Clybourne Park Play

~:Clybourne Park:~

Unifying Vision

   I have a distinct vision of what my unifying vision for my production of Clybourne Park would be.

   The message my play would get across would be that racism has not changed at all, and that by setting stereotypes, you only help the chance of the stereotypes coming true. 

   The idea of a self fulfilling prophecy would be the main theme and subject of my production. If one thinks property value will plummet from houses becoming interracial, then most likely it will plummet, due to a self fulfilling prophecy. 

The central image of my production

   The Central Image of my Clybourne Park production would be racial profiling and irony. Much of the design aesthetic and scenic design would revolve around stereotypes of certain races and the irony from being fearful of a stereotype, and causing the stereotype to come true by creating a self fulfilling prophecy.

   the behavior of my production would be insanely rash. Same race characters would treat each other kind and treat other races poorly and yell at them for the same circumstances. This would show the racial profiling that America still has to this day, 50 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964.(Civil Rights)

   The design aesthetic would be different for each act.

Act 1: In act one, the design will be clean, artistic, and things will be extremely colorful.

Act 2: In act two, the design will be dirty, plain, and very black in white, representing the stereotype that since the neighborhood is African-American, the houses seem less valuable even though they are still the same as they were 50 years prior.

Location:

Alliance Theatre of Atlanta

   The Alliance Theatre at The Woodruff would be a PERFECT destination for my production. Since Atlanta, GA has a main population of middle classed to lower classed African-American's, and an upper-middle classed to upper classed Caucasian American's, the play could get across the idea that racism only leads to the outcome you set it to be. [Alliance Theatre]

   My audience would be the entire population of Atlanta, hopefully pulling middle classed African-Americans and upper classed Caucasian Americans.

   Seating would have set prices per row, with relatively cheap seats in the back, for the poorer customers, and expensive seats in the front for richer customers. The fact that the Alliance Theatre is a very popular venue, would help lure a poorer audience with low seat prices.

Scenic Design:

   My production of Clybourne Park would have a very unique style to it. To the left, right, and above the audience would be houses and artwork of parks, and a background to make the audience feel like they are in Clybourne Park while this play goes on. The audience would be directly affected by the play, and asked questions as it goes on.

:Act I:

 
   The houses in the first act would be colorful with jagged lines, and very detailed. The background would be made to look very 1950's. The style would be the stereotype of the typical 1950's neighborhood. There would be a compact space in the center of the stage to signify the house that is being bought in both acts, this house would lose color towards Act II and end up being colorful again at the end, signifying a cycle.

1950's neighborhood in Chicago.

   The set would have wires attached to birds to animate a beautiful neighborhood. A water fountain would be going on towards the back of the stage with significant purpose towards Act II.
   The set would tell a story of a happy-go-lucky 1950's neighborhood in Chicago, and at the end of the first Act, the waterfall would shut off, the birds would die, and the houses would become dark.
   

:Act II:

   

Recent rundown Chicago neighborhood

   Act II would have a reversal role of Act I. After the Intermission, the first scene would be rocks being thrown into the windows and running down the houses. All the details on the house will be hard to see from the lights.
   All the houses would be black and white, with the absence of color.

   The water fountain at this point would be broken and not work, signifying carefree of neighborhood community. No birds would be present and rats would now be present. The neighborhood would now tell a story of depression and struggle.

Costume Design

The costume design for my production would be very scene specific. The importance of the costume would be more important than any other design piece.

 :Act I:

In act one, the costume's style would be very 1950's. The colors of the white town folks would be a bright white. 

This would illustrate the essence of color for the play. They would be very fashionably dressed and they wouldn't talk to anyone not wearing white. The only characters that would talk to other dressed characters would be Karl, Russ, Bev, and Jim. Russ and Bev would be dressed in a navy blue, signifying their carefree for the race they are selling the house to.

 Karl would look similar to Colonel Sanders, and look as a true business man.

 Although he comes off racist, in my production, he would reappear when the characters talk about how the houses have dropped in value, seeing as how he was absolutely right, and not just being racist.

The African-American's that move in would be present in my play, although they would not speak to anyone. Also, the housekeeper and husband would dress very similarly, in all black, in cheap suits. These characters would hardly speak to anyone other than each other and be addressed differently than others. This illustrates the essence of how poorly a man can be treated based on his clothing and skin color.

