Play Reading and Analysis Notes

Play Reading and Analysis Notes

·  First written assignment is a French Scene Chart (Quizzes before it). Owl at (@?) Purdue is a website with the MLA format down.

September 9, 2011

·  Presentation Component. First presentations are September 19th. 2 or 3 topics per play. There’s a sign-up sheet on Gail’s door and we go and sign-up for a spot. YOU MUST SIGN-UP OR RISK FAILING. When doing a presentation, read the play you have an assignment on EVEN THOUGH the presentations won’t be talking about THAT PARTICULAR PLAY (no specifics on the play you read). If you talk about the play at all, you’re going to be stopped. Don’t encroach on someone elses’ topic. Evaluation is based on 50% information and 50% presentation. It’s an oral presentation (even though you can hand out a sheet of paper for reference). Also looking for definitions in the presentations (if something sounds unfamiliar to the people you present it to, define it for them). You should be somewhat passionate about your topic. You are the presenter of the oral information but you PICK what makes sense to read off to the class in relation to your topic. Context for some information is important (e.g. if your topic is on a playwright and you list plays, put them in context and why they are important). Often looking for the topic’s influence on theatre, including quality and ideas, how plays are produced etc. Presentation minimum of 7 minutes and a maximum of 10 minutes. Sign-up early so you can start early. There’s about 60-65 people to have handouts for if you want to use handouts. YOU NEED A BIBLIOGRAPHY (which is to also be handed in to Gail).

September 12, 2011

·  Prior to the 70s, there was no Canadian theatre in English Canada. There were theatre productions (written plays) but were no Canadian scripts. The authors were often British or American. There were indigenous Quebec plays before English Canada had plays written. Michelle Tremble was the first Quebec playwright and wrote in a language that many did not speak (the “people’s language” French that was only known to some Quebecers).

·  The Factory Lab Theatre was the first company ever to do EXCLUSIVELY Canadian content. It started in 1970 exactly. The founding artistic director was Kevin Gaz.

·  25th Street Theatre in Saskatoon was a collective of artists. Were doing collectives (plays written by a handful of people) at the beginning as opposed to plays written by one playwright. Linda Griffiths was a founder of 25th Street Theatre in 1972.

·  Linda Griffiths first collaboration was Paper Wheat which is a big event in Canadian theatre. A lot of young people were going back to the farm in the 70s and these ideals came out. Paper Wheat came out as a collective and was based on actual interviews and events of farmers.

·  The collective were not just writers, they were “Creator-performers” where they write their own work.

·  There is a distinction between Actor and Character. The actor is the performer and the character is portrayed by the actor. There can be more than one character to an actor.

·  One-person shows are beneficial in many ways, including the fact that it’s cheaper, it’s very exciting for the actor who is showcasing their talent.

·  The Betty-Mitchell awards are given in Calgary and Linda Griffiths won for Age of Arousal in 2007 for Best New Play. Every big city in Canada Dora-Maverwar awards in Toronto. The Chalmers Award comes from the Canada Council for the Arts and is a literary awards. The Governor General award was awarded to the Darling Family.

·  Canada Council fund all arts and theatre in Canada.

·  Alberta has the AFA (Alberta Foundation for the Arts).

·  After Paper Wheat which was a big event in Canadian Theatre, Linda Griffiths career started off from this and her first solos success as a writer was from a play called Maggie and Pierre (take away the politics and Pierre was an elitist and his wife was eye candy). She played all 3 characters but set it up to have dialogues despite the fact she played all 3 roles.

·  Linda Griffiths career is where process and product meet. Process is the creation of whatever will be put on stage and what the audience sees is the product.

September 14, 2011

Age of Arousal

·  Ensemble play: there is no real protagonist.

·  Thought Speak: expressing subtext through ACTUAL text.

·  Character Arc or journey is when the characters change over time.

·  A polar attitude suggests there is a transition from the character at the beginning of the play and at the end of the play.

·  You have to read the play that IS not the play that you WANT. Develop and openness to whatever is coming. You can sit in a play and focus on what you ARE understanding as opposed to what you’re NOT.

·  There are topics, themes, and plots of plays.

·  The theme is the overriding idea where everything in the play fits. Themes of Age of Arousal: sexuality, independence, feminism,

September 16, 2011

Linda Griffiths is in!

·  Thought-speak has to be done more like a musical (rehearsed and memorized). It is not organic like any other play. Having it be technical without showing it being technical.

·  Writer’s block à conscious flow (writing without thinking continuously for a while).

·  This idea of husband getting all of the property in the Victorian era is a central part of the play George Sand we read later.

September 19, 2011

Presentations

Contemporary Canadian Female Playwrights of Colour

·  D’Bi Young was born in Jamaica and moved to Canada in 1993.

·  Lisa Codrington who is first generation Canadian.

·  Maxine Bailey was born in England but resides in Toronto. Co-founder of Sugar and Spice Productions.

·  Sharon Lewis majored in Political Science but landed a part-time job for a theatre company and got involved.

·  Marie Clements is a woman with Metis background.

·  Cheryl Foggo.

Janet Sears

·  Studied at York University.

·  Visited Africa and added a “D” to her name after visitn the town of Djanet.

·  Co-founded Obsidian Theatre Company.

·  Teaches playwriting at the University of Toronto.

·  Afrika Solo is her first published play. A one person play about being a minority and an outcast.

·  Harlem Duet second published play if hers. About a modern man who leaves his wife for a fellow University professor. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Othello. First debut at the Blue Heron Theatre.

·  The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God was put on for the first time at the Mirvish Productions in Toronto.

·  Harlem Duet performed at Shakespearean Festival. First black production presented at the festival, first production to be directed by a black director and performed by an all black cast.

