The Crucible

The Crucible In general, I believe that 'The Crucible' was a well-directed, well-casted and well- performed play, especially given the relatively short time in which it was prepared. It was very enjoyable to be a part of, however I have no personal experience of how entertaining to the audience it was. There were many good elements, but also a few weak points in it. Although I did not see Act 1 in any of the performances, as I was backstage, I saw it many times in the rehearsals anyway. I felt that the overall characterisation was effective; the characters all seemed to portray their roles successfully. For example, Ed (Hale) came across as a sympathetic character, who's desperation to save Proctor grows throughout acts 3 and 4. One example of this is the line 'Excellency, it is enough he confess himself. Let him sign it, let him sign it.' Ed's hurried manner of speaking made him sound desperate as Hale is supposed to be in the play. This defensive manner is consistent throughout acts 3 and 4, showing how Hale is determined to save Proctors life. This desperation is shown in greater intensity in the line 'Woman plead with him! Woman, it is pride, it is vanity. Be his helper! - What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? Go to him, take his shame away!' This is portrayed well, as Ed looks very desperate and pleading. Ed is just one

  • Word count: 2041
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay

My Autobiography

My Autobiography. It was a normal Sunday morning, the weather was good and church had just finished. We were all having coffee and then it struck me. There were lots of people in the Micklem hall, and they were all being given a booklet. I wandered over there with a few friends to try and see what they were doing. Then I saw it. The front cover of the booklet they had. It had a weird name. At first I didn't understand. Why was it called Stanmore Scenes? I knew we were in Stanmore but I didn't realise why you would call something Stanmore Scenes. Even so it wasn't until later that I would understand more about it. That evening my mum had a phone call from her sister. This helped me to find out what she and the others had been doing earlier that day. When I found out I was extremely confused. I didn't think my Aunty could act! I didn't even think it was possible for the church I went to, to put on a play about its life. It was mad. How could they put 150 years of history into a couple of hours? Was it possible to do? Anyway none of my friends were in it so why would I want to be in it, it was mad. So my friend Sarah and I decided we would leave them to it. After that Sarah and I soon forgot about Stanmore Scenes. All until one day a few weeks later at school. We were all told about this play being put on at St. John's church. We were also told that our school, St. John's C of

  • Word count: 1804
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay

Response to Live Performance

Response to Live Performance The performance I have chosen to discuss is called 'Be My Baby' written by Amanda Whittington and directed by Anna Newell for Lyric Theatre Offsite Productions. 'Be My Baby' is set in St.Saviour's Church of England mother and baby home in the North of England which takes in unmarried mothers during their pregnancy and accommodates them until their child is born and given up for adoption. The play takes part over 2 months in 1964. The play is an ensemble production that is a mixture of naturalism and brechtan, as the cast managed to create a really dramatic, serious scene and then they would break into acapella singing groups and perform girl band hits from the 1960's such as: De do run run, Be My Baby, Going to the chapel etc. They would do this as they moved the set which was a 360? rotating set with 3 locations which were the matron's office, the dormitory and the laundry. The play's main character is Mary played by Roisin Gallagher who is brought into St.Saviour's by her mother played by Libby Smith when she is 7 months pregnant at 19 years of age. Mary is shown to her dormitory which she shares with Queenie played by Susan Crothers who is an aspiring singer. The 2 other girls we meet in the play are Norma played by Cat Barter and Dolores played by Julie Maxwell, Norma and Dolores are also pregnant and staying in St.Saviour's, they both

  • Word count: 737
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay

Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Sartre is a French philosopher, novelist, play-write, and journalist. He is mostly recognized for his leadership in French Existentialism. After questioning his own ideas he gave up his own ideas, and started to support Marxism. Existentialism was the ideology that he is mostly known and supported for. Jean Paul was born on June 21, 1905 and was schooled at Evole Normale Superieure in Paris, University of Fribourg in Switzerland, and the French Institute in Berlin. From 1929 he taught philosophy at some secondary schools. Resulting in the start of World War II, he was drafted into the military. Sometime during 1940-1941 he was captured by the Germans, and was later released. After his return to France he taught in Neuilly, and Paris. He became fond of and later joined the French Resistance. There he developed his major philosophic work " Being and Nothingness (1943)" In 1945 he gave up teaching and founded the political and literary magazine Les Temps Modernes. He was very profound in his struggle against Socialism. Later he supported Soviet positions but criticized their policies. In the 1950's he wrote many pieces of literature on political problems. In 1964 Sartre won the Nobel Prize in literature, saying that he refuses to compromise his integrity as a writer, he refuses to accept the prize. He then becomes an outcast in society, for having

  • Word count: 1214
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay

An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls The story of an inspector calls was set in 1945 and was written by J.B Priestly. The story is basically that an inspector comes to investigate a murder and question all of the Birling family to find out who was to blame. In this essay I will compare the three productions of the play the book, film and the stage production. In both the film and the text the scene starts with the Birling's having a civilised conversation at the dinning table. While the stage production there is a more dramatic and mysterious start. First you see the Birling's house which is very high up on the stage which suggests they consider themselves higher and better than everybody else. In the film you can hear every word of the conversation while on the stage production you can only hear the odd word hear and there and the rest is just chatter in the background you can not hear clearly. The way the inspector arrives in the film and book to the stage production is in total contrast. In the stage production the inspector arrives wearing along coat and almost his whole face is covered up by his hat like his was trying to hide his identity and also the spooky music and the lighting which makes the stage all dark an cold adds to the mysterious atmosphere of the arrival of the inspector. The inspector enters the stage from the audience which I think that the writer is trying to give the

