Yerma Live

Subject:

I did not enjoy Yerma being acted out near as much as I enjoyed reading it. To me, it was just boring. I almost fell asleep several times. Maybe if I had seen the play first and then read it, I would feel differently. However, I just found the play to be boring. The monologues were long and repetitive, and I was very disappointed. I was looking forward to the play, and I guess my expectations were too high.

The entire play wasn’t completely dull, however. The last scene was the best scene in the entire play, mostly because there were more than two people on the stage at a time, and they were dancing and yelling- causing a scene. While the first parts of the play dragged along, the last scene was very jumpy and loud.

The acting in the play wasn’t bad by any means. I thought the acting was commendable and the singing as well. However, it doesn’t matter how much talent a production has if the play is just not entertaining onstage. I know everyone worked hard on this play. I’ve talked to several actors and they, themselves, retire to the fact that this play was just very boring.

Yerma Performed

Subject:
Perhaps the images I had conjured in my mind after reading the play tainted my expectations of the performance, but to be quite honest, I did not enjoy seeing the production of Yerma on Thursday evening.

In asking myself why, the only two things that came to mind were the music and the flow of the performance. For starters, I am not saying that students cannot write beautiful music, it just seemed that this songwriter went beyond his scope (or at least the scope of his performers). The music did have a Spanish theme, true, but the sudden key changes in the middle of the songs were uncalled for and made it quite difficult for the singers to follow; this greatly disturbed the fluidity of the music and the message behind it as I found myself focusing more on the dissonant notes created between guitar and singer then on the lyrics.

It also felt as though the play were disjointed, that it didn’t move as I had pictured it in my head during our reading. I feel this was due to the fact that the actors would sometimes face away from the crowd or speak so softly that I couldn’t hear all of the words. As these words dropped out, it became difficult to follow and understand the story – there would be gaping holes that would leave me asking “what?” or “why?”

I feel that had I not read the play before hand, I would’ve been totally lost and confused during the performance; after all, I was befuddled with what I was seeing and I had just read the play a week prior.

Y is for Yearning-*second attempt to post

What’s worse than a mother not being able to produce? Well, I can think of a lot of things but in the biological sense, nothing. We are all on this planet to do nothing other than to distribute our genetics, at least as is consistent with the world as we know. Yerma, due to factors in and out of her own control is stuck in a void of childless ambition. With nothing other that brush ups with friends and a sociologically impotent husband to keep her company, what reason is there really for her to keep her sanity? An obvious exhibition of the lack thereof is the final part of Act III, sceen II where Yerma grabs her husband, Juan, by the throat and strangles him to death. Was I surprised by this? Not really. I was beginning to feel similarly against Juan merely because of a lack of his manliness. But then again, it is better for society if we only propagate better genetics. I think Lorca does a fair job of keeping the bias spread fairly evenly among the characters and gives a deep enough background so that we, the audience, are able to form our own opinions without having the details hidden. This helps so that we don’t instantly shun Juan and are still capable of analyzing both he and Yerma subjectively. As for sexual imagery, it’s everywhere. Yerma’s nickname should be yearns, because that’s what she does for a man to come sweep her off her feet and be stuck between her loins. She seems to want another man but has too much pride in her family to ever break her nuptial arrangement so what does she do? She kills her husband and now she is free. I have a feeling this could bring some consequences.

Yerma

Subject:

First I would like to assert that I enjoyed reading this play very much. Yerma’s pain and hardships with being childless is something that most women can identify with. Juan seems to be a very honorable man who lives by the land. He is constantly busy with his farming duties and leaves Yerma alone all day to do her wifely jobs. Though Juan definitely has some feelings for Yerma, whether physical or otherwise, Yerma makes it clear that she has no feelings for him at all.

When it becomes obvious that the two of them will never have children, Yerma resorts to voodoo-like rituals for fertility. The strange thing about these rituals is that the women pray to God, saints, and also pagan gods. Yerma’s desperation for motherhood leads her to these sacrilegious sessions. Her desire for having children drives her to obsession and pain. As a woman myself, I understand how much being barren would drive one mad, especially in those days. In present times, if a woman is unable to bear children, she can simply adopt. However, Yerma makes it clear that she does not want to care for another person’s child. She simply wants her own.

