Water By the Spoonful

I picked scene 6 when the Ghost says “Momken men-fadluck ted-dini gawaz safari?”  The Ghost had appeared earlier when Elliot was taking an order in the Subway and now during the conversation online when Organgutan, Haikumon, Fountainhead and Chuttes&Laddars are having a conversation.  At this time, Haikumon is telling Fountainhead that he is “welcome to the dinner party” and then they start talking about slogans.  The stage directions say that Elliot appears at a gym punching a bag and the Ghost is watching him. The Ghost says his line, but it appears as though the Ghost is also participating in the conversation that is happing online.  Elliot ignores the ghost and the others that are online ignore him also.

There is one particular moment when Elliot is punching the bag, his leg is hurting and he says, “No pain. No pain.”   Harikumom says, “In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to …” after which he drops the newspaper and the Ghost blows Elliot over and then says his line.    Maybe his line has a similar meaning as the “sayings” that the online characters are mentioning.  This makes an interesting intersection of the two stories.

A good Unifying Principle could be “blowing away the pain.”  “Blowing away the pain” means that to get rid of the pain or overcome it by whatever means are effective.  The Ghost could be trying to communicate some sort of slogan of his own making so that they can overcome their addictions (or pain) though slogans and not by using crack and thus “blowing away their pain.”  In Elliot’s case, he is trying to get rid of his pain in his leg by punching the bag harder and talking himself into “feeling like a million bucks.”  The Ghost has “blown” Elliot down and thus helping him to overcome his pain. The Ghost seems to ties the two different stories together.

"Tis Pity She's a Whore

I think a good quote would be in act III, scene 2, line 28 when Giovanni says, “One such another word would kill his hopes.”  It seems to me that this play depends a lot on what each person says or does not say.  The statements that the character says reflect the hopes of love or the deception of the pregnancy or the murders. The colors for a poster could be blue and orange.  It could have a picture of a character, such as Giovanni, with a “bubble” above his head with the image of Anabella holding a baby.  The orange could be at the bottom of the poster and the blue as part of a “sky.”

A second quote could be in act II, scene 4, line 29.  Donado says, “Here’s stuff  indeed to shame us all.” With Annabella’s pregnancy as an embarrassment to her father and her husband, it seems appropriate that she would shame in her situation especially when they want the seamstress to make clothes to hide her condition.   For a poster idea, you could have a dark background with a yellow “door” partially opened and the silhouette of Anabella’s pregnant profile showing. It would be as if she is hiding from the shame of her situation.

A third quote could be in Act IV, scene 2, line 20.  Richardetto is speaking and he says, “All human worldly courses are uneven.”  This could encompass all the situations such as the pregnancy, the murders and the poisoning.  For a poster idea, you could have a black silhouette of Anabella’s stomach and inside her stomach could be a picture of the “box” of poison and a picture of a dead body.  The dead body could be just a silhouette in bright red. The box of poison could have a “skull and crossbones” on it to show it was poison. 

House of Trials

I think one of the conventions would be that the lines and monologues are written in verse form. It is as if they were written as a poem.  It is very reminiscent of Shakespeare’s style of writing.  I wonder if it rhymes in the original language.  I imagine if it does, then it probably loses some of its charm.  Some of the verses are written as though it was a song which was sung over and over again, such as on page 85 when the singers are singing the lines, “It is not so,” and “ It must be so.”  After which, Dona Leonor and Don Pedro repeat the same lines as though they were singing with the singers. Then Dona Ana, Don Carlos, and Castano all take turns repeating those lines.

Another one of the conventions seems to be when the characters “step aside” to tell the audience their inner thoughts.  This would also be a version of breaking the fourth wall even though they are not necessarily talking to the audience directly.   If it wasn't for the stage directions, it would be confusing to understand as such was the case with Love! Valor! Compassion!  In that play, you couldn't tell when the characters were talk to the audience or not and in this one, it was clearly marked out.   This one was clear and it was interesting to “hear” the inner voices of the characters and what they thought at the time.  It helped to understand who they thought they were with when it was dark and they were unable to see each other.  It  also made it rather melodramatic.

