The Adding Machine

Prompt: Identify three techniques or strategies of expressionist theater in The Adding Machine and supplemented by images of expressionist theater.

   Many of the new techniques that came about in theater in the 20th century were implemented by Elmer Rice in The Adding Machine. Rice created distorted images and scenes throughout his piece to convey his story of Zero's life. Additionally, station-to-station storytelling was used, along with other abstract expressionist techniques.

Expressionist art...a classic example by Edvard Munch (1893) The Scream

    By illustrating several abstract and subject states throughout Zero's journey, Rice was able to present his character in an emotional and open-to-interpretation method. For example, Rice would use station to station storytelling by talking about Zero's life at home, work, prison, the trial and even after his death. Abstract and subjective scenes were incorporated in the scene at work; additionally, he creates dreamlike scenes in prison, the graveyard and in heaven. By illustrating so many unrealistic scenes, Rice forces the reader to interpret Zero's story and struggle from a different perspective which focuses on emotion. 

I thought the real life performances of this play were slightly creepy...

    Other techniques used by Rice in The Adding Machine  were split monologues in which a character would go on for lengthy conversations with themselves in the presence of another character. An example for this type of dialogue was in the work scene and an example of a lengthy internal conversation was at the dinner and trial scene. Rice's distorted and radical storytelling is a reflection on Zero's life: the man killed his boss out of rage because he was being replaced by an 'adding machine'. This machine, which would now calculate numbers instead of the accountant, also sort of represents the distorted and unrealistic way in which this story was told. 

A representation of Zero in a play...the abstract background gives off a dreamlike (more like a nightmare) image

    The ending to The Adding Machine portrays humans in a negative light; society is portrayed as being corrupted by machines and technology while humans are slowly losing their grip on morality. The play/plot leaves the audience/reader hanging with a sick feeling in their stomach which forces them to question some of the things they do in their own lives, a sort of catharsis. I enjoyed this story because it was dark and a psychological thriller in which Elmer Rice used a wide variety of unorthodox techniques to convey a deep and real message. 

http://seattlest.com/2008/12/04/get_out_the_adding_machine_act_thea.php

2nd Creative Group Project- Ballet

Prompt: Explain your contribution to the second creative group project. What role or roles did you play in the project? What did you learn from the project? How did you learn from others in the project?

    I would like to start this blog by saying that I am glad we chose Ballet as our creative topic. I would never have thought that I would have found this topic interesting, mainly because of the social barriers that a feminine dance such as ballet presents.
    My role to this group project was to teach the class about ballet choreography and organization. Choreography is a pretty broad term because it encompasses the acts of teaching dance, designing dance and practicing dance. The subject of organization ties into the subject of choreography because of how a ballet company is organized in a specific way to distribute the tasks of teaching ballet.

Members of a ballet company including men and women

    I learned quite a bit from this project. I reaffirmed by belief that art is very flexible in its definition and can be pretty much anything that is appealing to the senses of sight or hearing. After discovering that Disney productions such as Cinderella were originally ballet performances, I began to appreciate different forms of theater even more. As I may have mentioned in an earlier blog, I was not extremely interested in theater when I first signed up for this class. Watching plays such as Loose Knit and researching facts about ballet has opened my eyes to things that I was previously oblivious to. 

A ballet performance of Cinderella in Pennsylvania

    My group members also had a good contribution to this project. Not much could have happened if it wasn't for their work. As you already may know, meeting up to complete group projects in college is difficult because of the task of finding the same holes in people's schedules. Finding mutual time was difficult but we all did our best to make sure the class got an idea of what ballet is all about. Ballet might be one of those topics which comes off as something it is not. I had a preconceived notion of ballet as a super feministic form of dance....but I soon found out I was wrong once I realized that it requires a tremendous amount of physical balance, discipline and strength.

