ePortfolio Option 2

Play Critique

Peter and the Starcatcher has been one of my favorite plays since my junior year of high school, and this was my third time seeing the play. I’ve always enjoyed the creativity behind it and the way they use their props. The way they also integrate drama and comedy makes the play very well-rounded and, in my opinion, more enjoyable. But aside from the comedy and drama, I think the technical aspects of the play were also well done, and added to the performance.

I’ve never been a good techie, but I do understand the importance of the techie. Without people in the back giving a show lights and sound and backgrounds, we wouldn’t have a good play. That’s why I think the techies as well as the actors did a good job in this play. I enjoyed how the lighting emphasized the importance of certain scenes, and how the lighting also showed us, the audience, where the characters were supposed to be located.

The sounds were also well thought out, and really added to the overall performance. They helped really add to the drama/comedy that was strewn throughout the play. Of course, the directing is also important to a play. And I thought the directing for this was done very well. The actors seemed to know what they were doing and the way the sounds/lights/etc. all fit together worked really well.

I really enjoyed the use of props in this play. The rope was actually one of my favorites. It was used as so many different things, and you could tell what it was supposed to be each time its role changed. I haven’t seen very many plays where they had a single prop that changed its role as a prop. It’s definitely one of the things that made this play unique and interesting. Another one of my favorite parts of this play is not necessarily a prop, but a large group of people being used as a prop. It was the scene where they had the group of people being used as a wall of doors and Molly is going through each door trying to find the right one. The way the people “opened” and “closed” like actual doors is interesting, and I really like the way they all completely turned around to switch camera angles so we could see Molly. It’s an interesting, intriguing, and unique idea that isn’t often seen in plays.

All in all, this is still one of my favorite plays no matter how many times I’ve seen it. It’s enjoyable to watch, and really gives you a lot of backstory to the original Peter Pan (no matter if it is canon or not). Nothing is ever perfect, I’ll admit that, but I strongly enjoyed this play as I had the first two times I saw it. I would’ve loved to have been apart of it, but time would not allow for that. So I had to stick with just watching from the audience seat. Maybe next time, right?

Reflection

Option 2: Upload a copy of one of your play critiques of an approved theatrical performance, and write a reflection that answers the following questions: How has your perception about relationships, human interaction, and body language changed during the course, and how did this affect your appreciation of the play you attended? How has this course given you more awareness, sensitivity and respect for human beings, their relationships, and motivation for their actions? How will you apply the principles you learned from Acting One in your own life?

Human interaction is an important concept in today's world. People interact with each other multiple times on a daily basis, whether that be with friends, family, or even a complete stranger. Human interaction is something that we as humans will participate in, even if we don't like it. The this interaction, relationships are developed. Relationships don't just appear overnight, they take time and effort to grow into something more than strangers. Two of the closest friends were once complete strangers, but through human interaction a relationship developed.

Body language is also an important part of humans in general. One can convey a lot of feelings just by the way they are standing. If a person is standing upright and confidently, you know this person is very comfortable as they are (or is very good at faking it). While a person who slouches, or puts more weight on one leg, is a person who is lazy or rude. These are very general ideas, and don't necessarily line up with what a person is saying with their body, as that depends on the person, but these are general ideas that many people believe.

They way these three things (human interaction, relationships, and body language) affected the way I say this play, was that I saw more of the subtle things that the actors did that make people human. A lot of the mannerisms that an actor puts in a character might not necessarily be on purpose, but these accidental things can do a lot for a character.

Through this course, I've learned a lot about how people can/should react in certain situations. Of course, not everyone will react the same if they were put in the same situation, but as a general rule-of-thumb, many people will perform similar tasks when put in the same situation. I've also learned that people are fragile, that a person's soul can be crushed very easily with a few well-placed (or poorly-placed depending on viewpoint) words. People are interesting in their own way. Every person is unique, from the top of their head to the bottom of their foot. People are different. Their mannerisms, way of talking, body language, favorites, everything is different. And I think that's the most interesting thing of all.

#Fall2016 #theatre