Live theatre has been an important method of entertainment, self-expression and storytelling for centuries and still plays an important part in modern society for the same reasons however not all performances will successfully entertain, express or tell their story. The first and one of the most vital features of a successful show is the performances of the actors. To assess the performance of an actor there are many aspects that one must consider, I believe the most important to be vocalisation, physicalisation and characterisation. I will be critiquing The Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo, the story of the lives and afterlives of the people and animals caught in the middle of a war torn country, as performed by Persona Collective at the Annexe Theatre on the 10th-12th of April, on the performances of John Swindle and Amanda Phillips.
The first aspect of a performance that makes a good actor is their vocalisation. Vocalisation for most characters is the most important aspect, as without words, there is very little else to convey the message. A fantastic example of inadequate voice work is shown in the performance of Swindle as the tiger. As Swindle entered the space his voice was at a decent volume and his accent was definite but unfortunately the good work stopped there and the performance went downhill. Right from the beginning, it was obvious that Swindle did not know his lines and as a result, his voice work suffered severely. The volume of his speech dropped as you he was struggling through his lines, especially noticeable in scene 4 during the tigers monologue as he discusses religion and death, much of the dialogue was lost in missing volume and the words were unable to be heard. Swindle also stumbled frequently during the ...
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...ken and knew exactly how it should be presented. She knew her characters inside and out and gave 2 truly believable and perfectly characterized performances.
The first and one of the most vital features of a successful show is the performances of the actors and in this case, the success of the show was let down by one actor. It’s very obvious that Swindle needs to think about each of those important aspects of his performance more and what he needs to do with them in order to successfully perform a character, putting more individual thought into how he uses his voice, how he uses his body and how he builds a believable character. Had Swindles performance been of the same standard of that by Phillips then maybe the show could have been a great success however I don’t think there was a single person that could say they saw a perfect show with no need for improvement.
I think the performance delivered the message and intent perfect. I was not once confused, but it is that which starts out some what at the end and uses flashbacks to tell the full story.
Yes, this character was very successful with her vocal choices. The range of her vocal tone within each scene added depth to the character. For example, when she is upset about the Phyllis Schlafly reading, she slightly raises her voice before she goes on her full rant. The slight shift in her voice illustrates her frustration without overshadowing the importance of her monologue.
Alison Ferebee, who played Sister James, did an amazing job for her first debut at Austin Peay. The only problem I had was she was too enthusiastic with her character. Over all she did a good job. The only thing was she got really emotional in some of the conversations with Father Flynn and Sister
I could see how Harold Hill’s tactic changed from something along the lines of ‘to deceive’ to ‘to woo’ around the song “The sadder but wiser girl”. Marian Paroo’s tactic also changes from ‘to avoid’ to ‘to love’ around “My white Knight”. These actors also projected extremely well, as I could hear everything being said. They articulated well too, which I believe must be hard for them as every character had a southern accent. The actors easily incorporated their character’s goals into their acting and onstage
Their acting chops were very impressive whether it was comedic, emotional, or just stunning overall. Yet, on the other hand, some minor characters weren’t as well heard as others. I feel as the play could be better if some of the minor characters had projected their voice more, allowing their character to be known. However, although some voices were much stronger than others, all actors were full of talent, capable of dealing with script’s requirements, and did a good job
As far as acting, the performers were able to convey the feelings they needed to. However, some characters such as Ol' Cap'n played by Dick Lambert and Luttibelle played by April Curry, seemed more committed and engaging in their roles than others. A crucial factor in April Curry portraying her role so well was her vocal talent far exceeded that of any of the other major performers. She had an amazing voice that I was dazzled by from curtain up to down and left me craving for more. This almost compensated for my disappointment when it came to the ensemble singing to the soundtrack. Many performers were dependent on the cd and were not confident as to when to begin or stop singing, which dampered many moments of the performers. Another element of acting that I enjoyed was the exaggerated use of cooning throughout the duration of the performance that brought characters to life, and enabled certain moments to seem real.
