For this assignment, I chose to view the live performance of, Disgraced and the filmed production of, Chicago. Disgraced, was about a man in New York of Pakistan descent who had disowned his religion of Islam. He seemed to be living the American Dream, a married working lawyer living in New York. However, his past Islamic beliefs catch up with him, turning his life to a downwards spiral. He ends up losing everything he worked so hard to achieve. Chicago follows the life of a young girl who has moved to Chicago in search of fame. She is promised fame from her lover, but once she found out he was lying she kills him. She’s sentenced to death, and when she arrives to jail she finds a lawyer who helps exonerate her. After viewing Disgraced and …show more content…
Prior to the beginning of the performance, the audience was reminded to turn off their cell phones. The audience was also expected to remain quiet and seated throughout the entirety of the play. During the performance, although the audience was never formally addressed, I felt as though I was a part of the drama that was unraveling. What I found interesting was that while watching Disgraced I had to constantly remind myself that it was a performance. That was not the case when I was watching Chicago. While viewing Chicago, I was in the comfort of my own home and was watching it on my laptop with the headphones plugged in. At no point during the film did I feel like the actors were addressing me, however the facial expressions of the screen actors were much more elaborate and vivid. Although there were differences between the stage and screen productions, Director Anderson was able to slightly blur the boundary between stage and screen. The use of longer takes that followed the movements of his actors allows for a stage presence in the …show more content…
Out of the window on set, it would look as if it was going from day to night. The longer the time that had elapsed changing from light to dark suggested the amount of days that had passed. Besides the use of light to show the passing of time, the light resembled what it would look like to have the lights turned on or off in an apartment. Alongside, the use of lighting in Chicago was greatly abundant during the musical numbers. The lights demonstrated Roxy’s yearning to be a part of such extravagance represented in vaudeville performances. The benefit of working on a film set is that there are highly specialized technicians in positions of design that may offer specialized and creative ideas that may be portrayed in the production. Lighting design has proven to be instrumental on the stage in live performances and on the screen in films since it sets the mood that is being portrayed to the
In "Constant Star", lighting told much about the play as soon as it began. Low, yellowish lighting and a bit of fog spread by ceiling fans filled the stage as the play started. This gave the stage the look of an old photograph, so the audience immediatly gathered that the show was taking place in the past. The mood was often set by lighting as well. Red lighting gave the audience a sense of foreboding while yellow indicated happy times. Also, lighting could substitute for props. During scenes involving the train, lights would flash on and off, making the stage look as if it was actually moving. This effectively created the illusion that the cast was on a train. Also, lighting was innovatively used to create a "jail" in one of the scenes by creating vertical bars on the stage around the convicts.
The lighting played a major role in setting the tone for both the theatre performance and the movie. In both the film and play, the lighting was dimmed and the non-important elements, such as background elements, were often hidden in the shadows. In the film the murky lighting also hid Todd in the shadows, in order to increase the suspense and further emphasize his intimidating demeanor. In the play,
Throughout the piece, we see the use of audience as active participants to amplify the didactic message of the play. In the literature we see many instances where the author uses this cognitive distancing as a way to disrupt the stage illusion and make the audience active members of the play. Forcing the audience into an analytical standpoint as opposed to passively accepting whats happening in their conscious minds. This occurs time and time again in the fourth act of the play. The characters repeatedly break down the fourth wall and engage the audience with open participation. We see this in the quotation from the end of the fourth Act of the play:
The lighting was also very effectively used to show the coming and going of cars on the set. The reflection of lights on the front door of the house were used resemble those of an automobile. Even the final scene had just enough absence of light that the shadows of the characters could be seen sitting around the dinner table and praying by candlelight. At the very end of the performance the candles were extinguished consuming the set in blackness in turn signifying the end of the production.
For instance, the audience was asked to ask a word for the Spelling Bee to spell. Whereas the movie did not have a live audience. The audience that is watching is not included in the movie. Also, there is an intermission for each scene change in the play. For instance, if Milo was going into the Land of Wisdom, there has to
It follows a routinized and learned social script shaped by cultural norms. Waiting in line for something, boarding a bus and flashing a transit pass, and exchanging pleasantries about the weekend with colleagues are all examples of routinized and scripted front stage performances. The routines of our daily lives that take place outside of our homes like traveling to and from work, shopping, dining out or going to a cultural exhibit. The performances we put together with those around us follow familiar rules and expectations for what we do, what we talk about, and how we interact with each other in each setting” (n.d.) while the back region is “what we do when no one is looking. Being at home instead of out in public, or at work or school, is the clearest demarcation of the difference between front and backstage in social life. We are often more relaxed and comfortable when backstage, we let our guard down, and be what our uninhibited or true selves. Often when we are backstage we rehearse certain behaviors or interactions and otherwise prepare ourselves for upcoming front stage
Chicago is a must see film for anyone who likes to spoil themselves with an outstanding award-winning musical composed of a catchy plot, truly superb acting, commendable direction, and a clever soundtrack. Bob Fosse’s dazzling adaptation of the plot is a key element that contributed greatly in making Chicago achieve the success it did. Set in the 1920’s, Chicago is based on the real-life murders of two women who were eventually exonerated for their alleged crimes. The film’s main characters are Roxie Hart, a housewife who often fantasizes about becoming a Vaudeville star, and Velma Kelly, a vaudeville queen who desires far more fame than she already has. They both find themselves in the Cook County Jail on “murderous charges”.
