Angels In America

            Human Identity is definitely considered in the drama Angels in America by throwing these characters into serious and frightening situations without giving them warning or the ability to defend themselves against it. Louis doesn’t know if he should stay in the relationship with Prior because of the AIDS Prior has recently obtained. Joe doesn’t want to admit to the world that he is a homosexual, but if he doesn’t he marriage with Harper is going to fall into unfixable pieces. Both of these characters are trying to figure out who they are and what exactly they stand for, but the struggle is almost too surreal for either of them to handle. By the end of act 1, almost every character is in denial of the seriousness they need to discover if they want to survive their problems.

I feel like the split screens used in Angels in America are perfect for what the author is trying to get across. He is trying to show two couples that are pitted against homosexuality in different situations and by comparing how they react to these situations the reader can understand more than just a single viewpoint. On one hand you have Louis and Prior are struggling with the former getting AIDS, Joe and Harper are struggling with a failed marriage and the fact that Joe is secretly gay. Both of these relationships are about to come to and end because of homosexuality and that is just sad. Why, solely on sexual orientation, does relationships have to end? It is a sad world where people leave others just because of hurt or betrayed morals. Louis and Joe both feel like they have their live under control until it all starts to fall apart at once and the split screens are a good way of capturing how everything is falling apart and how they handle it. I like how the author switches from couple to couple mid sentence; he doesn’t wait for the conversation to be over or at a checkpoint.

            I do not see Roy Cohen as a tragic character because of his insanely rude and evil demeanor.  Throughout the entire first act of the play all he does he show how he is above everyone he speaks to, including Joe. Even though he is offering Joe a very wealthy position, he still seems to be doing it just to do it. Like it doesn’t really matter to him, he’s still going to be rich and in power either way. I see him getting sick as a sort of poetic justice, even though I feel like at this point of the story he really hasn’t comprehended how horrible this experience is going to be. Roy still seems to think that he is in charge of his life and he needs to realize that the disease is in control from now on. When he is speaking to the doctor it almost made me cringe, even though Roy made some good points. Roy just still seems so arrogant and I feel like as the play progress and so does his disease, he is going to become less arrogant and more accepting of himself and more importantly, others around him. 

It's A Wonderful Life: A 1940's Radio Play

            I went and seen It’s a Wonderful Life at SVSU on November 30, 2011. It was co-directed by David Rzeszutek and Ric Roberts. I knew the story before I went in to see the play, so I kind of had an idea of what I was getting myself into. The only problem is that I wasn’t completely aware that this play was actually going to be performed as a radio play! So instead of the actors memorizing their lines, they stood up to mics, hardly moved, and read directly off of their scripts. While I do understand what they were trying to accomplish, an old fashioned feel with a 40’s type of innocent cheerfulness, but it just didn’t work when being watched. When I go to watch a play, I’m doing so with the understanding that I’m going to sit and enjoy a story that will be played out in front of my eyes. So when I sat down and started to watch It’s A Wonderful Life, I was seriously disappointed. I did not pay money to watch actors refuse to act! I feel bad saying this because the play was well performed for what it was, these actors would be perfect voice actors, but I just couldn’t get into a play that was just being read to me!

            I guess I should speak about other aspect as well, like the actual actors. I found it strange that professors and not students played the two main characters, George Bailey and Clarence the angel. This was interesting to me because I usually expect students to be acting for credit or to further their skills. The professors have already proven themselves so it seems a little unprogressive to have them be the two main characters. Nevertheless, both of these adults were great performers, their voices seemed right in character, since all I can judge are their voices because they didn’t act anything out!!! After going to a couple of plays at SVSU I am starting to recognize actors who are consistently in these plays It is fun be aware of these main actors, because it is fun to watch them grow as actors. One of the actors I remember specifically from Incorruptible when it was performed a couple weeks ago. He was very funny in the previous play and just as entertaining in this one. Overall though, I have to say that it would have been much easier for me to write about this performance if there was actually a performance. This radio play knock off was definitely not what I was looking for and I possibly should have picked a different play to go and see. 

The Good Person Of Szechwan

            Breaking the fourth wall in any type of entertainment, movies, television, even music, is becoming more and more common in our society, and Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan proves that this phenomena as been written into works much earlier than one might think. There are various moments in this play where a character speaks to the audience and there are many points where songs are sang for various lengths of time. I am okay with the characters of the play talking directly to the audience, I feel like it is a convincing way of letting that character get some thoughts and feelings out that he/she wouldn’t have been able to do with another character on stage. The thing that I do have trouble with are the songs. I am not exactly a fan of musicals, and while this could in no way be called a musical, the songs just seem completely out of place. While some of the songs do have meaning, like the song of the eighth elephant. This was an important song that showed how Sun is tame compared to the other workers, and how he feels separate from the working group. Then there are songs about Green Cheese and I have to admit these type of songs made me want to quit reading the drama all together. Brecht’s play is too serious to be adding in silly effects like song and dance numbers, it just doesn’t help the play do what it wants to do. With all of the issues about being a decent person, pleasing the gods, succeeding with what one has, the songs just don’t fit into that spectrum.

            One other thing that I wanted to discuss slightly, even thought it wasn’t one of the prompts, is the lack of a central main character. While on my first read I pictured Shen Teh as the main character, I started to see Wang as more or a main role, as well as the cousin Shui Tah, and the Three Gods who appear at most of the interludes. All of these characters are just as important as the next. I feel like the more I read this, the more Wang becomes the main character in my eyes. He is one of the only ones, if not the only one, in the play to have consistent contact with the three gods. This is really important, because the entire play is sort of about these gods trying to find a good enough person in the world. Wang may seem pitiful and manipulative, but he is trying to do the best he can with his morals and water selling business. I feel like Wang is a much more interesting character than Shen Teh as well, he is slightly more conflicted, while she is just too worried about making everyone else happy.