In the fourth scene the Narrator is telling us that Joseph will have a change in his luck as the Pharaoh is having dreams that no one is able to find the meaning of, apart from Joseph. The Pharaoh orders Joseph to be brought to his temple after the freed Butler tells him of Joseph’s skills. Joseph tells the Pharaoh that seven years of good harvest will be followed by seven years of famine. Joseph is put in charge trying to stop the famine and becomes the second richest man in Egypt, behind the Pharaoh.
As the play starts to unfold, Joseph is visiting the household of Jacob and his sons, who have been hit by the famine. Simeon, one of the brothers, talks about how he deceived his father. They hear of the food that is in Egypt and decide to travel there. Joseph gives them food and tells them to get back on their travels while planting a golden cup in the bag of his brother Benjamin. Joseph then asks them about a ‘Stolen cup’, he empties all of their bags on the ground and finds Benjamin to be the guilty one because he has the ‘Stolen Cup’. His brothers all beg for Benjamin and say they can be imprisoned as long as Benjamin is set free. His brothers do not realize that it is Joseph who is with them. In the last scene Joseph realises their unselfishness and reveals himself to them. Joseph sends for his father and they are reunited at the end of the play.
The form of this drama was a musical. In ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ there were several conventions used such as a voice over when the pharoe is talking. There is also an aside when the Narrator is talking to the audience. The 11 brothers of Joseph had lots of monolouges telling us about their feelings towards Joseph and what they have done to him. The structure of the musical was linear because it went in an order.
In Joseph there were two of the finalist from the BBC 1 show ‘Any Dream Will Do’. They were Craig Charmers and Keith Jack. On the night of the 18th of December Craig was not well so his understudy had to fill in for him. Craig is Joseph and Keith is the narrator. I liked the songs in Joseph because when I was at primary school we sang all the Joseph songs and I remembered them from my childhood. I thought Keith was a good singer but I did not like his dancing because it looked like he was out of time with the other actors and actresses. To improve his performance I would have made sure he was in time with the other performers by practicing more.
In Joseph I thought they had brilliant costumes because they looked realistic and Joseph’s coats were very good. I thought the Pharo had the best costume because he was Elvis Presley and in Egyptian times the Pharo was king and Elvis’s nickname was ‘The King’. I thought this was the most effective costume because you could relate the two with each other. The make-up that they used was mascara, foundation and blusher. I don’t really think that it was very effective because it did not stand out and I did not really notice it. The lighting they used was effective because it set the mood for the scene and it went along with the music as well. The props they used were blow up sheep, Joseph’s multi coloured coat and other small bits and pieces like bags etc. The sets that they used were flats and rostra, which I thought was quite effective but it started to get boring watching the same set and background for a long time. When it did change it was good.
When I first started to watch Joseph I thought it was not going to be that good because it’s not really the kind of drama that I like, but once I started to get into it, it was ok. The performance made me feel quite sad because of the story line and how his brothers sold him just because he was the favourite son. From seeing this musical I have learned that I really do have to speak louder on stage and pronounce my words clearly.
At the end of the night I really enjoyed seeing Joseph. It was a good laugh and a great night out. I think that the target audience for Joseph is young adults because it is fun and a great experience to see such a famous musical. At the end of the show people were standing up and clapping. The next day I recommended to my Gran that she should go and see it and she really enjoyed it too.