Bonus Play! The Boor- Chekov

Here is my extra blog play-post...on none other than The Boor by our beloved old Anton Chekov...

Funny story, I've never actually read The Boor until now, sorry Chekov lovers (looking at you, David Coley..even though you'll never read this). It was a very quick and light read, but still very captivating. It is centered around Helena Ivanovna Popov, a mourning widow whom has locked herself inside her estate since her husband died (she's going on month seven in the play), taking no visitors or venturing beyond "these four walls." Her trusty servant, Luka is always at her service, helping to keep any callers away, except for Grigori Smirnov, a proprietor of an estate, who comes to collect his money that the late Nikolai Michalovitch owed him. Popov initially refuses and continually attempts to get Smirnov out of her home, saying she cannot pay him the money at the time, so he should leave until she can. Smirnov does not take no for an answer, so, he stays and gets into some heated yelling matches with Popov, whilst falling in love with her. Popov calls him a monster, a bear, a BOOR but he does not mind, and eventually, confesses his feelings while they are supposed to be dueling with pistols. The end of the play finds the two in an embrace, with Popov uttering the last line that Tobby is not to have any oats. It is a comical one act play, that features love, a wide range of emotions, commitment/faithfulness and death. It is interesting to see Popov go from living in isolation, stating that her "life is over" whilst remaining faithful to her dead husband despite the fact that he was never completely faithful to her, to receiving a house guest that seems to make all of that disappear in an instant. Overall, it is a very quick and concise text that keeps one engaged, and would recommend to anyone to read!

:)

4000 Miles (is a long way to ride your bike)

I read the prompt before reading the play, and mistakenly thought that we were to take note of multiple motifs. Here's what I took note of, and will write about one more in depth...

• Vera stating that she's losing her words and constantly saying "whaddyacallit"
• Time (good timing, bad timing, duration)
• Relationships (cheaters, family, best friends, lovers, enemies)
• Bicycling 
• Appearance (healthy, in-shape, chubby, old/young, mountain-esque)
• Old-age (hearing, tooth loss, shaking hands, memory problems, etc)
• Plans

Motif of choice: Vera's repetition of "whaddyacallit"

Throughout Amy Herzog's play, 4000 Miles, the elderly character, Vera (91 years old) is constantly going on about how the things that happen to you when you grow old are "disgusting"...including losing a more varied pattern of speech. Vera says "whaddyacallit" or a variation of that twenty-one times in the thirteen page play. It is interesting because at times, it seems as if Vera is not completely out of touch with her memory when she recalls certain moments in her life, or various day to day things. Other times, she seems to be very forgetful. Both situations still employ her use of "whaddayacallit" reminding us that she is an elderly woman that is not as sharp as she used to be. She also smokes a bowl with her grandson, Leo, and her use of "whaddayacallit" in that scene is not as off-putting due to the nature of her actions. This motif definitely makes sense of Herzog's choices for this play in characterizing the elderly, more specifically, Vera. It makes Vera who she is and shapes her relationships and daily actions. At the end of the play, Vera astounds herself by remembering the expression "Green Thumb" instead of saying "whaddayacallit" in its place, allowing the audience to learn that although she might have struggled with her memory at times, but the small triumphs for elderly people are taken in great strides.
:)

Oh Judith, you funny girl (Judith Response)

First things first, if someone recorded my facial expressions while I was reading Judith in the lobby the other day, they would have some quality material.

Judith: A Parting From the Body by Howard Barker is not a text meant for young readers/audiences due to violent themes, derogatory language and subject matter. Looking past the rather obvious major dramatic question of Judith killing Holofernes, the script allows the reader to come up with several other questions for how the story will unfold.
These questions came to mind...

• Will Holofernes give in to Judith's sexual wishes?
• Will Holofernes continue to get away with being a murderous womanizer?
• Will The Servant influence Judith to do specific things in order to help?
• Will Judith be able to actually kill Holofernes? (Or will she fall for his tricks?)
• Will Holofernes be able to convince Judith to not murder him?
• Will Judith take control/gain power?

