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My play, ‘The Crucible’ is set in 1692, in Puritan Salem, a small village in Massachusetts. In 1692 in New England the times were really religious and anything linking a person to witchcraft was taken very seriously as were the Ten Commandments and regular attendance to church. If any of these ‘unwritten’ rules were broken then the person who committed these crimes would be considered a witch or a wizard and would have to confess that they were a witch and spare their lives or be hung for refusing to confess.
However in ‘Hannah and Hannah’, The play was quite stylised, in that there were only basic props, and two characters throughout the whole play, as well as a few scenes comprising of the two actors singing to pop tunes. However, the lack of diversity did little to keep the audience entertained, and at numerous points throughout the play, I felt the audience getting disgruntled at the seemingly endless production. The actors themselves were not terrible, but the most enjoyable parts of the play were Hannah comical eastern European accent, and the singing scenes.
In comparison to ‘The Crucible’ ‘The Crucible’ has the main character whose actions were changed by the actions of or the witches themselves. And in ‘The Crucible’ The main character, John proctor, tried to help the accused witches and instead due to the threat by the accusers to the high court, John Proctor was also accused of witchcraft.
We performed our play in the style of how times in the late 1600’s were, with women in plain black dresses, sashes and berets on their heads. They wore traditional clothing which was plain as they were very religious, the men wore trousers and an open necked shirt or cloaks and ponchos. So we wore similar clothing to this and our props also represented the time in which our play was set as did the staging and set design. This clothing was very similar to that of ‘Macbeth’.
In conclusion, I have enjoyed performing The Crucible even though my acting was at its weakest. It was a different experience as beforehand we had performed modern day drama therefore it was a challenge as well as a privilege to be able to perform this historical piece. I have learnt by performing this that to really do well you need to do three major things: understand your character (their background, who they are etc), know your lines and most importantly understand your lines so If you forget your line at least you should know around about what topic you need to be talking about.
However in Hannah and Hannah There were little visual effects to speak of, but there was the subtle changing of clothes by the characters, which had them go from totally opposite clothing to matching ones, probably to symbolise their friendship or something like that. As for dramatic effects, they used slow motion, split screening and others. These were well placed and usually well represented on the stage, but didn’t help the play to be any more interesting or easy to watch.
The play was obviously originally aimed at 15-17 year olds. However, someone along the way isn’t very in touch with their inner teenager, and they should have known what would come if making teenage boys and girls sit down for a long length of time and watch a play like this. The subject matter of the play is one for the mature viewers, but the presentation and directing of the play give it the vibe of a children pantomime, but less enjoyable. I couldnt imagine a 12 year old sitting through the play happily, but then I couldn’t imagine a 30 year old doing so either.
By the end, the plot is stretched so thin that you wander what can happen next. Then, it gets even worse, with a stupidly stupid ending that just about finishes the audience’s patience, and the end was a sigh of relief for all involved.
In the play ‘Limbo’ however this poem tells the story of slavery in a rhyming, rhythmic dance. It is ambitious and complex. There are two narratives running in parallel:
The actions of the dance, and
The history of a people which is being enacted.
Going down and under the limbo stick is likened to the slaves' going down into the hold of the ship, which carries them into slavery. In Roman Catholic tradition, limbo is a place to which the souls of people go, if they are not good enough for heaven or bad enough for hell, between which limbo lies; it has come to mean any unpleasant place, or a state (of mind or body) from which it is difficult to escape. The story of slavery told in the poem is very easy to follow, yet full of vivid detail and lively action.
The poem has a very strong beat, suggesting the dance it describes: where the word limbo appears as a complete line, it should be spoken slowly, the first syllable extended and both syllables stressed: Lim-bo. While the italics give the refrain (or chorus) which reminds us of the dance, the rest of the poem tells the story enacted in the dance: these lines are beautifully rhythmic, and almost every syllable is stressed, until the very last line, where the rhythm is broken, suggesting the completion of the dance, and the end of the narrative.
This poem is suited to dramatic performance - there is the dancing under the limbo pole (difficult for most Europeans) and the acting out of the voyage into slavery. The poem can be chanted or sung, with a rhythmic accompaniment to bring out the drama in it percussion, generally, is appropriate but drums, specifically, are ideal: in fact, the text refers to the drummer and the music.
