Ruined...

I don’t think there is another way to do this and do it right, or at least I can’t think of one. It has to be real; I wouldn’t want it to come off as a mockery or some ridiculous tale. These are real women in a real story, and it deserves to be told as such.



I see the overall theme as survival. They have had to do things to stay alive and out of trouble; little things like constantly painting the furniture to seem cheerful, to big things like waking everyday to sleep with men in order to not have it taken by them forcefully.

I found a theatre that I thought was perfect. It only produces new plays, so they wouldn’t really do it, but I love the space. It’s called the Bloomington Playwrights Project in Bloomington, IN. That town just screams theatre doesn’t it?





I love it. Because it appears unfinished, a bit rough around the edges, and little like it is trying to survive as well. It needs some love and fixing up just like Mama’s. As far as set design it would be the same, everything looking a bit worn, but not horrible and disgusting, more like used, lived in, and loved (well as much as you can love your business).



Here is my mock set; it is just simple worn items that have been dressed up. The floor would have stains and scratches of anything and everything. A lot of African art that I have seen is very colorful, either crazy bright, or deep rich earth tones. I think for the bar area it would be more so the bright colors, the walls would be painted perhaps even multicolor. For the back room, (which I would fly in) it would be the more rich comforting tones.



I even think I could attach the beds to the fly so that nothing has to be brought on, just pulled down like Murphy beds. A couple of times the girls sit on them, so they would have to be a little sturdy but not out of the question. As far as out front I think it would be just kind of an empty space. I would paint the floor to look like gravel and have Fortune’s bench, but that’s about it. You would never see Christian’s car or Mr. Harari’s ride at the end, just a sound of a car pulling up and them running on stage. A white backdrop would hang in the back, sort of like the whole building is hiding out in the open. Everyone is keeping their head down, not choosing sides but right out in plain sight.

The exit to the backroom would go off stage; we all know what’s going on there, no need to see it.

Here are some pictures of sort of a before and after. Examples of run down things and then all the colors they would become.














Costumes would have the same effect as the set. Everything they wear is a bit worn, so maybe they make it fit a bit tighter or dress it up with likewise worn jewelry, all very colorful and traditional.



I wouldn’t know what else to do with the soldiers than put them in some sort of matching green or camo outfits. You just can’t make a magenta soldier uniform believable…



Lights would play a big role; I would need a few for the outside lighting, ones that come in more from the side. I purposely put a window on that side so we could get the ‘natural’ light more in the bar. The main bar area would be a bit brighter during the day and at night there would be specials to act as indoor lighting, but all still pretty dim since it is supposedly running off a generator. I would try to make it seem like there are no lights on during the day, just the outdoor light streaming in is being used. Then maybe when Kisembe is acting a little crazy you make it a bit brighter and add a bright violet and when Salima dies, add some red to make her blood and the scene more intense.

Love this technique!


There is sound throughout the whole play. Sometimes that may only be the constant hum of the generator at night or almost inaudible forest noises. Then we’d have to have special noises for the parrot, gunfire, cars arriving and leaving, and radio.

This play has such an intense subject matter, but it is dealt with in such a daily way you seem to almost forget it. I don’t want my production to come off dark and depressing, that was not Nottage’s goal. Her collaborator Kate Whoriskey wrote in the introduction, “Lynn spoke with a Rwandan about life after the genocide. He said to her, ‘We must fight to sustain the complexity.’ This phrase became a mantra for creating the piece. We did not want to focus solely on the damage but also the hope” (xii).

When Salima died, you know it affected everyone, I’m sure they were like some sort of family, or maybe that they all had to stick together to survive. Her death completely disrupts that, but what can they do, stand around and grieve? Shut down the business for a few days? No, they all have to carry on like nothing happened; they have to keep hiding in their busy establishment surrounded by gunfire. If Mama and the girls stop living their day to day, someone will surely notice. If Mama and the girls stop living their day to day lives, then THEY will notice and might not be able to reach the place where they are now, where hope and normalcy still survive.

Well I'm glad we ended on such a high note! :) You taught a fantastic class(minus the group projects...) Haha. :) Enjoy Chrismas in the 80's!!!! That is if you stick around Daytona here... If you go elsewhere please bring us back some snow!!!!

