How to Watch a Play

As you wander off to watch MND and write your review,


Let these questions prod your thinking:

• What was the director's "vision" for the play? (Happy ... Silly ... Hopeful ... Mystical ... Crazy ... Romantic ... etc ... )
• Did the setting "work"? Did it help you understand the plot better ... was it just kinda cool ... or did it distract from your understanding?
  
• Who was the hero? Do you agree? Did you sympathize with his/her plight? (There could be more than one hero)
  
• Who was the villain? Do you agree? (Ditto above)
  
• Did the actors communicate the meaning of the lines with their bodies, gestures, faces, voices? (more than just the words they said)
  
• Did the characters match what you expected?
• Did anything surprise you?
• What symbols showed up in the set design, music, costumes (etc) to help the audience grasp the theme? (If you saw King Lear at BJU, think of the huge wheels that symbolized the "machinery" of Lear's kingdom breaking down as he gradually lost his sanity)
• Any good ideas that we should "steal"?
  

I'll post some post-performance questions here on Friday (after I see the play) for you to answer.

And once all of you have turned in a review, I'll post mine.
(I'll post a sample review sometime over the weekend so you see what I'm looking for in a "good" review.)


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MND lines are definitely getting better, but I'm still seeing some significant gaps.

We've got only two more rehearsal cycles before we hit full-runs in mid February. (eek!) *That's* why I'm nagging for you to get your lines down cold...

Keep running line rehearsals in preparation for your after-school rehearsals.
And rehearse your scenes outside of rehearsals -- work on the rough spots, experiment with blocking and different readings, etc.

Be encouraged: you WILL get your lines down.
(But I can't take away the reality that it takes work.)
=)

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If you like "backstage" and production stuff:
BJU's Classic Players (their Shakespeare troupe) produced a movie of the "Making of King Lear." The Quicktime movies are worth your time if you're interested in the "behind the scenes" details. BJ's stage crew guys are awesome -- I speak from personal experience with them-- and they can work magic. ;)

Jeff Stegall (the director) talks a lot about how the text itself inspired details in the set design, costuming, staging. If you want to learn how to design a production that really ties into what the playwright says, listen to Stegall's discussion.


If you're interested, go here
and click on "The Making of ..."

There are 4 short films (maybe 5 min each, at most)
#1: designing & building the set for Lear
#2: creating Lear's character; the "wheels" in the set and the theme
#3: making wigs & costumes; fight choreography
#4: music (original) & sound design; lighting.