For all those looking for a place to post their papers (like myself), I created a post to organize them so that Lauren wouldn't have to go hunting for them. Additionally, the whole blog stays organized, and there's no confusion. (Thank you sweet Admin privileges!)
6 comments:
I think that the biggest difference between the performance today, and reading the play (out loud in class or otherwise) is that the performance is clearly more lively. I felt a connection clearly with the visual performance than to have just read it and used my own devices to portray the images.
I definitely see the characters in a different light in the performance, because there is a degree of humanity within them. They aren't their pure forms as on paper. They are acted and interpreted under the guise of humans. The clearest example of this is the character of Josephine. Her actor was quite the exotic dancer, and she still had the ill-willed attitude towards Sophie and Salima, but I didn't feel the same maliciousness as I did reading the play. Christian can also be applied to this, as I didn't think he would be so funny.
A second difference that I noticed between the performance and reading the play was that the play was very structured while reading it, while the performance is more flexible with the inclusion of improv. When reading the play, I wasn't "in the moment," so I didn't need to use or feel improv. In the performance, they added certain lines and things because the actors were doing the play as they went in certain situations. The performance wasn't an exact copy of the script we had. (Like I had expected)
A third difference that I noticed between the performance and reading the play was the ability to hear (literally) the dialect. This point correlates to my first point about seeing the visual performance, but I mentioned this separately because it stuck out to me. For example, I didn't expect Christian to have a west indian accent while acting. I didn't expect Mama to have a french accent. (Similar to that expected in Calixta's environment from The Storm) These changes made the performance stand out compared to just reading the play because they took away from the conformity of the script we were reading from.
To conclude, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, and there are more than subtle differences between the performance and reading the play. I think that main things that stand out are visual experience, hearing of dialect, and use of improv. I feel that the performance was clearly better than reading the play because of these things.
P.S. To all my fellow AP English Peers: This was such a great performance, I think we should see it again after we graduate! Just a thought...
P.S.S. Thank you Lauren, for the MOST memorable field trip I've had in a long while (since the inauguration), It was awesome to watch! You have amazing methods of teaching! (and connections in the theater world) Good luck with the Video for Grad App!
I really liked the play, it told a great story of the lives of women in a distant location from here who suffer and are abused and have done nothing to deserve it.The play touched my heart to see that there are woman that are forced to do things (sexually) that they dont want to just to stay alive, and others who are damaged or ruined because of a dumb war. It got me thinking, 'wow what if that woman was a family member of mine, a sister a mother or even a wife, how would that effect me mentally?'
I truly believe that the play brought all the words alive, from the death of being on paper to the reality that we can all see and feel. Thank you Lauren for taking us to watch this performance.
Well I feel that the play was very similar to what I personally was thinking (I loved the setting of the brothel that was awesome) but the characters I imagined them differently. I imagined salima being taller than sophie but in the play they did it opposite and I kept getting confused at times which was which. I thought the birds as odd in the play. In the play they didn't really refereed to the birds when fortune, Christian and Mama were fighting. In the play it said that "the birds raised hell". I wasn't sure if that was to be interpreted literally. Another thing I noticed was that they put the name of the beer "primus" was on the pool table. I was really wondering why did they do that. In the ending i really liked the fact that they kissed (which i dont think they did in the play) but again the birds says Mama, Primus, Mama Primus i dont remember if they said that. Well overall I thought that was the best play (so far) I've seen but didn't any one noticed that if the bird was real or not? Oh and I really wonder how in gods name they change clothes so fast.
I really LOVED the play. Actually seen the play brought out more of the women's feelings than when I read it. When I read it I didn't see the bar as colorful as they had it on the stage. I thought it would all be just one color that didnt stand out much and the chritmas lights would be the only thing giving it color, trying to make it stand out and lighten the mood a bit. I also thought that they wouldn't wear such modern clothing. I thought they would wear more of the traditional dresses that the women only wore at certain times of the play. Another thing I didn't expect was the commander to wear sweat pants and a gold chain, I thought that he would have been in uniform all the time with mud on his boots and his clothing completely dirty. I expected the bar to a lit bigger and to be on the right side of the stage. Basically almost all the characters were like I imagined them to be except for Mama. I imagined Mama to be a heavier and taller woman. I also noticed that they didn't give much importance to the birds in the play, which bumed me out because I thought they were important to Mama as a character.
Let me start by saying this was such an amazing experience, thank you Lauren, It was almost unbearable, however; I enjoyed it!(Talk about bitter sweet)
Personally, the play was a lot to take in. Especially all at once, I actually thanked God there was an interlude, because my mind was blown. So I needed time to recuperate. The biggest difference for me was realizing the reality of it. Definitely reading the play was easier to do, because we had the option to visualize something as vivid as it should be visualized, or we could punk out and tone it down a bit. Which unfortunately, I did while reading the entire play.
The character that surprised me the most was Josephine. The description in the text made it seem that she was this stuck up, arrogant, jealous fiend. But in the play she was kind, and most of the time sweet towards her peers, and Mama. As well as Josephine, appearing to be equal to Sophie's beauty.
Another difference I noticed the utilization of birds was used far less in the play, than in the text. Yes, Sophie sung songs which included the word bird in it, and yes, the bird surprisingly said Mama Primus at the end. But, they didn't show how the birds were used to express Mama's feelings nor, the other characters. Which leads me to mention that I noticed that Mama, was a lot more open with her feelings than I thought she would be.
Ok, Thats about it from me, I can go on forever, and I'm sure Lauren you would love me to, but its not going to happen, not now at least. Overall I left the play touched, moved, and inspired, and I hope for the day that a difference is made in the Congo, as well as a class doing something about it ourselves instead of relying on others.
Estefany Frias said...
The play was exactly like I imagined it would be. It was incredible. I loved the play and the script, even though they added more lines which only made it better. Seeing actors act out the characters I became familiar with didn't make a difference to me. They still were the same people I imagined them to be. Except for mama's wardrobe which looks like something I would wear to a party. There was one who surprised me and that was Josephine, she danced alot and looked more seducing than I thought she would.
The bird didn't really make any noise until the ed of the play and that was a let down for me.
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