At the end, when she kills Juan, I see it as her last resort. She is driven crazy by the fact that she knows she will never have children, and all that she sees she can do is to kill the reason for her not having babies.

Questrions about Yerma

Subject: Questions about Yerma

Yerma should be an interesting play to watch once Austin College produces it this weekend. I enjoyed the play but I have questions about it that I don’t exactly understand. One of those obviously is why is she barren? There were a few comments made in the play about her barrenness being Juan’s fault. The audience knows that they still sleep together because Yerma talks about when he “takes her,” he “feels cold.” So is the problem really with him and not her?
My next question has to be about the end. Why does Yerma kill Juan? This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I understand that she didn’t run off with another man because she has honor, but if she kills him then she has no more honor. Would it not have made more sense for her to have left with another man to have a family rather than to kill the one man that wouldn’t give her a family? It seems to me that the honor that she talks about all through the play would be more soiled by a murder than a ‘disappearance.’
Along with that last thought, what did Yerma mean at the very end of the play, after she kills him, when she says the following: “Don’t come near me, for I have killed my son! I myself have killed my son!” I don’t understand what she means by this.
I can also say that I have a question about the play itself and what happens in it. When Act III opens, and Yerma was in Delores’s house, where had they been? I understood something about a cemetery and something about praying – obviously to the pagan gods – but I never understood what went on.
I know that all I have really done is ask questions but I hope that this is okay. I feel that if I can get these answers then I will understand almost everything about the play.
--Michael B. Breeden

Blinding Obsession

Subject:
After reading “Yerma,” my first impression was that this was a play about blind obsession – about how we desire one thing and do not see what is around us. As a result, we lose or destroy all that is important to us and still finish empty handed. But aside from this, there seemed to be other threads of thought in the fabric of the play.

For instance, the old pagan woman – why does she have to be pagan? Perhaps her lack of faith is the catalyst that takes Yerma on this sojourn of dependence. Yerma depends on her religion, then she depends on man, where she depends on ritual and finally depends on herself; unfortunately all of these dependencies fail her.

We can also say that by killing Juan (and thus killing any hope of having a child), Yerma has robbed herself of her only desire – at the same time, she has robbed herself of life as she has spent her years in despair for children.

Another interpretation is that this is a play of coming to grips with reality – often we refuse to accept the circumstances in which we live and prefer to sit in a state of despair while everyone else encourages us to move on with our lives. But, it’s often easier to sit, whine, and complain rather than step forward.

I feel there are several other interpretations to this play, as well as several points that I have missed completely and so I am anxious to hear what others have discovered in reading this script. I’m also looking forward to seeing this play performed next Thursday – I’m sure it will be an energized and emotional experience.

Blood and Gore

Blood and gore
Sarcasm and irony
Boisterousness and intoxication
Curiosity and boldness
Deceit and vengeance
Tragedy and disillusionment
Hubris and Cithaeron's arete
“Dionysus is, for humans, fiercest and most sweet.”pp.36
Women in the play are downright crazy. It seems to have been this craziness which stirred the interest of the men in the first place. “Agave was foaming at the mouth” acting in sheer madness and possessed by Bacchus. They did the same thing to Pentheus as what happened with the image of the cow being ripped apart. Agave impaled the head of Pentheus on her thyrsus and paraded through town.
The messenger is one of the wisest people in the play. He knew to get the hell away from all of this calamity.
The play describes itself at every turn of the page. No need for a thesaurus here.
Any more words you can think of to describe The Bacchus of Euripides. Nuts Maybe?

Greek Theatre and Me

Subject: Greek Theatre and Me

First, I am not one for Greek Tragedy so this meditation is significantly shorter than all the rest. It is hard for me to understand most of the time.

I can say that one thing that struck me odd about this play was the fact that the choruses were written the way that they were. I am slightly ADD so it was hard for me to concentrate and read them. Although I think that the play overall was good. I think that we could use this as a political devise into today’s world. It is fairly simple; this story is about a God walking among the people. Half of the Unites States follows behind our ‘devoutly religious’ president and believes that God should be included in everything, and half of us don’t follow him whatsoever, we believe that religion is entirely different than politics. This story uses religion and politics to drive it Pentheus and Dionysus are prime examples of these thoughts. Though this is a weak description I feel that this is how this play is set up, religion versus politics or religious versus worldly.