 

:Act II:

In my production, in Act II, the characters would still be dressed in the 1950's clothing. However, to represent a change of majority, the black man's suits would be very fashionable and the white man's suit would become the ragged suit. Also, a few thugs would be inserted for other purposes to conclude what the stereotype is that is placed on all the African-Americans.

Basically, the roles would reverse, and at the end, the roles would reverse again, and the white men would wear fashionable suits.

Lighting Design 

The lighting design for my production would also be very important to the production. Lights would come from beneath the floors and from above the roof for a double edged light design to create a mood of deception. It would tell the story of what colors are important in each act. The lights would mainly allow visibility for the main house being bought, the water fountain, and partially allow visibility for the other houses.

the lighting design from beneath would look similar to this, except the colors would be different, and the lights would move back and forth. The laser lights would move back and forth from above, and be light in act I, and dark in act II.

:Act I:

 In act I, the lighting design would be very bright. This would tell the time of day, and everything in the neighborhood would be white and light. The lights would reflect on the costumes, scenic design, and the central image. The production would be valued on the colors white and black. This mood would be bright and beautiful.

:Act II:

In act II, the lighting design would be very dark. The scenic design, costumes, and lighting design would reinforce each other by being very dark. I would also have black lights coming from above, in order to show the change of scenery. This would illustrate how the people view the neighborhood. Also, when the house was re-bought by Steve and Lindsay, that particular house would shine a bright white, illustrating a turn back of the cycle. This mood would be dark and scary.

  Sound Design  

The sound design would also be particularly important, especially with the radio instances towards the end of both acts.

Sparrow's chirping(this would help reinforce the birds of the background[which do not exist in act II since they die]) the audibility would be loud to illustrate a peaceful neighborhood.

Water fountain(again this would not exist in Act II since it breaks.) also, the audibility for this would be very soft and hard to indicate.

The sparrow's and water fountain would tell the story of how the neighborhood becomes less taken care of because the new members do not care how the neighborhood is viewed because they are stereotyped anyway.

:Act I:

The sounds played in Act I would be very upbeat and feel good songs, such as:

This song would illustrate the 1950's feel and how suburban living had such an impact on people's lives.


When the radio comes on at the end of the act, this specific song would play,

This song revolves around death, so it would be nice to be played to signify the death of Kenneth.

:Act II:

 In Act II, the music would change greatly.

Police Siren(this would be used to signify how police are always out to get people based on the stereotypes placed on them)

All the music in this act would be rap music, signifying a change in theme and mood of the story. Songs such as this would be played:  

 

This Tupac song is a good song to be played, because it talks about how African-American's struggle to be good and change to the norm based on the stereotypes downplayed to them, causing self fulfilling prophecy .

At the end when the radio comes back on, Butcher Pete would play again.

After Butcher Pete.

Prologue:

the Prologue would be an extra scene in my production, and it would be the flashback to Kenneth. The lights would instantly spark back to white, and the windows would be repaired. Butcher Pete would be playing silently as he is writing his suicide note. This would illustrate that Kenneth's death ultimately caused the neighborhood to have a fallout, and that discrimination was the cause for not only his death, but the property value as well. Every time Butcher Pete plays, it signifies the change of the neighborhood. No one can know if the second time Butcher Pete is played is because the neighborhood will get better or even worse. It is all left to the person's perspective. 

It is hard to tell if you are seeing a pen for writing, or a suicide death utensil.OR BOTH 

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-Moon Marigolds

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-Moon Marigolds

An actual picture from the show. Beatrice is most likely

about to take her stress and pitiful life out on her daughters

Tillie and Ruth.

The Effect of Gamma Rays On Man-In-Moon Marigolds was a very sad play, and I could relate to it from my own experiences. I will be analyzing the play for my assignment.

Analysis:

This play type is a Melodrama. The play consists of a dysfunctional family, a mother and her two daughters, who clash throughout the play. The mother physically and mentally abuses her daughters throughout the play, and Ruth(the oldest sister) tries to make her younger sister Tillie seem like the bad sister, when in reality, Tillie is the only one striving to make something of herself.

The play structure is Climactic. Throughout the play, it feels like the story is endlessly building up to the climax. 

The major conflict of The Effect of Gamma Rays On Man-In-Moon Marigolds is an arduous conflict. Many believe that in black in white the climax is Beatrice against her children, but it goes much deeper than that.  I believe that the major conflict of The Effect of Gamma Rays On Man-In-Moon Marigolds is, Success vs. Failure.

