On Thursday December 2, I had the opportunity to attend a play called The Conference of the Birds at the Bridgewater University ‘s Rondileau Campus Center Auditorium. I truly did not know what to expect as I was very unfamiliar with the tittle. The play was directed by Colleen Rua. The play had many themes but the one theme that caught my attention was the theme of spirituality. In the play, the main character Hoopoe played by Samantha McMahon tried to inspire her fellow birds to go on a quest to find their king named Simorgh. The birds had many excuses and Hoopoe told them countless stories and riddles of past kings and she encourages them to go on a quest for this one true king. Many of the birds oppose the idea and stated that they were …show more content…
The quest to the Divine and the king is a great presentation of individuals who seek God through religious beliefs. Samantha McMahon did a fantastic job with her performance. As the leader of the flock. She, not only encourage the birds, she kept them motivated even when they wanted to quit at time. After all, it was not an easy journey. They had to travel over vast desert and valleys. Another performer that I enjoyed watching was Alyssa Germaine who played multiple characters. She played a parrot, a princess and a moth. As a parrot, she talked about how comfortable she was in her case and could not imagine any happier place. Many of us are like that in a sense that we are very comfortable in our circle and are afraid of the things that may happen to us if we dear to step outside or comfort zone. A play can be called a great if they actors play their roles well which makes the performances …show more content…
The director did a fantastic job at creating a stage a beautiful storytelling stage. The audience had a change to be part of the play because of the proximity of the seats to the stage. Some people sat on chairs while other sat on decorated seating pillows. For such wonderful story, I thought this was an effective way to keep the audience engage. On the stage, they had circular shaped boxes colored with blue patterns and the actors used them thought the play. The actors stay in character using these boxed and through avian hops and twitches. When flying, they moved in a very graceful flying movement which I thing was beautifully choreographed. As they flew, a drum played by a life drummer played the played in the background and a black screen projector displayed dark animated images along with the movement of the actors. The actor wore a much more natural tone colored customs with colorful scarfs along with mask representing different types of birds beside the dove which was only dressed all in
It is imperative to understand the significance of the profound effects these elements have on the audience’s response to the play. Without effective and accurate embodiments of the central themes, seeing a play becomes an aimless experience and the meaning of the message is lost. Forgiveness and redemption stand as the central themes of the message in The Spitfire Grill. Actors communicate character development through both nonverbal and verbal cues; their costumes serve as a visual representation of this development by reflecting the personal transformation of each character. In the case of The Spitfire Grill, set design is cut back to allow for the audience’s primary focus to be on the actors and their story. Different from set design, the use of sound and lights in The Spitfire Grill, establishes the mood for the play. In other words, every theatrical element in a play has a purpose; when befittingly manipulated, these elements become the director’s strongest means of expressing central themes, and therefore a means of achieving set objectives. Here again, The Spitfire Grill is no exception. With the support of these theatrical elements, the play’s themes of forgiveness and redemption shine as bright as the moon on
Throughout the play, there is a level of intensity that can be seen. Sound effects, lighting and props help make the story seem intensely realistic. It helped engage the audience's attention and emotions throughout the entire play. It is as though we are living vicariously through these characters. With these characters, there is a life lesson to be learned.
The tile of the poem “Bird” is simple and leads the reader smoothly into the body of the poem, which is contained in a single stanza of twenty lines. Laux immediately begins to describe a red-breasted bird trying to break into her home. She writes, “She tests a low branch, violet blossoms/swaying beside her” and it is interesting to note that Laux refers to the bird as being female (Laux 212). This is the first clue that the bird is a symbol for someone, or a group of people (women). The use of a bird in poetry often signifies freedom, and Laux’s use of the female bird implies female freedom and independence. She follows with an interesting image of the bird’s “beak and breast/held back, claws raking at the pan” and this conjures a mental picture of a bird who is flying not head first into a window, but almost holding herself back even as she flies forward (Laux 212). This makes the bird seem stubborn, and follows with the theme of the independent female.
One of my favorite scenes of this production was at the end when all the characters were on the dark stage with a candle. As Otto Frank tells how each character died, they blew out the candle symbolizing their passing away. I felt a wave of emotion during this moment because throughout the play, I, as an audience member, connected with each character. Rather then a curtain call at the end of the production, the audience was allowed a moment of silence to reflect on the
The play Sisters, by Wendy Lill, is set in 20th century Nova Scotia at an Indian Residential School. The play focuses on a hopeful 17-year-old farm girl named Mary who was dating Louis at the time. Along with the present Mary who is currently in interrogation with, the duty counsel, Stein. She has been accused of torching down the Residential School, the place where she worked for fifteen years. There are various factors contributing to the impulsive reasoning behind Sister Mary’s act of burning down the Residential School such as, the actual truth to why she committed the sin, the contrast relationships with others that reflected upon her actions, and the overall punishment she should receive.
