COMMENTS

SHOW AND TELL http://victoria2130.blogspot.com/2013/11/show-and-tell-frankie-and-johnny-in.html?showComment=1386454429265#c7561961131379881356

TOP DOG/UNDERDOG http://paulina2130.blogspot.com/2013/12/topdog-underdog.html?showComment=1386454759312#c805245245439643465

NEXT TO NORMAL http://andreagracethtr2130.blogspot.com/2013/12/next-to-normal.html?showComment=1386455188876#c1980674042784384417

TIS PITY http://crayonxasxsnail.blogspot.com/2013/11/tis-pity-shes-whore.html?showComment=1386455515040#c2822687637484129336

WATER BY THE SPOONFUL http://paulina2130.blogspot.com/2013/12/water-by-spoonful.html?showComment=1386455906825#c7405267673681187152

HOUSE OF TRIALS http://haileysonnier.blogspot.com/2013/11/house-of-trials-post.html?showComment=1386456079813#c1933325356013982913

Show and Tell: The America Play

           Well, Suzan-Lori Parks doesn't fail to confuse with her OBIE and Best New American Play award-winning play, The America Play.  You only thought Top Dog/Under Dog was weird...I am not entirely sure what Parks was trying to say with this play, but because of its avant garde nature, perhaps its take-away meaning is unique to the audience member. In this story, parks creates a somewhat disconnected dreamlike state where characters come to find themselves in their setting without explanation.
           Again, we have the image of a black man impersonating Abraham Lincoln for money, only this time he is in a "Great Hole of History", a theme park of sorts. He was previously a grave digger, who worked with his wife, Lucy, who keeps secrets for the dead, and their son, Brazil, a skilled "weeper". He goes by the name "The Founding Father" and has run away from his family to become said impersonator. He dies at the end of act I, so act II consists of Lucy and Brazil's search for his body by listening to random noises through a special horn. Lo and behold, they find him alive, but still feel the need to bury him. The play ends with Brazil attempting to climb a ladder out of the hole while The Founding Father refuses to be buried.

WHAT ON EARTH?

Next to Normal

I loved how Horby's element of progression worked in this musical. A specific moment that demonstrates this is in the recurrence of the song "I Am The One". In the beginning of the play when Gabe is revealed to the audience as a figment of Diana's imagination, he appears to comfort her saying that he is the one, her one true son. The song is again used as a tool for comfort towards the end of act II after Diana leaves Dan. He and Gabe sing the song. At its end, Dan addresses his son for the first time in the play, calling him Gabriel.

I love when songs reoccur in musicals, especially when they are used in a different light or are somewhat turned on their head. In this play, "I Am The One" is a demonstration of Gabe's love for his family. It is initially used in competition with opposition of his father and sister who do not see him. In the end, it is the confirmation that he is theirs. He is watching over them. This song is his cry to be remembered.

Top Dog Under Dog

We spoke about this briefly in class, but in the game 3 card monte the dealer is always at the advantage. He controls the fate of the player; whether he wins or loses. I found this to mirror the historical event of Lincoln's assassiation because John Wilkes Booth did control the fate of Lincoln when he shot and killed him. We speculated that perhaps Booth had the advantage over Link the whole time and was just letting him win. In the script there is also a moment when Booth is showing Link how to die properly so that he won't lose his job to a wax dummy. I think this is another show of Booth's control over him.

Tis Pity She's a Whore

For the advertisemet poster I propose a new angle for the production. Since you have chosen to highlight Florio's relationship with his daughter, Annabella, I want to explore his commentary on the action from the very beginning of the play. One of his first lines in reference to Annabella is:

"I would not have her marry for wealth, but love"

These words, of course, do not ring true when her love interest is revealed later on. I like how this shows a conflict with his wish for his daughter and her immoral romance. I also find that taking the quote from Florio shows a dynamic beyond the star crossed lovers; one of the conflicted and dishonored father.

I think red is an obvious choice of color to convey love, and blood in both the sense of gore and bloodshed and blood that relates family members. From Giovanni to Annabella to Florio. I think this angle will be more interesting and compelling than going from a cliche romance angle.

House of Trials

After reading House of Trials, I made a few observations of things that may be standard of a Spanish Comedia. One would be the type of dialogue. It is written in verse, the characters primarily using almost sing-songy poetry to communicate with one another (majorly obnoxious). There is also frequent use of asides or a breaking of  the fourth wall. I don't particularly like plays that do this, so I'm not sure how many comedias I will be reading after this...

The play was lengthy. I remember learning in a previous class that 3 acts are standard for these plays. I didn't thing the acts in House of Trials could stand alone with their own stories as much as the standard Well Made Play's where each act followed its own arch. I thought that this play needed the whole story to take form.