the house yet she refers to the house as her own and Tom raises a valid point when he asks her "who pays the rent on the house?"
This house is very dysfunctional and Tom gets so sick of the same thing every day that he leaves at the end of the book and does not care what happens to Laura or Amanda.
One of the only reasons that Tom stays is because of Laura. Toms stays because he knows that Laura would have nothing if he left because she is so afraid to do anything accept play with her glass menagerie. She does not have any life skills to use and Amanda allows her to not do anything. However, by the end of the book, Tom is so fed up with how Amanda treats him, that he leaves anyway.
In my performance we acted out a combination of the first scene and the arguement between Tom and Amanda when he goes to the movies. We also included some of the beggining of Toms monologue. In the monologue I was talking very slowly and very sad. The monologue was to show that Tom is all on his own in the world. In the monologue, I felt like Tom was upset with himself because he left, but then he remembers all that had happened to him when he was living with Amanda and he then remembers why he did leave. In our performance, Tom entered into the scene from the bridge. We did this because we wanted to show Tom entering into his own memories. After the first scene that we performed, Tom exited out of the scene through the bridge.
There were two monologues that we did in our performamce. The first one was for Tom and the second one was for Laura. We did this because Laura did not have very many lines but also because we wanted to show the audience what Laura thinks about when Tom and Amanda are fighting. Tom and Amanda froze and the spotlight was on Laura and she started to talk about her glass animals. This is important for Laura because she always keeps her feelings to herself and does not like to talk to other people at all. When Tom and Amanda are fighting, this is what Laura thinks about because she cannot deal with all of the arguing.
Our second part of the performance was the climax of what we performed. It was the breaking point for Tom. This was our way of showing that Tom left them for good. In the beginning of this scene, Tom is minding his own business and writing. Laura tells Amanda that Tom is trying to write and so instead of leaving him alone, Amanda starts to bother him by telling him to turn the lights on and to sit up. She does not understand that Tom wants to be on his own and he gets very angry very quickly. Amanda treats Tom like he is a child even though he pays for the house and he does everything for both Amanda and Laura. She does not own a single thing in the house yet she refers to the house as her own and Tom raises a valid point when he asks her "who pays the rent on the house?"
This house is very dysfunctional and Tom gets so sick of the same thing every day that he leaves at the end of the book and does not care what happens to Laura or Amanda.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Essay Outline
• In my paper I will write about how angry Tom is because of the way his life is going. This drives his motivation to leave.
• I will also talk about the feelings toward Amanda that Tom has.
• I will do the same for Laura because that is one of the only people that keeps Tom around.
• I will talk about the amount of practice and preparation for the scene.
• I will discuss Toms character a lot because that is who I played.
• I will also talk about what changes we made to the script and actions.
Tom is very angry with his life and it is very evident in the script. He gets mad very easily because he feels stuck in a life of mediocrity.
Amanda is forcing him to stay because they need money and a house and food. So Tom is their only support.
Laura does not know what to think because she lives in her own world.
• I will also talk about the feelings toward Amanda that Tom has.
• I will do the same for Laura because that is one of the only people that keeps Tom around.
• I will talk about the amount of practice and preparation for the scene.
• I will discuss Toms character a lot because that is who I played.
• I will also talk about what changes we made to the script and actions.
Tom is very angry with his life and it is very evident in the script. He gets mad very easily because he feels stuck in a life of mediocrity.
Amanda is forcing him to stay because they need money and a house and food. So Tom is their only support.
Laura does not know what to think because she lives in her own world.
Monday, February 5, 2018
Peer Refloction for Performamce
I received a lot of good feed back from my peers in class who watched our performance. They were a very good audience I learned a lot about what I needed to do, to execute a better performance. One of the big things that people said was that I was talking too fast for people to understand very well. This is important for me to work on so that I can make sure to connect with the audience. My goal is to help the audience understand Tom for how he feels, what his daily life is like, what his goals are and what he thinks about the situation that he is in. It is important to understand this because if helps me and the audience to have a well rounded opinion about what they think about Tom. I have done a few things to work on this. One thing was just practicing my lines in a slower manner. It is hard to speak slowly so I have to work on that extra hard. Sometimes I tend to mumble when I have to say a lot of words. This is a problem that I need to fix for my performance so it does not affect my grade or my groups grade. I am also going to start working harder at memorizing my lines so that I do not have to read out of the book. This will help my overall performance because I can focus o my actions and feeling rather than the line that I have to find in the book to read. I have been working on me origins them this past weekend to know them better. Hopefully working on both of these things will help my performance be better and ready for the final performance do the IB.
