Analysis of the Play by Terrence McNally Titled It's Only a Play - Essay Example

? Its Only a Play Attended on April 14th Acting The actors showed a lot of color in their performance. The nature of the play was such that, every actor had to play an important part of the production in order to lighten the mood of the play and make the crude remarks acceptable and funny at the same time. The play made me laugh, but not as often as I would have liked. The production did have its flaws. The evening started off with a good natured casual party thrown by Julia, the play’s producer, played by Ilaesia Gray, who was very believable as an uptown wealthy producer. Her dialogues were very spot on, and if there is any blame to be made on her part, it should be directed towards the original play instead of her performance. Others were not so great. Kate Herrell in her role as Virginia had trouble delivering the frustrated sarcasm of an actress whose career seemed to be fading away. The reaction to her first criticism regarding her performance in The Golden Egg was not as violent as that of someone who dopes and pops pills should have been. She had all the dialogues and swear words a funny crude character requires, but somehow, she returned not as many laughs as she could have. Other characters generally fulfilled their roles well, from Ira (played by Craig Ewing) the theatre-critic, to Emma (Fina Romero) the witty know-it-all oldie. Most of the one-liners presented by Ira were especially funny, as he explains why he ridicules the play when he does: Hey, I didn’t write this shit. 3. Where the play was particularly lacking was with the performance of J. Nick Dickert, who played James. He was in the lead role, but displayed little characteristics of a leading actor. James’ nature was displayed too humbly in my opinion. He was supposed to have a huge ego, and while it is understandable why he was displayed in a mellow light in the first half of the play, the negative reviews of the The Golden Egg should have cheered him up in an evil way. I was hoping the bluntness of Virginia’s character would also be displayed by Dickert within James, but the dead moments and scattered jokes of Act II did nothing to help his development, neither did his lackluster expressions. Lines like “He has all of my mannerisms and none of my walk”, in reference to the actor who played the role James turned down, should have been wonderfully sarcastic, but they were not. The supporting roles of Gus, the coat boy and Peter came in handy in those times, played by Noah Mittman and Christopher Lynch respectively. Mittman did a great Southern accent as Gus. 5. Directing The cast helped each other in terms of acting because of the great direction. Eileen Kearney did a wonderful job portraying the inner workings of a theatre production which the regular audience is very quick to judge. Her choice of comic cast shed some light on Mcnally’s mind-frame as it must have been when coming up with this play, which had more to show than simply portraying the backstage workings of a recently held play. The director brought to light the lack of loyalty that actors often share. They pretend to like each other only up until the point when the play is cast in a bad light, such as when a bad review comes in, which quickly turns everything into a blame game. I especially liked the way Eileen brought in the bad news, whether it would be via Emma reading the Times newspaper or through the television, and all the focus of the audience would turn towards the controversial characters of Virginia, James (who pretended to like the play) and the kleptomaniac director who hates praise Frank. This was supported by the beautiful set design which put Julia’s, the producer’s wealth on display seems as everyone was confined to her room as the reviews piled in. The lighting focused on the actors and never on objects of concern, so that the focus was always on their expressions as opposed to the television or the newspaper. The ambient light was kept to a minimum for this reason. The director did a commendable job making sure all actors work seemless together as well, such as when J. Dickert as James gets the phone snatched away by Kate Herrell (Virginia) which sheds some light on their tensed states. 6. Scenery The scenery was very lavish, with furnished floorings and well decorated walls and antique-looking tables. The environment was particularly upscale, and conveyed the right Manhattan look of Ilasiea Gray’s (Julia) house. Of course, since a party was expected to be going on downstairs, every cast member was dressed up for it, with Dickert (James) and Ryan Flint (Frank) in tuxedos, and Kate Herrell (Virginia) and Gray (Julia) in dresses. Jessica Paddock did a fine job with the set and was well commended by Janetta Turner, the costume designer. The wooden veneers and the showpieces used the right colors to project the lavish look of Gray’s apartment. The scene looked exactly right for one pictured in Manhattan. 7. Costumes The costume designer Janetta Turner did a near-perfect job with the costume. The period on which all the relevant costumes were based came straight out of the 80s, with tuxedos for the leading men (Dickert, Craig Ewing and Ryan Flint) and dresses for the leading ladies. The style was very up-scale New York. Gray was made to stand out with her jewelry and premed hair, and it was obvious that she was wealthier than the others who were part of the play with her. Contrast her with Herrell, and it was apparent that Herrell’s career did not warrant a lot of accessories nor a very fancy hairstyle. Everyone, however, was rightly dressed for a party. The tuxedos were very appropriate for the actors, directors and authors who only recently went through their first show of a new play, considering that they were now at an after-party. Fina Romero, the taxi-driver was rightly appointed with shabby clothes and a French cap. It was immediately apparent that she was not part of the cast. Moreover, her attire represented experience, which was important since she often offered advice to the cast members to improve upon. The costumes were not diverse enough to establish any particular conflicts, social stigmas or affect interpersonal relationships. Everyone had to be dressed up for a party, so that takes away most of the analysis. The only stark difference was between Emma, Gus, and the rest as they formed members of different social gatherings. This was important in establishing that she neither had the fame or the fortune of any of the actors, but represented a value far greater, experience. 9. Text The text was mainly a comedic projection of the backstage workings of a play. By displaying it as a comedy, the author was able to say two things. Firstly, he tells the audience that critics can be ruthless enough to make actors turn on each other right after doing a play together. This is of course done for the audience’s amusement. Thus, it shows that, most often than not, there is very little team work in stage plays, and the actors are merely following orders. Secondly, since it is a comedy, the reactions are merely temporary. The author is trying to say that this insider look on the scene after a play is not to be taken as an example of how things generally are. It is an extreme situation, crafted for amusement with a lot of in-jokes that sometimes only true theatre fans can enjoy. Other messages pop up in the middle of the text as well, such as when the aspiring coat-carrying waiter Gus (played by Noah Mittman) ends up auditioning on stage for his dream job. The author is hinting at the presence of talent in every corner and that there are no restrictions on trying to pursue one’s dream. The conflict that arises within the bedroom as a result of the bad reviews leads to a resolution in the end where every actor vows to make a better play next time. The author of the Golden Egg, Peter (played by Christopher Lynch), who hates to see any deviation from the precise wordings of his text comes around as well. This presents an important resolution to the play, as one bad performance is only a stepping stone to another better more critically acclaimed one in the future. Read More