(Beatrice always complains about her life, or lack there of. In the first scene, Beatrice asks Tillie about her science experiment, when Tillie tells her about half-life( her experiment was exposed to Cobalt-60). Instead of listening to Tillie's interesting inquiries, Beatrice puts herself into the sentence when she says something along the lines of, " Half-Life? Why don't you just ask me, I have the half-life.")

Within the conflict, the characters involved represent different things. 

Beatrice is the failure of the conflict, she represents the main antagonist towards allowing success from her daughters to flourish. She constantly tries to make her daughter's fail, due to her jealousy of her own life failures. 

Ruth represents the result of the potential success turned to failure. Ruth listens to her mother's  psychopathology to try and stay on good terms with her, and it ultimately ends in her nervous breakdown. Even though Ruth does everything her mother asks, she is still abused and has to make her sister seem like the bad one just to cope, when in reality she has become an unstable person. She lives a normal lifestyle, but her mother's abuse has ultimately made her psychotic, which she even goes into treatment for.

Matilda(Tillie) represents the success of the story. Even though she has taken the majority of her mother's abuse, been bullied and made a laughingstock at school, and been mistreated by her sister, she thrives in science and uses it and her teacher, Mr. Goodman's mentoring to create a science project that wins the science fair through perseverance. She does not allow her mother's attempts to foil her stand in the way of her success.

The Climax of the play comes when Tillie realizes she wins the science fair. Her flowers exposed to too much radiation die and wither away, however those exposed to a little of radiation blossom into beautiful marigolds. This proves that good can come from a bit of poison, in a way, Tillie herself is the symbol of the marigold's success. 

Characters wants:
Beatrice: Beatrice's want is simple. She does not want evil, she just believes that since she hasn't had positive, that she wants her house to be controlled and wants her children to have the same mistreatment she had.

Tillie: Tillie wants to succeed in something, and uses science to her advantage to create something magnificent. She also wants her family to become functional and her mother's abuse to stop.

Ruth: Ruth is unstable and also wants her family to be functional and have her mother's abuse stop. She continuously tries to please her mother, but the abuse cannot be stopped completely. She also wants Tillie's rabbit.

Nanny: She just wants to live, she does not want anything hard to obtain.

Janice Vickery: Janice Vickery like Tillie wants to win the science fair, and is her rival. Her experiment is questionable.

The subject of the play is perseverance. Even with hardships, if you persevere and try hard, you can create success.

 The idea of the play is to see the effect of what the abuse of a mother has on her children. In a way, the family is the marigolds. Radiation(abuse) to Ruth makes her unstable and go insane, while the radiation(abuse) to Tillie makes her prosper and create something beautiful. One should get the idea that, with enough hard work, and enough mental stability, anyone can reach their dreams, ANYONE. 

This play means a lot to me. I can relate to this very well, because my parents were very mentally abusive. Now they never tried to seriously physically abuse me, not that I would have let them, but I completely grasp the concepts of this play. While many people will say, " I will never do that to my kids," most tend to do the exact same thing to their kids. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds has this same concept. Beatrice only treats her children how she was treated subconsciously. Tillie represents the youth with willpower to overcome adversity and succeed. Even with the worst situations and a mother that continuously beats down her ideas, hopes, and dreams, she somehow creates science. Although Tillie is anti-social and forever scared from her mom, she is the good seed that came from the poison her mom sprouted onto her children, just as the beautiful marigold from the Cobalt-60 radiation.

American Musical: Broadway

American Musical: Broadway

The American Musical is a famous American tradition which strings from as far back as Greek musical theatre. Opera can be compared to the American Musical Theatre, but it is not exactly the same thing. American Musicals are composed of  music, acting, dance, farce, and dialogue. American Musicals have been going on since the late 1800's. The most famous American Musical Theatre is "Broadway".

Broadway

The Broadway House in Times Square, it is the most famous American Musical Theatre in the United States. In 2010, Broad grossed over 1 billion dollars in sales, with a total of 12.1 million people attending. 