Merry Christmas!!






Works cited

Nottage, Lynn. Ruined. New York: Theatre Communications Group, Inc, 2009.

All images found through Google Images.

Audiences these days...

Now granted, this was a college production, but part of me will never understand how people can care so little. It has even changed me; I use to dress a bit nicer, a skirt and blouse of some kind even when just visiting another school’s production. Now it doesn’t seem to matter. Last week I went to Romeo and Juliet’s opening and wore what I was wearing all day in classes, flip flops, jeans, and an ok shirt. I didn’t feel great about it though. At least I wasn’t wearing a vulgar t-shirt…



Ok, I didn’t actually see this shirt, but you get the point.

I arrived at the theatre around 7, and got my free ticket. I immediately recognized some former cast members from All in the Timing. Thankfully I had invited my friend who recently graduated and majored in some sort of technical theatre (I can never remember…), so I could shy away from that group and we could sit by ourselves and judge and it didn’t look completely obvious that I didn’t want to sit with them…. :/ Ok, but since I knew quite a few people there, and they all knew each other, the lobby was very loud and disorderly. All I could do was think of Broadway shows I have seen and try to think how audiences act there.



…Ok… never mind, the audiences are about the same level of crazy…

Somehow we ended up right in front of the theatre doors, so when the house was opened we were among the first few in, so we got to choose our seats. The atmosphere seemed almost impatient since seating was first come, first serve. Not quite the running of the bulls, but not as calm as it could have been. My friend and I sat in the risers in front of the stage in the second row, house right. Everyone filed in till there were only a few single seats on the outskirts remaining. It seemed even noisier in the theatre than the lobby. My friend and I talked about the cast, I pointed out who was who in Timing and we talked about the other Shakespeare shows we’d seen (or her apart of). And didn’t really talk to or notice anyone else.

Before the show all the lights seemed to be up. So when the lights over the audience dimmed it took people longer than it should have to quiet down. Pay attention people!!! Since there was no change in front of them they continued to chatter on. I think the Prince was actually walking out to deliver the opening and people were still hurriedly whispering. Bugs, the crap out of me….

During the actual show the audience is still pretty visible and they distracted me a few times. There was a girl in the front row of the house left set of risers that had her shoes off and legs all tucked up in the chair. I’m glad she was comfortable, but it bothered me for some reason. Oh I don’t like people, that’s it, I forgot. :) Later on after the 1st intermission, that girl and what appeared to be her boyfriend were enjoying some delicious chips from a bag during the show. Ok so I couldn’t actually hear the bag or anything and they weren’t bothering anybody (except me) but it just drove me crazy. Since when do you eat in a theatre? Next time I’ll go ahead and crack open a beer! Ksssshhh!!!



The majority of the audience was very responsive. They laughed at the nurse and friar, (who were by far the absolute best in the show and Romeo). Actually my favorite scene was between the two of them and Romeo when in the Friar’s cell, the nurse comes to find Romeo after he is banished. All three of them did a fantastic job!! They were powerful and seemed to know their characters well enough that the language did not seem so foreign and was believable when they spoke.

Back to the audience… Another scene that stands out for a reaction was when Juliet visits Friar Lawrence and threatens to kill herself instead of marrying Paris. The Friar made the smallest ‘why me’ look and I laughed and immediately felt terrible for it since I appeared to be the only one. Then I realized my friend did as well so I knew she understood why I did, but other people I’m sure thought I was just laughing at Juliet about to stab herself. Really it was the Friar who made me laugh, it was so small and I’m sure others saw it too; he just did it so well. I felt sorry for the him, all these kids keep running in to his chamber threatening to kill themselves and expect him to fix everything and his expression just said “You too, really!?!” :) I loved it.