A male ballet dance, also known as a ballerino

    Overall, I enjoyed this creative group project. I learned a lot more than just choreography of ballet or organization of ballet. 

http://streettalkin.com/cinderella-pennsylvania-ballet/

Wild Duck

1) Choose a character from The Wild Duck. Assume you are performing this character in a production of the play. Apply Stanislavsky's theory of acting to your performance of the role. Identify a quality or experience unique to the character. How do you represent that quality, that feature of the character that motivates the character's actions or way of responding to his or her situation? You apply "emotional memory." You identify in yourself some experience in your life that resembles that of the character and you build the character's emotional life around your ability to recall your own similar emotional experience. You expand your capacity to empathize with the character you are playing. So: identify a character, identify a scene or moment in the play that reveals a quality peculiar to the character, and then identify a experience in your own life that clarifies for you how to play the role.

     Gregers Werle is arguably one of the most important characters in Wild Duck. One of the qualities that he possesses, is his idealistic morals and ways of interacting with other characters in the story. Being an idealistic person carries the connotation of being kind, just, and a seeker of the truth. Having to act as this character in a play would require a calm and composed personality along with characteristics of kindness and enthusiasm.

Gregers in a scene from a movie enactment of Wild Duck

    I can say from personal experience, that my family is extremely important to me. For a good majority of my life, I have lived solely with my mother, father and my only brother. Although my brother has had rifts with my parents and tried to leave home, I have never come to that point of wanting to not live with my family. Therefore, if I were to put myself in Gregers' position, I would perform with emotions of humility upon my return to my father's home. The fact that it was a self-imposed exile, as opposed to his family banishing him, forces Gregers to swallow his pride.
   
    As mentioned in the previous paragraph, I have never had to return to my family after leaving home, but I have had to deal with compromises with my parents. I have also had to deal with conflicts and differences that we had in order to make sure we could move forward on good terms. Usually, when I am in this sort of position, I am for the most part obedient. Authority figures do not intimidate me, but I definitely respect their approach and understand the way in which I am allowed to treat them. This is the reason that I would have to play Gregers' role, with an element of humility and respectfulness.

Gregers appears as a person who attracts the respect and acceptance of low class people. His character as an idealistic person appeals to my persona

    
   Stanislavsky's theory of acting is an encouragement to use your personal experiences in the way you portray a character. For example, someone who plays as Jack in Titanic, would have to carry himself the same way he did when he was in love with a woman from his own life. Using this approach, I would play as Gregers by remembering all the times I had to make up to an upset girlfriend, or appease a disappointed mother, or make amends with an angry best friend.

   I have been involved in spoken word poems. I have also done comedy stand ups. However, I have never taken, or even considered, the opportunity to embody myself into a fictional character and play as their role. This is something that sounds interesting to me, and because of my involvement in TA-10, I may take on the theatrical  role as kind and good hearted man.


http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=114743

Loose Knit

Prompt: How did you respond to Theresa Rebeck's play Loose Knit? What moment in the play did you like the best and why? How would you describe your attitude or feeling toward Rebeck's representation or sexual relation and marriage? What scene or moment in the play was least satisfying or troublesome for you and why? You should include images of Loose Knit or of Rebeck's or of the figures or situations similar to the themes of the play. Don't forget to embed link. 

    I was required to go see a play for Loose Knit for my TA-10 class. Although viewing theatrical performances isn't something that I have been into, I can definitely appreciate a good play. I enjoy stories that focus on human interaction and relationships since I am personally and naturally a people person. 

A cover which illustrates the knitting that the characters practiced in this story

    The first play I saw for this class, To Kill a Mockingbird, was free but this time I had to pay $10, which sort of bummed me out. Nevertheless, I will say that Loose Knit was quite enjoyable; the humor that the cast actors employed in their performances was a great addition to this play. 

    A young and talented cast for Loose Knit at Wagner College

    My favorite moment from this play was also the scene in which Rebeck conveys her message on marriage and sexual relationships. The message that she conveyed suggested that perhaps marriage and committed relationships aren't necessary in this world. Surprisingly, I can relate to this idea because I have always seen relationships in one light: they always end. Although a fair share of couples end up to be life-time lovers, the majority of committed end in a break up. Additionally, this scene included Miles and Bob conversing about how relationships heavily depend on your social status, another idea that I totally agree with.

    Watching this humorous play by Rebeck was extremely relatable to my life. I have built my life around the amazing relationships I have built with my close family members and my friends. A common theme and motif in this adaptation of loose knit was the importance of friends. Commitments and relationships were portrayed in a negative light while fun and 'loose' friendships were championed. This thought and concept raises the question of whether it is even necessary to make relationships a priority in one's life when all you need is friends....

