Water by the Spoonful

In Water By The Spoonful, author Quiara Alegrìa Hudes separates the world of the play into several different areas. Each area then becomes its own little world. On occasion the separate worlds start to intersect with each other.  One particular instance is at the end of Act 1 when the Internet world and Elliot Ortiz’s world intersect.  As Haikumom is giving advice, through the use of Haikus, to his fellow addicts; Hudes decides to include Elliot Ortiz’s world into the scene. The reasoning behind allowing Elliot’s world to bleed into the Internet world is for two reasons. The first is that Elliot and Haikumom are both portrayed as strong individuals, despite their past difficulties, Haikumom’s crack addiction and Elliot’s war injury. In this scene a hardening blow, Elliot’s leg giving in under pressure and Haikumom finding out that her sister has died, strikes both Elliot and Haikumom. The second reason for the intersection is that even though the characters cannot see each other Hudes sets up a curtain line for the end of the act. The curtain line is the revelation that Haikumom is Elliot’s aunt. Through this revelation, Hudes shows that even though both Elliot and Haikumom have separate difficulties; they share the same pain of losing someone they both loved and cared about deeply. By sharing the pain of losing someone, a bond is formed between Elliot and Haikumom. Even though Elliot holds Haikumom responsible for the death of her own daughter, there is still a connection present between the two of them. However, the hatred Elliot has for Haikumom is not reveled to the audience until later on in the play.

Buried Child

          According to The New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, realism, in relation to literature, means: a style or theory of literature in which familiar aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or plain manner. In the same dictionary, illusion is defined as: something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality. Based on these two definitions, illusionistic realism could then be defined as a style of literature in which familiar aspects of literature are represented in a straightforward manner yet are deceiving because of a false impression that is exhibited. Sam Shepard, in his play Buried Child, provides his audience with an example illusionistic realism.

            One may consider Shepard’s plays to be similar to Greek tragedies with the themes of incest, murder, deceit, and rebirth. Shepard was attempting to prove a point that all life consists of these sufferings, whether it was in ancient Greek times or in the 1970’s when this play was written and performed. Incest occurred between Halie, the mother, and her son, Tilden. The child produced from this incest is drowned by Dodge, Halie’s husband. Murder enters the plot. The deceit occurs when the rest of the family, along with Father Dewis, continues to hide the truth of their actions from each other and Shelly, Vincent’s girlfriend. Vincent is Tilden’s son and is returning to his home.

Father Dewis, the pastor, is involved with Halie. The adultery is never really addressed and the problem remains in the background. Rebirth, new life, occurs when Tilden brings in the corn from the backyard. Dodge swears that he has not planted any crops but the evidence is present. When the play closes and Tilden is bringing his dead infant son up the stair, one is again reminded of rebirth in that while one child died, another child, Vincent, has discovered his new focus on life.

With this play, Shepard wanted to draw attention to the problems of families in rural America.  The ambiguity, complexity, and irony of this play enabled Shepard to illustrate the truth and deception of life and gave the audience an opportunity to discuss the problems and solutions.

Noises Off

Noises Off

            A general motif that is present throughout the play, Noise Off, is how the onstage characters mimic the personality of their offstage counterpart.  Michael Frayn creates a story where each actor plays two characters. Each actor has an onstage and offstage character. When one reads the play, Noises Off, the reader notices the similarities between both the actors’ onstage character and offstage character. For instance, the offstage character Brooke Ashton is just as air headed as her onstage character, Vicki. Another prime example is the offstage character Belinda Blair. Belinda, who is an always cheerful and reliable actress, is a perfect embodiment of her onstage character, Flavia Brent, who is the ideal housewife. Flavia is constantly trying to be there for her husband, Phillip, all the while trying to care for her house.

