Homeward Bound
Homeward Bound is a satiric play, which attacks the socially accepted standards of today’s society. This play is known as a comedy of manners; defined as light social satire. Homeward Bound also consists of amusing characters that the audience can relate to. This type of play appeals to mostly sophisticated audiences and actors because the play consists of clever use of language and brilliant conversation.
Elliot Hayes’ use of satire in Homeward Bound plays an important part in the telling of the story. His use of satire expresses how the characters feel about each other and their situations. There were many parts of the play that had satire in them. The scene where the mother is talking about her gay son and his partner is an example because it was a mockery of how “normal people'; handled the touchy subject of homosexuality. Another satiric scene is where Norris told her family about her affair, but the circumstances were that she had the affair with Nick’s gay partner and she was bearing his child. This is a very unusual example of satire because this sort of thing usually does not happen to a middle class society (or at least not that I have heard of). The family’s reaction to this newfound information is very humorous because they act almost opposite as to what is expected. Hayes is almost ridiculing the middle class’ mentality and their views on life. Hayes also satirizes when Bonnie reveals Donna’s little secret of her indecent behavior when she was a little child. This was totally unexpected and it revealed Donna’s character as being loose.
Even though the characters did the opposite of what was expected and were quite amusing, the audience could relate to them because, before all the surprises were revealed the audience saw the characters as ordinary people. Once the “skeletons'; came out of the closet, the audience realized that euthanasia, homosexuality, alcoholism and affairs are problems that all levels of class face. This realization brings the audience closer to the characters and the circumstances presented on stage.
This play appeals more to a sophisticated and mature audience because of the clever use of language and brilliant conversation. There was a lot of slang and colloquialism used. Usage of swears was interesting; it is a normal assumption to make that middle class families are not so crass. This was effective because it provided more realism by showing how people would talk in these serious and yet humorous situations.
I think that people who grew up in the sixties and worked during the time period would enjoy the play. I feel that they would have a different understanding of it because they grew up in the time period and lived through what was going on. Over all the play head a straight forward point that in my opinion put J. Pierrepont Finch as the protagonist because everything revolved around him, he had a simple objective and every set or choice he made affected something or someone.
John Patrick Shanley creates a movie as a whole I feel was more informative than the play. In the play you have 4 characters Sister Aloysius, Father Flynn, Sister James, and Mrs. Muller. While the movie introduces a few other characters, for instance the children. For me the children made a difference because they for one made me understand what kind of kids Sister James was dealing with. I really thought that being able to see the way Father Flynn interacted with all of the young boys including Donald Muller was really helpful when trying to draw your conclusion of Father Flynn versus when reading it your left to imagine for instance; what some of the kids are like. The way the book sets you up your left leaning to Father Flynn being exactly what Sister Aloysius accuses him to be. We also get to see how sister James interacts with the kids and how Sister Aloysius influences her to change the way she deals with and teaches her class.
This is a lesson that is still relevant today. Though the acting and dialogue seem to appeal to an older audience, young viewers can still enjoy and learn from this play. Prejudice, suspicion, and thoughtlessness are as prevalent as ever. For any problem, humans will look for a scapegoat. The War on Terror seems to bring similar feelings as those around during the Cold War.
Imagine living in a world where you are not in control of your own thoughts. Imagine living in a world in which all the great thinkers of the past have been blurred from existence. Imagine living in a world where life no longer involves beauty, but instead a controlled system that the government is capable of manipulating. In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, such a world is brought to the awareness of the reader through a description of the impacts of censorship and forced conformity on people living in a futuristic society. In this society, all works of literature have become a symbol of unnecessary controversy and are outlawed. Individuality and thought is outlawed. The human mind is outlawed. All that is left is a senseless society, unaware of their path to self-destruction, knowing only what the government wants them to know. By telling a tale of a world parallel to our own, Bradbury warns us of a future we are on a path to -- a future of mind manipulation, misused technology, ignorance, and hatred. He challenges the reader to remain open-minded by promoting individualism, the appreciation of literature, the defiance of censorship and conformity, and most importantly, change.