    Loose Knit had me smiling and laughing and thinking about my own life throughout most of the performance; I occasionally found myself assigning characters to people in my life who I felt I had similar relationships with. The cast members were all cool and funny. However, with every great work of art comes a great or minimal amount of flaws and drawbacks. One thing that bothered me about this play was how it was performed at a thrust spacial theater. The benefits of a thrust stage is that you are allowed to be closer to the cast members which makes it much more personal; however, the characters often moved around and faced in different directions which threw me off to a certain extent. This was something that isn't too big of a flaw since it can be changed by relocating the performance to a different arena.

   Overall, I would have to say that watching this play has made me like theater a lot more. A young, energetic and humorous cast group could be a reason as to why, but overall I really enjoyed this adaption of Theresa Rebeck's Loose Knit. 


http://www.wagner.edu/departments/theatre/communitynews/looseknit

To Kill a Mockingbird

Question: I want you to write about To Kill a Mockingbird. Identify a moment in performance that you enjoyed especially. Explain what in the moment of performance caused your enjoyment: the acting, the scene design, the lighting, the costuming, or the movement of the performers. I am asking you to clarify how well you remember a moment of performance and what elements of the moment stay in your mind. Then identify a moment of the performance in which an element of performance was not so successful in pleasing you.

Answer:  On October 11th, I attended the SJSU performance for To Kill a Mockingbird, which was one of the first plays I had seen live in a long time. Overall, the play satisfied my expectations for what I predicted a University performance would be like; several things stood out in my head, both good and bad. When I think about a favorite scene, I automatically think about the fight scene with Bob Ewell, Jim, Scout and the others. Additionally, a moment, or even an element of the play, that I did not enjoy so much, was the lack of a Southern Accent and sound quality within the cast members.

    The fight scene was able to plant a feeling of suspense and thrill in the audience members. The dim light concealed the actors such as Jim, Scout and the raging Bob Ewell just enough to make it hard to see them. Having prior knowledge about the plot of a story can change the experience of witnessing the play version of a book. However, in this specific fight scene at the theater, the dim light, among other elements, added thrill to the play. One thing that was funny and cool to see in live performance of this scene was how Heck Tate, the sheriff, made up a dictionary story to save Boo Radley from punishment after Boo killed Bob Ewell. When summing up my opinion of this scene, I would highlight the acting, usage of theatrical elements such as lighting, and strictness to the plot. 

    An online modified image of Boo Radley, the man who killed Bob Ewell

    There isn't really any scene of the play that I can specifically say I dislike, but I will complain about one lacking element: the sound. In a proscenium theater such as the one we have at San Jose State, sound should be audible than it would be say, an arena theater. What concerned me was that the sound quality at our University Theater was pretty lacking, and to be honest, bad, to a certain extent. It wasn't necessarily something that ruined the play, since I could make out most of the dialogue and narrating, but it could definitely have been better. In my humble opinion, SJSU should improve its theater sound quality; improved acoustics would make our theatrical performances that much more exciting and fun to watch. I currently have my psychology class in this hall and it is a very interesting class but I bet there are students who sit in the back rows who cannot hear so well. This is why I sit right up front every time I go to this class.

Morris Dailey Auditorium, our very own campus theater; in my opinion, this a great theater that stages some great performers. However, sound can be more clear when it travels throughout the auditorium

http://www.helium.com/items/2067193-theatre-types-thrust-stage-theatre-in-the-round-black-box-stage-proscenium-stage

    

Westside Story; Romeo and Juliet

Question: This week's blog entry focuses on the work you are doing for your Creative Project as described in the Guidelines for Creative Projects. For this entry "identify your project, the goal or goals of your project, and what contribution to the project you made. You will explain the significance of your contribution and the significance of the project as a whole. You will also explain the main problems you encountered in doing the project and how you gained some understanding or knowledge from working on the project." 

Response: 

    As a group, we were not very interested in acting out or performing any sort of theatrical play. Instead, we were all looking for a chance to convey as much information possible about a classic production, in this case 'West Side Story'. Additionally, we wanted to compare and contrast this play with Romeo and Juliet. 