  • Word count: 2144
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay

An Inspector Calls

First, I think it is appropriate to discuss the structure, which is apparent throughout the production and also whilst reading the text. In many ways, 'An Inspector Calls' is a 'perfect' play as it has elements that are essential for producing a successful production. Throughout the play there is suspense and quite often, I think, an element of shock at the numerous 'discoveries' at so many different stages in the production. There is consistently the infamous 'whodunnit' factor, which helps to keep the audience interested and excited about the whole production in general. There is also a clear moral message given in the production, perhaps even more than one message. I think that this message is given through the actions of all of the Birlings, but particularly Mr Birling. His 'look after number one' attitude was emphasised at the beginning of the production when he was telling Gerald and Eric about 'the point' in life. So it seems that Priestly's message is that we all live in one community and that it is our duty to help our neighbour. We should not behave like Mr Birling and we should not live in isolation. I think that all of the Birlings are played to behave in the opposite way to this so that we, the audience, can see how stupid and false they look as it is hard to see ourselves like this in everyday life when we are behaving the same. 'An Inspector Calls' is such a

  • Word count: 1584
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay

MacBeth

Mac Beth In 1564 a law came into force making murder by witchcraft punishable by death in Scotland alone 8,000 witches were burned to death between 1564 and 1603. In 1604 an additional law was passed in Scotland, which declared that anyone found guilty of practising witchcraft should be executed James 1 himself became personally involved with witchcraft when he and his wife were almost ship wrecked on their return to Scotland from Denmark in 1590 Dr Fian and the "witches of Berwick" were found guilty of trying to kill them by raising storms at sea. Jacobeans believed that the whole universe had an order to it, which was decided by Gog. Unnatural was against this divine order. Satan had rebelled against God directly, and he was responsible, through witches and evil spirits. In the theatre in Shakespeare day there would have been heavens, which is the roof above the stage where actors could be lowered to the stage during the play. There also would have been doors, which were used by actors. There would have been standing space where some of the audience would have been. There would be a gallery, which, would have been used for action on an upper level. There would be Inner Stage Curtained area could be opened up to show a new scene The theatre would have been in the open, so if it rained you couldn't do anything, you could leave at any time, you could watch without paying

  • Word count: 804
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay

Non-Verbal Communication

Non-Verbal Communication .1 What is Body Language? Body Language is the unspoken communication that goes on in every Face-to-Face conversation with another person. It tells you their true feelings towards you and how well your words are being received. Between 50% of our message is communicated through our Body Language 40 % tone of our voices and 10% only are our words. Your ability to read and understand another person's Body Language can mean the difference between making a great impression or a very bad one! Reading someone body language can help you in a job interview, that meeting, or special date! Every one of us has experienced the feeling of like this person and not dislike that person but without necessarily knowing why. There was something about them. We often refer to this as a hunch or gut feeling, two descriptions directly relating to our own body's physiological reaction. Everyone has experienced the feeling that they have just been lied to, haven't they? We all here during a conversation have experienced the feeling that someone is lying to us. The words of the conversation probably weren't what we noticed as a direct lie. It was more likely to be the body movements that showed he is lying to us. Darting eyes, palms not visible, shifting from one foot to another, hand covering mouth or fingers tugging at the ear are clues. All the clues are

  • Word count: 1547
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay

My Wilted Rose

My Wilted Rose "We are all born for love... it is the principal of existence and its only end" by Benjamin Disraeli is a marvelous citation I lived my entire years in belief. I always believed in love. My entire life depended on this quote albeit I was at the immature age of fifteen. I also believed that when a person dies then that certain person at their very last moment of existence their memories would rise in their head all in a sphere of memories and to conclude, they would discover the truth about which person meant the most to them. And all this would come true in a matter of a day or, even two hours..... It was Sunday, 12th October. The first thought that came into my head as woke was 'Linda would have been sixteen today.' I struggled out of bed with a heavy heart. Glancing at my face in the reflection in the mirror I couldn't see what she saw in me. 'But the rest of you looks scrawny, there's no other word for it' I told myself fiercely. Downstairs set about breakfast for Rohit and Vinay (my brothers), suddenly I couldn't face them. 'Gone for a walk, back at two,' I wrote, propping my note up on the table, 'breakfast on the table, pancakes, apple pie and cream in the pantry for lunch. Taking an apple, a chunk of cheese and a small bottle of water, I let myself out of the kitchen door. Judging by the sounds on the upstairs landing the others were up and ready!

  • Word count: 967
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay

Essay Cloudstreet Narrative P.O.V.

Essay - Cloudstreet - Narrative P.O.V. Jessica Wilkey The right choice of point of view for a story is crucial, as it is essentially the voice that tells the story. In Tim Winton's Cloudstreet it is Fish who tells the story in the first person, with third person omniscient qualities. This point of view gives the reader the realism and intimacy or first person while still allowing an insight into the views and experiences of the other characters in the novel. This point of view contributes in developing the main themes and messages of the text, particularly those of "stickability" and the importance of family. Cloudstreet is a story set in Western Australia about two rural families who come from separate tragedies to live together in one rambling, "great continent of a house" in urban Subiaco. Over a period of twenty years, the colourful characters of the text grow, experience and learn together. They come to realise the importance of family and "stickability" - the very Christian and Australian notion of love. They journey from being two very separate bodies to becoming one "whole restless mob". The use of Fish as the narrator emphasises the theme of tolerance and unity in families and in Australia. Fish is seen as having two or three aspects to his role as narrator. The whole story is told in retrospect by Fish, in the few "seconds it takes [for him] to die". In this way,

  • Word count: 751
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
Access this essay