In The Goodnight Bird, a play that premieres at the Centaur Theatre on the 5th of March 2015 in old Montreal, a homeless man jumps off the roof of a condo and ends up on an aging couple’s balcony. Colleen Murphy gives a wry sense of humor to the play. It shows the distressed long-time married couple out of their comfort zone and motivates them to re-examine their lives after the homeless man intruded on them. Lily and Morgan Beaumont, the married couple, have been married for a long time and are childless. As an upper-middle class couple, their life has turned into a routine of light quarrelling. Since Morgan has suffered recently from a heart attack, Lily wants him to stay calm and take his medications. Unexpectedly, there is a booming crash when a bruised, and maybe intoxicated, homeless man is noticed …show more content…
crawling into their bedroom looking for a plaster. He has apparently jumped off from the roof of their condo. Distressed and nervous, the old couple let him use the bathroom to have a bath, in order for him to recover. Soon after, he is running around their bedroom with no clothes at all, which caused Morgan to joke “this is the worst kind of acid flashback” (Murphy 2011). The Goodnight Bird, which is a tender and warm but comic play, draws out credibility and tends to be predictable. Gratitude must be given to the actors’ efforts that make the play worthwhile to watch. Christopher Hunt’s awkward delivery as Morgan gets laughs from the audience, and his depth of feelings creates sadness as he and his wife, Lily, try hard to keep their long time relationship active. Graham Cuthberston (Parker), who is my favorite character and well known to Montreal audiences as well, delivers a genius performance as the trespassing homeless man and very mad trespasser. His character is very eccentric and pleasantly active, child-like Parker. Sexually, he is naive and sweet when he gets very attached and familiar with Lily, it turns out to be more endearing yet eerie. On the other hand, Nicola Cavendish’s character, who plays Lily, is somewhat authoritarian and quirky with lines such as “try to cheer up!” and “People like him need to be talked to in a calm authoritative voice” (Murphy 2011). However, her gentleness and agony, concerning her past regrets and her unknown future make her genuine and beautiful as a character. The Goodnight Bird takes mainly in the bedroom of Lily and Morgan, who have downsized to a condo unit.
Aside from the three people, there is the couple's cat and Morgan's girlie magazines. There are 7 paintings on the stage, which are owned by Lily. The stage seems to suffocate the two people in their own sense of safety, which needs to be shaken to revive their monotonous lives. The bedroom set on the stage is where most of the interests in the play take place. It tends be very challenging for the director to keep the interest going after an extended period of time and the actors who play in The Goodnight Bird are no different as they act, stand, sit on the chair, sit on the bed, and repeat actions. There is nothing overt about the production, especially the lightning and their clothes. Since the couple belongs to the middle class, there is nothing big about the costumes either. They are in pajamas as the scene mostly happened in the couple’s bedroom. However, lighting contributes to the mood of the story as it varies the colors depending on what the scene is about. For example, if the situation is slightly sad, the lighting is dimmed, to create a nostalgic
mood. The script will make the audience think of the movie like Down and Our In Beverly Hills written by Norm Foster the movie is also a story of a homeless man sneaks into a stranger’s backyard, which is similar to the plot of the play. The second half of the play continues as Parker leaves the old couple considering the effect he has had on their lives. Towards the end of the play, there are not a lot of surprises or revelations left; rather, the play continues to play out in a loving, yet very predictable way. Most of the older people in the audience seem to connect more with the play and enjoy every scene Lily and Morgan find themselves in, especially when Parker runs around the stage, naked. He contributed to most of the comic aspects of the play. The play is a dark comedy about love and renewing courage. The author, Murphy, is known for her use of sharp sense in her plays and great dialogues in her script. The coming of Parker into Lilly and Morgan’s lives underlines the different things they do not know and miss in their lives, and so they begin to examine their passiveness. Parker is the opposite of the couple, who makes the stage sparkle with great laughter and energy. The relationship between Parker and Lilly in the play is predominantly fulfilling as Lilly turns from a very scared woman into a sympathetic person. Overall, the play is hilarious and fun to watch but tends to be not very memorable, as there is no big production (such as the staging) or events in the story, aside from the theme of renewing courage. However, the play is a good reflection of life in general. Parker is an exciting and nutty character, who contributes a lot to the hilariousness of the play.
