Final Show and Tell Post

The play that you will be learning about today is called Fat Pig. Fat Pig was written by Neil Labute in 2004. It opened Off-Broadway at the MCC Theater in New York City on November 17, 2004. Since then, it has been produced thirteen times. Fat Pig also won the Outer Critics Circle Award. This play can be found  in Barnes and Noble or on Amazon. 

Fat Pig contains four characters. They are Tom, the guy who cares what others think, Jeanie, the demanding, witty bitch, Carter, the superficial asshole, and Helen, the fat pig. Tom, Jeanie, and Carter all work in the same place, an office of some sort. One day, Tom meets Helen at a restaurant, and she invites him to have a seat. Helen happens to be a rather large woman, so Tom is reluctant at first. He ends up having a lovely conversation with Helen, and they begin talking and hanging out often. Tom develops a liking for Helen, but wants to keep her a secret because he is embarrassed about her size. Carter ends up finding out about Helen, and publicizes Tom’s relationship by posting a picture of Helen in the office lobby. While all of this is going on Jeanie is under the impression that she and Tom are dating, so she blows a fuse when she finds out about Helen. Tom admits to leading Jeanie on, and tries to apologize, but Jeanie is relentless. When all is said and done, Tom falls in love with Helen. Will Tom stop caring what others think about his choices in women, and be with Helen?

One dramaturgical choice that the playwright makes is to make Tom a weak man. I say this because his intentions are good, but he ends up hurting both Jeanie and Helen in the process. He has issues with deciding if he is able to deal with the ridicule he may experience while with Helen. Regardless if he loves Helen or not, he chooses to be indecisive on being exclusively public with her, and asks Carter for advice. He is too weak to not care about what others think of his relationship with Helen. Another moment where he shows weakness, is when he admits to Jeanie that he lead her on because he wanted to stop her from nagging him. This shows weakness because had he been stronger, he would have been honest with her. This is interesting to me because Tom is the boss of both Jeanie and Carter, yet barely has the strength make decisions on his own life.

Another dramaturgical choice that the playwright makes is to never show Carter with a sensitive side. Carter is the guy that you shake your head at due to his disrespect and shallow morals. He comes across as a guy who never sympathizes with people, and constantly makes fun of others’ flaws. The one moment that the playwright had Carter open up, was about his mom. Carter’s mother happened to be fat, and he talked about how he told her she was fat to her face, and was embarrassed by her. I believe Carter was created to make Tom seem like a better guy. Tom is not nearly as shallow, but still has problems with being seen with the woman he loves, Helen. This choice is interesting to me because it showcases a decent guy who has his flaws, and pits him aside a man who clearly has no consideration for other people’s feelings.

Comments for Checkpoint 3

http://analysistrata.blogspot.com/2013/04/prompt-12-on-verge.html?showComment=1367340278387#c3364077524324700527

http://sstev31.blogspot.com/2013/04/post-11-fires-in-mirror.html?showComment=1367340697094#c789610971612481629

http://dvibe2130.blogspot.com/2013/04/three-viewings.html?showComment=1367341317103#c5286831580358737034

http://mylittletrailofcrumbs.blogspot.com/?showComment=1367342035966

The Drowsy Chaperone

This prompt confuses me a little, but hopefully, I address it correctly. The Drowsy Chaperone contained some interesting choices dealing with sequence and showcased irony beneath all of the comedy. In fact, the play gives off more than just a few laughs. For instance, I think I would consider there to have been bits and pieces of dramatic irony present. Kitty and the gangsters knowing about Feldzieg's plan to stop the wedding, although none of the other characters knew, was an example of that. I think Ms. Tottendale and Underling's relationship contain some irony because I would have never guessed that they would eventually have a desire to wed. By saying I would have never guessed, I mean there are no clues hinting at this in the scrript. I see this as things not being exactly what they appear because he is only shown as a mere servant that tolerates her amnesia throughout the play. 

As far as sequence goes, I think it’s important to create the fluidity of the play. The choice was made to open the show within the show with Ms. Tottendale and Underling discussing Ms. Tottendale ‘s dress that she enjoys. It was an introduction to the wedding through someone’s eyes who was not, initially, getting married. Right after, everyone is singing about the wedding. This hinted that the wedding was a big affair, and many were excited about it. Since it was just shown how excited the guests were about the wedding, I think it was important to show that not everyone was happy about it. To convey this, Feldzieg was speaking to Kitty about his dismay towards Janet leaving her career behind to get married. 

Three Viewings

I think a common point between the monologues is that several people and places recur in one of the other monologues. For example, Ed Carpolotti’s funeral was mentioned in Emil’s monologue once he found that Tessie was seeing Bill The third monologue is all about Ed’s life through his wife’s eyes. Emil also mentionned the Green Mill in his monologue, which we, the audience, find out is where Virginia met Ed in the third monologue. In Mac’s monologue Margaret Mary-Walsh was involved in the funeral. Also in Emil’s monologue, she is in attendance of the funeral.

A deeper thematic point in Three Viewings is that all three characters experience the loss of someone they love, and are left with something to comfort them, in the end. Emil is in love with a real estate agent, and, after she dies, is left with the pacemaker that was in her heart. This brings him comfort, although he never go to tell her how he truly felt. Mac lost her family by accident, but gained something else to comfort her. Her grandma died, and, at first, all she wanted was the tear-shaped ring. After realizing that all she truly wanted was closure, she gained it by relinquishing her grandmother’s ring to its rightful place, in her grandmother’s grave. Virginia lost her husband, Ed. After he dies, she is overwhelmed by all of the loans he had taken out to sustain their life. In the end, she is left with a list from her husband that not only provides closure and comfort for her, but also erases the enormous debt Ed owed. 

