Treasure Island
Caroline Stretton- Live Theatre Essay On the 27th November 2007, I attended a performance of "Treasure Island" at Derby Playhouse. During this performance, the design of one scene in particular surprised me: the first scene of the second act, in which Jim arrives on Treasure Island and meets Ben Gunn. The creation of the Hispaniola ship and its movement was both memorable and surprising. Its creation was even integrated into the acting and melodramatic/musical style of the piece, as the actors built a small rowing boat from benches at the beginning of the scene and incorporated this into a dance. This served the dual-purpose of both entertaining the audience and creating the necessary staging. The main ship itself was on a small truck so it could be easily moved around. This ease of movement was then combined with the use of a revolve-stage, creating a surprisingly authentic representation of a ship's journey over moving water. Other staging/design aspects helped to create this authentic journey. The projection of a moving map on a cyclorama at the back of the stage, showed the ship's progress to the audience, therefore, effectively communicating the idea that the ship was moving. The use of dappled blue lighting and sound effects of waves crashing against a beach also helped set the scene in a surprisingly effective way. The lighting was also used to give a rippling light
Woman in black production notes
Woman in black production essay I went to see woman in black at the fortune theatre in London on the evening of the 10th June. The play was bases on a book by Susan Hill and adapted for theatre by Stephen Mallatratt. I witnessed excellent acting skills and great physical control and in this essay I shall explain the general points of the play including acting, lighting and set. The set and lighting that was used during the play was very basic, this was done purposely because the lay is set in an empty theatre, which is still tidying up after a past production. The main items used during the play were visible from the outset. There was a large wicker basket, a stool, two wooden chairs and a clothes wrack. Seeing as these items had to be used to portray most items and settings, the lighting would have to be used cleverly, and it was. It enhanced the simple set and highlighted the excellent acting skills. The play explores the issues of the supernatural and things beyond the human world, such as ghosts and things that are invisible to the human eye; created by mime and the actors and audience's imagination. I think that the play and the actors explored these issues very well, but I am not sure if they were explored in a believable way. I thought that the first half of the play was quite slow, tedious at times but the second part of the play the pace was picked up quite a bit.
Doctor Dolittle Theatre Review
Along with my year eleven drama group I attended the opening night of the Manchester Palace Theatre professional production "Dr Dolittle". The trip took place on Monday 5th November and featured Tommy Steele; a relatively famous actor. The production was based on the books written by Hugh Lofting rather than the Hollywood film featuring Eddie Murphy; yet the novel was adapted for the stage and re-written by Lesley Bricas. Through having only watched the Hollywood film and not experiencing the original version I had some preconceptions which were extremely incorrect. I had expected a more classic and sophisticated musical rather than a larger than life, pantomimesque melodrama! This brings me to a comparison with another production I previously saw at the venue; it was named "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" a more convincing and emotional piece, I shall use the production as a brief contrast to Dr Dolittle highlighting its strengths in order to emphasize the aspects in Dr Dolittle that could be improved. The onstage production of Doctor Dolittle is an amalgam of overacting berserk ideas it casts larger than life characters, extravagant costumes and a very clever use of the stage; this combined creates a fun; ridiculous, yet entertaining musical! Despite being written in the 1930's and 1940's Hugh Lofting set his novel in the Victorian era. Placed against the backdrop of the
From a production you have seen recently chose a scene or section which made a strong impact on you. Discuss what this impact was and how it was achieved.
From a production you have seen recently chose a scene or section which made a strong impact on you. Discuss what this impact was and how it was achieved. 'Noel Coward's A Brief Encounter" was adapted from the original film by Emma Rue; it was staged on a small proscenium arch stage at the Cinema Haymarket. It was set in England in the 1940s and was performed in a naturalistic style. The play was a tragic romance with elements of comedy, the themes and issues explored in the play were love, fidelity and social etiquette. The play concerned the story of Laura and Alec who meet at a train station café and then see each other every Thursday from then on. They fall in love; however they are both already married to different people. This creates conflicting emotions in the characters, especially in Laura who feels very guilty about the affair. At the end of the play Alec, who is a doctor, decides to move to Africa with his family and open a hospital there, leaving Laura behind in England. The section I am going to write about is towards the end of the play. It is set in the train station where Laura and Alec first met and where they went their separate ways after each of their Thursday meetings. Alec and Laura have said their final goodbyes, and Alec has just left leaving Laura only with a friend who had interrupted their last meeting meaning that they had not had a proper
Sister Act Evaluation
Sister Act - Evaluation! The play follows the story of a cabaret singer called Deloris Van Cartier, who becomes part of a witness protection programme, after witnessing a murder at the hands of her boyfriend. Seeking sanctuary with a childhood friend who is now in the police force she is persuaded to lay low in a convent as a nun. However, Mother Superior, who has taken an instant dislike to her for her 'liberal' ways, reluctantly gives her a habit. Initially, she feels like an outcast in the convent, but as time goes by, she adapts to her new lifestyle and joins in with the church choir. This is when it all goes right for the church, but all wrong for Deloris. She uses her talent to teach the church choir how to sing well, as they were terrible before. However, by modernising the church and jazzing up the hymns, she gathers so much attention that she ends up the headline on a newspaper, and her face is all over America, leading Curtis, her murderous boyfriend straight to her. During the play, the director shows the audience the journey that Dolores undertakes, in order to show the audience that you need to work together in order to succeed. He shows them that when you work as a team, you can even avoid death, and that friendship is the key to happiness. This is reflected in the relationship between Eddie and Dolores, as they were old friends, he saved her life, and it
My Review Of Wicked
Review of Wicked -Apollo Victoria Theatre -March 2010 The play in which I have chosen to review is a musical named Wicked which I went to see in London at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London's westend. The musical is new and is based on the bestselling novel 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West' by Gregory Maguire. The novel is based on the 1939 film of L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the novel is from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz. The main writer for the musical Wicked is a very talented man named Stephen Schwartz who discovered the novel in 1995 Elphaba (The future Wicked Witch of the West) is born green and shunned from society. She meets the ever-popular and pink Glinda (The Good Witch of the North) at college. Elphaba has a knack for magic, so the headmistress of the college sends her and Glinda to the Emerald City to help the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. However, the wizard is not so wonderful and is segregating the talking animals in Oz from the rest of society. Elphaba is enraged because she can identify with the animals--so she speaks out against the wizard and defies him. Glinda remains "good" because she doesn't have the courage to defy the wizard. Elphaba is "good" just thought of as "wicked" because of propaganda from the wizard. In the end, Elphaba escapes...she isn't actually melted, but
The Response Phase to the play Bouncers by John Godber.
