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The Jenny Wiley production of the musical Robber Bridegroom was a fun and enjoyable production. The atmosphere was one of high-energy and overall an exciting event, it was filled with music and comedic acting. The play was set in the South and was a dark, comedic fairytale. The play’s main characters were Jamie Lockhart, the well-known rascal, who was a type of Southern Robin Hood character and Jamie’s love interest Rosamund. The supporting roles of the play are that of Rosemund’s father, Clement, Rosamund’s evil step-mother, Salome, Little Harp, Goat, Big Harp, Raven, Airie, and the mother of Goat and Airie. The plot of the play was straight-forward. Jamie saved the life of Clement from the dastardly duo, Little Harp and Big Harp (Big …show more content…
Harp being only a head that Little Harp pushed in a box). Clement invited Jamie to dinner to meet his beautiful daughter, Rosamund, later that week. At the same time Rosamund was at home with Salome. Salome was the evil-stepmother and had a witchlike quality, she was also jealous of Rosamund for being the one who will inherit her father’s money. Salome always tried to find a way to kill Rosamund. She sent her to the dangerous parts of the property to be eaten by animals. While out on an errand for Salome, Rosamund was made to strip by a bandit with a smear of berries that “concealed” his identity. This was where the play deviated from straight-forwardness as identities were mistaken. But in the end, like in any comedy, everything ended up great. Identities were reveled Jamie and Rosamund lived happily ever after, Salome was dead, and everyone else was kind of forgotten. The overall capacity of a musical is that the story of the play is carried on by singing and music. The problem with this production was that it was hard to find the plot through the musical. The musical broke the unities and there was no verisimilitude. The play began with music and background information. The amount of time spent talking was about 20-30% of the entire production. The acting and singing were spectacularly done, but they did not make for a wonderful production. With the great acting the play could have been better. It should also be noted that the performance attended was a dress rehearsal, so kinks were still evident, but the ratio of music and acting would not have changed dramatically. The most well-done aspects of the production were the comedic aspects. The audience laughed at the slap-stick, the witty humor, and ironic humor. Most of the humor was found in the mistaken identities of Jamie and Roasmund. Especially when Jamie was ‘unrecognizable’ because of a smudge of berry that couldn’t be wiped off through normal means, i.e. water. Jamie could not recognize Rosumund because of a headscarf. These were absurd moments, but hilarious moments for the audience. The best actor/character was Jamie Lockhart. He performed two roles in role. He played the role of the dashing Jamie Lockhart and the role of the be-smudged robber of the woods convincingly. The actor chosen fit the part physically as well. The band was also a very nice part. They were well-played and fit in seamlessly with the acting. The set and background were very nice and fit the played well. Unfortunately, this aspect of the play was what killed the verisimilitude of the play more than the musical aspect. The scenes and props were changed awkwardly by the characters. Even characters that were only a head in the play, they would miraculously have legs to move sets and props. The props themselves were not realistic. Beds were boxes with blankets over them, the same boxes were the dining room table, all beds had the same blankets, and more. The costumes were an odd choice.
The women wore corsets outside their clothing. The clothing of the men in the production were all pretty standard and believable. This lead the viewer to wonder about the choice of women’s clothing being so unbelievable while the men were made to seem more believable. Much of the play was silly and illogical, but the ending made less sense then the rest. At the end of the play Rosamund and Jamie had lost each other. She looked for him because she was pregnant. At the same moment that she found him, she went into labor. For the labor the cast held her up and pulled two pillows from her dress. A pink pillow and a blue pillow took place of her twins. Although the play made a statement with the use of pillows it was hard to enjoy the play with the choice. There were many aspects of Robber Bridegroom that did not make sense, nor did they aide in keeping with the unities. What was exceptional was the play overall. The musical/acting ratio should have been better and there were choices the director made that did not work, but what did work were the actors. The acting was very well done and believable. Jamie Lockhart could not have been played by a better actor. Rosamund was very believably in love with Jamie and Salome was an evil-stepmother. Jenny Wiley put on a well-rehearsed performance that could have been better with the above-mentioned aspects
changed.
My least favorite aspect of this play was the ending. The ending confused me and was anticlimactic. It was not funny and not entertaining at all.
Big hair, bright colors, and denim helped to establish the time period the play was set in. Each actress’ outfit gave the audience an idea of her character’s personality. For instance, Clairee wore pant suits and looked the part of a sophisticated, classy former mayor’s wife. On the other hand, Ouiser wore comfortable clothes; often sporting a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt over a t-shirt showing her practical and simple lifestyle. The use of jackets and scarves portrayed the change in season and helped establish the different time frames from scene to scene. The costumes reflected each character well and were fitting for the time in which the play was portrayed.