I believe that the changes in Judith throughout the text obviously point out the question of "will she kill him" but also "will she (Judith) succeed in her non-sexual pursuits?" Judith has to be clever and able to think on her feet in order to get what she wants, to reach her final objectives.

Also, the way Barker structures his text between more versed dialogue, vulgar dialogue, repetition and bold lines allows for variety in the characters speeches, significantly adds to the moods/tones of each moment, allowing the audience to get the full scope of the world they are in and grasp onto the story that Barker is trying to tell.

'Night Mother Response

'Night Mother by Marsha Norman is a very heavy play in terms of subject matter, and most likely is not one that I would pay to see- just due to the subject and personal reasons. The obvious major dramatic question that presents itself early on in the text is whether or not Jesse will actually go through with killing herself. I agree that the question is very important and could be considered the major dramatic question, but, should not be considered to be the sole question in consideration throughout 'Night Mother. Other questions that should be considered as sub-questions to the major dramatic questions are:
Will Jesse leave her mom prepared enough to take care of herself?
Will Jesse free her mother from extra problems by choosing to kill herself?
Will Jesse reason with her mother? Will Jesse decide that her life is valuable and listen to her mother?
Will her mother be able to stop her from committing the act? Will her mother be able to find out why?
If you consider these "sub-questions" alongside the major dramatic question, you will be able to add much more depth and understanding to the text as a whole. I do not think that picking one over-arching question would really benefit the script in its entirety because it would leave important pieces of information out, so, the use of the sub questions will help fill out the gaps. The sub-questions may get answered before the very end of the text, but, I believe that is permissible as the characters still have more goals/major objectives that they are fighting for. All of the questions will be answered by the end, with the most obvious (spoiler alert) that Jesse indeed does kill herself, but, we will have more of an understanding with all of the mentioned questions.

From a personal stand point, I did not enjoy reading this play as suicide is a subject that is close to me.

Trifles Response!

Trifles a one act play (isn't it funny that saying an one act is weird but a one act isn't?) by Susan Glaspell is quite interesting.

First of all, when I hear the word trifles, I automatically think of "you're triflin'...good for nothin' type-a-brother"..but, that aside....

The use of the dashes in between certain words --- like -- this broke up the dialogue and made reading it a lot more choppy. Obviously it was the playwright's choice in doing so, adding local color through the speech of the characters. I also think that if one takes every single stage direction literally, their characters will partially already be developed- meaning the actors would be making less discoveries. Why I chose to include that in my blog that is just a bunch of word vomit as I look back over Trifles is beyond me...but it popped into my head so I included it. Going off of what Jenny said in class, I like the double meaning of the last line... "knot it" literally meaning "knot" and "not"....it was not a detail that I originally picked up on, but now I won't forget to be more aware of it. In line 400, it mentions colors, and from years of education it is ingrained into my head that colors have connotation and symbolism. I believe that the mentioning of Minnie Foster wearing white is representative of her protecting her "innocence"...like a facade. I also think that the canary is representative of new beginnings (birds taking flight...new journeys) and with its death that the new journey is not going to be easy, or that with its death, specific problems will cease to exist.

Once again....sorry for the word vomit...these will become way more organized throughout the semester! :)

Overtones response!

Overtones by Alice Gerstenberg...

I did not know what to expect at first, then, throughout reading it I actually came to find myself enjoying it. During the class discussion I found myself wanting to stage a production of it as the script kept growing on me. I think that Harriet and Margaret represent the timeless typical stereotype of two women being cordial with one another. Both women have personal motives but put on a front whilst meeting with the other. As for Hetty and Maggie, they represent how a woman's mind really works- these characters say the things that Harriet and Margaret are thinking but won't ever say aloud. I'm not quite sure what else to say because there are certain things I want to save for the first analysis paper! If I were to stage this play, I don't think I would change the language because it is simple enough and would not detract from the overall work happening onstage. I find it quite funny how in the final moments of the text Hetty and Maggie are acting cutthroat towards one another but Margaret and Harriet are kindly saying goodbye to one another. It's as if the voices in their heads are projected as another being throughout their day, like a twisted method of breaking the fourth wall without really breaking it at all.

Sorry if this was all over the place, I had about 50 thoughts at once!

:)