·  Her main influences or her writing is African culture and by Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw.

·  Was a driving force behind starting the AfroCanadian Playwrights festival.

·  She greatly affects the writing of younger people.

Presentations (EXTRA info)

·  Talk about what some playwrights “bring to the table”.

·  May need to talk about content.

·  Always assume that everything in a play is in there AS IT SHOULD BE. There are parts you may not like but everything is possible. It may be challenging.

September 21, 2011

French Scene Chart (look at handout!)

·  French Scenes are whenever a new character ENTERS or EXITS.

·  Read the play OUT LOUD to average out the amount of time it takes to go through each page (DO NOT write down that 1 page = 1 minute because for your play it won’t)

·  In the “Event” Column, you want to see what that scene is about and what is significant. You want to know what’s going on. Specific lines of dialogue could be used to help tell what’s going on (but can only use occasionally).

·  “Location” is the location on-stage, NOT in the setting.

·  “Specials” are things that are slightly out of the ordinary that are used in the scene that should be mentioned.

·  You don’t have to put “character x enters” for the event unless it is the significant event of the scene.

·  There must be a LEGEND on this chart.

·  For this particular assignment, you’re not doing the entire play.

September 23, 2011

Leslie visits!

·  Costumes in productions (specifically Djanet Sears’ play The Adventures of a Black Woman In Search of God).

·  There is no right way to do costumes.

·  You don’t want to do something so it’s “cute” (i.e the guy in the pink shirt gets with the pink dress girl). Sometimes it’s ok depending on the play.

·  Costumes can help reflect the feelings of the character and the themes of the play (i.e. earth-like tones used for The Adventures… because of all the earthy ideas)

September 26, 2011

The Adventures of a Black Woman in Search of God

·  Chorus acts to create the setting of this play. The fact that there is a chorus is a remarkable aspect of the play. Generally create the “natural” aspect of the world.

·  The play starts with a real “bang” because of the death of a child. It immediately engages the audience.

·  Symbols of the play: oppression and liberation symbolized by the lawn gnomes, the military jacket symbolizing freedom and history, the river symbolizes the flow of time and history, the dirt is a symbol of ancestry and the connection to the land (where the connection to the land is a connection to God), Rainey’s daughter’s dolls, the toilet (where her daughter died).

·  This play is highly symbolic. There’s a lot of comedy with the older generation (but it’s not a comedy). It is a dramatic, political, theatrical play. The events are generally realistic but elements (such as the chorus) are all symbolic and highly theatrical.

·  How would you sum up this play in one sentence?

·  The story of the play is NOT the play. For example, if you pick a topic for a film (such as the Vietnam War). The story (being in Vietnam) is not the movie. The plot and events of the play are do not make the play. You must know the content and the STYLE (the “how”) in which the content is presented.

·  Willing suspension of disbelief: you accept the world of the play for what it is (such as people breaking out into random dance numbers).

September 28, 2011

·  Every little bit of knowledge you gain contributes to a broader base of information which will enhance your abilities to do well in this career (or others).

September 30, 2011

(e-mail him about this particular assignment)

Character Analysis

·  Do this for Drawer Boy. And only for 1 of 2 characters (Morgan or Angus).

·  Everything in this assignment needs EVIDENCE. Put the page number you found it on (use parentheses at the end of the sentence with the page) or write the line that is said or the action that happens or the moment that shows this “fact”. Make sure to cite it in SOME WAY!

·  BE VERY SPECIFIC! (about the “facts” from the play and the evidence you use for the facts).You can’t take anything from the text that isn’t there (don’t make inferences).

October 3, 2011

Presentations

Canadian Collective Creations of the 1970s

·  Process in which a group of artists create a piece of work.

·  The Farm Show. First major collective in Canada. Produced in 1972. Characterized theatre in 1970s. Somewhat of a prototype. The creation of many different actors that went and lived with farmers in the Ontario region. The Theatre Passe Muraille, “beyond walls”, a Toronto based theatre company. Believed in theatre without walls and other types of theatre.

·  Paper Wheat. About harsh lives of early Saskatchewan settles and co-op movement in the prairies. Presented by 26th Street House Players in Saskatoon. Linda Griffiths co-wrote. Premiered in 1978.

·  Ten Lost Years. Based on book by Barry Barefoot. Based on the interviews of the lives of people in the Great Depression. Premiered IN 1974. Toronto Workshop Productions founded in 1959 by George Luscombe. Performed in 100 seat factory basement.

Bio and Chronology of Michael Healy

·  Born on August 25, 1963 in Toronto.

·  Acting Career: The League of Nathans, Reading Hebron, Three in the Back Two in the Head, The End of Civilization, Better Living.

·  Writing Career: Monologue called “Kicked” in 1996 which he performed at Fringe of Toronto Festival. Next he wrote “Yodellers” in 1997 with Kate Lynch. The Drawer Boy (in 1999) one several awards and was based off the Farm Show. Plan B appeared in 2002 at Terragon Theatre and discusses the separation of Quebec from Canada. The Innocent Eye Test (2006). Generous (2007) regards the question about the “selfless act”. Courageous (2010).

·  Influence: Directed and performed in many plays in his career and has written many plays that qualify for the “Best Play” award.

Canadian Plays Being Produced: (1998-2004)

See Worksheet

Notes

·  Don’t just talk about the content of the plays (TALK ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE PRESENTED; how did it look?)

·  Style and theatricality is what we’re exploring.

·  For quizzes, write down what you know (even if you don’t know specifics).

October 5, 2011

Drawer Boy

·  Always talk about a character and how they relate to the world around them.

·  Is Morgan Nice or Kind?

·  One of the most popular Canadian plays ever produced.