A Number

           The way that Churchill devises his play A Number without almost any stage directions is masterful. The reason I am putting this type of narration in such high praise is because somehow the author has found a way to keep an audience invested and suspended in tension without spoon-feeding any of the plot or characterization. Even thought I was sort of confused throughout most of the play, I was glad that it wasn’t dumbed down just for the people like me who couldn’t keep up the first time.  The dialogue was so interesting that there was essentially no need to stage directions. The plot focused around these people conversing and there really are not any stage directions that would have furthered the story or characterization of these characters. You understand everything you need to about Salter, B1, B2, or Michael Black, mostly because the author wants you to be mostly in the dark about them. If the reader was to know everything about these characters, the story would be much more boring and predictable. You could learn a lot about the different ambitions from, say, how Salter talks with B1 or B2. He tells each son different stories and lies to both of them, obviously showing that he cares more about his relationship with his sons than being honest with people.

            I don’t think that the cloning idea is as controversial as the public makes it out to be. I have never been that up to date on the cloning situations, but it seems like a no brainer to me. While there are certain aspects that would seem beneficial (being able to pick gender of baby, being able to select attributes) there are too many things that could go wrong for it to be worth it. The clones being aware that they are clones is just a recipe for disaster. They would obviously become jealous of their own identity and not be able to accept that they are not completely unique, as is what I believed happened in A Number. When B1 figured out that he was not Salter’s only son, even though the other was cloned from B1, he acts out of jealousy and kills B2. This would not have happened if B1 was not aware that he was a clone.

            I also think that it is interesting to note how the play is structured beyond saying that there are no stage directions. Almost every conversation seems to start in the middle and it gives you little inclinations about what they said previous to the reader stepping in. This makes you feel like you’ve just stepped into the conversation as a third party, not as an all-knowing god like narrator. This makes the play seem much more believable than if it were an omniscient narrator. 

Incorruptible (Performed Version)

I went and saw Incorruptible at Saginaw Valley and I have to say it was very good and made me laugh throughout the entire play. This was a play that many people in our class probably knows I did not completely enjoy. I thought the story was forgettable and the importance just seemed a little shy of real. But when the play is performed, it turns into a much different medium: straight phsycial and witty humor. There were a couple things that I want to point out to be the reasons why this performance of the play was so exquisite.

            First, the actors were spot on. The actors playing Martin and Charles played perfectly off each other, timing their back and forth jokes perfectly. There were a couple times when I caught one of them messing up a line, but their improvisation was so good that the rest of the audience probably didn’t even notice. The Peasant Woman, who I quite honestly forgot about when reading the play, played a much bigger role in the stage version. She accounted for a lot of laughs, even making some jokes I was surprised to be told in a fairly tame play. The old woman made a couple sexual innudenos and while it seemed a little much for the lightness of the play, it made the crowd laugh harder than a lot of other tamer jokes. I went with a friend and she said that Olf was her favorite because he was the dumb, but lovable character. That just shows that this play has a different character for everyone, and it was impressive that almost all of the actors were fun to watch.

            Secondly, being in the audience instead of reading it alone in my room made a whole lot of difference. I don’t have the opportunity to go to many plays and I was very impressed with the way the play flowed. The intermission was no more than 15 minutes long, the set changes were quick and the play started right on time. The jokes were just plain funnier when the crowd was involved as well. There was a scene were Jack’s girl is being dragged away by Olf, and shes trying to get his attention as she’s sliding away. The crowd was roaring at this point and in turn, so was I. It also was interesting to be able to see the entire scene the whole time. There is a scene were Jack and his girl are speaking and Felix comes around the side of the stage and hides to listen to them. That worked well, because at first I almost didn’t see him out of the corner of my eye. It is the act of picking up on the little things they plan out that makes a performed play a much more richer experience than watching a movie or just reading the script by yourself.

            Thirdly, it was nice that I had read the play before hand. It was much easier to just sit back and enjoy the play since I had already discussed it full length in class. I didn’t have to worry about keeping plot lines straight or wondering which character was which, I could just sit back and laugh consistently. It’s nice when you can just enjoy watching something and not have to worry about finding a larger meaning. 

Incorruptible

            One topic that I thought was interesting in Michael Hollinger’s Incorruptible was the money issue that plagued the monks, no pun intended. Right from the beginning the main problem that Charles and Martin face is whether they are going to have enough money to keep their ministry open. This was an interesting take on a religious story, even if it is supposed to be a comedy. Even though dialogue is obviously comedic, the problems that this ministry is having is not funny, it’s quite real and serious especially for our protagonists. Both Martin and Charles go to great lengths, most of the time sinning against their religion, to obtain money and recognition from the pope. Neither of these men wants to go against their religion by asking for money out of the Peasant Woman, even though they want to give her free prayers. They also don’t want to fake a miracle, an incorruptible, but they go along with the plan even though it is highly sinful. They have realized that their survival was more important than their traditions and that says a lot about their characters.

            Another thing that I want to point out is the setting compared to what audiences would normally think of in terms of a comedy. The first choice probably wouldn’t be a place filled with monks, priests and peasants. One would expect some sort of goofy set of characters, but the audience gets these realistic people who have realistic goals: getting enough money to save their home even if it means doing what they never thought they would have to do. Religion, even though it is at the heart of almost all of the characters, does not play that big of a role in the meaning of the play. This is not really a very religious play; it’s more about faith, in religion or in humanity. Miracles might happen, but they probably wont. The only reason this play has one is because then it wouldn’t be a very entertaining play now would it?

            I thought that the end was expected very well. The whole play, there is dialogue going back and forth and the end just takes it to the nth degree. You have Charles and Martin constantly talking, and Marie, Felix, and Jack are all in the room as well trying to fix all of their problems. It seems like if one were to read this and not see it, it would be hard for the reader to keep all of the characters straight with each other. I am actually going to see this for one of my two plays, so it is going to be interesting to see how much different the play seems when I get to see the actors play it out. I think that I’m going to be able to keep every character straight once I can picture where on stage they are, because it is sort of difficult to do that when you are just reading it from the text.