Don Manuel is presented as the perfect man, kind, selfless, gifted, and compassionate, at least in part to show the villagers' conflation of their love of him and their devotion to their religion. In one of my favorite musicals, Jesus Christ Superstar, the character of Judas pleads with Jesus to quell the movement growing around him, saying "You've begun to matter more than the things you say." In much the same way, Don Manuel matters more to the people than the things he says, so much so that they fail to notice that he doesn't actually believe the things he preaches to them, specifically concerning the afterlife. This is especially interesting considering Christianity's simultaneous worship of a perfect human being in the form of Jesus Christ …show more content…
He is the perfect priest, but a poor apologist, and when questioned by both Angela and Lazarus individually, his true convictions are easily revealed. Even so, he maintains this act to the point that the only hint he gives to the general populace about his lack of belief in an afterlife is his avoidance of condemning people for acts such as suicide that the Church has very clear positions on. This is not to say that his lies and omissions have no impact on him; eventually, his duality wearies him both physically and mentally. In accordance with his vocation, Don Manuel uses religion and faith as a useful tool to comfort and shelter the masses, even allowing them to devote themselves to him to the extent that they view him as almost Christlike both before and after his death. This raises the interesting question if anyone would rather their leaders and role models be honest with them, no matter how uncomfortable, instead of lying to them in the vein of protection and comfort, because the actions of Don Manuel, Angela, and Lazarus certainly lend evidence to support the …show more content…
He understands that the villagers' faith and religion is at least partially sustained by his example and presence, and is unwilling to compromise that, but he also fails to consider the concepts of choice and true conversion. This is interesting, because much the same as Don Manuel must have become disillusioned with the ideas that he was socialized to believe in in the form of the Catholic faith, others certainly can replicate that process in reverse, difficult though it may be. He also benignly takes advantage of his position as part of the "religion that made them", as he knows he is a vital part of the villagers' faith, an example for them to trust and follow. While Don Manuel probably believes as Lazarus does that the villagers keep faith because it is the path of least resistance as well as the only way they know, there is always the possibility of true belief. Don Manuel even advocates letting the people believe everything rather that confuse them into doubting and possibly believing in nothing, as he does so desolately. He seems to only deem Angela and Lazarus worthy of and intelligent enough to be truly honest with. Although his intentions are good in trying to protect and sedate the people, it is interesting to think of how much more good he could have done in being honest, perhaps helping
Yesterday night I reviewed the play “The Miss Firecracker Contest” In Wilmington, North Carolina at Big Dawg Productions. The play started out as Carnell Scott, 24-year-old orphaned southern girl who lives in Brookhaven, Mississippi. She is tap dancing in her room with a purple leotard and some kitchen utensils used as creative batons practicing her routine for The Miss Firecracker Contest.
The performance ‘Chasing the Lollyman’ by Debase productions succeeded in using the Dramatic Languages to create a Dramatic Meaning that comments on a social and political issue. This, along with the effective manipulation of the dramatic conventions, has allowed Debase to successfully recognised the Epic Theatre style. Chasing the Lollyman is one man show starring one of Queensland's most dynamic and funny Indigenous performers, Mark Sheppard. He shares many stories, a celebration of urban Indigenous identity and takes a satirical look at the media and popular culture. Playing a variety of characters, Mark pokes fun at everything from Neighbours (what would it be like if a Murri family moved into Ramsey street) to polities. The dramatic meaning of the performance is if Australia wants to become one, we need to learn to accept each other for their differences.
The play, Bug, is written by Tracy Letts, composed of two acts. When I realized the background of play was in the old motel in Oklahoma City, I was interested because I live in Oklahoma. I watched the performance at TCC a few weeks ago, so I could make sense easily. Through the two main characters, who are Agnes and Peter, Letts makes a story of the play and shows what Agnes’ and Peter’s condition is, and why Peter acts aberrantly such as when he mentions conspiracy theories and pulls out his teeth to take out the bug, which does not exist.
The play I went to see was The Music Man performed by the Mesa Encore Theatre at the Mesa Community College. I saw this performance on November 20th. The main performers in this play were Zac Bushman as Harold Hill and Lauren Koeritzer as Marian Paroo. Alongside them, a mix of both adults and children as young as 8 acted in this production. The cast and crew used appropriate clothing to match the time and place. Lights were utilized scarcely, with not much more than spotlights or front and back lights. The set was extravagant, cute, and fitting for the setting and time. Overall, this musical was vibrantly performed and left me with positive impressions regarding presentation and production.
When first reading about the directions for this essay, I was curious on what you, Dr. Ehman, meant by the question: Was Saint Manuel a saint or a charlatan? The descriptors were obviously opposite of each other and I thought to myself.. is it possible for someone to be both? Like most, when I first began to read the story by Manuel de Unamuno, I immediately considered the priest, Don Manuel, to be a saint. In fact, from what I read I considered him to be the definition of a saint and wondered if later in the story a connection to God (other than his appointment as a priest) would be discussed. I even thought it was silly to ask this question because it was obvious that he was a saint and as we can see the title of saint was evident in his name. Regardless, I could not help but to think that somewhere in the story lied a twist. After Lazaro appeared I knew a secret about the great priest himself was sure to happen and after reading the story I realized that there indeed seemed to be a dilemma: Was Don Manuel a saint or a charlatan? With great thinking I believe he was both.