            An important ‘tag line” for the play Noises Off would have to be the phrase “Sardines.” The reason the phrase “Sardines” is so important is because not only does the entire play evolve around a character having the actual sardines, but also the phrase “Sardines” helps keep the play going. Examples being the characters are constantly exchanging the sardines from one character to the next; thus, the audience/reader are ultimately forced to follow around a plate of sardines the entire play. Wherever the sardines go, chaos is sure to follow. An example being is when Mrs. Clackett, Dotty Otley, is on the phone, while holding the plate of Sardines in her hand. Ultimately, Mrs. Clackett becomes tangled up in the phone’s cord while she is talking and holding on to the plate of sardines at the same time. The sardines become the focal point of Mrs. Clackett’s attention, thus making her oblivious to her own actions.

Glass of Water

           The Glass of Water, uses his character Bolingbroke as the protagonist to illustrate his point of confusion in the English court of Queen Anne. Lord Bolingbroke manipulates the characters to achieve his own agenda.

            Lord Bolingbroke uses his friendship with Abigail Churchill and Arthur Masham to manipulate his desire for the return of the Tory government and his return to power as the Prime Minister. Scribe attempts to trick the audience into believing that Bolingbroke is not a major character and always appears to be in the background. Scribe utilizes this technique so that the audience is always rooting for Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke’s character never ceases to amaze the audience and the comic aspects of the play work to antagonize the character of Sarah Churchill, thus playing into Bolingbroke’s plans for his agenda.

            Whereas Bolingbroke is the protagonist, the character of Sarah Churchill, the Duchess, is the antagonist. Hers is the character that appears to be always plotting and playing against Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke attempts to blackmail the Duchess into allowing Abigail Churchill into Queen Anne’s court as a lady-in-waiting; the Duchess counterattacks by informing Bolingbroke that she holds all his markers and that she will have him thrown into debtors’ prison the next day at the close of the Parliament Session.  

            This farce continues throughout the play. Each time that Bolingbroke is foiled by the Duchess, he returns with another counterattack. The audience’s attention is held throughout the play by the exchange between Bolingbroke and the Duchess, with interludes by Abigail, Masham, and Queen Anne. Scribe uses the subplots of the attraction on the part of the Queen and the Duchess for Masham as a backdrop to highlight the protagonist character of Bolingbroke thus allowing him to further his Tory agenda and his return to power as Prime Minister.

Anything Goes with this Show and Tell Post

Anything Goes

Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse wrote the play Anything Goes in 1934 at the request of the producer, Vinton Freedley. Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse based it on a book. Cole Porter composed the music and lyrics. The original story was about a shipwrecked boat with comical characters and was exclusively the work of Bolton and Wodehouse. After the wreck of the ship, Morro Castle, off the coast of New Jersey in which 134 people lost their lives; Lindsay and Russel were brought in to revise the script.

            The play starts off in New York, follows the cast members aboard an ocean liner, The S.S. America, enroute to Southampton, England and finishes on the estate of Sir Evelyn Oakleigh. The main characters consist of Reno Sweeney, a nightclub entertainer; Billy Crocker, a Wall Street broker; Hope Harcourt, Billy’s ex-fiancé; and Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, Hope’s current fiancé. It also includes the characters of the Rev. Dr. Moon, who is really Public Enemy #13, Moonface Martin.  Billy has remained on board the ship so that he can try to convince his former flame, Hope, to call off her engagement and marry him. In the meantime, Reno, who says that she is in love with Billy, starts to fall for Sir Evelyn. Mrs. Harcourt and Billy’s boss, Elisha J. Whitney, begin to realize that they have a lot in common. The cast makes the appropriate pairings and every one ends up happy, except for the Moonface Martin, aka Rev. D. Moon, who has been exonerated by the administration in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Harcourt and Elisha are together; Billy and Hope and Reno and Sir Evelyn have found true love.

 Anything Goes first opened at the Alvin Theatre, now the Neil Simon Theatre, in New York City on November 21, 1934. A screen version, starring Ethel Merman and Bing Crosby, was produced in 1936. A theatrical version of the play was produced at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in 1987. Another revival opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on April 1, 2002.  On April 7, 2010, Anything Goes also opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway. All three of the recent revivals garnered numerous Tony Awards.