    As a member of our group, I decided to contribute to our project by providing background information on the author of the original text, Arthur Laurents. Whereas Shakespeare incorporated elements from Italian culture, Laurents decided to center his book in New York City with significant Puerto Rican influences. Our project is a PowerPoint presentation in which I will contribute slides that convey my research. 

    An example of the original book's cover

    

    Generally, a slide on the author's background, and how it relates to the story as a whole is one that comes first in a presentation. My slides on Laurents' influence are meant to make sure that the audience understands the importance of NYC in 'West Side Story'. My slide pretty much helps explain the meaning behind the title of the book itself; the phrase 'West Side Story' refers to the adaption of Romeo and Juliet,which originated in England, to an American setting. 

    

    Jets vs Sharks, two rival gangs from the plot, in a fight scene from one of movie adaptions of West Side Story

    As with any group project, my partners for this presentation and I encountered some problems along the way. Picking a topic at first seemed like the hardest thing, but we understood the classiness of the Romeo and Juliet play from Europe and wanted to present a more American topic. In High School classes, much of the focus, besides Senior Year, was on European literature. For this reason, picking the topic became easy but meeting up outside of class hours to work on the project was difficult. Half of our group lives on campus while the other half doesn't and many of us go to other cities for the weekends. Regardless, I feel that we managed to overcome these difficulties and I also learned a few things. For example, it was nice to be able to see the transformation of a book from a musical text, to a theatrical play, and finally a movie. Overall, this powerpoint was an opportunity that allowed me to learn about a pretty interesting and cool adaption of Romeo and Juliet.

    

Midsummer Night's Dream

     In Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare puts a great deal of effort into the forest scenes which have been transitioned to the film screen many times, specifically Max Reinhardt's 1935 Hollywood version. The melodies and music of this specific movie help bring out the musical aspect of this play; this aspect of the play cannot be perceived as well when reading the play. Watching the forest scene helps emphasize the importance of the Indian boy, or changeling because of the dramatic entrance that accompanies the boy with the use of musical fairies. Additionally, the dialogue between Oberon and Titania is evident as a conflict when read through the textual writings of the play, despite the fact that I was not sure of why exactly the Indian boy was so sought after. However, after observing the scene in which Oberon and Titania argue amidst the presence of the other characters, it becomes clear why Titania wants the Indian boy to be her attendant so badly. The tone from their dialogue and just having the visual presentation from watching the actual movie helps reveal the truth: that the mother of this Indian boy had died giving birth to him and she was a worshipper of Titania. Therefore, she feels obligated to raise this child. Overall, the musical elements of Reinhardt's interpretation along with the actual dialogue were crucial in helping me understand the issue of why the Indian boy was so valuable.

An artist's representation of the forest outside Athens at nighttime 

http://www.litcharts.com/lit/amidsummernightsdream/act2scene1

English, French and Italian Theater

     During the late 16th and throughout the 17th century, English theater developed significant differences that helped distinguish it from French and Italian theater. English theater was more free from the grasp of tyrannic monarchy, since it became a product of the Reformation. William Shakespeare's literary works of art also contributed to theater with its obvious examples being Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Nights Dream. During the 17th century century, Italian drama was more of a company controlled by the majestic authority of the country, but it also had the aspect of tragedies and comedies. Another difference between French/ Italian and English theater is that the theater of England during this time period was sought after not only in the form of a play, but also in its literary textual form. On the contrary, French and Italian theatrical writings have virtually no popular history while the performances of those writings are extremely famous amongst theater fanatics. Additionally, French theater did not prohibit women from any roles on stage while English theater did, but the separation of Church and theater in England really differed from the way things were ran religiously in France and Italy.

