When Push Shoved “Come see When Push Comes To Shove with me,” I remember telling my boyfriend at 5pm on a Friday, February 19th. At the time, I thought it was going to be a fairly straightforward comedy about a college camping trip gone awry. And, at the time, I couldn’t have been farther from the truth. What was to come instead, was a rollercoaster ride of an absurdist theatrical performance with, of course, some comedic moments and excellent performances by every character in the show. After seeing the tour de force that was When Push Come To Shove, I immediately wanted to understand what it meant. Much of it was in almost cryptic, philosophical language, dynamically discussing everything from defining one’s self to comparing being trapped in an unassembled tent to being …show more content…
The direction and set design were what struck me the most about this play. What I particularly enjoyed about the directing was the way in which the characters on stage continued whichever activity they were doing, even if they weren’t the center of the scene. In other words, if the dialogue was stage left between Antonini and Hanka, Pickle and Bucket continued to interact even though the attention wasn’t on them. In many show I’ve seen, admittedly mostly amateur shows, all attention, even that of the actors on stage, was on whoever was speaking, and there was no other interactions happening. By continuing the action of other characters on the stage, the direction added to the chaos and truly showed the play as a bunch of teenagers hanging out in the woods, each doing their own activities, and having their own side conversations. The set, much like the play, was dynamic. Tents went from being fully constructed to being torn down, burned, or used as swaddling cloth. Simple camping set pieces were turned into weapons during fight scenes. And the changing elevation of the set not
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.
It was very nice to read something that had a lot of drama and suspense. This story has a mix of everything. It has a bit of suspense, drama, and comedy; therefore, it led it to be a very nice play. The people that would most like this play, has to be people who like suspense, drama, and thriller. These people would like it, because this story has a mix of everything, so the people who like to have a mix in their stories, they will love this story. It will suit them, and will give them a pleasure of reading a nice
The Hippodrome setting played a big role in the success of the play, because the seats were close to the stage, which made the audience feel more intimate with the actors. The set was filled with everyday electronics and video games that were popular with today’s generation, and it was good way to capture the attention of the younger audience. The costumes worked for the actors because they were outfits that teens and young adults would wear, which made it easier to relate to the characters. The lighting for the production was awesome because it went well with the sound effects. For example, when Ian was doing a simulation for his new job, he set off a missile and when it exploded the lights changed from blue to red to symbolize seriousness of the situation.
The set of the play was built decent and looked the same. The only thing I didn't like was some of color of the stones that were painted on the walls. But, that’s just my opinion. However, I did have fun splatter painting those walls and the stairs during class. I liked how there was platforms and different ground levels, that made it more interesting. Rather than just having the stage ground there were stairs you could go up or down which set it apart. Overall, I liked the set and I thought it was built well and sturdy.
The production had many elements which for the most part formed a coalition to further the plot. The characters, the three part scenery and costumes represented well the period of time these people were going through. As far as the performers entering and exiting the stage, it could have been more organized. There were a few times when the performers exited at the wrong times or it seemed so due to the echo of the music. At certain moments the music was slightly loud and drowned the performers. Many of the songs dragged on, so the pacing could have been more effectively executed. Though the music was off at times, the director's decision to have most of the songs performed center sage was a wise one. Also the implementation of actual white characters that were competent in their roles came as a great surprise to the audience and heightened the realism.
reach into the ideas and themes of the play so we will have a good
In conclusion I think that the stage directions and dramatic irony are significant to the play, and without them there would be no need for a lot of the events that happen in the play.
project of the play, of which is touched upon in Act One. It is this
Firstly I would set this play in the 21st century so that a modern audience could relate to it. Algernon, one of the main characters in the play, would live in a luxury apartment in the centre of London, over looking the River Thames. His apartment would have a minimalist theme to it and would be influenced by aesthetic; for example he would have a piece of abstract art on the wall for no reason other than that he thinks it looks nice.
...transition between each stage was flawless. I enjoyed that screens were used to create the background for each scene allowing for the smooth transitions. The screens gave the appearance of being three-dimensional making the scenes seem much more real. I also enjoyed the lighting being used as spotlights during some of the scenes and being used as a transition between scenes, or day and evening.
One of its numerous strengths was the costuming and set. This musical would not have been the same had these elements not come together to transport the viewer. In addition to the costuming and the set, the actors were very well cast. Each actor was in a role that fit them and they portrayed their characters very well. For example, the man who played Glen really seemed like a greedy Wall Street worker. The choreography was also well done. It fit true to the style of dance in the 1980s and added to the immersion experience. The only thing that could have made this experience better would be to add more music. This may just be a personal preference, but when I see a musical I like for the music to be central like it is in Hamilton or Les Miserables. However, this musical was very good and not much could be added to enhance the
The sound design and choreography intensified the overall musical. They created the time, place, and mood through rhythm and great energy. The actors had wireless, behind the ear mikes, that attached to the mike pack which amplified the sound, making it very clear. I could easily understand what they were talking about or singing.
Man's fundamental bewilderment and confusion, stems from the fact that man has no answers to the basic existential questions: why we are alive, why we have to die, why there is injustice and suffering, all this serve as the impetus for such a thinking. Man constantly wonders about the truth of life and realizes that the more you expect from it, the more it fails you or may be the more we expect from ourselves the more we find ourselves engaging in a futile battle with the odds. May be the truth is the realization of our limitations and the potency of these odds that press you down with their brutal truths….….brutal?, can the truth be brutal. But the truth is the God, ourselves, the destiny that rules us and fashions us, after a strange decree which we fail to unravel.
Push the Bully is not a bad person. In fact, no matter how ironic this may sound given his name or how mean some of the things he does to others in the story may seem, Push is actually a good person with good intentions. He may appear mean and cruel, but he bullies kids with the purest of intentions at heart: to give a voice and to acknowledge and recognize the people in society who are shunned or thought of as other. Push’s desire to do good results in him using unorthodox methods to acknowledge those who are conventionally ignored and attempts to make those kids feel comfortable in their own skin and eventually culminates with him getting into a fight with John Williams.
One of its aspects is satire; it criticizes the absurdity of lives lived unaware and unconscious of ultimate reality and the deadness and mechanical senselessness of half-conscious lives. Its goal is to make people aware of "man's precarious and mysterious position in the universe. It is not concerned with ideological considerations or heroic deeds but with a man’s "descent into the depths of his personality, his dreams, fantasies and nightmare .The Theatre of the Absurd is a theatre of situation asagainst a theatre of events in sequence. It does not employ psychology, subtlety of characterization and plot in the conventional sense.