What I Did Last Summer : Production Response #1 Oklahoma State University Department of Theatre’s production of What I Did Last Summer tells the self-revolutionary story of a young boy named Charlie and the struggles he faces the summer his father is away at war. Although the play seems to center mainly around Charlie, many of the other characters learn valuable lessons and a change in their perspectives is noticeable throughout the play. With it’s relatable characters, unique humor, and discussion of relevant topics, What I Did Last Summer is a play that can not only be enjoyed by all, but also has the potential to open the audience’s eyes to new viewpoints. This production of What I Did Last Summer was performed in a proscenium theatre space; this space has many advantages and was a best fit for this particular play. Because of its shape, the proscenium theatre allowed for the actors to easily …show more content…
Each character, in some capacity, is learning something new about themselves. Whether it be new views, new feelings, newfound confidence, or a new realization of past events, each character involved in the play realizes something view-altering by the end of the play. Bonny is realizing that she is growing up and discovering how to deal with boys, and to lie to her parents; Elsie realizes that she doesn’t need her father for everything, and eventually overcomes her fear of driving on her own; Grace is discovering that she must let her children think for themselves at times, and that she must let Charlie choose what he wants to do; and Charlie, of course, is discovering that there are more ways to think than the status quo that society presents. Each character obviously goes through very different struggles throughout the play, but in the end, they all result in realizing something about themselves they didn’t at the beginning of the
the play. It looks at the person he is and the person he becomes. It
He addresses each development rationally and tries to keep everyone together. Charlie starts out as a friendly neighbor, but soon turns into the leader of the witch hunt. He even kills someone in his pursuit to find a scapegoat. He and the rest of the people on Maple Street become dangerously defensive once they?re willing to hurt another human being. The play teaches a very important lesson on being too cautious.
The main theme of the play is trying to put across a strong view to
In order for Charlie to cope with his insecurity and trying to live up to his father’s expectations, Charlie puts pressure on himself to succeed professionally that he ends up overworking his workers, disregard his fiancée, and verbally abuse Lola . When Charlie hurts his personal relationships, his professional life suffers as well because the workers and Lola decide to quit after Charlie’s mistreatment. In the production at the Adelphi Theatre, the audience could see the harmful effects of projecting the difficulties of one’s personal life into one’s professional life when Charlie becomes hurtful. However, Charlie is able to recognize that his hubris and desire to succeed hindered his personal relationships in the song “Soul of a Man”. Unlike other plays tragic endings, Charlie is able to come to terms with his personal insecurity and distinguish his professional life from his personal life, win back the support of the workers and Lola, and goes on to maintain a healthy work-life
Legendary rapper Jay-Z has penned several love letters to his hometown of Brooklyn, crooning on “We Fly High” that, while “Manhattan keep on faking it, Brooklyn keep on taking it!”. The song is Jay’s tribute to his town’s trademark grit and toughness. He’s from a no-nonsense borough of blue collar workers and old-timers still upset by the loss of their beloved Dodgers. It’s a cosmopolitan borough marked by several sharp divides: rich and poor, black and white, young and old (although the residents are perhaps all united in their hatred of the Yankees).
Characters in the play show a great difficult finding who they are due to the fact that they have never been given an opportunity to be anything more than just slaves; because of this we the audience sees how different characters relate to this problem: " Each Character has their own way of dealing with their self-identity issue..some look for lost love o...
The theme of the play has to do with the way that life is an endless cycle. You're born, you have some happy times, you have some bad times, and then you die. As the years pass by, everything seems to change. But all in all there is little change. The sun always rises in the early morning, and sets in the evening. The seasons always rotate like they always have. The birds are always chirping. And there is always somebody that has life a little bit worse than your own.
...provide the hope in the play that the younger generation will carry on the future responsibly. Sheila and Eric are better than their parents, who are too set in their ways.
changes as the play progresses. Early on in the play, she is full of ambition;
changing attitudes toward life and the other characters in the play, particularly the women; and his reflection on the
Charlie and Holden both struggle immensely with fitting into people’s standards. This is hard for the two protagonists to deal with because they are non conformists and do not change to fit into society. The two feel trapped in a world where they will not be accepted for who they are and what they want to do. One cannot truly change who they are, so Charlie and Holden continue to be individuals. They struggle to form relationships in which they can be themselves. Although they go through many hardships throughout their teenage years, eventually they realize what is important to them, allowing them to form better relationships in the future. Charlie realizes that he needs to be more commanding in relationships and that he has to be himself. Furthermore, Holden realizes that he needs to appreciate people in his life because they have more value to him than he initially thinks. Holden and Charlie both need companionship and finally realize what it takes in order to achieve their goal. Throughout their journey of self realization, both Charlie and Holden go through many hardships with abiding to society’s social “norms”. However, being different from society allows Charlie and Holden to be able figure out what they
Main characters are Frank who is a university lecturer and Rita who is a hair dresser. Rita wants to be educated she decides to take an Open University course. The main theme of the play is to be educated.
...is what the characters find they cannot cope with - change. The real tragedy of the play is watching the characters destroying themselves through their own inarticulateness and lack of understanding. Ray Lawler very effectively shows the downfall of the characters through his stage direction. The play works because it touches on the audience's sense of compassion for the characters - we feel pity for them growing old. "The characters are real; neighbours, people in pubs." The language of the characters and their relatively carefree attitude to life means that the audience is able to relate to the people on the stage and ultimately become more engaged and involved in the story line. "The Doll" is best summed up by Ray Lawler himself; "A play about growing up, about people who can't grow up, and about people who can, about people who cannot face the reality of life."
The character, which includes the physiological and psychological makeup of each person in the play, properly incorporated the greed and oppression of the time. Ben and Oscar are brothers who are possessive, scheming, and greedy individuals. These two characters make the play very interesting. Both brothers’ physiological makeup fit the play perfectly. This is because Ben tires to look like a nice guy on the outside but has only one motive that drives his character. This motive is money. He will do anything to get his cotton mill deal to go through. Then there is Oscar. He is also a lot like Ben, but on the surface not as nice. Because of these two characters, the rest of the characters feed of their hatred and ulterior motives. Another character is Leo who is a weak unprincipled son of Oscar and Birdie. This character is not emotionally strong compared to Ben or Oscar, but still has a very well written part. Birdie is then obviously Oscar’s wife. Birdie has one of the most complex characters in the whole play. Her psychological make up is very complex. Her character has very quick mood changes and subsequently does not seem like she has much power in the physiological makeup of the whole group. Next, there is Regina, who is married to Horace and a sister of Oscar and Ben. She undoubtedly has the most devious psychological makeup of all the other characters put together. She has a very cold heart towards her husband. This was the most thoroughly created character in the whole play although it was also the most troubled character. Every line that she said was written for a specific purpose and was usually only to help herself. Married to Regina is Horace. Horace’s character was a very weak and sick old man. Although his part was written beautifully, he should have been a bit wiser to what Regina was planing. He was almos...
At the end the farce turns to be an idyll of wish-fulfillment- Cecily wishes to be engaged to Earnest and it happens so, Jack declares that he is called Earnest and he is in fact, Algy pretends to be Jack's young brother and it comes true too. The characters' fantasies are brought to life at the end of the play. Their double life is not a hypocrisy. They mock the laws and the customs of the society in which they live. The characters challenge society's values, free themselves from their rigid norms and at the end of the play they manage to regain their balance and become earnest.