A scene from the Romeo and Juliet movie from the 20th century, perhaps the most famous play ever written

http://www.don-juan.net/english/italie/li17mod03set.htm

    In Euripides ancient play of Medea, a common theme of alienation and vengeance is conveyed. Medea, a barbaric Greek woman, is betrayed by her husband Jason, who abandons her to marry the royal daughter of King Creon. This series of unfortunate events thrusts Medea into a state of deep anger in which she vows to gain revenge. At first, my response to Medea is one of sympathy and sorrow, especially when she pleads with King Creon to give her an extra day of freedom before her exile. Another passage from the play where my feelings towards Medea are those of sympathy is when she offers to help Aegeus, King of Athens with conceiving a child in return for protection. However, these sentiments of sorrow are no longer present in my judgement of Medea when she plots to cleverly kill Jason and his new wife Glauce, along with her very own children. The offer to help Aegeus was merely a sly way of having a safe haven to reside in after she murdered so many people. Ultimately, when she kills Glauce,  Creon and lastly her children, I can only have feelings of disgust for Medea. Her actions are extremely brutal and counterproductive; one can still feel sad for her because, after all, she is still a barbarian women who doesn't know any better and has been the victim to a serious betrayal.
    The ending of Medea escaping to Athens on a chariot pulled by dragons can be interpreted in many ways. I believe that Euripides portrayed the ending in this manner to suggest her might and strength as a Greek woman. Additionally, the dragons represent utmost power and might which can suggest that the actions committed by Jason were unjust and that Medea deserved better. Escaping with the murder of her children can show that even though what she did was an awful deed, she did not bring it upon herself.

Medea

Japanese vs Medieval Theater

    The roots of Japanese and Medieval theater were significantly different; both the Skaldic form of theater and Bugaku attempt to honor and reenact the stories of warriors and heroes. However, the way they go about in portraying these themes is significantly different. Japanese forms of theater such as Bugaku implement slow and graceful movement to convey its messages while on the other hand a Skaldic play incorporates a poet as the narrator to a violent and heroic storyline. Additionally, Skaldic performances lacked Christian influence, as they were mainly an aristocratic art. Medieval forms of theater such as the Tegernsee Passion Play of 1180 also carry heavy political themes of church versus state while Japanese forms of theater such as Noh focus primarily on depicting ghosts, spirits, and other mystic themes not relating to religion. Medieval theater of Europe eventually came to a decline mainly due to the repercussions of religious/political influence, in this case the effect of the Protestant Reformation. On the contrary, theater in Japan seldom suffered from this sort of backlash due to its long time history as being free of religion.

Above is a picture of a typical Bugaku mask. Japanese theater heavily implemented the usage of masks and cosmetics.





Medieval Theater...

Differences between Ancient Green and Roman Theater

    Although much of Roman theater is influenced by Ancient Greek theater, they share a few significant differences that help distinguish Greek theater from Roman theater. For example, Greek performers were usually aristocrats that were high class members of society; theater in ancient Greece had evolved as a way to educate the masses about its history. On the contrary, the Romans utilized poor men, often slaves, as their performers in various forms of theater than included plays derived from literature, tragic dramas, comedies and the notorious gladiator battles. Greek theater also consisted of dramas and tragedies but their primary focus was to convey the history of their peoples, namely the history of major wars.
    In a sense, Greek theater was implemented as a form of education and enlightenment while the Romans were concerned with organizing magnificent, large scale performances that reflected upon their imperial valor.

http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/comedy/romnthtr.htm

    The most common type of theater spacial configuration is proscenium, in which the audience has the opportunity to view the play as a whole and obtain the most visual and audial entertainment. The distance between the performers and the audience in a proscenium theater is vastly greater than the distance of a thrust configuration; this allows for greater scenic depth and detail but limits the intimate relationship that is possible with the thrust stage. Lastly, the arena form of spacial configuration offers its own unique aspect of theater where physical performance is emphasized over anything else. In a sense, the advantages of a certain form of spacial configuration are the disadvantages of another form and vice versa.
    For example, the picture below is the completed renovation of the Royal Shakespeare Company theater that is located in the hometown of legendary playwright William Shakespeare. A link to the article and picture suggests that audience members were becoming weary of the inaudible voices from the performers. Although a proscenium offers a much more scenic view that contributes to grander scale of theater, a thrust such as the one below can allow for deeper interaction between the audience and performance. A similar affect can be achieved from an in the round arena.
   

   

An aerial view of a thrust stage at the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/nov/24/rsc-theatre-stratford-thrust-stage