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Presentations of Famous Acting Theorists
This week I learned a lot about the acting theories from many different people. These techniques have helped me very much in understanding how to act, how to perform on stage and many other acting skills. I studied Sanford Meisner and I learned a lot from his theories on how to act. I learned that good acting comes from the heart. In my group performance I need to make sure that I always act myself and make sure that I make the lines my own because it is my interpretation of how the character acts. I also learned from other presentations on how to act to where the audience is engaged. I learned that I need to ask what the audience is going to do after I perform. I also learned that before I am about to act sad, happy or mad, I need to think about a time when I was one of those emotions and then transfer that to the stage. There was also a theorists however, that contrasted this by saying that actors don't have to think back to a personal experience, but that they can imagine what it would look like to be one of those emotions. I learned that on stage I need to listen and react to my parter. I need to focus on what my motivation is for the scene and I need to make sure that I always focus on my partner. I also learned about a lot of warm up techniques that can help with communication through movements like the one where you are not allowed to talk but you have to communicate what you are saying through body movements only. A lot of these techniques and a lot of the theorists ideas were based off of Stanislavski's ideas. I think that this will help our group because I need to be able to feel the character in my own way and I need to be mad when I think the character is mad or annoyed. I feel like Helen will be able to use the exercises that we learned to act the way Amanda would, which would be to act annoying. Leslie will be able to use the exercise where there is no talking because Laura does not talk a lot in the scene but there is a lot of body movements that must happen and Leslie will need to be able to communicate her emotions and feelings without talking very much. She needs to be awkward and almost lost in the conversation and in the environment that she is in.We all need to be able to listen and respond to each other on stage because that is a very important part of any performance. We also have to look at the perspective of the audience because that is ultimately the people that we are trying to entertain. So it is important to think about how the audience views each of our characters. If we are trying to portray Tom as angry we need to make sure that the audience understands that we are trying to show that. I feel like all of the things I learned this week will help me to perform well in the upcoming performance in our group.
Friday, January 12, 2018
The Glass Menagerie Proposal
Scene proposals due by midnight. Discuss the scene, why it interests you, what character you'll play & why (& how it will challenge you as an actor), the importance of this scene in play & what literary analysis you hope to explore
The scene that I am interested in performing is the first dinner scene. I will play the character of Tom. I picked that role because I feel like I can play his personality well. In the book, Tom wants to live his dream of becoming a writer but because his father left and Laura and Amanda do not work, Tom has to stay and works at a shoe warehouse. I think that it will challenge me to be Toms character because I have to be upset the whole time that the scene goes on because Amanda is bothering him. I also am going to be challenged with memorizing the amount of lines that Tom has with his monologue and in the actual dinner. Another thing that I might struggle with is that the scene has to be shot with no cuts or editing. Usually in my other projects we ended up filming and editing the video cause of mistakes that were made by either me or another group members. This project does not allow that so I will have to make sure that my lines are memorized and that I act the way that I want to. The importance of this scene in the play is that it is the start of the book so it gives the audience a chance to see how the family lives their daily life. Tom and Amanda are always arguing with each other and Laura stands by not knowing what to think about the situation because she is off in the head. I hope to explore the frustrations that Tom experiences with his family. I want to understand how fustrating it is to not be able to live his dream. Tom is a very important character in this book and it is important to understand his role.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
The Glass menagerie Ideas
I would like to play Tom to show how he wants out of the life he is living and live his dream.
1.) Dinner scene
2.) Ending fight between Tom and Amanda
I chose these scenes because they are key parts to the plot of the story. The dinner scene is very important in the play because Amanda tries to make Jim think that they have a good life. Laura is not able to go to the table because she feels sick because Jim is there, so Amanda really tries to impress Jim by having Tom say grace at the table. This is something that Tom doesn't normally do which is why he was surprised when she was asked. The ending fight between Tom and Amanda is very important because it is the climax of the story. Amanda figures out that Jim is engaged to a girl named Betty, which makes her very upset at Tom because she believes that he should know that his best friend was engaged. Amanda starts to shout at Tom and they argue to the point of Tom leaving for good.
1:06:00-1:13:00
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kzZ_HYi7Mug
1:36:00-1:38:10
1:18:50-1:25:00
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nDPMBDiwL0M
1.) Dinner scene
2.) Ending fight between Tom and Amanda
I chose these scenes because they are key parts to the plot of the story. The dinner scene is very important in the play because Amanda tries to make Jim think that they have a good life. Laura is not able to go to the table because she feels sick because Jim is there, so Amanda really tries to impress Jim by having Tom say grace at the table. This is something that Tom doesn't normally do which is why he was surprised when she was asked. The ending fight between Tom and Amanda is very important because it is the climax of the story. Amanda figures out that Jim is engaged to a girl named Betty, which makes her very upset at Tom because she believes that he should know that his best friend was engaged. Amanda starts to shout at Tom and they argue to the point of Tom leaving for good.
1:06:00-1:13:00
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kzZ_HYi7Mug
1:36:00-1:38:10
1:18:50-1:25:00
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nDPMBDiwL0M
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