Every father shows the love for his son in a different way. in this scene, we the father shows us the different way. However, a father gets angry about his son. The son asked a simple question but the meaning on that question was big. The question was "How come you ain't never liked me?". The Fences play by August Wilson, this play they did it more than once on some different times, places, actors, etc. However, in this paper you are going to find comparison between two scenes the first was on 1987 and the actor was James Earl Jones, The second scene by Denzel Washington on 2010. Now you will find the actor’s approach, approaching the idea from the text, and the effective and the ineffective of the scenes.
He provides them with the illusion of an eternal life to give them a sense of hope. He feels anguished, since he realizes the depth and affect his actions have on the villagers. Therefore, he has to keep at this facade about being a priest devoted to God. As long as the villagers are happy, he’s happy. While Angela was talking to her brother, Lazaro, they discussed Don Manuel’s motives behind deceiving the villagers, “He was not attempting to score triumph, but rather was doing it to protect the peace, the happiness, the illusions, perhaps, of his flock”(Unamuno,276). Don Manuel is willing to be untruthful, and dishonest with himself, if it means that he can make the villagers happy. He might feel morally obligated to allow the villagers to devote to God, even if he doesn’t believe himself. Pushing away his own morals, he realized the toll he had on the villagers, so he created an illusion to give them what they wanted. Don Manuel also allows Lazaro in on the illusion.Lazaro was converted to a Catholic, but was really pretending to follow the religion. He pretends this, at Don Manuel’s suggestion, for the good of the village. Lazaro is also aware of the impact of his actions, so he creates a false appearance of being Catholic. Although Don Manuel really was a kind, selfless man, he had to ensure that God was a part of his actions, so he could persuade the
Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play was a very interesting and excited play to see. Watching the play I really had to think because of the twists that came with the play. The author of this play was Anne Washburn, Michael Friedman scored it, and the lyrics were also from Anne Washburn. Casey Sams directed the play and Terry Silver-Alford was the musical director. I viewed this play at the Lab Theatre on Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 7:30 in the evening. The Clarence Brown Theatre and Lab Theatre located on the University of Tennessee main campus produced this production. Melissa David recognized, as Colleen/Bart is a San Francisco native that has been working as a MFA acting candidate for the past three years. Robert Parking Jenkins,
But, Lord, you alone know that I did not renounce my faith. The clergy will ask themselves why I fell. Was it because the torture of the pit was unendurable? Yes. I could not endure the moaning of those peasants suspended in the pit. As Ferreira spoke to me his tempting words, I thought that if I apostatized those miserable peasants would be saved. Yes, that was it. And yet, in the last analysis, I wonder if all this talk about love is not , after all , just an excuse to justify my own weakness (p.
On October 3, 2016, I watched The Woodsman in class at Brigham Young University. James Ortiz directed the play, along with the production team Claire Karpen (Director), Molly Seidel (Costume Design), Catherine Clark and Jamie Roderick (Lighting Design) and Becca Key (Production Manager). A Broadway Production, The Woodsman epitomized the strength of technical design while allowing the audience to fall in love with the characters.
Over the years, people have not socially recognized gay rights around the world. They are constantly looked down upon based on their sexual orientation. The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman is a play about the reaction to the 1998 murder of gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The play follows Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project’s journey on their interviews in the town. The reactions in Laramie, Wyoming show that the people struggle with treating gays as equals in their community. This is shown through the personalities of the interviewees, their morality of how gays should be treated, and gay former residents’ opinions of the town.
Throughout The Five People You Meet in Heaven, there is moral ambiguity shown with the main
In the play, The Piano Lesson, music played an important role. The piano in the play represented the African American history and culture. The ghost of Sutter represented the pain and trauma that had been endured throughout the generations in the Charles family. Berniece did not play the piano because she associated it with pain and the bad things that happened to her family members. She did not want to accept the things that had happened in her family’s past. She thought that she could deny everything and act like it never happened. She believed if she continued to run from everything and everybody that the pain would go away. Berniece was burdened and haunted by the ghost of Sutter until she gave in and played the piano after all of those years. After playing the piano, Berniece was no longer burdened or haunted by the past. She was free from all of the denial. She escaped the pain through the music and reflecting on the carvings on the piano, which represented her heritage. Berniece’s brother, Boy Willie, told her “Berniece, if you and Maretha don’t keep playing on that piano… ain’t no telling… me and Sutter both liable to be back” (Wilson 108). By saying that, he meant that if she did not allow her daughter to continue playing the piano and learning about her culture that she would end up going through the same things that Berniece had gone through. Music has a huge impact on the African American culture in several ways and many things about the past can be learned through it.
His humanity and goodness is still not always apparent outside of "crew" interviews, which makes it a little more gratifying to see -- i.e. he isn't necessarily doing it for glory, as is usually his motivation for most of what he does.
In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, Ibsen conveys the idea of women equality. Women equality, where women would have the freedom that men had and would be able to enjoy and relish in a world where their true potential was not forcibly pushed inside of them. In 1879 most women were still confined to the home solely as of mothers and wives. Ibsen, being raised mostly by his mother, saw the truth of being a women from a man’s eyes and decided to show the rest of the world that same enlightenment. In this enlightenment Henrik Ibsen's use of the "well-made play" illuminates the developing strength of the protagonist Nora Helmer to help the social status of women in a male dominated world.