Critique Of The Play Lovesong, By Abi Morgan

This is a very clever idea as it is really effective in helping the audience to remember the story because they can link it to something they already know. This tale is about a father who wanted a son but had a daughter, Maggie, instead. Sadly, when his wife finally fell pregnant with a boy, the baby died during birth so, trying to cheer the mum up, Maggie wandered into the bush to find flowers. However, she went too far and became lost only to be found five days later, dead in a hollowed out tree. Again, they release the child’s spirit from the orphanage by flinging a sheet into the air. The nursery rhyme used in this section of the play is ‘Ring a Ring a Rosie’ and it is a clever use of intertextuality as it creates a foreboding mood through the use of foreshadowing since Maggie sings it at the start of the section. This is the third story told so at this point the audience will recognise a sort of episodic plot. The orphans go through their daily duties, chores and horrific encounters with The Black Skirt, then at night time find themselves awoken by the storms and the restless spirits trapped within the orphanage walls. Space is used well within the set and location of the play as the actors find themselves on a relatively small stage that is quite full with few, but large props. They move around with what can only be described as perfect choreography that allows them to flow from each action to their next position on stage. It is interesting to note that this performance of ‘Children of The Black Skirt’ took place in an empty church, a clever use of symbolism that aided in the audience’s recognition of the spiritual elements that were key in the play’s

The technical aspects of the production such as scenery, properties and costumes also played a keynote in the productions success. The scenery was fabulous it truly made the play. It was very realistic and extremely vibrant. Almost the entire play was performed in one setting, except for the railcar and dance scenes. The house, the main setting, was magnificent with painstakingly placed detail in every corner. All elements in the house matched wonderfully, for example the furniture, the photos on the wall, the telephone and even the trash can. Little bits of detail were everywhere adding to the beautification of the set, for example the lace decorations on the chairs, the etched glass above the front door and even the Christmas tree.

Knowing we would only get about fifteen minutes with each set of characters kept me on the edge of my seat begging them to get their happy ending before time ran out. This unique dimension of the play was so different than anything I had ever experienced watching any other performance and the actors embraced it beautifully.

“Love on the B-Line” by Adam Kraar gives us an understanding of how to write a play. He gives us great examples of structure, character development, and dialogue that can help young or novice writers understand the basics of making a play.

The mother’s character in this play stand out. Just like any mother out there, they have been through all hardship and therefore they always want their children to learn and know what is right and wrong. The costumes are funny and beautiful. For example, when the daughter who study a lot became a doctor, her looks and costumes looked perfect on her. She looked like a doctor. I loved how HAS’s play goes back to the Hmong village in Laos. It also showed how generations after generations has improved such as ladies being able to continue school. The acting was amazing! I loved the part when the mother yelled for her husband, “Where are you?”, and he popped out and walked to her and said, “I was still pooping!”. That was a great laugh.

She Loves Me takes place in the 1930s and is an enchanted romantic musical play about two people falling in love with one another. The two main actors, Mr. Nowack and Ms. Balash, work together in a saloon and from the very beginning they could never stand one another’s presence. One reason why they could not get along is that Mr. Nowack thought Ms. Balash was arrogant while she believed he was selfish and parsimonious. If they were in the same room with one another for too long they would cause some dramatic scene. Every time they were in the saloon working together they would have all the attention from the customers and or other employees because of their nonstop bickering arguments. As the play went on the audience began to realize that these two actors each had a pen pal and inside the letters, they would express their passion for one another. Shortly after they started writing the letters the audience was able to detect that Mr. Nowack and Ms. Balash were falling in love with one another even though they believe they hated each other. They were falling in love not by appearance but by what was being addressed in the weekly letters they received. Appearance does not play a role in love it's about someone’s character and that is demonstrated throughout the entire play. The two actors started realizing that they were falling for each other when they would sing iconic songs such as: “She Loves Me”, “Will He Like Me”, and “Vanilla Ice Cream”. Further, into the play, Mr.