There is also a comment that I would like to make about gender. Pentheus is so set in his ways throughout the play but yet there is this change when he dresses as a woman and crosses that gender boundary. This is a big thing I am not sure why I feel that way but I feel that it is. I think it is because of his structure that he follows and the fact that he breaks it when he takes on the feminine role.

I also have another observation. Since we know that there is a large piece of this play missing it is appropriate that that piece be after Agave realizes what she has done. This is one of those things that we could call meant to be. What does this do for the reader? What does this do for the story? We will never know for sure what we were supposed to hear or see, but I think that we are hearing and seeing what we were intended to see.

--Michael

Greek Time in a Bottle

Subject:

The Bacchae is my first experience with Greek theatre and to be honest, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to take from this experience. Without a working knowledge of Greek culture, let alone the playwright Euripides, my brain is still processing the events of the play in an attempt to interpret them in some semblance of order.

If anything, I can say that theatre acts as a time capsule, capturing the ideas and the events of the past (when written by playwrights of that era). I’m not saying that what took place in The Bacchae is something that actually happened, nor do I believe that the ancient Greek believed it happened either; however, the play does capture the beliefs of the time.

Since the Greeks worshipped a pantheon of gods, each dealing with some object, emotion, or event, and considering some gods were considered patrons of a city, there is no doubt that a fear of angering one’s god(s) was a real influence on Greek society. The violent description of the death of Pentheus makes the reader wonder if the Greeks were used to such violence (and didn’t mind the gore) or if this graphic description was so out of the ordinary that it could be used successfully in making a point.

Speaking of points, I’m sure Euripides had one when he wrote this play – since Dionysis is the god of wine, perhaps the is a message that intoxication is a terrible vice that literally “possesses” an individual and makes them do things they normally would not do; hence the clouds lifting that Agave experiences in the final act (ie – hangover). If this is the case, then this tells us that Euripides felt that drinking was an all to common practice of the Greeks that leads to corruption and destruction of the body.

These are just thoughts, as I say – without even the slightest bit of Greek history, I’m not sure what this play is actually about, but at least I can tell you what I believe it to be.

Oh yeah!...It's Mr. Snelgrave

Subject: One Flea Spare represented theatre in one of its simplest forms. What was there… a couple chairs, two walls with some window holes, a door and a bookcase? Not much to really get the imagination going when you first walk into the room. I knew it was going to take some decent actors and a hell of a script to fill two and a half hours of the night with solid entertainment. One thing was for sure, the audience was definitely going to be up close and personal with the actors. And that’s where the real entertainment came into play for me. Movements and expressions were going to be critical if the actors really wanted us to believe that they were in character. Speaking of characters, of only five in the play, everyone seems to always be criticizing Mr. Snelgrave. People have a tendency to open their mouths before they know what’s going to come out. On the whole, I can understand Mr. Snelgrave better than any of the other characters but maybe that’s because I can relate to him in some ways. Look at him subjectively and you’ll gain a greater understanding why he acts the way he does. His personality comes from experience and hard times molding him into the way he is. He is solely a product of his generation. Most likely Snelgrave didn’t have to earn his start as a kid but it takes a lot of work to maintain what you have. He is proud of his status and is going to make that known in his own house. Back in those days, he couldn’t just go out and divorce a cheatin’ old bag of wrinkles. And you’d be hard pressed to find a nice soul in the world when one third of every one you knew was dropping dead at your feet. Not to mention, he has Bunce and Morse taking his belongings and his wife conspiring against him. I would be a little self-indulged too. Nevertheless, when people review Mr. Snelgrave, they need to take a deeper look.

"Shrek," Sex, Kids, and Theatre

Subject: "Shrek," Sex, Kids, and Theatre


After watching this production of Into The Woods, the only thing that I could think of was Shrek. I know that it may sound crazy, but all of these characters from different stories that are interacting and all of the conversations that they have with each other it just reminds me so much of that movie.
Moving on, now that I have made that observation, what is it about this production that makes it tick? I think that it could be the sex. I know that everyone may say that I am crazy but isn’t that what makes theatre go round? Sex is an undertone in almost all children’s books, movies, and fairy tales. In fact, I have an example.