The book, The Truth About Sparrows by Marian Hale is about when Sadie Wynn moves to Texas because of a drought in Missouri. She is separated from her best friend Wilma but before she left Sadie made a promise that she would be Wilma’s best friend even if they were apart.
Ethel Waters overcame a very tough childhood to become one of the most well known African American entertainers of her time. Her story, The Eye on the Sparrow, goes into great detail about her life and how she evolved from taking care of addicts to becoming the star of her own show. Ethel was born by her mother being raped at a young age. Her father, John Waters, was a pianist who played no role in Ethel’s life. She was raised in poverty and it was rare for her to live in the same place for over a year. Ethel never fit in with the rest of the crowd; she was a big girl, about five nine when she was a teenager, and was exposed to mature things early in her life. This is what helped shape Ethel to be the strong, independent woman she is.
Parrot in the Oven, by Victor Martinez, is a novel that portrays the lives that forty-five million Americans live every day from the point of view of Manny Hernandez, the main character of this book. He is a Mexican-American citizen who lives in the projects of his hometown in California. Manny lives with his mother, his abusive father, his two sisters Pedi and Magda, and Nardo, his irresponsible older brother. Throughout the story, Manny goes through many big events that help him discover what his real values should be and who he really is. Scenarios including speaking too soon, rebelling against his father and joining a gang that changed his character drastically. Manny gradually shifts from obliviously reckless, to outgoing and cautious,
However, the clever and deliberate use of props, costumes, and the stage helps it establish its themes and context and set it apart from other plays. In the beginning, the props are set to evoke the setting of a slave ship. The chains surrounding the pedestal in the middle of the stage invoke the idea of being imprisoned, the images on the side depict slaves being shackled, and the basic idea how the living conditions were on the boat. In addition, the screens often depict vivid imagery of the time period, or historical figures of the time. The images along with the sound effects add to the atmosphere, as it makes a stronger statement than words alone. The costume choice is well-done, and they serve well to differentiate the actors from each other or the different characters. The man in shackles that was hidden underneath the cloth in the moving dolly gives off the appearance of the stereotypical slave. Considering Malik Proctor also portrayed the kid, the waiter, and Flo’rance, the audience does not focus on the actor but the character he is playing. The characters portrayed are differentiable as the costumes set them apart, aided by the tone and inflection in the way the characters speak and act. Having the characters being able to be told apart gives the play immersion, as it allows the audience to focus on what is happening, not why the actors are playing
In chapter 11 of the Russell text, it describes what is needed in order to create an appropriate historical fiction story. A few of those elements that I thought were the most relevant to Karen Cushman’s novel Catherine, Called Birdy were dialogue, setting, and conflict.
The novel Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is a book that was written in order to provide “Some instructions on writing and life.” Lamott published the book in 1994 in hopes to share the secrets of what it is truly like to be a writer, as both a warning and as encouragement. Bird by Bird shares with the reader the ironic truth of being a struggling writer through personal experience and humorous stories. Lamott uses memories from her past to help illustrate her points and to help the reader get to know who she is, not only as a writer, but as a person. The author focuses on the true struggles and benefits of being a writer while using metaphors and analogies to express her points, she also wraps her life stories around almost every writing tip.
Catherine is like a bird stuck in it's cage. If you hold the bird in it's cage it will want to fly out of it even if you were to put food inside. However the Bird that was not kept in its cage then it will walk right inside and eat the food. In the book, Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman, Catherine is the main character and is forced to do and deal with many things. Throughout the novel she is to deal with every situation to the best of her abilities and she makes the right choices, except when she doesn't. Three situations or problems she faces with courage and Determination are, she is forced to marry Shaggy Beard, Deal with the wrath of her Father, and try to avoid her lady lessons.