GCSE Drama Coursework - The Response Phase During our 6 hour workshop we explored the play Bouncers by John Godber. The play was discussed briefly; we talked about how Bouncers is similar to the world we live in today and what lessons we can be taught from Bouncers and Godber. Still images/narration - An effective still image or narration is one that is very clear to your audience. Your audience needs to understand what is going on without you as an actor doing or saying a lot. During our performance we used certain dramatic techniques such as, subtext, levels and space. Subtext from the actor/actress is a way of giving the audience a better understanding of the image, not through physical action, but through subliminal messages. For example - thoughts and facial expressions. The use of levels in an image is also important they are used to show different characteristic authority. Also there is the aspect of space which is essential in a still image, because the correct use of space just simply make the image a simpler more successful piece of Drama. In the examination we had to make three still images. The scenario of the images was given to us by our teacher. The first name we were given was called the job of a bouncer. We had to show a still image of the typical bouncer's job. My group showed the bouncers kicking a drunken hooligan out of pub. The use of levels was used
'Woman in Black'- drama coursework
Response phase The 'Woman in Black' was written by Susan Hill in 1983, but was first published by Hamish Hamilton in 1983 as a hardback book. Most of the ideas for the 'Woman in Black' came from M.R James. In 1989, The 'Woman in Black' went onto television as a film thanks to a television writer called Nigel Kneal. In 1987, it became a stage play, and was first performed in Scarborough at the Theatre-by-the-sea. Then in 1989, the stage play moved to the Fortune theatre in London's west end. A young solicitor goes to stay at a house on the Nine lives causeway, and experiences lots of strange and scary noises and haunting as he goes through some of Mrs Drablows papers. The main haunting noise he hears is of a horse and cart that crashed, followed on by the severe screaming of a young child and a woman. One day Mr Kipps goes to a funeral, and sees a woman dressed in black with a pale and wasted face, standing amongst a group of young children. Mr Kipps realises there is more to Alice Drablow then he thought. In Crythin Gifford, nobody is happy to talk about the history of Mrs Drablow or the woman in black, for when they tried to find out, it caused them great pain and fear. When the solicitor talks to Mr Kipps, he finds out that Jennet Humfrye, sister to Mrs Drablow had a child, but could not look after it. So the baby boy was adopted by Mrs Drablow and her husband, who both
The Lord of the Flies Play " Review
The Lord of the Flies - Review The Lord of the Rings is an amazingly detailed and structured piece of writing by William Golding which has been adapted to the theatre by Nigel Williams; who has portrayed it as an inspirational piece of literature which reveals the true darkness of human nature. Their use of the set was amazing, the way that they used the wreckage of the airplane to symbolise every inch of their island; they way the tail section pivoted and turned 360 degrees to become a fortress, a hill or the crevice of a cliff. Also, the way the cockpit was climbed over and stripped to pieces so they could make spears from the metal struts and tie the twins Sam and Eric up with the seatbelts. It was manipulated in different ways to achieve various effects; for example when a mountain scene was shown, the fire on top of the shelter was lit up and the movable part was facing towards the viewer with the highest point towards the audience. When Simon was shown to be running down the mountain the movable parts were facing with the lowest point towards the audience so that it created a downhill effect which resulted in the use of the set becoming more lifelike. On the other hand, the use of the set could also be viewed as rather tedious as the same backdrop is used for the whole of the play; the only variation is at the start where a thin gauze is used to shield the characters
On the 16th March 2008, the Fuse Theatre Company came into school and did a play which is called the Shadow Companion. This had taken place in the theatre. This play had consisted of four characters
Drama Coursework. On the 16th March 2008, the Fuse Theatre Company came into school and did a play which is called the Shadow Companion. This had taken place in the theatre. This play had consisted of four characters their names are Asra Abboud, Ruby Wellbourn, Billy Wellbourn and Khadmin Abboud. Their actual names are Sarah Amankwah, Aisiling Caffery, Michael Chapman and Chris Jack. MY first impressions of this play were 'Wow, this is going to be interesting' the play had taken place in the centre stage the most. The issues and themes that were explored in the play were the friendship between Ruby and her friend Asra; Asra and her dad lives in a temporary refugee accommodation on the edge of her community. The play has a basic story line which Ruby chants and is at the mount; this is a place where she used to visit her Nan. She lights up candles and they draw a circle on the ground with her feet. There is a scene based upon Ruby meeting Asra they have a little argument at first. Then as the play goes on they grow closer and closer until the stage where both dad's finds out and is upset about the situation. Asra puts a scarf on Ruby and they go back to Asra's place when the father meets Ruby and he is disgusted with the fact that Asra is hanging around with Ruby, as Asra is trying to fit in more. And so the argument goes on from there, there is a point in the play were it