The refined but playful elegance of the 1950s is often seen as the epitome of American culture. With innocence, comedy, and romance, this era springs to life in Saddleback College’s enticing production of “She Loves Me”. This colorful, quirky tale takes place in a quaint perfume shop, and the lively relationship between Amalia Balash (Alex McDermott) and Georg Nowack (Nathan James Corbett) reminds everyone that love can be found in the most unexpected places. The two are rival perfume clerks, but what they do not know is they have been writing to each other through a Lonely Hearts column, and are desperately in love.

Set in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire in 1901, an empty stage invites the viewer to use his or her imagination to understand the actions. During the first moments, the paperboy makes his deliveries just as the milkman. Meanwhile, at the two family houses, the women, Mrs. Gibbs who is African-American, prepares the breakfast for her two children, Rebecca and George. Simultaneously, her neighbor, Mrs. Webb is doing the same for her children and at the ring of a bell the children are sent to school. These activities are repeated almost every day in both of the houses. Following, the two neighbors gossip while sitting on Mrs. Webb’s yard and peeling beans. Because the stage is empty, the sound effects play a major part in creating a scene that can be easily understood. The noise of glass bottles when the milkman approaches or the whistles of the train are indispensable additions to the scenes. Every now and then, the stage manager interrupts the action to provide some fact either about the town itself, or about its inhabitants; therefore, she is outside of everything that happens. Still, the stage manager had a few of rolls as a member of the town that helped to support the play. Apparently a small town where everyone knows each other, Mrs. Webb’s daughter and Mrs. Gibbs son begin to show some interest in each other, and end up getting married three years later. The marriage ends with Mrs. Webb’s daughter Emily dying while giving birth to a child, at which point she still figures in the play, but as a spirit. Alongside, there are several other spirits that are shown, like that of he own mother-in-law, for instance. At this point, Emily goes on a self-reflection journey about the meaning of life, and as she goes back to her twelfth birthday, the sight of her family, specially her young mother both hurts her and helps her realize the beauty

In essence, the play is a love story; it would work well even without any elements of conflict. However, this love story is

William Shakespeare once told us, "All the World’s a Stage" —and now his quote can be applied to his own life as it is portrayed in the recent film, Shakespeare In Love. This 1998 motion picture prospered with the creative scripting of Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman and direction of John Madden. The combined effort of these men, on top of many other elements, produced a film that can equally be enjoyed by the Shakespeare lover for its literary brilliance, or for the romantic viewer who wants to experience a passionate love story.

I have never been involved with the production of any kind of play, so my partner and I decided that we would watch multiple versions of this play. There was Kenneth Branagh’s version which was sort of lack characteristic that we thought would be suiting for our “soap opera” themed performance.

In the poem, The Love song, written by T.S. Elliot, J Alfred Prufrock is a man who is very lonely and insecure. He goes throughout his life wishing for a change, but never stepping up to the plate and actually making a change. The title of the poem portrays to the reader that the poem is going to be full of love and romance. The reader soon found out later that the poem is just the opposite from the title, a sad, lonesome man who is not only lacking love, but also lacking self confidence and self esteem.

This function of marriage endured throughout much of human history, even transcending different cultures, so often, in plays from past centuries, marriage plots function not like a familiar Katherine Heigl romantic comedy but rather like a business deal. This disparity leaves modern audiences who grew up on these movies unable to understand the at times strange, clinical nature of marriage in plays such as Goldoni’s A Servant To Two Masters. Furthermore, without this knowledge of the historical practice of marriage, audiences cannot clearly understand the dynamic between fathers and daughters like Pantaloon and

Twelfth Night explores the various representations of love that are universal to the human experience.

Throughout the play, I enjoyed the role of music used to set a comic atmosphere and replace the dialogs during comic scenes (e.g. when they chase each other around). I also thought that they made a good use of light to indicate the moment of the day the scene was happening or to set the atmosphere of the scene (e.g. pink colour during the romantic moments). Lastly, I liked the way the play ended. Even though it was a little messy with everyone running after each other off and on stage, and this policeman coming out of nowhere, which really surprised me; I couldn’t think of a better way to end the play.