Analysis of a Play in the Theatre - Assignment Example

Theatre Table of Contents Answer 3 Answer 2 4 Answer 3 6 Answer 4 8 Reference 10 Answer 1) ‘Dog Lady’ is a play which captivates the spirit of comedy in its truest sense. The play encapsulates a spirit that binds human together. Full with the spirit of neighborliness and a very intact and strong religious faith that bind the people of the small ethnic community, ‘Dog Lady’ is didactic but is completely devoid from any pain or tone of suffering. Chirping music is all pervading theme of the play and the mystic character of the dog lady considerably adds humor and optimism in the play. Comedy is not at all complete without pain and suffering. There are lot of comedies that captivate the theme of pain and suffering in their plot. Even the greatest comedies of Shakespeare have themes of pain and suffering as subplots but comedy is generally written to amuse people and therefore comedy like ‘Dog Lady’ or Sheridan’s “School Of Scandals” will always be appreciated. 2) Dog is a symbol of subvert creature but then one must not forget at all that the greatest icon of faithfulness or loyalty is also represented by dog. Here, the dog stands for the theme of comic relief and a sense or a reason rather to bind a community and celebrate the spirit of togetherness and neighborliness. 3) The complete absence of faithlessness in the lives of the characters changes with healing touches and redeeming light of faith from the presence of the mystic dog lady. Playwright believes in a utopian concept of society and reaffirms his faith in neighborliness and togetherness which is also essentially revealed through the course of action and the plot of the play. Answer 2 1) The play is fabulous with the representation of the broken American Dreams and disillusioned faith of the American Mythology. The characters in the play “Buried Child” are all strange and show a very unique kind of detachment and disillusionment from family. Perhaps through this strange behavior of his characters, Sam Shepherd, the playwright tried to portray the theme of economic depression in America, the breaking of the families as a consequence to it and the disillusionment behind the American Dream. All the characters including Tilden occupy an unconventional space which is not very clear within the family. He does not stay with his parents and very rarely visits them. Bradley has unexpectedly shown violent and mean attitude which is a very disturbing element for the audiences too. Bradley’s awful behaviors are more striking than his character. Reaffirmation and relentless try for the recovery of missing links in the family is universal and the factors guided by economy within any relationship is quite familiar and that is portrayed in the relationships of the “Buried Child” too. The unfamiliar part of the relations is the too much cold and detached behavior within the family. But this excess coldness is perhaps shown deliberately by the author to depict the disillusionment. 2) Buried child is a symbol in the play. The death of the child is symbolic to the shattering of all the new hopes and happiness, a family can think about. At the same time, the death of the child indicates a consequent and complete failure of the integration of the family with the dying out of the last ray of hope with the death of the child. The identity of the child’s parents is a deliberate confusion and there are lots of contentions in this regard. It can be Vince’s at the same time the child may belong to Dodge too. But nowhere in the play, the identity of the child’s parents is explicitly expressed and this is a deliberate attempt by the playwright to launch the child into a realm which is completely symbolic. The child also carries certain notion to the family he belongs. The denial of the family and the failure to accept the child shows their lack of strength and integrity to accept the harsh reality and truth of the family. This act also indicates the detachment and the dystopia in which the family is suffering from. 3) Apart form the persistent and poignant image of buried child , the other major images of the play are the vegetables, the cap used for playing baseball, the blanket, flowers, dress of yellow colors and roses, leg made of wood and the characters that are to a great extent archetypes. The biblical allusion of rain on one hand stands for the image of regeneration and so are the flowers and roses. Rain stands for purifying agent or a cleansing agent of the past and paves the way for the new dawn by the end of the third act. The buried child and many other symbols stand for decay and disillusionment. Thus, we can notice a major oscillation between the images of life and death in the play (National Arts Center, “Study Guide”). Answer 3 A) “Buried Child” is an excellent play and the playwright, Sam Shepherd has written it to be dramatized. The play weaves within its plot myriad of socio-economic themes which is why it renders its actors, director, set designer and other crew to exercise the dramatic features on stage at a full fledged scale. The dramatization of the play “Buried Child” is also important because, the play is didactic in nature and hence a medium like theatre can be an apt medium to reach out a greater number of audiences. B) Given an opportunity, the role of an actor is the best possible chance to display on stage. The play “Buried Child” captivates myriad of themes and as an actor, it is always a privilege to exercise the best of dramatic talents here because numerous surreal and postmodern facets are integral part of this play which not only gives an opportunity to the actor to portray the shades of the individual character but also allows to display the social themes through acting which is a great challenge indeed. The best possible way to stage this play is that of the thrust mode. Thrust refers to the open stage performance. Thrust allows intimacy with the audience more than any mode of theater including proscenium. Open stage mode will enhance the aesthetic perspective of the play. Also this mode of performance for “Buried Child” gives a unique kind of completeness to the play. It allows that openness of the disillusioned American society. To reach out the theme to the audience, it is essential to give them a notion that the play and the performance is about a family without any barrier, giving an impression that the play is for the mass. C) Sam Shepherd is a renounced modern playwright. His all plays are famous and are decked up with food for thought. Apart from “Buried Child”, Shepherd’s “Curse of the Starving Class” (1978) is also quite fascinating. The play appeals its audience mostly for the unique kind of theme and genre. The play explores dark comic exposures centering round the American family psyche. The play revolves round a mal-functioning Tate clan and portrays typical characters. It shows a family with drunken dreamer father, a burned – out mother, a rebellious teen age daughter and an idealistic son. The play is a story of their struggle and the quest to run down family firm for the unproductive search for freedom, safety and ultimate meanings in their lives. D) The background of the play contributes a lot in understanding of the inner thoughts of “Buried Child”. The economic depression, the dystopia and the disillusionment of the American myth and dreams are very much functional from the background. Answer 4 A) “Dream Girls” is an American musical film released in the year 2006. The film is directed by Bill Condon and it is a story about the African American girls. It tells the story of evolution and history of America’s R&B music during the era of the glorified genre of doo-wop, funk, disco and soul and Motown sound. The original plot of the story is divided in to two halves. The first act takes place in between 1962 to 1966 and the second act takes place between the time periods of 1973 to 1975. B) The historical song “And I Am Telling I’m Not Going” performed by Effie White was played by the renowned actress, Jennifer Hudson in the film. This character was inspired by the supreme members of the Florence Ballad, Etta James and Aretha Franklin. The playwright wanted to portray this character as a formative strength celebrating women power and womanhood. Other characters of the play are confident and benevolent towards Effie. C) a) “And I Am Telling You I’M Not Going” was written for closing the first act of the play “Dream Girls” and it can be said that it was written for the character to show her determination and loyalty. b) Form the song, it can be easily made out that the character is stubborn, stoic and at the same time can balm her bruised heart herself which is the most important facet and strength of any artist. Determination is the key to the success is what the song all about. c) The inner thought which goes with this song is the craving for love and pining for beloved. Along with that it also shows that Effie has the strength to stand erect and tall amid all the thunder and storms in her life. d) The song is beautifully placed at the critical juncture of the film. It finishes the first act and sums up within it the entire facts and figures displayed throughout the first act. It is the link between the first and the second act and it helps the story line to progress perfectly with all its emotional and aesthetic elements captivated within the sphere of the song. Reference National Arts Center, “Study Guide”, March 31 2010, Buried Child, 2008, Read More