Detroit Theatre Collective: Play Analysis

For our critiquing assignment in our Introduction to Stagecraft 1, I ventured to downtown Toronto, to a small indie theatre called, The Unit 102 Theatre. There I saw the production of MISS; written by Dora Award-nominated playwright Michael Ross Albert who wrote such works as Tough Jews, The Spadina Avenue Gang with the Storefront Theatre. The set takes place in the aftermath of a shocking accident in a boarding school classroom, the story explores the tenuous connection between a high school teacher, her fiance, and a troubled student whose lives have been irrevocably changed by tragedy caused by a miscarriage, an affair, and the fear of the consequences that are not yet revealed, and finally, murder. This is a one act showdown between three

Being blinded by the mirage of wealth is a common theme across periods of time, literature, and American society; those who are plagued by this illusion become disconnected from what’s most important - their family and their own beliefs. Ellen Goodman’s “The Company Man” uses rhetorical devices to satirize her negative attitude towards the death of a typical workaholic and makes an invective attack on the corporate industry that sees its workers as disposable cogs in their machine.

On November 4th, 2016, my best friend and I went to see the play at the Charles Winter Wood Theatre. This play is set during the 1950s, and the scene takes place in a night club in Chicago. This play was sponsored by FAMU’s Essential Theatre, and it was quite entertaining. It presents realistic situations such as the affairs, jealously, and debt in relationships. The director, Maurice Kitchen, wrote this play to present the Black artists who used their talent to escape the difficulties they have faced. The main character, Billy Gamble, was a show host and performer, who used his patients with musical talents to be on his show. Important aspects seen in the play were love and fame. The musicians expressed their feelings within their music.

Throughout American history, poverty has overwhelmed the inner cities, causing families to face everyday issues such as finances with regards to food, schooling, and extra activities or utilities. However, these circumstances can also test a family and push them to their breaking point. The topic of poverty is evident in Loraine Hansberry’s play that takes place in the late 1950s. As the play A Raisin in the Sun progresses, the characters develop as a whole, enhancing symbolism- specifically Mama’s plant- that represent the family.

. This play takes place in 1963, the year in which the Civil Rights movement was being fought for. The main topic of this play is to understand how race and stereotype can affect justice being served, and the only way around this would be to view facts and override race and stereotype with evidence.

Social pressures change as time passes, therefore it is interesting to see how these three texts whom differ by almost four hundred years perceive society and the effect this has on the protagonists; Shakespeare’s King Lear which was first performed in 1606 during the Jacobean era, presents a patriarchal society. Whilst, Arthur Miller uses the characters in ‘Death of a salesman’ to show the failure of the ‘American dream’ during the “golden era” of America in the late 40’s. The ‘American Dream’ was a set of ideals which suggested that anyone in the US could be successful through hard work, and had the potential to live a happy life. The sense of the deterioration in the equality of opportunities links to the fall in power and hierarchy in

Going to watch my first ever play for a studio one act was a different experience that what I had imagined. I was not expecting the theatre to be smaller in size and it be like a big regular theatre. The theatre in this case was a box shaped and the stage was in the middle of the floor instead in front of the audience. The lights I thought would come as a problem as they might be shined into our eyes but they were never on the audience which was surprising to me. Also the actors and actresses has a good amount of space to act.

“The Producers” is one of the most famous musicals in Broadway. Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan adapted the musical from the 1968 film of the same name. The musical is about two producers that oversell interest in a Broadway flop in order to become wealthy. The musical consist in play with in the musical. The producers, Max and Leo, choose the worst play ever written and the worst director. However, the play turns out to be successful and Max goes to jail and Leo escapes with the money to Rio. The two more important external event in the play are the event when Leo decides to help Max and the moment when the play becomes a success.

The audience then became lost and frightened as there were no signs leading them to their next destination, once again forcing them to partake in the performance. This physicalisation not only successfully involved the contemporary audience, but demonstrated the necessity of physical composition to give audiences that real experience. This use of physical composition provided immediate reaction and emotional expression through action and contrast. These elements ultimately enhanced the mood and symbolism of the performance, allowing audiences to not only partake in the production on an intimate level but also on an emotional level. Another way in which mood and symbol can be created is through the use of complicité.

Economic and societal poverty are the key forms of poverty highlighted in the three-act play, A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry, the playwright, discusses the hardships of African-Americans attempting to emerge in society in the 1950’s. The play is staged in ways where the audience can grasp the trifles of an African-American family continuously experiencing setbacks whilst attempting to achieve their notion of the “American Dream”. To Walter Lee Younger, his idea of the “American Dream” is that anything is possible for those who have money. Unfortunately, there is a minor problem: Walter Lee Younger is a working-class African-American man who struggles to make ends meet in the Southside of Chicago, Illinois. The family undergoes

life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.

The origin of this novel stems from a time with great attitude changes within the African-American way of life. Tensions between gender specifically had begun to emerge, women, who were thought of as subservient, belonging to the house as well as to their husbands. During the timeframe of this story, women had been beginning to emerge with dignity, grace, and authority. The play takes place in Pittsburgh, during the 1950’s when the gap between genders had been shrinking, as women had been introduced further into society as more than just mothers. To most, this diminishing gap, to most would be a seamless concept, however, to the characters of this play would be a deciding factor for many conflicting scenes. The main characters of this play

I believe that Really Really is the best script we read in class. I read every manuscript as if I didn’t read it but see people acting on a stage. The first scene in Act One was just two random girls Leigh and Grace coming home. Grace tending to her bloody hand and Leigh on her phone hoping to get a message. No buildup, no information on the main plot, and it’s only line in that scene was “ow.”

There could not be a better historical play because this focuses on black’s challenges after the abolition of slavery and how many black people remained working as sharecroppers. A play is a wonderful way to engage students and let them see History before them instead of reading about it. There is something magical about a play, being able to see History acted out before you are incredible. The two African American characters in the play run prosperous farms and dry goods but challenge with the social norms in the rural South because their community illustrates racial savagery and prejudice. Overall, a play gives the skills necessary for a student to be an effective historical examiner and critical thinker. It allows the child to analyze various drama-based practices and compare them to their own historical readings and background

The play was written in 1944, the end of the second world war, and set in a southern middle class in American great depression in the 1930s. People benefited material prosperity from capitalist economy suddenly suffered the spiritual emptiness and shake of faith during the great depression while poverty ravaged the bond of family