Now of course later a cell phone went off. I’m not completely sure but I think it was the guy in the couple I have already mentioned. Ok third strike, they were the worst theatre goers I’ve seen in a long time. Luckily it wasn’t at a vital part in the show so it didn’t disrupt too much, unlike during the Sunday matinee, I heard that a phone went off right after Juliet said her last line and killed herself. RING!!! That’s a show stopper right there… idiots…



All in all, I loved the ¾ thrust stage and the action happening literally feet in front of you. In a weird way it made it seem more real, maybe just because how clearly you could see the actors, see how real they were, so the show had to be real too. Something like that. It definitely worked in a small intimate theatre, and it would be hard for me to imagine it as a large stage production…



When the show ended there was thunderous applause and more applause and more applause. Some people rushed out to wait for the cast and others seemed to hang back, talking about the show they had just seen. Everyone was smiling and I hung around a bit in the hallway to say good show to those I knew and it was chaos, but a good chaos. Hugging, congratulations, and laughter filled the area. You gotta love opening night… So much electricity in the air. It really makes me wonder why I am not pursuing theatre since I love it, I absolutely love it, every bit… Sigh...

I hope I'm not stuck in a Daytona the rest of my life...

This semester is actually the beginning of my 3rd year here at DSC. Yep, 3rd year of working on my AA and I’m 26; what the hell am I doing with my life? Any who… this semester I signed up for Dramatic Appreciation just because it takes care of my humanities credit or something. I checked out ratemyprofessor.com and you weren’t on there so I just figured I’d give it a shot. :) When you sent out your first email, and I saw your website, I was worried that you were going to be “that theatre guy.” You know the, “you don’t know theatre, I know theatre, because I’m an actor!!!” A la John Lithgow



But the first day of class I found out how wrong I was, you were normal, gasp! Haha. You mentioned the auditions in class and I think I even asked you a question about how the rehearsal schedule would be and I decided to give it a shot. The idea of doing a show with you, when it was your first year was very exciting. You had no preconceived notions about anyone, couldn’t cast because of known abilities, and this also made it more meaningful when I received a part!

When I verified that it was indeed me and not another Nicole Smith. I immediately went to get my script and couldn’t wait to meet my fellow cast members and do our first read through. I thought it went well and you definitely helped me to understand the script a bit more. I think we did one other rehearsal with Leo and then the next night he was cut and Paige read his part. A week later I had a new cast mate and was 2 weeks behind all of the other plays. But I think to all of our surprises Aaron came in almost completely off book (which we were supposed to be by then) and was absolutely fantastic. In one read through I knew that we hadn’t lost anytime and actually (sorry Leo) were better off than before!

As for me, I was taking a long time to get comfortable. I’m not really a shy person, but perhaps maybe I was intimidated by Aaron (coming in and being so fantastic), by you (for being a great director and me not wanting to be judged by my crappy acting and pantomime abilities) and I remember being a little embarrassed in front of Paige when she came to watch. She just seemed so comfortable and I wasn’t. In the end I realize how ridiculous this all is but at the time I just felt like I was the new kid on the block. (oh oh ohohoh, the right stuff...) Everyone seemed to already know at least one other person and I didn’t know a sole. (I realize that you didn’t know anyone either, but that doesn’t count because you were in charge.) :)

I love how I complained about needing props that I eventually got rid of anyway. I was uncomfortable being on stage and not having anything to do. It’s been a while since I’ve done a play and I guess I forgot that you merely have to suggest things, not necessarily do them. I didn’t really need things to clear off of a table, but found other things to do. I don’t know if it all made sense in the end or not, but I could walk around on stage, not really doing anything but feel comfortable as my silly character.

I felt weird having to ask what would my character do, because it seemed like such an easy thing. Be a waitress, I AM A WAITRESS!!!! I guess that’s why I second guessed myself so much. I don’t know.

Should have thrown this in...

AHHH!!! You knew she'd drop the tray but whoa!!!

As for actual performances, you know we had our good and bad. To me it didn’t seem to matter too much. With lights in your face it makes a sort of wall and you can’t see anyone so it was like no one was there. I love that about theatre, people who have never done it, don’t understand. I’ve had people ask me if I saw them waving…. Haha. No, and you’re rude for waving during a production.

Every performance could have just been a rehearsal and that takes the pressure off. Just on some nights you had to pause a moment for laughter that came from nowhere. Except for the first Sunday matinee, there was very little laughter and then I really did feel like I was in the middle of an empty theatre. Then there was one night that I couldn’t tune out the audience and that was because I could hear a friend laughing. That may be one of my favorite things, knowing someone’s laugh and hearing it at all the right places. I actually almost broke and smiled once. But didn’t!!! I love those nights when there is that much energy and you can feel the audience's energy and it's a circle of good vibes and everyone leaves feeling great!