My second comments

The Children's Hour:

http://anonymouslyanalyzingampleautographs.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-childrens-hour.html?showComment=1383743236628#c5443042956385888632

Eurydice:

http://purplesummer2130.blogspot.com/2013/11/eurydice.html?showComment=1383743683128#c1380841646374874250


Eurydice:

http://anonymouslyanalyzingampleautographs.blogspot.com/2013/11/eurydice.html?showComment=1383744174258#c926746940330149120

Glass of Water"

http://jstaff6.blogspot.com/2013/10/glass-of-water.html?showComment=1383744739332#c5584170168502210834

Love! Valour! Compassion!

http://morgansthtr2130blog.blogspot.com/2013/10/love-valour-compassion-response.html?showComment=1383745150639#c7586639073759936170

Show and tell post II

      Play is called The Glass Menagerie written by Tennessee Williams.  It was written in the summer to 1944 with the original title of The Gentlemen Caller.   It was only after Eddie Dawling Decided to produce the play that the title was changed to The Glass Menagerie.  It premiered in Chicago on December 26, 1944 and later opened in New York on March 31, 1945 (page 1032).  It won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1945. The play can be found in the book called, “Tennessee Williams Play 1937-1955.

     There are four main characters in this play. They are Amanda Wingfield (the mother), Laura Wingfield (the daughter), Tom Wingfield (the son), and Jim O’Conner (the gentlemen caller).  Tom also acts as the narrator and addresses the audience. The play opens with Tom’s narration explaining that this is a memory play.  He also explains that there is a “fifth” character which is a picture of the father that is prominently displayed in the room.   Amanda enters and they argue quite often throughout the play.  Laura is very shy and involved with the world of her glass menagerie of animals.   Tom is always trying to find a way of leaving and he finally does at the end.  Amanda wants to see if she can find a husband for Laura.  She also lives in the past when she had many gentlemen callers.  Laura had been crippled from having pleurisy when she was a child. She and Tom knew Jim when they were in high school.  Tom invites Jim to dinner in the hopes that a relationship will grow with Laura.  Laura show Jim her Menagerie and one of the animals get broken when they are dancing.  Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to the rest, Jim is already engaged. At the end, Amanda comforts Laura and Tom leaves for the Merchant Marines.

     One dramaturgical choice is having Tom break the “fourth wall” with his narration.  Tennessee Williams may have made this choice to include the audience in on the “dream” or a “memory.” He had very specific stage directions including having a scrim in the front of the stage where you could barely see the set behind.  He also wrote that the scrim is raised just after Tom’s opening narration to represent the dream or memory being revealed.  It is all part of an illusion. Even Tom says in the script, “I give you the truth in the pleasant disguise of an illusion.” (Page 400)    He narrates again at the beginning of scene III when he describes Mother’s plans and imagination on how she can find a gentlemen caller for Laura.  At the beginning of scene VI, he talks about Jim and how he is going to bring him home for dinner.  All of these incidents of the narration give us the back-story of what has not happened on stage.  Finally at the end, he narrates what has happened after the story on stage is over. The stage direction says that the final interior scene should be viewed as through a sound-proof glass as Tom says his final speech.

     Another dramaturgical choice would be one of Hornsby’s terms of duration.  The time that Amanda and Tom spend arguing and discussing different situations takes up most of the stage time whereas the time that Laura has on stage with Jim is only one or two scenes.  Even though the play is called “The Glass Menagerie” which you would think is about Laura and her glass, Amanda and Tom on the other hand  have most of the lines in the play.

Source:

Williams, Tennessee. Tennessee Williams: Plays 1937-1955. New York: Literay Classic of the

            United States, 2000. Print. Compiled  and with notes by Mel Gussow and Kenneth

            Holdrich

Eurydice

“I will always remember your melody!”  That would be one of the quotes from the play I would choose for the line on the poster.  This quote comes from the first part of the play when Orpheus says that to Eurydice. The reason I picked that is because music seems to be a part of the whole production.   Orpheus creates the music for Eurydice which helps tie the two of them together after Eurydice dies. With the phrase “always remember,” it shows that the characters always need to remember who they are and where they are.  For example, when Eurydice crosses the river, she forgets who she is, doesn’t realize where she is, or that the man who helps her is her father.  After some time and with the help of her father, she begins to remember. This would give the production a more light-hearted feel even though it has a lot to do with dead people.  It would not be so morbid.  As far as the poster goes, you could have a picture of Eurydice’s head and the strands of her hair could be flowing out and become the shapes of musical notes or some sort of instrument.

Another quote would be, “No one knocks at the door of the dead!  This was spoken by “The Stones” who wondering who was knocking at the door.  This quote is at the end of the second movement and spoken by the stones. The reason I pick this one is because the script has a lot of people either trying to get out of the underworld or trying to get it.  Eurydice is always trying to get out and Orpheus is trying to get in.  Death is all around.  This gives the production a dark and eerie feel.  It could become more of a creepy horror movie.  A good poster for this would have a picture of a distressed door with a person’s hand ready to knock on it. On the other side could be a dark place with three sets of red glowing eyes peering around it.