Are adults overprotective of their children? To what point do we protect children? Where should the line be drawn? Along with those questions is how easily children can be influenced by these same adults. Two poets, Richard Wilbur and Billy Collins, express the ideas of how easily children can be manipulated and how sometimes adults think they are protecting their innocent children, when in reality they are not. Wilbur and Collins express these ideas in their poems through numerous literary devices. The literary devices used by Wilbur and Collins expose different meanings and two extremely different end results. Among the various literary devices used, Wilbur uses imagery, a simple rhyme scheme and meter, juxtaposition of the rational and irrational, and a humorous tone to represent the narrator’s attempt to “domesticate” irrational fears. Conversely Collins uses symbols, historical interpretations, imagery, diction and other literary devices to depict the history teacher’s effort to shield his students from reality. In the poems, “A Barred Owl,” by Richard Wilbur, and “The History Teacher,” by Billy Collins, both poets convey how adults protect and calm children from their biggest, darkest fears and curiosities.
The story “A Brutal Murder in a Public Place” by Joyce Carol Oates follows a person in an airport who hears a small bird but cannot seem to find it. Oates uses imagery and symbolism between the narrator and the bird to show how trapped and overlooked the narrator truly feels.
Throughout history, the story of womankind has evolved from struggles to achievements, while some aspects of the lives of women have never changed. Poet Dorianne Laux writes about the female condition, and women’s desire to be married and to have a home and children. She also seems to identify through her poetry with the idea that women tend to idealize the concept of marriage and settling down and she uses her poetry to reach out to the reader who may have similar idyllic views of marriage or the married lifestyle. Though Dorianne Laux’s poem “Bird” reads very simply, it is actually a metaphor for an aspect of this female condition.
Maya's experience in the junkyard is a life skill treasure. After the fight Maya had with Dolores, while visiting her father in southern California for the summer. Maya decides to leave so she would not be pitied, and believed her father would be relieved if she left. Fear of going home and explaining what happened to her mother she ventured out for somewhere else to stay. Maya felt freedom when she left, as Angelou states in the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, "The idea of sleeping in the near open bolstered my sense of freedom. I was a loose kite in a gentle wind floating with only my will for an anchor" (251). In other words, she was free and in control of her life. After leaving she ended staying in a junkyard with other kids close
Margaret Laurence 's novel A Bird in the House is a collection of independent and intertwined short stories written from Vanessa MacLeod 's point of view. As an adult looking back on her childhood, the protagonist examines how she, and essentially everyone in her life, experiences a sense of entrapment and a need to escape. Because the author begins and concludes the novel with the Brick House, the major theme of escape is shown to have developed in Vanessa as she matures through childhood and adolescence and becomes an adult.
Bird usually portrays an image of bad luck that follows afterwards and in this novel, that is. the beginning of all the bad events that occur in the rest of the novel. It all started when Margaret Laurence introduced the life of Vanessa MacLeod. protagonist of the story, also known as the granddaughter of a calm and intelligent woman. I am a woman.
Maya Angelou, the author to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, writes about a girl who is confronted with sex, rape, and racism at an early stage in her life in detail in her novel. When she is three years old, her parents have a divorce and send her and her four-year-old brother Bailey from California to Arkansas to live with her grandmother in a town that is divided by color and full of racism. They are raised by her grandmother and then sent back to their carefree mother in the absence of a father figure. At age eight, she is raped by her mother’s boy friend while she is sleeping in her mother’s bed. The book also tells about her other sexual experiences during the early parts in her life. Those experiences lead to the birth of her first child.
Wright was described as a beautiful women filled with such joy and life until she married John Wright. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale feels sorry for her because her husband treated her so bad. Due to female bonding and sympathy, the two women, becoming detectives, finds the truth and hides it from the men. The play shows you that emotions can play a part in your judgement. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale felt sorry that Mrs. Wright had one to keep her company no kids and she was always left alone at home. “yes good; he didn’t drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debt. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters just to pass the time of day with him. Like a raw wind that goes to the bone. I should of think she would have wanted a bird. But what you suppose went with it?” Later on in the play the women find out what happens to the bird. The bird was killed the same way Mrs. Wright husband which leads to the motive of why he was killed. Mrs. Wright was just like the bird beautiful but caged no freedom not being able to live a life of her own. Always stuck in the shadows of her husband being told what to do and