Isabelle Armstrong In the delicate artistry of theatre, directors must ensure they understand the pivotal role dramatic techniques play in shaping the authenticity and resonance of a realistic performance. Actors bear the weight of encapsulating their roles with finesse, relying on a blend of techniques — from Stanislavski's system; fundamental questions, method of physical actions and objectives - to the subtle navigation of dramatic elements; dramatic tension, roles and relationships, voice, and movements. In the Melbourne Theatre Company's rendition of "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll," they attempt to portray a realistic version of the play, excelling in some areas and falling short in others. Fenella Maguire's portrayal of Bubba Ryan stands …show more content…
However, as we delve into the play and the landscape of character representation, not all performances attain the same level of mastery. June Jago's portrayal of Olive Leech, unfortunately, falls short of these expectations, revealing a disconnect that impedes the profound connection between actor and character. Furthermore, a closer examination of the use of costuming and casting choices for Pearl and Barney further unravels the intricate layers that contribute to realistic theatre, shedding light on how poor utilisation of these elements can detract from the overall impact of character representation. We will discuss the positives and negatives of the Melbourne Theatre Company’s rendition, shedding light onto why this is not an accurate representation of a realistic version of “Summer of …show more content…
Her adept use of movement and voice techniques to highlight whom she was closest to, and how these relationships developed over the course of the summer. In order for an actor to have a memorable, realistic performance, they must embody Stanislavski’s system – fundamental questions, the method of physical actions and objectives and utilise the dramatic elements. In the case of Fenella Maguire, in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of “Summer of the Seventeenth Doll”, she utilised these techniques effectively. Thus, leading to a memorable and iconic performance. The given circumstances of the “Summer of the Seventeenth Doll” emphasise the role of women in the 1950s. During this period, women were typically viewed as homemakers, unemployed, and responsible for the children. The character of Olive Leech defies these gender norms. She is a 37-year-old barmaid, who is unmarried and childless. This presentation offers an intriguing concept that could have been executed with great success. However, June Jago's performance is deemed
Characters in both The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Puberty Blues act as gender stereotypes, but sometimes they do not match to the gender stereotypes. In The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, a female character, Olive, shows women stereotypes, such as being emotional, childishness, and waiting for a man who she loves. On the other hand, a man character, Roo, represents manhood, for instance, being a cane-cutter and Lawler shows Roo fighting with Barney (72-75). In Puberty Blues, stereotypes of girls represented are more about appearance, for example, Carey and Lette mention that girls have to be not too fat, not too skinny, and make-up (8). Like Olive waited Roo, the girls make cake and search a place for boys (Carey and Lette 74, 101)
Having attended a leading drama school, April portrays herself as a golden person to her suburban audience until others around her make mistakes and she loses her grip, causing her performance to sink below those of the amateurs. No longer has a golden person in the eyes of the public, April allows the “weight and shock” that she is a “graceless, suffering creature” with a “constricted” appearance and a “false smile” to overwhelm her (Yates 13). Her sudden epiphany puts her in a limbo between what she wants to be and what suburbia dictates she is, a middle-class housewife whose only purpose is to take care of her
The plays, Trifles and A Doll’s house utilize symbols throughout the scenes to represent the way women were dealt with and perceived all through the nineteenth century. The symbols provide the audience ways to perceive the plays principle similarities in the representation of women, for example, men releasing ladies as inconsequential and portraying them as property; then again, the plays reflect the women’s ways of life as
Scott, Clement. "Review of 'A Doll's House." The Theatre 14.79 (July 1889): 19-22. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Paula Kepos. Vol. 37. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Mar. 2011.
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard were famous for the way in which they depicted the changing of cultures. Both plays act as a sort of social commentary during times of widespread liberation, and use the contortive nature of these seemingly stereotypical characters’ actions to speak about groups of people as a whole. Throughout the course of both plays, this subversion of how different groups of people were typically perceived created a distinct contrast which often shocked and appalled audiences of the time. However, the effects of these plays were felt long after they were presented.
In theatrical performance, the fictional realm of drama is aligned with the factual, or “real” world of the audience, and a set of actors feign re-creation of this factual world. At the same time the audience, by participating as spectators, feigns believability in the mimic world the actors create. It is in this bond of pretense between the on-stage and off-stage spheres of reality—the literal and the mock-literal—that the appeal of drama is engendered. The Merchant of Venice then, like any effective drama, ostensibly undermines realism by professing to portray it. The work contains no prologue to establish dramatic context; it offers no assertion of its status as imitation, a world separate from our own. And yet, the bond of pretense forged between actors and audience prevents the line between the fictional and the factual from being blurred completely. This division allows the device of metatheatricality to emerge as a means by which the play can ally itself with realism, rather than undermining it, by acknowledging its own status as drama.
Those of you who have just read A Doll's House for the first time will, I suspect, have little trouble forming an initial sense of what it is about, and, if past experience is any guide, many of you will quickly reach a consensus that the major thrust of this play has something to do with gender relations in modern society and offers us, in the actions of the heroine, a vision of the need for a new-found freedom for women (or a woman) amid a suffocating society governed wholly by unsympathetic and insensitive men.
“A Doll’s House” gives the reader a firsthand view at how gender roles affected the characters actions and interactions throughout the play. The play helps to portray the different struggles women faced during the 19th century with gender roles, and how the roles affected their relationships with men as well as society. It also helps to show the luxury of being a male during this time and how their higher status socially over women affected their relationships with woman and others during this time period.
It has been considered in a number of studies on boarding schools related to Government policy. The joining of boarding schools by Indians in America was challengeable for the Government. Currently, most of the American Indian children join public schools however there is still the influence of the Government that emphasized on federal policies to continue the boarding school system established since late 1800. Sherman Indian High School is one of the famous Riverside school calif, and the supervisor of this school was highly conserved and instructed the students to clean the toilets in the early time of getting up and if students could not follow these instructions then supervisor through the means of punishments on students. The Bureau of
"Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll" is a timeless play as it can be transposed to be as relevant today as when it was written. The play is definitely a tragi-comedy but more than the ideas raised in the statement the play is about change and the inability for some to deal with it, the battle between dream and reality and loyalty and mateship. It also serves as a social document of Australia in the 1950s. Lawler uses symbols, the actions of the characters, the structure of the play and mise-en-scene to effectively portray his feelings to the audience.
A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest were both written in the late nineteenth century at a period in time when gender roles in society were not only significant to the structure of society but were restrictive and oppressive to individuals. This was particularly true in the case of women who were seen as the upholders of morals in polite society and were expected to behave accordingly. A Doll’s House and The Importance of Being Earnest challenge society and its inclination to categorise and expect certain behaviour of individuals based on their gender.
Those of you who have just read A Doll's House for the first time will, I suspect, have little trouble forming an initial sense of what it is about, and, if past experience is any guide, many of you will quickly reach a consensus that the major thrust of this play has something to do with gender relations in modern society and offers us, in the actions of the heroine, a vision of the need for a new-found freedom for women (or a woman) amid a suffocating society governed wholly by unsympathetic and insensitive men.
The play “ A Doll’s House” has a very symbolic title. The title relates right in with the the...
Bruce, Wilshire. Role Playing and Identity: The Limits of Theatre as Metaphor. Indiana: Indiana University, Folklore Institute, 1991.
Theatre serves to reflect society. From Shakespeare to Sophocles, a playwright’s work illustrates the different mechanics within a culture or time period or society. Theatre offers viewers the experience of taking a step back and looking in on themselves. In this way, theatre is a mirror for the world and the way it functions.