I thought this play was very tacky in a sense. There were only three actors in the play. Seth Reichgott one the actors played 13 different characters. James Goode plated up to 16 different characters.
...es serious issues to be comical, the ability for Francis to fool and deceive both his guvnors up till the end of play seems almost humorous, arousing the comedic nature of the play. However, it is the mistreatment of Alfie that limits the comedy in the play from conflict, the more mature audience would feel outraged by the treatment of the 80 year old war veteran who is smacked over the head with an 'autographed cricket bat'. This is insensitive as it shows an elder being treated like an object to whack, and thus many may find some aspects of conflict in a severity light instead of in comedic nature.
It will be no surprise if one day, books become just another thing in the past as humanity begins to rely solely on technology for information, amusement, and communication. Although this scenario may seem far-fetched, in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist in the novel has to decide whether he wants to be an individual and make his own decisions by going against the “norm”, or if he will continue living under the power and rules of others.
The audience sees through staging and conversation between the two main characters that the communication of modern relationships
I took note of the strong element of humour being represented to a great extent, which kept my interest throughout the play, as I enjoy texts that have a bit of comedy spread about them. Many plays I have been exposed to do not possess this certain quality causing me to either immediately find them to be boring, or a dreaded feeling of having to over analyze every piece of text for days to come. Kim’s Convenience was able to illustrate various important messages through the story such as the importance of having a strong and healthy relationship within your family, in a unique and captivating way. Another key aspect this play hits well is its ability to express stereotypical remarks in a tasteful way through the banter between Mr. Kim and his daughter. “He is black guy, jean jacket. That combo is steal combo.” Mr. Kim said. “That is so awkwardly racist.” Janet said. I was able to focus more on important aspects the writer had originally intended for me to notice which I would miss if I had no interest in the material I was reading. Unfortunately, the plays we have looked at in the past have not always been relatable such as Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, therefore the messages they were trying to convey were not fully grasped. Kim’s Convenience did a good job at representing issues in a simple and entertaining
In conclusion, Russell uses many devices to invite his audience to sympathise with Shirley. He relates to the society’s concept on different aspects of people’s life and most of the audiences could relate to situations in the screenplay. Russell’s own life has influenced a lot of things that went on in the play. Russell’s working class background has helped a lot of Shirley’s problems look realistic as he himself had experienced many of these problems that Shirley faced. This has made the text very effective and that really helped gain sympathy from the audience towards Shirley.
the humour of the play. The play is set in year it was written, 1985.
Being healthy in body and mind is the core of personal wellness. Getting to that point though is a process and it takes deliberate actions to make it happen. It requires choosing which behaviors will help and which ones won't. It requires making decisions every day that helps take a person to a better state of body and mind health.
Positive health looks at what aspects of health are there and which ones make us healthy.
...of wellness as well as avoiding illness. People enjoy the vitality and well-being that results from their positive lifestyle changes, and are motivated to continue this process throughout their lives. (A.H.H.A,1999)
A satirical comedy is an attempt to ridicule a certain aspect of government, religion, or another aspect of society to bring about change through the use of comedy to lighten the blow. Tartuffe is a prime example of a satirical comedy. Molière used this play to point out one of the biggest flaws of organized religion during his time, religious hypocrisy. Although he may not have directly intended it to be about the Catholic Church, it was interpreted by them as such so they made the king ban it for a period of time. By making it into a play, Molière was able to reach a larger audience. People tend to enjoy plays more so due to their quick, lively nature. Plays are always changing, and they are stories being brought to life. A reader may not be interested by a short story or novella, but a play could be the very thing to draw in their attention. Molière was able to reach more people by making this into a play, therefore making the problem of religious hypocrisy more widely