Sunrise in my Pocket, an American folk drama originally written by Edwin Justus Mayer, but adapted by Jeffrey Hayden for the Playmakers Repertory Company recounts the epic adventure of Davy Crockett, Tennessee statesman and frontiersman and his subsequent journey to Texas. Davy Crockett, portrayed effortlessly by Playmaker’s leading actor, Kenneth P. Strong, is accompanied by his faithful companion, Crawling Caterpillar, the gallant ex-pirate Hardin, the woman hating Thimblerig, and the man-hating Annie; each part was played respectfully by Douglas Spain, Mike Regan, Jeffrey Blair Cornell, and Jamie Rose.
The success of Jeffrey Hayden’s production should be attributed to the talented cast and their professional zeal that was evident in each individual performance. The main plot, the actual journey and the carefully woven sub-plots, between for example Thimblerig and Annie became the foundation for fun-loving adventure and perhaps in the imagination of the audience greater adventure upon arrival in the Texas.
The audience and thus the play greatly benefited from the use of the thrust stage, extending beyond the proscenium arch, the stage was surrounded on three sides by the audience. The thrust stage moved the action into the crowd; the audience became an extra, part of the play, no longer an audience removed, but an audience part. The stage was also raked, or maintained a permanent slope atop a level auditorium floor. The sloped stage increased the effectiveness of the thrust stage, further projecting the action into the audience.
The task of simulating the American frontier was given to scene designer Narelle Sissons and lighting designer Mary Louise Geiger. Sissons created a beautifully naked set, backed by a grove of trees that was brought to life by Geiger’s gentle moonbeams, water reflections, and campfire light. Not nearly as empty as Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot; however, both sets allow the imagination to improvise and individually interpret the play. Sissons and Geiger created an appropriately classy set and lighting scene that added to the plays performance.
Costume Designer, Marianne Custer, continued with the idea of simplicity while selecting the worn frontier clothing. Annie became the notable standout however, with her tight fitting buckskins. The costume only added to the character, a frontier feminist, Annie could compete with the bravest of males, but was still very feminine and had the beauty only a woman could.
Sound Designer, M. Anthony Reimer, provided the audience with a subtle, yet effective portrayal of backcountry sounds.
idea, as they had to look down on the play. They used a thrust staging
The stage direction gives a better explanation to a play because it shows how the characters
In Richard Yates’ fictional novel Revolutionary Road, April Wheeler, Frank Wheeler, and John Givings all seek escape from their current captive situations in suburbia; however, while April and Frank employ concrete methods of escape, the mentally unstable John Givings has no solid plan of escape. Foremost, April Wheeler is a young woman seeking freedom and independence, which also means getting away from her suburban life. She first attempts her escape when she joins the Laurel Players in a production of The Petrified Forest. Full of hope, April dreams of something different and exciting. Her dreams are crushed when the play crashes and burns. Her face that she puts on for the stage, bright, glowing, and covered with makeup, represents her dreams for something bigger. Once she fails, she retreats back to suburbia, removing her makeup and revealing a “graceless, suffering creature” with a “constricted” appearance and a “false” smile (Yates 13). The more April tries to conceal her disappointment, the more her anger builds. Soon, she snaps, declaring that her husband Frank has pu...
The audience is an important factor to determine the success of a spectacle. It is known that there is no spectacle without audience. The musical theater presentations are known for their number of people, which according to the Broadway League (n.d.), the 2013 season reached attendance of 11.57 million. However, the number of spectators has been decreased in comparison with the peak of popularity for musicals in the last century. The first reason for that is that the spectators of musical theater presentations were a more specific group such as wealthy and intellectual people that used to go to this type of presentation, and this pattern has been consistent until now, as it can be seen in the price of a Broadway spectacle that is very expensive. Second, the spectators have to go where the spectacles are set up, which makes the live presenta...
Romantic Author James’s Fennimore Cooper created characters in the tradition of independence and self-control. Apart of his “Leather Stockings” series, “The Last of The Mohicans,” uses the American frontier an aesthetic articulation of male Identity. (“Masculine Heroes” American Passages Voices and Visions) In an excerpt from Cooper’s classic, “From Volume I Chapter III”, (Cooper. 485-491) the reader is introduced to the recurring character Natty Bumppo – referred to as Hawkeye-- and his friend Chingachgook. Both men can be seen as representations of the American Frontier, Heroes that embody the mythic elements in Cooper’s setting. They are rugged frontiersmen that thrive self-sufficiently, in a world of harsh realities.