Another point I would like to make is how clever the author was in his time. He used women as the focus point of the play to make the audience members think about the woman’s social situation in society. He was able to get away with it because he is a man and the fact that the play was written during the war.
The film presents the stereotypical behavior of gay men that is evident in our society. Many of the costumes are designed to highlight the characters and the way they live. For example, Bernadette wears long flowing clothes usually white or an off cream. ‘She’ is an older ‘women’ and dresses to look like one with flowing skirts and tops with her hair done up simply.
This theme is evident in the doubling of stockings with the girl’s natural black legs. The red stockings, which represent sexual, material desires, are contrasted with the natural, elegant beauty of the legs of the black girl. The stockings highlight only the legs, separating them from the girl as a whole and allowing for easier objectification, specifically by young white males. However, the girl knows this, as she has put the stockings on and is being told so by the narrator, who represents the black community. The narrator also clearly recognizes the girl’s beauty, and her beauty is further highlighted in the fact that she is clothed in silk, which relates to royalty and comfortability.
In the story, the grandmother is more concerned with her outlook and pays a lot of details to her dress to make sure she is recognized as a woman, so that “anyone seeing her dead on...
The result is Romeo and Juliet murdering themselves and the play has a tragic ending. Overall, young, innocent lovers die, through no fault of their own but a simple mistake.
The use of original practices, the costumes and male characters used to play the role of female characters are due to the different gender identity attributes and sexuality concerns from the play. Although the producer insists that the use of male characters to play female roles was mainly to show case the original set-up and forms of acting it can also be attributed to the producer wishing to raise different sexualities from the audience. The different actors who play the roles of females while they are male characters have been used by the producer to raise different sexualities since the heterosexual people in the audience view of the audience since gender as asserted by Bulman is performative rather than
The women on the trail, though it shows, had little time to care about mending clothes, “The majority of the overland women wore what clothing they had and prayed that what they wore would not tear. They were too preoccupied with the necessities of the day to consider fashion at all (Schlissel 105). ” I would be happy if I were these women because that just means one less chore that was their “duty” to perform. In conclusion, the woman of the Victorian Era had her role in life planned out from before she was born. Although it was a dreadful role, these women carried it out in a way that shows their purity of the heart and willingness to do so many things for others and for little return.
Though its primary function is usually plot driven--as a source of humor and a means to effect changes in characters through disguise and deception—cross dressing is also a sociological motif involving gendered play. My earlier essay on the use of the motif in Shakespeare's plays pointed out that cross dressing has been discussed as a symptom of "a radical discontinuity in the meaning of the family" (Belsey 178), as cul-tural anxiety over the destabilization of the social hierarchy (Baker, Howard, Garber), as the means for a woman to be assertive without arousing hostility (Claiborne Park), and as homoerotic arousal (Jardine). This variety of interpretations suggests the multivoiced character of the motif, but before approaching the subject of this essay, three clarifica- tions are necessary at the outset.
Clothing affected the lives of women greatly. Women wore many layers of clothing that could be hot and tight, making them uncomfortable. Different types of clothing were also used to make women seem more petite than they actually were (History of Fashion - Elizabethan). Many outfits included most of the following under layers: a smock, stockings, a corset, a farthingale, a rowel, a stomacher, a petticoat, a kirtle, a fore part, and a partlet. Then, most of the following over layers: a gown, separate sleeves, a ruff, a cloak, and shoes. Shoes were often a flat, Mary Jane style, or had a platform to keep one's feet dry. The biggest influence on woman's clothing during the Elizabethan Era was actually Queen Elizabeth I herself.
... middle of paper ... ... It seems no coincidence that Shakespeare had all three female characters in the play disguise themselves as men.
The overall idea of what a women should wear was extremely unpractible, causing women intense sickness and immobility due to things like “tight garters” and “corseted waists” (Riegl 176). Women could not wear loose, practical, comfortable clothes like mens fashion, but were confined to a life of solitude in their own clothing. Women’s fashion created a very large and unneeded burden (Riegl 176). Women felt violated that this uncomfortable and unhealthy way of life was being forced upon them. Eventually women got fed up by these Fashions and a sense of rebellion was triggered in many women. They finally felt they had to do something about the unfair treatment that took too large of a toll on their lives (Riegl 176)
The men's garments involve overall like garments that follow the wrap around theme however have pant legs. Both men and women garments are similar in design embracing the idea of gender neutrality to further connect with the idea of celebrating courage without any
This costume design was so simle, butthey definalty got it right. The dressing was excatly like how the poor working fmaily n Brooklyn dressed in the 50s. They used simple clothes that would be the style of the times. These costumes had everything to do with the time of the play origin. They were dressed for a set the was an old fashioned Italian