This is the original cover for the Walt Disney production of The Little Mermaid. What do you see in this picture? There are a number of inappropriate things that you can get out of this photograph if you are so inclined to do so. This is why when it was reproduced, the cover was changed. This is just one of those things that an audience member can see that blatantly shows the sexuality of a child’s entertainment.
Now, to speak about Into The Woods. The sexuality in it was very apparent but in one character in particular, the wolf. I know that if you look at the costume of the wolf you can see that it is molded in such a way that he has a defined physique complete with a cod piece. His interactions with Red make this sexuality even more apparent and inappropriate. Not only is he an animal but he is a male and it gives me the feeling that he would like nothing more than to sleep with Red the way that he dances with her and talks to her, and that is just strange. However, this opens another can of worms, How sexual is too sexual and is this in every story that we read, watch, perform, and enjoy? The answer to that lies within each of us, I think. I think that the sexual side of any play or movie impacts everyone differently at different times in their lives. Right now I could care less the amount of sex in movies but when I become a father that will change I am sure. This is what I mean by changing. It also depends on how and where you grew up. I was brought up to question everything; I was not brought up sheltered that is why I can handle just about anything.

In closing I am have one more observation. Almost everything that we have dealt with as of yet has been sexual. Shakespeare In Love, One Flea Spare, and Into The Woods. Even in Richard III, to a point there were sexual themes. Although this may be an obvious observation, I just thought that I would make it.
--Michael

Into The Woods

Into The Woods is the culmination of a few of the most popular children's fairytales, but with a twist. The characters are Cinderella, Rapunzel and two Princes, Jack and the Giant, The Baker and his wife, Little Red Riding Hood, and more. These characters have personal goals that send them on a journey; and they all end up coming together in the story. The Baker and his wife desperately want a child but the witch has put a curse on their house. The Baker must find the cape as red as blood, a slipper as pure as gold, a cow as white as milk, and hair as yellow as corn to have the spell lifted from their house. With these four ingredients, the witch will have the spell that was once cast upon her lifted, transforming her from an ugly witch to a beautiful woman. Through this compelling story of "Happily Ever After" the characters realize that every action performed has a consequence. At the end of the musical the characters come together realizing that no one is ever alone. This is a great play for kids with great lessons to learn about action, consequence and community.

Sex in Theatre

Subject: After being made aware of the sexual atmosphere of Into the Woods, the compilation of children’s stories I've read as a child have become so much more involved. I want to go ahead and make the assumption that nearly all of our culture’s most adopted children’s fables have a sexual tension with some elements of adults-only type humor. Because Into the Woods compiles Jack the Giant, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Little Red, et.al., it is clearly representative of how an infantile appearance can possess a mature theme often times beyond the comprehension of an unaware mind, hence myself. And from what I have learned so far about the theatre, I have yet to see a play or an act which does not strive to ignite the flame of desire in my loins as I am gazing upon the actors. So, it is fair to say that from experiential observations that theatre, and entertainment in general, is centered on sex in all its various forms. This makes sense if we contemplate the true and biological meaning of life(it’s simpler than we all think) which is nothing other than to intercourse and increase our genetic diversity. Getting to this point sometimes is an epic struggle and theatre, dating back to even its origination, is themed upon struggle and conflict. Let’s face it, every play (with the exception of few) have plots and conflicts and 99% of the time, romance or lust. So then, what impression do I get from theatre…isn’t it obvious?

Chapter 8

Subject:It is sad, and hard to believe that women were restricted from participating in theatre for nearly 2,000 years, since some of the best actors today are women. However, the world has obviously evolved since then, and so has theatre. Acting has evolved from “heightened oratory” and “flamboyant public speaking” to naturalistic acting to eclectic modern theatre with alternative acting styles such as improve, clowning and transformations.
Actors, as well as musicians are forced to rely on talent that is intangible. It is difficult for actors to depend on intangible qualities that form their craft. Improving and growing as an actor is a difficult task. It takes an extensive amount of self-awareness and the ability to truly delve into the deeper parts of the inner self.

