Theatre comparison on 2 videos - Essay Example

In Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman, Willy, the main character, visits his boss, Howard, a man who happens to be the son of his prior boss. The scene radiates realism through the actors’ reaction of one another. It begins with Howard when he shows off his wire recorder: “Didn’t you ever see one of these? Wire recorder” and Willy asks, “Oh. Can we talk a minute?” but Howard ignores him: “Records things. Just got delivery yesterday. Been driving me crazy, the most terrific machine I ever saw in my life.

I was up all night with it” (Miller.2.76). Howard is speaking animatedly. The pace of his delivery is quick and clipped as he is bursting with excitement, eager to explain every detail to Willy despite Willy’s need to talk to him about a business matter. In response, Willy’s tone is soft and submissive. When he supports the other actor, he is either ignored or shushed sternly like a child (Miller.2.77-78). The pace and tone of each actor stems from a direct reaction to one another, thus implementing naturalism in the scene.

Similarly in Blood Knot by Athol Fugard, Zachariah and Morris, half-brothers living together in South Africa, are brought to life through the actors’ interchange of dialogue through delivery. When they face each other discussing an imaginary woman in grey, their pace is prompt and heated. It sets up the notion that the characters are different from one another when Morris takes the lead on describing the imaginary scene in the park and Zachariah reacts without hesitation (Fugard.23:47-24:45).

Zachariah supports Morris’s exhilarant play through a deep, monotone voice. This exchange on a verbal level creates realism because the scene is natural. Natural as defined by occurring in conformity with the ordinary course of nature: not marvelous or supernatural. Side-by-side, the plays incorporate the technique of tone and rhythm of delivery of text on different heights. Howard’s swift pace of delivery exudes selfishness and pride. Later, it even displays boredom or disinterest when he addresses Willy: “But where am I going to put you, kid?.No, but it’s a business, kid, and everybody’s gotta pull his own weight” (Miller.2.80).

However, Morris’s delivered exuberance shows impatient yearning, frustration and anger. He leans forward on the stage, directing his umbrella like an extension of his body then proceeds to stone the imaginary woman with pent up animation (Fugard.24:03-24:47). Immediately following, Morris beats his brother, making it a bizarre, but realistic twist because the previous dialogue set up the nature of the action through tone. There is similarity between the plays that transpire from delivery of speech.

Willy and Zachariah are treated inferior by their counterparts, and they respond through dialect. Zachariah is “a black man who has endured prejudice and hate (“Blood Knot,” par. 3), but his brother fails to understand Zach’s struggle. During their role-playing, Zachariah commits to a slow pace that conveys eeriness. His tone is deliberately calm to show indifference, mirroring the state in which Morris treats him. There is no sympathy in the actor’s tone. Willy counteracts his opposer through rhythm and delivery as well.

He pleads his case, but the desperation holds more weight during his lengthy speech (Miller.54:52-56:43) because the pace is crawling. The actor pauses throughout, which drives the point that Willy is a depressed, forlorn man at the end of his