Broadway features over 25 different shows, currently it is features 26 different shows, in over 30 different locations. The shows are as followed

• Anything Goes • Chicago • Death of a Salesman • Godspell • Gore Vidal's The Best Man • How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying • Jersey Boys • Jesus Christ Superstar • Mamma Mia! • Mary Poppins • Memphis • Once • Other Desert Cities

• Priscilla Queen of the Desert • Rock of Ages • Seminar • Sister Act • Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark • The Book of Mormon • The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess • The Lion King • The Phantom of the Opera • Venus in Fur • War Horse • Wicked • Wit

In the early years of the United States, "imported ballad operas, romantic light operas alongside native musical burlesques and occasional spectacles"(Musicals 101) headlined The USA. Niblo's Garden, located on Prince St. and Broadway St. in Manhattan became a famous nightspot theatre. Believed to be the first REAL famous American Musical, The Black Crook(1866), featured beautiful girls in flesh colored tights and had a dark romantic plot. Plays such as this, and H.M.S. Pinafore(1879) highlighted the early days of American Musical. During this same season, Ned Harrigan and Tony Hart created musicals that highlighted New York City life and made The American Musical extremely popular and desired. Each decade seemingly has a new feeling or overall message in its plays. 

Famous plays per decade:

• The Black Crook(1866)

• H.M.S. Pinafore(1879)

• The Passing Show(1894)

• Little Johnny Jones(1904)

• Naughty Marietta(1910)

• Show Boat(1927)

• Oklahoma!(1943)

• West Side Story(1957)

• Catch Me If you Can(1965)

• Grease(1972)

• Cats(1982)

• The Lion King(1997)

• Wicked(2003)

Most of these plays/musicals have grossed a plethora of money. Even though radio and television killed vaudeville, the passion, talent, and voice of Broadway can never die out.

The Lion King theatrical musical came out in 1997 and still plays on Broadway today. Tickets range anywhere from $100-$137 at the moment(2012). This musical is composed of people wearing animal fur and heads, mixed in with African music and exotic dancing with a wide range of colorful colors.

The musical Grease was later transformed into film, however, the musical itself is also very popular among Broadway musicals. It has wacky, 1950's suburb characters, known as Greasers. The musical is witty, wacky, and overall a fun musical to watch. The greasers slick their hair back and look for fun on teenage weekends and weeknights.

     Seeing a Musical

     Going to see a Broadway musical is wondrous! Just the tradition and feel for Broadway is exhilarating. You can expect wacky singing and acting. The actors usually have top notch voices and tell a story in musical rhythm. There is a set, a songwriter, a lyricist, a dialogue writer, a director, and most importantly, the singing actor. Some Broadway plays are funny, while others are sad. Some are even dark and sinister. One example is Sweeney Todd, which is dark, but funny at the same time. Actors spend weeks and months rehearsing their parts and getting their voices in tip top shape. Broadway tries to target big name actors or singers in order to draw crowds, and the plan works.

     Most musicals display an overall message, and a lot of them are ideas from Shakespeare plays. The audience can expect weird hair, props, special effects, lighting, prosthetic, music, sounds, and an amazingly wide wardrobe. Characters sometimes connect with the audience in special ways and call out to them, but usually not on Broadway. Overall, Broadway is a great escape for tourists and even natives. You will leave with a smile no matter what, some may even be in tears!

Avenue Q was expected to make a one time run because people believed that younger audiences would no be willing to go see the play. Avenue Q still runs today and is one of the best grossing films. It is noted for its obscene language, innuendos, and comedy. Puppets shout out explicit things such as " The internet is for porn. " The show is about life on the city streets. Avenue Q was a great success, it went from underdog to top of the chart!


An outside view of Broadway in New York City, apart of Time Square, the most famous part of NYC. As you can see, Broadway features a wide variety of shows, and even runs old shows. Broadway even remakes old shows into new, sometimes updated versions.

 Shakespeare's classic production, Othello is brought to life on Broadway. The man is sad over his white lover who he is shamed for being with.

 This is the original Broadway building, Niblo's Garden. Niblo's Garden played the original play The Black Crook in its first appearance. It's amazing how far American Musical Theatre has come.

 Cats is a play that has been on Broadway since the early 1980's. Cats has won many awards, including a Tony Award, and will continue to be one of the most famous Broadway plays. Spin-offs and inspirations have been created from this piece of theare. Many writers are inspired to create dancing and musical film from the great choreography and music in this luscious musical!

Works Cited

      Boyer, Paul S. "Musical Theatre." Musical Theatre. Encyclopedia.com, 2001. Web. 6 Mar. 2012. <http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Musical_theater.aspx>.

      "Internet Broadway Database." IBDB. 2001. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. <http://www.ibdb.com/index.php>.

      Kendrick, John. "The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musicals." Musicals101. 1997. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. <http://www.musicals101.com/>.