The stage featured a proscenium stage and the set was designed by Tim Meacock and resembles this diagram, [IMAGE] The set featured a neutral contemporary theme to it, using light wood for the frame and white boards, almost modern Perspex sheets with cloth sandwiched between them [IMAGE] The set had a very contemporary style; this was because of the use of light wood and white boards that the set was made of, hardly traditional materials for the design of a set. The set itself contributed greatly to assist the atmosphere of the play, not creating it. This was because the play jumped from different time periods, and the set was never altered. This was made possible because the design was very neutral, which made it possible to be used
The setup of the stage was very simple. It was the living room of a home in the early 1980’s. It looked like a normal household, and it had small things such as crumpled up pieces of paper lying around the wastebasket. It also had a couch, circular class table and a recliner in the living room. The dining room was to the left side of the stage and only had the dining table and surrounding chairs. There was a door in the back of the set where characters entered and exited through. Beside the door was a table and stool where Willum presumably worked on his blueprints for the hotel. The lighting design was great; it put you into the atmosphere of the
In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Chopin uses bird imagery to illustrate the difficulties faced by women who yearn to go beyond the social sphere that confines them. She develops the pattern of bird imagery with the recurring images of the parrot and the mockingbird, the repeated use of the word “fluttering,” and the details of birds’ wings. Chopin draws our attention to the parrot and the mockingbird right away: the first few paragraphs describe “the green and yellow parrot, which hung in a cage” and “the mocking bird that hung on the other side of the door.” There is a great incongruity here – although the parrot is usually seen in this domesticated setting, the mockingbird is usually seen as flying freely in the sky or woods. Instead of flying freely, which is one of the positive images
Glaspell use of the bird was a great symbol because it brought forth fond memories of her past as a singer in the choir. A time in her life that offered freedom do go and do whatever she wanted. The bird’s singing filled her heart with an enjoyment that was severely
The Hippodrome setting played a big role in the success of the play, because the seats were close to the stage, which made the audience feel more intimate with the actors. The set was filled with everyday electronics and video games that were popular with today’s generation, and it was good way to capture the attention of the younger audience. The costumes worked for the actors because they were outfits that teens and young adults would wear, which made it easier to relate to the characters. The lighting for the production was awesome because it went well with the sound effects. For example, when Ian was doing a simulation for his new job, he set off a missile and when it exploded the lights changed from blue to red to symbolize seriousness of the situation.
The production had many elements which for the most part formed a coalition to further the plot. The characters, the three part scenery and costumes represented well the period of time these people were going through. As far as the performers entering and exiting the stage, it could have been more organized. There were a few times when the performers exited at the wrong times or it seemed so due to the echo of the music. At certain moments the music was slightly loud and drowned the performers. Many of the songs dragged on, so the pacing could have been more effectively executed. Though the music was off at times, the director's decision to have most of the songs performed center sage was a wise one. Also the implementation of actual white characters that were competent in their roles came as a great surprise to the audience and heightened the realism.
represent in real life. Birds are a part of a class of animals that have the ability to roam
Every face had excellent expressions, presenting their characters perfectly. Also, each actor added their own twist on the characters, anywhere from a slight accent to body language, adding more depth to the entire musical. Furthermore, every actor changed their voice in a way that depicted their character’s emotions and attitude at that particular moment. Also, the color of the lights changes according to each scene and the mood for that particular scene.
Through dance and movement, the storyline were expanded with the assistance of choreographer, Garth Fagan. A well-renowned choreographer...
There wasn’t any particular scene on stage that made me doubt the integrative work of the director since all the staging work such as lighting, design, costumes and performance were well coordinated and blended for a very good production. The lights were well positioned with well fitted costumes and a very ideal scene to match. There wasn’t much change of scenes in the play except for some movement of tables and chairs. There was an entrance and exit for the performers which made their movements uninterrupted. There was a loud sound of a bell when school was over while the lights were dimmed whenever there was a change of scene. The pace of the production was very smooth since one scene followed the other without delay and most likely because most of the performers wore the same costume; especially all eight students wore the same costume for the entire