When it came to the dialogue of the production and the understanding of it the performers again did an excellent job. Their gestures and vocal elements all aided in the production’s success and were all fittingly used by the characters. For example, when Lala was talking on the phone with Peachy she casually twirled the phone cord in her hand, leaned against the banister and childishly flirted with Peachy.
Besides the fact that I didn't like this play, the actors did do a pretty good job with their acting and memorization of their lines. Couple times Marisol hesitated with her lines but it wasn't too bad. I like the accents they were using. It wasn't to hard to understand what they were saying, but once again there were those times when their accents did effect a little on their pronunciations and my understanding on what they were saying. Overall, I don't think they were too believable with their characters. They didn't reach me.
The most successful aspect of the performance for me were the scene changes. I found that the rotation of the blackboard, center stage, where the actors were able to stoop beneath it in order to enter and exit the stage, was an effective touch to this non naturalistic performance. When this was first used, at the end of the first scene, when the characters Ruth and Al left the stage, I thought it didn't quite fit as at the beginning the style was leaning towards realism. But as the play progressed and the acting style became more and more non naturalistic, and this rotation of the black board technique was used more frequently it fitted in really well and became really effective.
The Lion King musical is a well-known musical that has taken the stages of Broadway, West End and the rest of the world by storm (The Lion King, 1997). Regarding the process of the musical, Artistic Director Julie Taymor’s first thoughts for choosing the Lion King as the next big thing on stage, was classed as ‘impossible’ due to the film’s lack of theatrical material (The Lion King, 1997). Therefore, staging this particular work contained a great deal of uncertainty and the need for taking huge risks. Taymor (1997) suggests how ‘the Lion King was the worst idea possible to create a stage show.’ It has become evident that a number of significant barriers had to be overcome to secure the practicality of the production. In view of this controversy, this dissertation will critically analyse the success of the Lion King by exploring two significant aspects that have helped to make the musical a success. Firstly, the essential components that make up this theatrical production will be explored and secondly, the roles of each producer within the Lion King and their combined and individual influences they have had from the production will be evaluated. By analysing these two central themes, this paper will show how and why this musical has developed and achieved its phenomenal success.
What it looks like: Siberian tiger is the largest and most rare of all members of the cat family. This cat is 8-10 feet long, excluding their 25-38 inch rattling tail. This species of tiger weighs 400-700 pounds. Like all members of the tiger family, males are significantly larger than females.
In this paper, I will be focusing briefly on my knowledge and understanding of the concept of Applied theatre and one of its theatre form, which is Theatre in Education. The term Applied Theatre is a broad range of dramatic activity carried out by a crowd of diverse bodies and groups.
In the play, all the characters understand their parts. This did a nice job of portraying their characters. For example, Monica who played Ella know her character well that she could put herself in the role of Ella. During the show, she always kept a good pace. Next is Nathan who played Topher have a good character body
Nevertheless, the question at hand is whether theatre will have a role in the society of the future, where cinema, digital television, and computers will continue to expand and grow. The answer to this question is yes. Heading into the 21st century, theatre will only be a fraction in a solid media industry. However, despite all the excitement technology brings with it, they will never replace theatre because it has something that can not be recreated or offered anywhere else. The cinema and its larger than life world appeals as an affordable alternative. Digital television provides digital interaction between the viewer and the producer. Theatre on the other hand, and its contents may take on a larger dimension, but we receive it directly in flesh and blood – one to one. The magical atmosphere between an actor and spectator who are constantly aware of each other and the theatre’s level of engagement is fundamentally more human and far more intimate.
The best part of this production for me was the acting. I thought all of the actors did a great job of portraying different personalities and truly utilizing every tool available to them in order to make their characterization as thorough as possible. The actor I was most impressed with however was the lead (“the Maniac”). This actor truly understood the motives and personality traits of his character inside and out. From his