"We never really got organized so we're just...Almost"

For my show and tell I will present possibly my favorite play of all time Almost, Maine. Anyone who has read Almost, Maine could make the argument that it's "too simple" to be a theatre major's favorite play. To those people I say....fuck you!

Almost, Maine is about the "kinda town" of Almost in Main USA. It follows the emotional journey of nine couples in that town at the exact same moment in time. The show can be cast with between 4-19 people, depending on if you want the same actors to play different couples, which is the general practice.

Almost, Maine takes love cliches such as, a broken heart, waiting for the other shoe to drop, getting love back, and falling in love with someone and turns them into literal events. My personal favorite is "Getting it Back" where a girl furious with her boyfriend of 10 years for not proposing barges into his house and demands for her love back. She then proceeds to "return" his love by dragging in a ton of heavy bags full of his love back into his house.

This play is extraordinary to me because it does what all theatre people aim to do, stretch the audiences minds, in a little bit more of a comedic and relatable way, then say Conduct of Life. You don't have to be a theatre major or a great lover of art even to come into Almost, Maine and understand where those characters are because we've all been there. At the same time you must broaden your mind because we aren't used to physically giving love back or actually falling down when we fall in love. You also have to be able to let go of the fact that you just saw guy A being Randy but now his name is Steve, since it is usually cast with a very small ensemble. We're asking the audience to come to Maine with us and live in this crazy upside down world, even if it's just for a little while.

Certainly not How I Learned to Drive

I'm a little backwards today and will answer the second part first. I was a little confused when the show wasn't given linear fashion, since that is what I am most used to. I didn't think telling the story in terms of flashbacks did much for reinforcing the idea that Uncle Peck and Lil Bit's love is in a world apart, which for me is the most important part of the story. She has already grown up and moved past theses events, possibly appealing to our more negative side. Had it been told in a linear fashion we might have stayed in our unbiased side would have stayed with the "greek chorus", see next paragraph, a little longer.

How I Learned to Drive is most importantly a play about Uncle Peck and Lil Bit. By making the other character, her mother, aunt, etc., a mob of people instead of a specific face the audience can connect with it makes us believe their love is somewhat untouchable. It reinforces in us the idea that no one is there for Lil Bit, except Uncle Peck. This somehow makes their love easier to digest, more bearable. The chorus is there to be our judgmental side for us. If we can give up our preconceived notions to them then we can truly understand Uncle Peck and Lil Bit's love. It won't be something dirty or wrong, it will be beautiful and loving. The chorus creates that separation or that boundary. 

Vicious Cycle

Fornes makes many strong dramaturgical choices, the most powerful being the meaning behind action. This means that most of her most powerful scenes are when little to no dialogue is being said. A perfect example of this is scene 5, where no dialogue is said, however you can feel more angst and fear from Nena in that scene than any other. In fact, the silence and the idea of hiding for your life improves the tension build up in that scene. Another flawless example is scene 7. There is minimalistic speech. The words are only there to reinforce the lies that Orlando will use to cohere Nena into being a “good girl” and not putting up too much of a fight. However, the thing that makes this scene terrifying is the descriptive stage notes. The fact that Fornes tells us every touch, every breath, even how they should feel gives the audience a horrifying look into the life that Nena is being subjected to.

When it comes to the title, The Conduct of Life, I take it relatively literally. Conduct means the manner in which a person behaves, esp. on a particular occasion or in a particular context. For all of our characters, this is the norm. The violence, the hatred, the rape, the belief that you deserve what’s happening is normal everyday life. The only difference that comes is when Letica kills Orlando. Finally, the audience believes there will be a break of this vicious cycle, and then the cycle continues as Letica asks Nena to take the fall for her murder, and Nena agrees. As upsetting as this is, the play couldn’t end another way. It would breath their conduct of life, making the play’s title worthless.

"I like this play because it seemed really...real"

Dear blog circle, sorry I’ve been super crazy behind on my posting. To say it’s been a crazy few weeks would be an understatement. Hope it hasn’t put yall out too much. TRIFLES! Here we go!

The idea of having a minimalistic set for Trifles isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Our faux director is correct in saying the dialogue, if portrayed by decent actors, has all the possibility in the world to get the audience to the emotional level they need to be at. However, it does add more of a strain. Let’s take the table for example. If we were using “blank” props, such as a black box for a table, what would we use to indicate that it’s messy? Also, how would we get the audience to really feel how unsettling this unusual mess is, without merely telling them outright? How far are we going with the minimalistic props? One of the trickiest props would be the bird. You can’t really skimp on a thing like that. The dead bird is the main clue to show the audience what really happened. Without it the audience is having to rely too much on their imagination. It leaves more room for doubt about whether she killed her husband or not. Without immediately being thrust into a house with an uneasiness about it, in my opinion, it makes it too difficult for the audience to make the leap with the ladies and realize the abuse and hatred that has gone in this home, and eventually lead to murder.