Theme of my Blog

I honestly do not think that there is a single theme to my blog. My beginning statement though states that I want to learn a lot more about theater even though I really don't need it for the career that I am going into. This is because I find theater very interesting. I guess that could kind of be my theme, learning more on theater. This could be a theme for my blog because as I complete the blogging tasks assigned to me, I am learning more and mroe about theater, like my original intent. Also, the regular posts made on the discussion board help me to better understand theater and also back up this theme.

"Babes in Toyland"

The play that I went to see due to time and money issues was "Babes in Toyland" on main campus. I feel that the play was connected to the "notion that performers and directors create a world of illusion" in a few different ways. It used the same principles as the examples in the book and on the powerpoints to create differetn illusions to make a more dramatic and believe effect. The effect that illusion had on me while I was watching this play was that I really felt like I could somewhat imagine the many scenes of the play. The play was based on the movie "Babes in Toyland" that I watched many times when I was little and some of the scenes had such great illusion behind them that I could really picture the scenes from the movie. Granted some of the scenes could have been put together a little more and had a little more detail to make them look more realistic.

The Tempest - William Shakespeare

Tempest is as much a clash between savagery and civilization, with Prospero caught between the angelic Ariel and the brutal Caliban, as it is a comedy or romance. ("Yet with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury do I take part," says Prospero at the end.)
This is a play that veers between lyricism and violence; Kulick's workmanlike production fails to connect the halves.

I picked out two ideas from the reading on The Tempest by William Shakespeare that I fond very interesting. The first line, the one on top, is interesting to me because it describes the play as a clash between two different types of people. Now I finally somewhat got the idea of The Tempest and what it's about and this sentence describes it pretty well. I find it a little weird though that they call it comedy or romance beacuse I didn't get much comedy out of it but I guess some people view it differently. The second line up above is interesting to me beacuse it states that the play goes back and forth between people getting along and people fighting. This is also a true statement, I believe at least.

Julie Taymor

I feel that Taymor had a huge impact on the world of theater. She has many innovative use of masks, puppetry, imaginative scenic design, and live actors in theater that draws on literature and folklore from around the world and it inspires many playwrights, actors, and directors. The way that she has been involved in theater since she was really young is truly amazing. Also, I am touched by the way she deticated her time and money to travel the world to study theater in its many different forms and cultures. There are a few connections between what she has done and what we have learned but not really a lot of major ones that I could find at least. I think that the way she uses costumes, puppets, and scene design relates to the section in the book that focuses on these items and describes their uses to be the way that she uses them in many of her productions. Also, we learned about the actors drawing on folklore and litereature like she has used innovatively in many plays, musical, etc. She, like many other actors that we have read about in the mayn chapters so far, have dedicated so much of her time and money to theater and really has changed the world of theater tremendously.