I do love when the unexpected happens (within reason), like the blackout, but I wish I was quicker with something to say or do to save scenes. Afterward I can think of a million things to do, but in the moment, I usually go blank. One time I was doing a show and I had a horrible coughing fit. Luckily we had a bar set up in a living room of the scene and someone brought me a drink. I just sat there! I could have gotten up and got my own drink, or within the scene excused myself, but I was scared!!! Of course I have learned a bit since then, that was about 7 or 8 years ago. Those are the fun things that you remember though...

As far as backstage it was always interesting; setting and clearing Kafka’s damn typewriter! A few nights I came off with smashed banana all over my shirt but it fit with my character so oh well. And then there was the night that I almost cried out and dropped the typewriter because I severely pinched my finger in it. Stupid typewriter… Maybe when we do it again we could get a heavier one… :)



Even during the final performance someone had to run and find certain members of the cast… It drove me insane that people couldn’t take an hour out of their lives to shut the hell up and be where they were supposed to be. You don’t know how many missed entrances and scene changes there would have been without the watchful eyes of Muriel, Melissa and I.

I had a fantastic time, it was a great run, and I can’t wait for the next show! But I think I’ve heard that I need to be brown and have long straight hair so I better get working on that…

So more like this:

Not this:

And now for something completely different...

Variety!!!


Well what wasn’t in variety? Jugglers, dancers, blatant racism…? Wait, what?!

This form has always been around. Anything that had back to back acts that weren’t really related could be categorized as variety entertainment. Too bad some of our beginnings didn’t turn out to be GOOD beginnings...

Good ole blackface, nothing’s funnier than that right? When it started in the mid - late 19th century there wasn’t. As Americans we usually steal everything, but this was the first form that we could completely claim as our own (musicals101)! Good going guys… White actors applied burnt cork and performed all the stereotypes of African Americans.

*Side note – This is tricky, do I write blacks were doing blackface? Or African Americans? But then I call us white people white, not Caucasian… I don’t know… Maybe I’ll just abbreviate – AA. (Wait that makes me want to have a drink… Sorry never mind)*

Ok, back on track, the book says that this type of theatre was demanded by the people. Theatre go-ers wanted to see themselves back on stage again. So they got rid of the 4th wall and everyone on stage was representing themselves and not a character (Felner 159).

Around 1828 Thomas “Daddy” Rice, a white entertainer found his most famous character “Jim Crow”. Supposedly Rice over heard an AA singing a song about Jim Crow on the street corner (musicals101). And the famous stock character was born. They later became synonymous with the laws in the 1880’s.

In February of 1843, Dan Emmett’s Virginia Minstrels emerged. They are said to be the first group to provide an entire evening of blackface entertainment. They knew who they were impersonating so well, most of their stuff was improvised. Some mark this as the beginning of minstrelsy (musicals101).



Show set up:
The First Part/ Minstrel Line
-White host
-2 Blackface comedians (End Men)
-They performed songs, jokes, dances, etc.

Intermission

The Olio
-Songs and variety acts performed without blackface so everyone knew they were in fact white.

Intermission

After piece/ One-Act Musical
-Usual parodied a popular topic, novel, or play
-Used beloved characters such as Jim Crow (ignorant country bumpkin) and Zip Coon (city slicker whose self-assurance leads to his comic demise)

And of course, this was billed as wholesome family entertainment (musicals101).

Some famous songs of this era: Polly Wolly Doodle, Camptown Races, O Susanna, and Dixie (later adopted by the south as there theme song.)

In the late 1800’s, minstrelsy was declining and classes divided. The upper class had their opera; the working class had shows in saloons. Vaudeville came in and made itself available for everyone (musicals101).

Tony Pastor opened up New York’s 14th Street Theatre. Pastor was a devout Catholic and father and wanted nothing but good clean entertainment. The upper class went because it was a well-known good location and everyone else probably just because it was cheap and new. There were no language issues, well there were, but then you wouldn’t perform there again. If there was a line or act that wasn’t as clean as Pastor would like he would deliver written notice in a blue envelope. This is probably were the term ‘blue material’ came from. That’s neat.

