The Sparrow Analysis

The acting in the play The Sparrow by Chris Mathews and Jake Minton was beyond superb. It conveyed emotions not explicitly said within the dialogue and captivates viewers as they enter the world of young Emily Book. The Sparrow is about a girl named Emily Book who, after ten years, returns to her hometown after a horrific accident took the lives of all her classmates. Carolyn Defrin ( Emily Book ) does a beautiful job portraying Emily. Her emotions are clear and concise, but powerful and heart wrenching none the less. Carolyn is able to give Emily a mysterious quality that kept me intrigued throughout the whole play. Carolyn is able to give Emily such powerful and true emotions that makes it possible for Emily to truly come alive. She was

able to portray Emily with an element of sincerity that helped the audience to better understand the pain Emily was working through. She was able to convey the suffering and sadness that plagued Emily not only through her tone but also through her movements. Her movements were fluid and realistic, they didn’t look staged or rigid, but during some scenes, some of her actions were very over dramatized, and that took away from the realism of the play. Paige Hoffman ( Jenny McGrath ) did an outstanding job portraying her character with such emotional depth that it made Jenny one of the most interesting characters to watch. Jenny is the all American teenage girl. An honor roll student, class president and captain of the cheer squad. But Paige is able to give emotional depth to the character by giving her multiple contrasting aspects of her personality. Her movements were also very clean and true to the character. She did a great job differentiating between the multiple personalities of Jenny. Her actions were very passionate and moving, but again were somewhat over dramatic at certain points in the play.
The set design in The Sparrow were very simplistic.

They were clean and straight forward, and they were able to add realism to the story without taking the focus off the actors. The set pieces were creative and innovative. I enjoyed the fact that the sets were simplistic because it kept your focus on the actors and the storyline. I, however, did not like the fact that I could see the cast carrying off the set pieces, to me that seemed very careless. I prefer that in between scenes the lights are dimmed and you can not blatantly see the sets being changed, but that is just my opinion. I find that it adds sophistication to the production that way. I enjoyed how movement was incorporated into the sets, like when Emily is walking down a street, other cast members held up a picture of a house and that was the street. It was something I have never seen done before, and I found it unique and ingenious. The incidental music was able to give the audience insight into the true intentions of characters and add to the story. It sparked curiosity and was able to portray character’s moods with ease. And when character’s experienced flashbacks, the music enhanced the quality of that scene by adding realism. Not only did the incidental music elevate the level of the performance, but it was able to add such reality to the play, that I felt as if I was truly in the world of the

characters.
I overall found the House Theatre production of The Sparrow a thrilling and unique experience. the actors did a phenomenal job conveying the emotion of the character and providing the audience with a feeling of sincerity and realism. The set design was unconventional and surprising, its simplicity was beautiful and something you don’t see very often in professional theatre. Though I found the changes between sets unappealing, I overall thought the set design was exceptional. And the music added realism to they play, that otherwise could not be conveyed. The play was a beautiful work of art that everyone should see.