The three plays we looked at during this module were "Black Mass", the "Jongleur" and "Newsboy". These plays concentrate

How did the plays in this module present their particular attitudes?

The three plays we looked at during this module were “Black Mass”, the “Jongleur” and “Newsboy”. These plays concentrate and focus on the basis genre of political theatre and contain influential and controversial thoughts of which provide the audiences who view them a wider aspect and view on the subject they bring to light.

These different plays all unfold as narratives in there own way. The “Black Mass”- is a play set in the past (the beginning of time/world). The story gradually unfolds to the audience as a living narrative- one which the audience can react and take into account step by step living it with the characters thus gaining an insiders view. The story is written in the past tense and in the first person, except for the end section where the audience is directly addressing the audience on what the story has achieved, and the ideas which have arisen within the content. In the “Jongleur”- direct address is the main feature used in this play. The “Jongleur” speaks directly to the audience and delivers the play as a straight narrative. The story is told by once actor, this one actor performing the parts of all the characters featuring within the story. The story however is told in the third person, and like the “Black Mass” it is also written and told in the past tense. “Newsboy” is a political story told through a number of characters. It feature some direct address, although not as much as the other two, and this can be found through the character of the “Newsboy”- directly shouting out important news lines to the audience. The play is written and broken up into a series of sections each telling a controversial and important part of the play. Unlike the other two plays, it is written as an episodic drama.

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To do their jobs successfully the plays used a particular technique, this is called “alienation” and each play used it in there own but very individually significant ways. In “Black Mass”-it was at the end of the play where it was made clear through the technique of alienation that the emphasis was put on how whites were viewed as evil in this play. How blacks had created white, the white earth portrayed evil and all things intoxicating. These powerful points alienated these racist views, and brought another possible idea to the beginning of the world, time and existence. In the “Jongleur” the audience is made clear the power Jesus has in this play. They are able to gather the insight into just how revolutionary this mans power is, how he has the unequivocal power to change lives for the better, give gifts, heal and work a way through sickness and pain. The honourability of the “Jongleur’s” wife, the emotions and pain this woman has felt are clearly expressed in the emotional way she delivers her speech during her rape scene. Ordering her husband to not take action, no matter what pain she was going through physically and emotionally from this ordeal and thus inevitably saving his life. In “Newsboy”, in scene 3, where the chorus girl shot the old rip, it is here the audience begin to realise what this play is trying to alienate as a point. This scene, clearly emphasizes the idea that the world needs to wake up to the real news out there, wake up to the realisation just how dramatised the news can be. How we need to take into account the significant news, which has a real affect on our lives, the news close to home.

In each of the plays the technique “Gestus”, is also used in a very different way to clarify characters behaviours along with different movement techniques, personality, status and inner thoughts and beliefs. In “Jongleur”- mime is used as an important technique to accentuate these points. This use of mime means that we can acquire a better knowledge of what is going on in the scenes, furthermore it means a higher concentration level is needed from the audience therefore there will be an all around better attention to detail and understanding of the story. In “Newsboy”, unlike the “Jongleur”, a ballet and choreographed dance scene is used. This works well as from this the idea of a busy street life is created. This ballet scene defines the very statuses and inner and personal thoughts individual to each character. The audience can pull together the personality and importance of each character in the play through their uniqueness. In “Black Mass” here we find the use of unstructured movement is used. This is used to create the suspense of an unknown presence (the white presence), explosive movement is used to portray the unpredictability of the storyline, the unexpected, the unforeseen, the unpredicted, which kept the audience gripped in anticipation.

The messages that each of these plays bring across is very essential to the idea of these plays being based around the genre of political theatre. They are raised in a successful way, a way that leaves the audience tossing new and motivating ideas within their heads and asking questions like “what if that happened..?” Or “is that really a possibility?” Or even, “I can see what they’ve achieved and I agree/disagree...” In “Black Mass” the writers achieved to show us the ideas that white may not have been created first. It brings to light a new and very contradicting story to what is most commonly believed, we can view the beginning from another prospect, makes clear to us how the white race can sometimes be portrayed as “monsters” having the ability to pose a powerful threat to the disruption of society as it was and as it still stands. In “Newsboy”, we are shown the idea that the news isn’t always what is going on in a real life, it points out that the media are so caught up in the ideas of feeding us the news we want to hear, that they have no time for the ‘real’ news, not just of lives of celebrities and royalty, but everyday life and every day life issues which we are screened from and refuse to open our ignorant eyes to- racism, sexism, abuse etc. This play brings home this truth. In “Jongleur”, however we are made aware of the power of Jesus and faith, the ability to help those in desperate need of a helping and reassuring hand. It floats the idea that religion provides a second chance, a way out, someone or something that will always be there for you. Capable of influencing lives, vies, opinions and humanity itself and the overall idea that we can change life for the better no matter what situation you made find yourself in.

By Bethan Hunt

1,140 Words