They contained such acts as:
Mind readers
Instrumentalists
High Divers

Escape artists
Strong men

Quick change artists
Balancing acts

Contortionists
Regurgitators

This last one was the most intriguing to me. I found a story about Hadji Ali a famous regurgitator. His finally act was to drink a gallon of water and then a pint of kerosene. He would then eject the kerosene on a small prop castle that was set up and then put out the flames by bringing up the water (damninteresting). Gross, is all I have to say.

There were also ‘dumb acts’ (acrobats, roller skaters, cyclists) that did not speak. Once some of these threw some humor in to their act they became huge stars, Will Rogers and W.C. Fields.

You just had to please the audience. Many times the enjoyment of the audience decided if you had another show or not.
…Hope they didn’t have to do Sunday matinees…

In high school I stage managed for Will Rogers Follies. The guy who played Will worked his butt off and actually learned some rope tricks. But for some reason the rope he was practicing with had a metal clasp… It was horrible to watch him practice. He take off his shirt and his back would be cover in red welts. Once he got it though it looked great!! Here’s the pro.


(No need to watch entire thing, just neat to seem of his tricks)

Vaudeville was lost when people ran out of clean humor and when talking film came around. Carol Burnett and Ed Sullivan kept the family friendly entertainment alive in the new era (musical101). But once there was tv and film there was no more need for the live shows. There were still a few theatres showing vaudeville; and in the beginning of the film era, they would have live acts along with the screen show, but all slowly faded out.

Finally Burlesque. The burlesque I am referring to was popular between 1840 - 1960. Its primary attraction was sex and making fun of the upper class. When bustles and hoop skirts were popular women in burlesques replaced them with… well nothing. That is not to say that these were outright sexual scenes. Just alluded to a lot more than vaudeville and certainly was not considered appropriate for the whole family.

Lydia Thompson in the 1860’s brought her British troupe to NY with their hit Ixion. It involved women dressing in revealing tights and playing men’s roles. Their continued plays were written and directed by women, changed week to week, started off with rave reviews then condemned which brought them even more popularity (musicals101). Males eventually took over and it was more about showing as much as allowed by laws but still not obscene or vulgar. They were spoofs not meant to offend, but lost the wit that the original female companies had.



Burlesque actors were looked down upon. But many vaudeville actors appeared in them under false names when money got tight. Or some started off in burlesque and made it big in vaudeville: Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, and Bob Hope.

During the Great Depression the strip tease became the big draw. It was now completely vulgar with its pasties and g-strings, simply enough to keep the cops off their backs. There was no more comedy, it was about the stripping period, and it was a safe way for married men to see naked women without the risk of disease or scandal (musicals101).

Once porn became available in the 1960’s most places closed up and only the few bump and grind strip houses remained.

I do not mean that it went minstrel show, vaudeville, and then burlesque. They were all pretty much going on at the same time. The main idea was that the show was “high on fun and low on intellectual demands because of the lack of sustained narrative” (Felner 158). So just get out there and be entertained. I bet most of the time the attendance of these shows was used as stress relievers.

Since the invention of film brought about this genres demise it is impossible to find real video but here are some filmed versions of the extreme physicality of this era:



And finally, a bit of trivia:
-Ben Hur became Bend Her on the burlesque stage.
-Hoofers were named so when they would stomp their feet to the conductor for the correct tempo before a musical number.
-The Red Carpet was made red because that made it easy for actors to see if there was dirt on it and could help them keep their costumes clean.
-Unsophisticated humor was known as being ‘stuck in the corn’ AKA ‘corny’.

I felt like I had a lot to cover for this and it may all be a bit disjointed, but hey, such is variety entertainment!

Works Citied

Felner, Mira, and Orenstein, Claudia. The World of Theatre. Boston:Pearson
Education, Inc, 2006.

www.musicals101.com/minstrel.htm

http://www.damninteresting.com/hadji-ali-and-the-regurgitators

Ropin’ Fool (1922) Will Rogers Reel 1 –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_lZqA7RPoU

Vaudeville Follies –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SfO30jvReU

All pictures found by use of Google Images.

My lips are sealed...