Two dramaturgical choices that Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse choose in Anything Goes are: they choose to break the 4^th wall of play by allowing the orchestra to respond to what is going on stage, and instead of having the orchestra create the Purser’s chimes they choose to have the instrument played by the Purser. By breaking down the 4^th wall of the play, Bolton and Wodehouse incorporate the audience into the show; whereas before, the audience was just looking in from the outside. Bolton and Wodehouse break the 4^th wall in one of the very final scenes of the play. Mrs. Evangeline Harcourt asks the Ship’s Purser what her dog was doing in the Ship’s pool. Instead of having the Purser responding to the question, Bolton and Wodehouse choose to have the orchestra respond to Mrs. Harcourt by saying “The Dog Paddle” It is this response that breaks down the 4^th wall and drags the audience into the story that is taking place before them.

A 2^nd dramaturgical choice that Bolton and Wodehouse make is by allowing the Ship’s Purser to play his own instrument. Allowing the Purser to play the chimes onstage, instead of having the instrument played by the orchestra, adds a realistic image to the play. This decision allows the audience to believe that they are actually watching real events take place on a real ship. The Purser’s chimes are used to signal dinnertime aboard the ship. This choice creates a more realistic view of the play for the audience.

Cites:

www.theatrehistory.com/american/musical020.html -

broadwayworld.com/article/ANYTHING-GOES-to-Open-at-the...

www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/anythinggoes.htm - 

Hornby and the Relation to Groundhog Day (The Movie)

Throughout the script, How I learned to Drive, there is a constant repeated use of the title “You and the Reverse Gear.” This repeated motif does not only reflect the overall motif of driving, but also foreshadows the upcoming scene that is about to take place. By titling the scene “You and the Reverse Gear,” Vogel prepares the audience for what is about to happen in the upcoming scene. Vogel hints to the audience that the scene that is about to be played is taking place in the past. This is accomplished through the audience’s association with driving. The audience understands that to reverse means to go backwards, thus the audience is able to understand that the following scene is going backwards in time, to the past.  Although not every scene is the exact time period, each scene varies on time; but still deals with a point in Li’l Bit’s past.

In the movie Groundhog Day, the main character, Phil Collins, finds himself stuck in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over again. It is this time loop that is a motif played throughout the movie. Although Phil changes his day-to-day routines, he is constantly brought back to the same point in time at the start of the next day. This action of repeating the same day is why the time loop can be considered a motif in the movie Groundhog Day. Even though the detailed action changes everyday, the overall action is constantly being repeated throughout the entire movie. At certain points in time during the movie, Phil can be seen having the same exact conversation, with another character, he had the day prior. This is just a smaller instance of a motif being repeated throughout the movie. Not only does this smaller motif repeat, but it reflects the overall motif of a time loop.

How I Learned to Drive

In Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive, a Greek Chorus is used throughout the entity of the play. Vogel uses the Greek chorus for two reasons. The first reason is that by having a chorus the reader/audience is forced to focus primarily on the two main characters, Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck. The use of only two primary characters directs the reader/audience to pay more attention to the character when they speak. Although the words of the Greek chorus are important, they are present only to fill in back story for the two main characters. One example is when the Female Greek chorus speaks as Li’l Bit’s mother about the time she told Li’l Bit how to drink like a lady. The second use of the Greek chorus is to create a more intimate relationship between Li’ Bit and Uncle Peck. If there were an actor for each character the reader/audience would want to focus a little on every character. Thus, the intimate relationship between the two main characters would have trouble being created because of the lack of focus from the reader/audience.

Paula Vogel makes another interesting choice by relating the title of each scene to having something to do with driving. The choice to title each scene about driving allows the reader/audience to perhaps relate it to there own experience. This is just another way Vogel is able to create an intimate relationship between Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck.  The use of a title also prepares the reader/audience for what is to come in the following scene. The title about driving puts an idea into the reader/audience’s head and directs them to relate/look at the following scene in a certain way. One example is the use of the title “You and the Reverse Gear.” When this title is used it tells the audience that the following scene will be taking place sometime in the past. The reader/audience know this because just like a car can drive backwards, the story is backtracking into the past to a certain point in time.