      The world of theatre: tradition and innovation

Mira Felner - Claudia Orenstein - Pearson/Allyn & Bacon - 2006

Chinese Opera(Peking Opera)

Peking Opera:(Beijing Opera)

   Peking Opera, or Beijing Opera is a Chinese Opera form which was created around 1790. Although it is called Beijing Opera, its origins extend to the provinces of Anhui and Hubei. Peking Opera is a combined form of various types of Opera. Kun Opera, Anhui Opera, Qingqiang Opera, and folk tunes make up the pieces of Peking Opera, taking parts of each kind of opera to create stylized music and techniques. During the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong and notorious Empress Dowager Cixi had an imperial government and patron, and made Peking Opera extremely popular, and was accessible to the common peasants. The empress loved Peking Opera so much that a theatre in the Summer Palace was dedicated to her love for Peking Opera.

   Peking Opera is a combination of music, martial arts, techniques, dance, and religion. There are various masks which are symbolized as a type of person, but also symbolize the real character's from previous dynasties. There are 4 major roles in Peking Opera.

Sheng: protagonist male character(the good guy)

Jing: sidekick or supporting male character.
Chou: clown or a negative evil character
Dan: protagonist female character(the good guy(girl in this case))

Usually, masks are used to depict the type of character as well, there are all forms of masks, stringing from evil, holy, stubborn, war hero, and so on.

(left)A mask in Peking Opera, usually of a red color. This specific mask is the mask of Guan Yu. The mask designates loyalty, honor, valor, and strength. This mask is usually used for a character of honor and good heart. Guan Yu was originally in the service of Liu Bei before being saved by Cao Cao. Guan Yu joined Cao Cao until he met Liu Bei again while fighting, and went back to Liu Bei and served as his equal general until his death when he was ambushed, the only way to take down the might.

(right)A mask in Peking Opera usually a white, pale mask. this mask depicts all that is evil in China.  Mischievousness, cruelty, tyranny, and an evil soul are some words to describe this character. This specific mask, is a mask of Cao Cao. The ruler of the Wei Kingdom, Cao Cao tried to invade the other two kingdoms, the Wu and Shu, and wanted to make himself the supreme ruler. Cao Cao is described as the root of all evil. 

Along with the masks, actors must also know how to act, sing,  talk with certain techniques for specific words(lowering and raising tone), and most importantly, martial arts! Martial arts is a big part that makes the Peking Opera so popular and fun to watch.
Mainly, Beijing Opera is synthesized with acrobatic martial arts, stylized action, mime, dialogue, and dancing. A big reason for the plays are to bring out all the emotions of people. happy, sad, depressed, angry, etc.

I
In this video, men wear masks according to their character. Note the
white mask used as the tyrant ruler Cao Cao. As you can see, a strong
voice is necessary to play the parts.




If you were to go to see a Peking Opera play today, you would be ASTONISHED! Peking Opera has many aspects to it, but the main points are to tell a story, show off martial arts and performance techniques, and singing. Today most Peking Opera plays are derived from the Han Dynasty. If you were to see a play, you would see a white masked character, the villain, and a red or green masked character, the hero. various martial arts forms are shown on display, and the villain/hero will have many battles through the play. Music with Chinese instruments is played in the background and used during certain scenario's. There are soothing sounds, sudden sounds, and fast paced fighting sounds used in the plays. The main point of the plays are to retell a past Chinese story in previous dynasties. One of the most famous plays is "Farewell to Concubine," which tells the story of Chu and Han being at war. The amount of martial art in this play makes it one of the most popular plays in China.

This is a video of a slowed fight in a Peking Opera play. Imagine this
sped up about tenfold.


FUN FACT:
Certain colored masks/paint represent certain types of characters.
White/Yellow: Evil character
Black: Neutral(usually sides with good but is still neutral) represents vigor and wisdom.
Blue/Green: rebellious characters who are generally heroes.
Red: loyal, vigorous hero with valor

Although Cao Cao is viewed as evil in Peking Opera,
the real Cao Cao was not a tyrant. He was treacherous, 

but the people knew him as "the protector of the Han."

The most prestigious place to see a Peking Opera would be at the Liyuan Theatre, located at the Qianmen Jianguo Hotel in Beijing.

- LiYuan Theatre -

Cited:
PEKING OPERA

Opera masks/colors

The World of Theatre, by Mira Filner and Claudia Orenstein