This is what most of us know as mime. For me, I imagine if this guy were to speak, he'd be French and it wouldn't be long before he whipped out a cigarette.

This however, it's even close to how mime originated.

Mime began back in the festival of Dionysus, particularly during fertility rituals. They were always comic in nature and either parodied religion or simply added comic relief.
They were also used in tragicomic dramas such as indecent burlesques. In these types of performances female were permitted to take part ("Western Theatre"). The thing that surprised me most was, these performances were very sexual in nature. "They were often masked and wore padded phalluses to aid in lewd innuendo" (Felner 119). A couple of populer topics were adultery and executions. There were reports in Roman areas, that certain Emperors ordered troupes to actually perform these acts, by use of prostitutes and criminals (Harwood 56).

Mime was short improved skits that had mostly a physical aspect, including acrobatics, juggling, and use of stock characters. I was trying to cross reference and find the most common stock characters but one source had 24 different ones! These I think are the most common:

Pantalone - old crotchety man, sometime a father figure or merchant
Dottore - a 'doctor' or 'scholar' that spoke as if he knew everything but in reality knew nothing
Capitano - a cowardly soldier
Inamorati - are the naive young lovers
Columbine - servant to the inamorata (female lover)
Scaramouche - kind of a Robin Hood character
There were also groups of female maids that sometimes helped in the plot and male servants that usually just caused havoc in the plot. The most popular of these was Pulcinella.


Once mime traveled to Roman areas, the scenes were beginning to be written down and it evolved in to pantomime. I always thought mime and pantomime were the same, I was wrong. Our book defined it as "resembling a silent storytelling dance, and was a distinct performance genre from mime" (Felner 119).

Commedia dell'arte popped up around the 16th century during the Renaissance. This form used some of the same aspects of original mime: stock characters, improv, masks, etc.

Their phalic nature makes me think that this form was equally as sexual.

I also found in the book "All the World's a Stage" that only men wore masks. I assume because they only let beautiful women in the troupe so they didn't want them to hide their faces.

They used a simple outline; it would be like a game that I use to play in my improv group where all we asked for was: location, occupation, and murder weapon. The rest came from our demented minds. I was interested in the fact that every actor found his role and stuck with it. In every performance they played the same part. To me that sounds boring and tiresome, but it was a craft to them. They passed down secrets from generations to generations (Felner 120).

*I later found evidence that this is not a beloved career, as our textbook made me believe. "Most were believed to be immoral and socially inferior" (Harwood 56). (Probably because they were partly made up of hookers and law breakers.)

I liked how they had certain 'routines' to use to warm up a crowd, heighten an effect, or save a scene (Felner 120). There's an improv club in Orlando that I use to go to and they used maybe that same sort of idea. When a scene got stuck, or boring, or out of hand they had a pink converse shoe that they would toss on stage. The scene ended immediately so that the audience was saved from the performance going bad and we got a laugh because someone threw a shoe. That's funny, I don't care. Haha. When commedia made its way to France they of course put their own mark on it. It became part of other works other than having a life of its own. The French took away a lot of the physicality in an attempt to refine it a bit (Felner 121).

In the 18th century laws were placed restricting theatre so that it made its way back to more of a pantomime. I guess the law was against the spoken language, so if you don't speak, you found a great loophole! This is also where the terms mime and pantomime began to be interchangeable (Felner 121).

But finally mime, pantomime and commedia found itself shoved in to the circus, vaudeville, and in the 20th century, silent film. Most people have heard of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Marcel Marceau. And you can see its effects in modern things such as, "Whose Line is it Anyway?" But as a stand alone form, it is pretty much extinct. :(

In the end it seems the lines are all blurred. It is hard to say, "Mime was then, Pantomime was then, etc." Just like we've previously stated; theatre is a collection of everything, it pulls from everywhere, so to separate it is impossible.

I leave you with this piece that I found; I think it's probably one of the closest representation of commedia you'll find (in a modern setting).

Works Cited

Felner, Mira, and Orenstein, Claudia. The World of Theatre. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc, 2006.

Harwood, Ronald. All the World's a Stage. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984.

"Western Theatre." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 23 Sep. 2009. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/849217/western-theatre.

The Red Bastard - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH1itcv76ds&feature=related

All picture found by use of Google Images.