The curtains of the play draw, the audience, quiet and eager waits for the lights to dim to see what William Shakespeare had brought before them. Shakespeare’s plays became enjoyable and fun to watch, seeing actors dress in amazing costumes and props used in The Globe Theater. (1-1)
The scenery shows realistic sets in the play. The text is very episodic that show the parts of the events in a story. The conflict shows a rough experience of growing up with adults, who are treating the orphaned boys very abusive and having some troubles on where they belonged. Peter, other boys, and Molly have some kinds of conflicts about being a leader and succeeding the mission where the Lord Astar (Molly’s father) have to send to Molly. The conflict has already resolved when they have completed their mission and kept their group safe. It also affects my overall experience that the conflict between different characters did show different perspectives on how they lead and express their experience of leadership in their mission. The space of the theater was small, but it’s large enough for the actors to perform and for the audience to see. The scenery designer Andrew Breithaupt of this play did show a specific place and time. For example, the beginning shows the ship and what era is it. The scenery is also very real locale in the play, and it’s very appropriate views toward the audience for non-professional and school play. The scenery of this play did show more realistic-moving type, but it did move some parts of the scene that I see in the play. Also, it showed the surprising element of changing the sets than the scene. Costume Designer Amy Zsadanyi-Yale did give the clues about the timeline, personalities of every character in the play. But I believe that the costumes should get focused on connecting the situations in the play. For example, an orphanage that the nameless boy (Peter) and other boys lived should have ragged-looking or something damage into the costumes so it can create an effect on costumes from the scene. The costumes show the conflicts and interpersonal relationships, but I should consider that the social groups in this play should look something different from the orphanage and upper class. Lightning and
The theatron was the place where the audience sat. At first the spectators sat on the ground, later on wooden bleachers and finally on tiers of stone seats which followed the circular shape of the orchestra and the natural contours of the countryside. The theatron surrounded the orchestra on three sides. Describing the theater of Dionysus, David Taylor writes, " The spectators seats were in a curving area, a little more than a semi-circle and slope down to the center" (Taylor 19). Even though all classes of people attended the theater there were reserved areas for the more prestigious, such as the king.
The stage was in proscenium form so it allowed most audience members to have the same amount of viewing as others throughout the theater. Due to the theatre space being so small and intimate, it created the relevant atmosphere of everything on stage happening to be small.
If I was to direct this play each act would adopt a different aesthetic style that reflects relevant themes. The first act, which describes a suburban version of the Ice Age, would look and feel like a ‘50s sitcom. It would be complete with black-and-white lighting, and I picture a laugh track. In the second act the apocalypse has arrived in the disguise of a ‘80s sitcom. However adding a brightly colored Las Vegas style would hide the essential chaos. The third and final act portrays a deserted postwar landscape. Straying from the TV show format entirely, I’d like to strip away the pop culture deception to reveal the family beneath.
When you first enter the theater, you are immediately in awe of the strongest aspect of this production: the set. The stage features a life-sized enchanted forest with “tress” as tall as the ceiling and a lit-up backdrop of a twilight sky. The tress would move around throughout the performance to make way for different scenes. In front of your very eyes, an enchanted forest would turn into the outside of a charming house with a lit porch and a well. The twilight sky would turn to a starlit sky and a soft spotlight simulating moonlight would compliment the faint sound of crickets. Suddenly the house and tress move around and you’re in a town with a little cart selling baguettes, or a lush dining room with Victorian wallpaper, a chandelier, and china displayed on the walls. The world shakes once again and now you’re in, inevitably, a ballroom. A white Victorian gate opens up to become the walls of the ballroom, and a white marble bridge and staircase appear for the outside of the castle. Adults and children alike were in awe of the craftsmanship and technology.
The scripted gives every detail of what the house is to look like and states that the house should be more, “…comfortable than messy.” By having the set look like a comfortable home gives an atmosphere of what many, in the audience, would consider a homely feeling. (Norman, pg. 1) With guidance from Marsha Norman, the author of the play, she displays how she envisions the play being acted out and brought into the lives of the audience...
The Globe Theatre was where Shakespeare had most of his plays performed. It had many decorations to make it look appealing and to try and to make it seem expensive and luxurious. The Globe Theatre was built in just 6 months between 1597 and 1598 just outside central London. The Thames River separated it from St Paul’s cathedral. The Globe was made in a round circular shape. This meant that at least one actor would have their back to the audience, however, this would not have mattered because the audience came mainly to hear the play – not to see it. When you were buying a seat for the theatre, the most expensive seats would not be the ones with the best view, they would be the closest ones in order to hear better. Also, these seats would be facing towards the audience, which means that everyone would see them, meaning fame. The Globe would usually be packed with decorations and ornaments. These would have nothing to do with the play, it was used to make the theatre look more attractive/expensive. Lots of people would come to see the plays. They would do this because Shakespeare’s plays were not published at that time so the public would want to see it...
Actors were expected to memorize hundreds of lines at a time. While one play could be performing, actors would be practicing lines for their next show. Play writers also began to make roles for the actors in the theatrical pieces. The theaters that actors performed in were roofless so that the sun could be used as lighting. Theatrical shows were held in the afternoon because it provided the best amount of light for the show. When the people gathered into the theater, the different classes of people were separated by where they could afford to sit and watch the show. The lower classmen were situated on the bare earth where it was dirty and smelly because it was never cleaned. The owners’ of the theaters found it less expensive if they did not keep high maintenance of their establishments. Higher classmen sat under a roof and for a penny more, they could buy cushions for their seats.
The theater was one of the primary forms of entertainment in Elizabethan England, as anyone, rich or poor could attend the plays.The rich would sit in boxes or galleries, while the poorer people would have to stand for the entirety of the play (Haigh). The poor would stand in front of the stage which would normally be raised about 4 to 6 feet and the theater could hold on average 3,000 people (Trumbull). The rich however usually watched plays in indoor private theaters, but sometimes would watch the plays in the outdoor public ones. Performances ...