The Use of the Stage Directions in The Cherry Orchard and Blood Wedding.

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Stephanie  Duarte

The Use of the Stage Directions in The Cherry Orchard and Blood Wedding

When a play is being read instead of being watched onstage, stage directions become essential to our understanding of the play as they allow us to picture what would be happening if the play were to be acted out.  As there are many types of stage directions, I will only be analysing costumes, gestures, blocking and entrances and exits. These can be used to reveal character, symbolise the relationships between the characters, create a comic effect, or even heighten the tension and therefore change the mood. Blood Wedding is a highly dramatic play, making great use of symbolism, and the story line is heavily based on the strong feelings between the characters. The Cherry Orchard, on the other hand, is a play which incorporates both tragedy and comedy.

Costumes are often described when introducing a character in The Cherry Orchard. At certain times in the play, their purpose is to give us an immediate idea of what a character is like or to create a comic effect. When Yepikhodov is first introduced, he is wearing "boots that squeak loudly", which creates comedy and also allows us to identify him as an accident-prone character.  When Pishnik is described, he is wearing a "tight-fitting, long waisted coat in a fine material, and wide oriental-looking trousers". This adds to the comic side of the play and allows us to see through to Pishnik's extravagant character, which is further emphasised later in the play as he is continuously behaving excessively . Firs' clothing is described several times, which draws special attention to it. He first appears wearing "ancient livery and a top hat", then a "tail coat" and finally a "jacket and a white waistcoat". This immediately strikes us as being old-fashioned, which reflects his ideals and ideas. We can also directly see the contrast between Fir's outfits and Yepikhodov's "jacket and highly polished boots". This shows how out-dated Firs is and helps to illustrate the fact that he has not accepted the abolition of serfdom, which is a main theme in the play.

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In The Cherry Orchard, gestures are used much like costumes, to reveal character and to create comedy, but also to help us understand the plot of the play. We find that many of the characters  have particular characteristics, and that several gestures are repeated a number of times for greater effect. Yephikhodov continuously causes trouble by "dropping the bouquet" or stumbling "against a table which falls over". This comic flaw establishes him as "disasters by the dozen". Gayev "makes movements with his arms as if playing billiards". This is not only used for comedy, but also to highlight the moments ...

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