These Paths Don't Converge

The first thing that stood out to me in the story Shiloh was the genre. I got a bit of a feel of what it was going to be from the author's bio, but as soon as read the first sentence I knew I was in for a realistic fiction, white, middle class story. Much like Raymond Carver's stories, I knew going in that the conflict would most likely be internal or with character relationships. Both of these exist in Shiloh and thus character is also a big part of the analysis as you get a sense of each of the characters and how their relationships work. Leroy's injury has rendered him unable to continue his job and you can see him losing his sense of purpose as he does crafts, drives around aimlessly, and tries to grasp an impossible dream of a log cabin for his wife. Whereas Norma Jean has been moving on without him, she has her own job that she is very passionate about, she is body building, and going to school. Not only has she replaced him as the "man of the house" but all this time while Leroy has been away at work she has been becoming more and more independent.
We can see through this characterization the internal conflict going on in these two, even though they are outwardly getting along. Leroy has lost his purpose and is trying to rekindle the relationship he had with his wife now that their dynamic has changed, and he is trying to do this by designing and building this house for them. On the other hand Norma Jean is making decisions for herself, living her own life and is being held back by her mother (who is always looming over her) and Leroy or perhaps even her marriage. Going back to genre we can see given the authors bio that she rights feminist works, so it isn't a surprise to see a role reversal with Norma Jean and Leroy. Even with Leroy's last ditch effort to get them to "meet" somewhere, in this case Shiloh. The resolution shows that Norma Jean has gone too far down her own path (wish I had the word count to talk about this symbol) of independence for them to salvage their relationship.

Did he speak his lines with conviction? Now that's the question.

I decided to watch the first adaptation from high schoolers again. In my first analysis, I focused on their age and costume, but this time I decided to focus on how they said their lines and their music choices. These kids were well rehearsed, and ready to go. They said their lines confidently and with conviction. They also made the play fun by adding music from other shows that also coincided with the play Hamlet- like the Pirates of the Caribbean music. They did a great job with their play!

Maybe he shouldn't be driving?

From reviewing all the ways to analyze drama I see now a different light for the way they established this plays opening. As willy is speaking with his wife the actor uses a lot of fillers which makes the audience wonder if he is nervous, or if he is just old. He uses "uhhhh" before he starts another part of a sentence, and is very shaky as he answers his wife questions, unsure of how to respond. The lack of fluidity in his words has us sense that this play will be influence by his old age's lack of surety.

Hamlet My Captain

I decided to use the second variation of Hamlet that I analyzed (the one with the ship theme, hence my title) and look at it in a different light. I watched it again without sound and looked at the character movement. It's a pretty big set so the actors are able to move around a lot. A lot of tension is is brought about when Ophelia moves towards a person as the queen backs away from her, Claudius seems almost angry and tries to move to call for help offstage. Hamlet shows concern for her and leans towards but never makes contact, this makes it appear that Ophelia and her mental state are now unreachable at this point. Many other versions have Ophelia as the only one moving to keep the attention on her, but the actors movements in this version are telling of the emotion and tension of each of the characters and the scene as a whole.

I'm worried about Willy

To begin with, the youtube video's of this play were my first association with Death of a Salesman following Willy and his family, and much like his sons and wife, I'm worried about him too. 

(0:00-8:00) In this opening scene even though it's late I thought it was interesting that they started with a lot of light and then as the scene shifted to individual characters the focus of the lighting would be directed to the parents or the sons. Almost as if starting the play by suggesting that this is about the family, and then focusing on specific aspects of each family member. 

(0:00-5:40) This production is really fascinating because we see a silent copycat character in which Willy speaks to himself in a very literal sense.  If you continue the clip they keep both the boys talking as well as Willy talking to himself this time without the double. The set is much more low key probably low production budget set with no divide between the boys bed room which gives them a need to focus the lighting so we can't keep our eyes on everything in the room. I liked this one not because of the set but because the actors and light crew did the best with what they had.

(0:00-8:30)

Two things I noticed about this production that were significantly different than the previous. One was the background music. Behind the characters speaking there was background music that would fit the monologues and dialogue, they did a great job in selecting music that would fit the mood of each characters conversations such as Willy speaking to himself cuing around (7:35) The other thing that was interesting was the set, they had didn't levels and wide spacing making it easy for the audience to focus on one side of the stage while set and props were being moved on the far side. Quite well done for a high school drama club

Color me Basic

So when I was looking through the list of plays we were allowed to review, I had no clue of any of the ones listed, with the exception of the great tragedy, Hamlet. This was also the first play I ever performed in the 7th grade so it punches with impact. So, away we went.

I started by watching this one, which was a modern high school performance that took a modern adaptation. I thought it stood out because of, not just the shaky camera or poor acting, but the amount of heart these kids put into Hamlet. It was endearing to watch Ophelia deliver her lines with such conviction and their fun choice of costume which was different than a classic adaptation.

The second one I watched was a more classic adaption from college students a Texas State University. Keeping a running theme by watching the first part of the play, I liked the intro to this one as well as the black had everyone looking unified and interesting to look at. The beginning monologue where Bernardo and Francisco are talking about seeing the king's ghost around, I thought was really well done in this adaptation. 

And lastly, I watched the beginning of this one which held a professional adaptation of the show. They were superior, they were always in character and I thought their modern choice of dress brought another level to the show. Francisco and Bernardo made this adaptation more interesting and set the scene beautifully and they brilliantly introduce the deceased king of Denmark. 

Oh My Dear Hamlet

I will begin with honesty, which is ironic considering this play, but I feel it is only appropriate. I wanted to analyze Chekhov's the Cherry Orchard, I read up on it and searched and searched for videos but could only find one that fit the criteria. So, I am returning to my old friend Hamlet. I chose the scene where Ophelia presents flowers to everyone because there are many people in the scene and I wanted to see how they chose to handle her dialog and "insanity."

1:57:25 - 1:59:35

When looking at dialog this actress puts a lot of emphasis on Ophelia's swaying mood into the way she voices the lines to display Ophelia's "madness" You may notice that Hamlet's actor is female, which I think was an interesting decision. The set and costumes are very showy and bold. Also, all the actors use dramatic movements while speaking and face towards the audience, which makes this like a dramatic reading almost.

1:23:08 - 1:25:14

The set, costume, and props for this performance are very unique as it seems to have a ship theme, while keeping the same dialog. As a result Ophelia gives them metal and glass tools instead of flowers, which seems to add the emphasis of her "going mad" as well as her tattered and dirty dress.

1:24:18 - 1:26:57 (this one is a French production, I'm not pandering to Professor Burton, the German and Korean versions were just way too weird:)

This performance is very interesting because when Ophelia sings she has music accompaniment. The rest of the dialog has no background noise. Along with the ornate dress of each character Ophelia's flower crown and the beautiful music make this scene more elegant, which contrasts the tension of this situation.

The Shelf of an Aspiring CES Instructor

Between church books and literary classics made movies, I'm set. Hoping to add to the classic part of the collection this semester. 

The Beginning of a Personal Collection... The VERY Beginning

My tiny little personal stash of books on my shelf here at school. The shelf could hold about four times as many books as I have, but hey, you gotta start somewhere!

How to: Have the whole world in a corner

My name is Allie Jones, and if I could go to lunch with 3 people either alive or dead it would be: Jane Austen, Kate Middleton, Margaret Thatcher.

Mya's Home Away From Home Collection