Designs and Technology

Subject:

When reading chapter 9 on the sights and sounds that complete a production, my decision for my final paper was determined. I had been thinking of doing my paper on the details of theatre (i.e. costume design, make up, hair, placements of props, etc) but this chapter put into place the thoughts I was missing on the whole concept.


So many things go into a production to make it unique and memorable. Between lighting, set design, and not to mention sound design, technology has become a huge part of theatre as a whole. Without the contribution of technology to theatre, it would not be as advanced and entertaining as it has become. Technology has created a whole new form of art in the form of light sequences, sound bytes, and others. This allows a whole new genre of people to express their imagination and creativity through knowledge of how technology itself works.

Though the twentieth century has changed theatre dramatically, it still relies on things such as props on a set, costumes, and things of that nature which require a designer.

Do Stage Designs Impact the Story?

Subject: Although the simple music and redundant lyrics of Into the Woods tended to irritate my ear after a while, the intertweaving story lines and the stage design were quite impressive. Combining just about every fairy tale imaginable into a two and half hour long story and telling the whole thing so that it is believable is a novel idea in and of itself – although I would have to say that the stage design greatly helped the situation.

For instance, the village backdrop that raises three doors to reveal three separate scenes all on the same stage was a clever idea – it pulls the audience together and allows them to see that the stories are already closely related. The forest scenes were greatly detailed with the giant trees, the shrubs, and even the giant rock that rotated to give the audience varied perspectives – these backgrounds forced the audience to see exactly what the director wanted them to see rather than allowing them to freely imagine the fairytale world that they were supposed to be viewing.

Of course, these backgrounds were produced on an extravagant budget (this version being produced on Broadway) so that tends to give the director a bit more leeway in constructing the exact scene that he/she wants. At the same time, we must ask ourselves would the story have been as effective if it were produced on a much more limited budget or with no stage designs at all? This naturally leads to the question of how important are stage designs and how much of the story do they tell?

Emphasis of Kabe

Subject: Emphasis of Kabe

Perhaps the most interesting character in the play, particularly in respects to the director’s script cut, is seen with the guard Kabe. While he not only resembled the corrupt and selfish antagonist the audience would expect to see, the actor seemed not only as if his job as a guard was easy, but also as if acting this role itself came natural – offering the audience a distinct impression of carelessness and nonchalant cruelty. Furthermore, the singing heard by Kabe both at the end of the play and often times at the end of particularly intense scenes, allow the audience to develop a strong disliking towards the character – as the four primary characters are forced to live confined within two rooms, the corrupt guard manages to walk freely and sing lightheartedly, with access to whatever the outside world provides him. The level differentiation also exacerbates the nature of the guard’s character – as the first time the audience sees Kabe, the audience sees a relaxed and singing character on a different vertical plane, demanding the attention of the four primary characters, and consequently the audience as well.