On the Verge

A good tagline for the poster for On the Verge would be “Mysticism. The spirit is not stolen. It is illuminated”. I chose mysticism because it is defined as the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of an ultimate reality through direct experience, intuition, or insight. In the play, Mary, Fanny, and Alex trek through a jungle and experience new things and encounter new people. They, therefore, become aware of a new reality that they are not accustomed to through their direct experiences. I chose the second part of the quote because the women briefly spoke on why or why not they should engage in the use of a Kodak camera to document their new experiences. Alex says,”The spirit is not stolen.It is illuminated.(5)”. I think this line is significant because I feel all of the things that the women experience, being one with nature, meeting “natives”, and trying new foods, illuminates their spirits by giving them insight on on other people and a newfound “ultimate reality”. This is how mysticism and the last part of the line connect. 

The image of the poster would depict an open book. 

The book represents the journals that the women keep while on their journey. There are squiggly lines that represent the words. Inside the book, there is a jungle with several items that represent the femininity of the women. Said items are a dress, a bra, and the shorts that Alex wears under her dress. The dress and bra are hanging from different limbs of a tree.The shorts are lying across the saddle of a horse. There is a big camera that represents the women photographically documenting these events. Written in the leaves of the tree, is the tagline. This is what my poster would look like for On the Verge. I even took the liberty to provide a quick sketch below. :)

Fires in the Mirror

The first few monologues of Fires in the Mirror should definitely still be kept in the play because although they are not directly correlated to the Crown Heights riots, they still help the audience or reader to understand something about one of the opponents’ culture. It’s as if the audience gets a peek into the world of the Jewish or the Blacks prior to hearing each side of the story. This is also useful because it pulls together the similarities of the two. It reminds the audience that although they have distinct differences, they are both still human and have things in common. Also, these opening monologues each connect to each other from one topic to the next except the race changes. For example, Al Sharpton, a black man, speaks on how and why he started wearing his hair the way that he does. In the next monologue, Rivkah Siegal, a Lubavitcher woman, speaks on the importance of her hair and wigs to her. Both stories showed how each person equates something that means something to them to their hair. 

Another reason I feel the monologues should stay where they are because they ease the audience into the situation. Certain topics are hard to talk about, and can quickly spark controversy. By Smith cleverly delving into this issue by showing how both sides have things in common, it makes it less easy to quickly choose sides as far as right and wrong goes. Regardless, I’m sure people are more inclined to lean toward what they know, which is their own. However, I think the idea of first showing common ground makes the audience think a little more before being so quick to judge. The first few monologues should definitely stay.

Show and Tell Post #2

The play that I would like to share today is called Fences.  Fences was written by August Wilson in 1983. The setting is a “house set back off a small alley in a big-city neighborhood” and takes place in the 1950s. It was first produced at the Eugene O’Neil Theater Center in 1983. Fences hit Broadway in 1987 at the 46th Street Theatre. This production featured James Earl Jones and Mary Alice, among others. It has won may awards such as a few Tonys and the Drama Desk Award. It has since been produced again featuring Denzel Washington. You can find this play in Barnes and Noble’s Bookstore, online, or in your public library.

Fences shines a light on African American life in the 50s by revealing the struggles and secrets within the family. Troy Maxson is the father of the household, and the most aggressive, assertive character. He can be perceived as hot-headed and fearless. Rose Maxson is Troy’s soft-spoken wife of 18 years. She is 10 years younger than Troy and devotes herself to him because she sees an inner light in him. She is also so loyal to Troy because she fears what her life would be without him. She can be perceived as a pushover, but I, personally, think she has an inner strength. Troy was formerly a baseball player and experienced racism first hand, so he is overprotective of his son Cory. Troy is currently a garbageman struggling to stay faithful to his wife, and keep the household together financially. He also has this strong idea about cheating Death, and not being afraid of it. This is where the “fences” part of Fences comes in. Troy wants to complete building a fence around his yard to keep Death out. Rose wants the fences built to keep and protect what’s inside her house inside, and what’s on the outside, outside. Regardless, Troy ends up impregnating another younger female outside of the household, and leaves Rose to pick up the pieces. 

One dramaturgical choice that Wilson made was to not make Troy necessarily the bad guy. He shows Troy with the strength you would expect a black male to have in the fifties. By this, I mean Troy is showcased as a strong man that provides for his family, speaks his mind, and dominates the household. We, the audience, are introduced to Troy in a comfortable setting where he’s making jokes with a friend, and shows his softer, “good” side. It shows that he does have dimensions.  I think the choice to not make him a stand out villain was interesting because I definitely saw him as a bad guy after he admits to cheating on Rose. No matter how he tries to justify his actions, I see him as a bit of a villain and a bully.  Another dramaturgical choice that Wilson makes is to make Rose equally as strong, but in another way. She’s not mean and intimidating like Troy, but a sweetheart. Throughout the play, Rose is shown as a sweet, soft-spoken woman who puts her family’s needs before her own. When Troy confesses his infidelity to Rose, she finally reaches her breaking point. She becomes outspoken and says everything on her mind. At that point, she tells Troy that he lost a wife. I think this shows Rose’s strength because she was strong enough to deal with all of Troy’s baggage for 18 years, and strong enough to let him go. Also, Rose ends up taking care of Troy’s baby for him since the mother died giving birth. This exemplifies her strength because she’s so caring that she’ll mother someone else’s child just so it doesn’t have to grow up motherless.