The lights dim, as you cross your legs with anticipation of the show. You've had this ticket pre-ordered for two months! As the actors troop onstage to deliver the famed prologue to Henry V each passes your seat and you can see each miniscule detail. You notice the ruffle of cuff on the prince of France, you inhale the soft fragrance of the princess, you notice the gentle glint of reflected light bouncing of the false jewel embedded on Henry's crown. And when they stop in a loose semicircle, if you hadn't been taught better, you could have reached out and touched the hem of the actors cloak standing not four feet in front of you. As the show progresses the physical intimacy of the actors drags you deeper into the world of the play, so much so that when the curtain falls, you honestly feel that you were an integral piece of that world. What is so amazing is that almost anyone you meet can describe a moment like this. Whether it be a concert where they high fived the band member while being jostled by a hundred other crazy fans, or sitting in a dark, silent, planetarium and questioning your existence as virtual stars fly by at close proximity with amazing detail. When it comes to any performance, but even more specifically to Woyzeck by Georg Büchner, the power of proximity between audience and cast or set has a direct correlation on how audience members perceive and sympathize with a play.
As a stage manager, it isn't necessary to acknowledge the audience. In this play, he does just that. The audience is constantly witnessing asides from the stage manager. An aside is commentary made to the audience without the other characters being aware. I personally liked the fact that he talked to the audience. It makes me feel significant to the play, as if I, myself, am apart of the production. It makes it just a tad more personable as well as
Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar brings race, politics, religion, and ethnic identity all to the table in his 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning play. In modern day society these are the major social issues we see. What the audience fails to realize is that in Disgraced Akhtar has caused them to involuntarily embrace the double standards involving gender present in America. Women walk a fine line to not be a victim of “slut shaming.” “Despite its moniker, slut-shaming has little to do with actual sexual activity. Rather, it is largely a function of gossip, cliques and social control.(Tarrant)” Both Amir and Emily, the two main protagonist in the play, are victims to the others misconducts at some point in this play. The audience however finds themselves empathizing
Lighting played a major part in specifying when it was night or day. In the second half of the play, the lighting played a part by becoming brighter and focusing on one actor as she stood up on the box and spoke to the audience. When she was finished talking to the audience she snapped her fingers and stepped down with the light focusing directly on her, it made me feel as if the words she was saying were only for us “the audience” to hear. In whole the light and sound was beneficial for the play.
Lighting plays an especial part effect in movies in order to connect with the audiences. It can be used in many ways in order to create different style of scenes from romantic to horror movie scenes. For this blog discussion of lighting I chose Halloween (1978) movie. This movie is a horror movie that uses a low-key lighting effect.
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee is a novel that follows the downfall of David Lurie, a South African college professor, after he loses his job for having an affair with one of his students. After being released from his position as a professor, David travels from Cape Town to the Eastern Cape to visit his daughter, Lucy. During his visit, he and Lucy encounter two men and a boy who set David on fire, rape and impregnate Lucy and rob their property. The attack causes David and Lucy’s relationship to suffer mainly due to the way that the attack alters Lucy’s personality and affections toward David. The attack and David’s relationship with his student, Melanie Isaacs, reflect each other as they both portray different scenarios regarding non-consensual relationships. Readers can gather from J.M. Coetzee’s description of Melanie as, “the dark one” (18) that Melanie was of African descent. This equates to the most striking aspect of David and Melanie’s relationship as it parallels the oppression that black women in South Africa endured historically since David Lurie, as a white man, had an inappropriate and invasive relationship with Melanie, a young African woman.
Experiencing this form of theatre caused me to start thinking of theatre in a new light. I realized that theatre is not only about being entertained, but it can be a powerful tool to allow audience members to learn about different persp...
It is a truism that actors when we watch theatrical performances act on stage. These stage actions project the already prepared situations. “In our case, we mean ‘play’ – a free, creative task including improvised actions and self-expressions. People express themselves through their bodies and language. Playing is often reflective of your experience,