"One Flea Spare": Morality in America

Subject: "One Flea Spare": Morality in America
Although it took me a while to understand any of the play “One Flea Spare.” I was able to grasp a few things from the play that will stay with me for some time. I think the thing that will stick with me is the meaning that I took away from the performance: “What is moral?”
Many people would look at my meaning and think that I am mad because the entire theme of the play is wrapped around sex and self gratification. Though this is true, I still believe, as an audience member, each person can take something different away from not only each play, but also each performance. I feel that the thought behind the Snelgraves, Bunce, Morse, and Kabe all had a moral issue. I think that this play can be used as a check for the society today for the viewers to see how moral they are being.
There are going to be people in the audience who associate themselves with each of these characters. Some people will connect with the ‘abusive’ hating type like William. Some will associate with the scared Darcy who is unstable about her appearance and her emotions, she also loves a younger man. Some will associate with the torn Bunce who has had a rough life and has had love from a man and a woman and he is someone who loves an older woman but then runs from everything. Others will see themselves as Morse, the not so innocent little girl who learned “from keyholes” what she knows. This could be a lot of today’s youth except there keyholes are television and the internet. Yet, then there will be those that correlate with Kabe, the one who is just out “for a piece of ass.” He is out for himself and for no one else.
Each character and those that react with them bring to light a social issue in our culture. This play as a whole, also brings to light things in real life that we as society brush under the rug and it is not afraid of showing them vividly. For example, when Bunce and Darcy are perusing a relationship in front of William, this happens everyday in our society, but most of the time, it happens in a way that it is not quite as ‘in front of’ the other spouse. This hits on the dealing with of adultery and affairs by our society. The next character that you can speak of is Morse. I like her character most because I feel that she represents today’s youth and how corrupt we are as a generation by what we are taught by our friends, by television, by the internet, and in some instances, by our parents. Sex is a common topic in households today and usually for the wrong reasons. If you were to ask a high school student in a normal high school in America the percentage of there class that are virgins, you would be lucky to get a 25% report. I am not sure if sex is socially accepted or if it is just not talked about because it is not ‘proper.’ I think that this play brings this up in a big way.
If I were to explain every symbol that this play sends I would be writing forever, so I am going to end with a question that I have about the play. One scene, between Bunce and William where William is asking Bunce about being on a ship with only men, what does William really want from Bunce? Does he want to have a relationship with him? William asks him what he had done against God while on the ship. He also talks about gratifying himself. The end of the scene leaves this wide open though, Bunce takes an orange that he had been handed by William and uses William’s finger to make a hole and then he drinks from the hole in the orange. What does this scene really mean? Is there a real answer or is it open to interpretation of each member of the audience?
I do have to say that I applaud the cast and crew of the production they all did well, and my friend Katie Deeds, did a wonderful job directing this production. I would love to see more plays done in the television studio like this one was.
--Michael B. Breeden

Sexual desires

Subject:
I am very impressed with the performance of all five actors in One Flea Spare.
Sexual desire is indeed one of the plays main themes and each actor was able to deliver distinctiveness to their characters sexuality. Therefore, I would like to touch upon some of the aspects of the play that seemed interesting to me in regards to sexuality. For example, the actor playing the role of Kabe was very effective in presenting a grotesque character obsessed with child pornography. The scene when Kabe is licking Morse’s foot is a perfect example of Kabe’s nature and perverted mind.

Something I noticed through out the play was that the upper class Snelgraves seemed more afraid to express their sexuality than the lower class characters. For example, William and Darcy Snelgrave both ask Bunce to talk about his sexual desires and experiences. On the other hand we really never know the Snelgraves personal sexual cravings. We know William does not touch his wife and that he does not fulfill her desires but we never really know what it is they really want. The Snelgraves just seemed quieter about their sexual needs. Maybe this is due to the time period where possibly the rich felt obligated to keep their sexual aspirations to themselves to portray a more educated status.

A scene that stuck with me is when Darcy Snelgrave is feeling Bunce’s wound and she sticks her finger deep inside the cut. I believe Darcy was the character that needed her sexual desires to be satisfied the most but in this scene we see that Darcy and Bunce switch gender roles in the sense that it is she who was inside him rather than him inside her. Therefore, I believe her sexual needs were not satisfied and it was Bunce who was gratified. What do you think?

As a Whole

Subject: A basic meditation on the play as a whole.

Having never seen any stage like the one used in the performance of One Flea Spare, and never having seen any play put on by college students, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Since it was performed in a relatively tiny room, and the audience was essentially on the stage, I was not expecting some life-changing performance, and actually expected boredom from a play set in such a time as the Plague.

However, my expectations were completely surpassed, and I was very impressed with every aspect of the play. Each actor, in their own respect, portrayed their character wonderfully. Knowing nothing about the actors themselves, but assuming they are nothing like their characters, I was impressed with how they could leave their own convictions behind and effectively “hit on” a portrayed 12 year-old girl.

Mr. Snelgrave was the most despicable character to me. Though each character had their own problems and flaws, their underlying goodness surpassed their contemptible personality traits. Although I could not get over Mr. Snelgrave’s loathsome qualities, the actor did a perfect job of making me, personally, despise him.

Though Kabe definitely is an antagonistic force, I could not help but sympathize with his need for material things and impulses to carry out his job to the best of his abilities. The humor of his character overlapped my distaste for his need of sexual favors from a young girl. Morse, even though she was just a child, was also a character who, at times, was quite vile. Mrs. Snelgrave was mostly a lonely old woman who needed to be loved. Bunce provided fleeting lust for her at the end of her life.
All in all, I enjoyed this play very much and wish to see more like it.