I went to the reading of A Raisin In The Sun at the hood museum. At first I thought it would be a dramatic reading or a play version of it but, it was just a reading with the characters who were reading standing up, putting their stuff on a music stand and reading their lines. When I learned that it was just a reading I was slightly disappointed because, I would have preferred to go to a play. It was also slightly different from a traditional reading as Daniel,Ms. Silver,Malcolm and I were in the overflow seating downstairs and we were watching it on a video screen. The reading was read quiet well and I enjoyed watching it. After reading the play and watching it be read I realized just how hard it was for african americans and also how white people wanted to keep themselves and the african americans separated from each other. While I read the play in about three days, the reading was done in about three hours and that felt to me like too long of a time to be watching a video screen, If I had seen the actors reading it aloud I think it would have been quite a different experience. I liked the reading but watching it on a movie screen made it seem like really long movie especially as there was no action but the actors standing up,putting their lines on a music stand and then sitting down after they read their lines. all in all I enjoyed the play and I am slightly interested in the sequel of the play that focuses on the family that moved out’s experience.
Personally I was glad it was going to be just a reading and not a full performance, because I knew I would be tired by that time of night. When Malcolm and I arrived, I was disappointed to learn we'd be seated in the overflow area, but as it turns out, I was grateful for that. As Daniel mentioned, we had seen a long play that day, so I was glad to be watching the FANTASTIC reading via streaming. That way I could recline and not clap without offending anyone. I really did think the reading was quite QUITE good, but I was tired.
I went to a reading of A Raisin in the Sun at the Hood for an African-American art exhibit Witness there. I had gone to the exhibit before, and I what stood out to me was a giant box of “New Jemima” pancake mix. When I was there for the reading, I said to Justin: “now THOSE’re my kind of pancakes,” motioning to Aunt Jemima with her machine gun and maple-grenades.
Justin and I went to the reception for the reasons of cheese, especially the cheddar, which apparently was like three years old. Justin can tell these things. There was also pretty good brie and goat cheese. We were (unexpectedly) met there by our English teacher and Malcolm. While looking at African art, a security guard (who, as Mr. Niederhauser would point out, has the job of following around teenagers to make sure they don’t touch anything. Because teenagers are touchy…) came up behind our English teacher (who was talking about important things which we were so intently listening to) and started rolling his eyes and making rude hand gestures, trying to get us to interrupt her. Because apparently, you’re not allowed to bring backpacks into the museum? Like who the heaven CARES, OH MY GOSH! Now, I don’t peg our English teacher as being an art thief. But you never know.
In walking around the party, I saw a woman I met at another Dartmouth-y party (for an oral history class; I don’t actually take the class, I was just invited to the party where I could eat pumpkin pie and talk with grad students.) I don’t think this woman remembered me, though. But there was yet another woman at the reception who I knew. She works there as like a curator or something, and was ushering people into the theater. I gave her a big hug. It was nice to see her because I had not seen her in a long time!
The performance itself was very good. It was actually a lot more dramatic than I expected. The actors were like hitting and hugging each other and yelling—we could hear them yelling from all the way upstairs even though we were in the theater downstairs. The actors played their parts pretty much exactly as I had imagined it. Lindner was gorgeously condescending, and I felt like he really was a racist guy trying to slyly, yet amiably, convince the Youngers to sell their house.
I was at first slightly weary of going to the reading, considering I had just watched three hours of a play I didn’t really like. Okay, didn’t like at all. But eating cheese with Justin and seeing an old friend definitely made it worth it. (And the reading wasn’t bad, either!) The reading didn’t really clarify anything, but it was pretty entertaining to again hear the drama of the over-the-top crazy Younger family.
Really? You didn't like Long Day's Journey at all? Did you like it better in print, or did you not care for that? I have some other questions, but I'll ask you in person.
I had the same experience as you did, in that the Raisin reading didn't clarify anything for me, but I thought it was impressively powerful and emotionally convincing. The actors portrayed their characters just as I had envisioned them when I was reading.
Like Justin, I am interested in the sequel, but I feel like I would head to the theatre with my hands partly over my eyes: scared of what I might see, for there's no way the Younger family's experience in Clybourne Park was without mucho racism.
Question: were there parts of Raisin that were cut from the Dartmouth reading? Didn't Beneatha's two boyfriends get more sexist with her than I witnessed in the reading? Didn't they ask her to give up her dream of heading to med school? It has been years since I read the play.
The Dinosaurs Are Extinct A review by Justin Duguay The Skin of our Teeth A Comedy by Thornton Wilder Thetford Academy’s fall play class through november 22 running time 2.5 hours
The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder was one the best plays I have seen during the time I have been at Thetford Academy. The play had funny moments galore and throughout the entire play you could hear at least one person chuckling. The first thing you notice when you walked inside the theater is that the set looks like a house it has two chairs, a window, bookshelves, a door that looks like it’s a mural but later it opens, and a fireplace with those light up fake fires in it currently off. Sabina, played by Emma Glazer, walks onstage and continues with her lines. She pauses several times and restarts her entire appearance twice until Mrs. Antrobus, Isabel Kotlowitz, walks through the door and starts chastising her about the fire going out. The first funny moment that occurs is when as Mrs. Antrobus is chastising Sabina a dinosaur walks behind the window trying to warm itself up. The entire play is filled with sudden acts of weirdness like the dinosaur. Even though the play is filled with randomness at times it makes the play even funnier.
The play was partitioned into three parts the ice age, the city, and the house after the war. During the ice age the house was in its prime. Everything looked like it was new and had no damage every time someone opened the door wind sounds were made and everytime the door was shut the wind sounds stopped. Inside the house the lighting was a white. When a telegraph boy appears at the door and comes in he lights the fire and the lighting changes to a more fire-like color. During the second part the set was a boardwalk with a fortune tellers stall,a bingo parlor, and a bench facing the audience during the entire second part of the play the boardwalk was full of things moving like a real boardwalk, there were chairs being pushed around and people playing bingo. The third part of the play was rather interesting because the house from the beginning was there but it had clearly been in a warzone the window was crooked the door no longer fit in the doorway and the chairs were strewn across the floor of the house.
The three parts of the play had three separate stories told. In the first part Mr. and Mrs Antrobus’s house became a haven for refugees trying to endure the ice age as a wall of ice came from the north. The families pet dinosaur and mammoth, who talked, were cast out of the house so the house had more room for the refugees. The refugees included,a doctor,a singing group,homer and moses. In the second part Mr. Antrobus had been elected to give a speech to all living things and each species has sent two of its representatives to it, this play has many biblical references in it, When Mr. Antrobus starts to give his speech it starts to flood. At the end of the second part Mr. Antrobus’s family got on a boat. In the third part a war has gone through the town, Sabina walks into the house looking for Mrs. antrobus and her daughter to inform them that the war has ended, when Mrs. Fitzgerald the “director of the play” stops the play and breaks the fourth wall because several of the actors have become sick and can't do their part so they quickly draft several people who played earlier parts say the lines. Then the scene restarts and Sabina walks in and repeats her lines but this time the play continues. After Mrs. antrobus and her daughter come out from hiding Sabina informs them that Mr. antrobus is coming home and wants his books Mrs. antrobus and Gladys, her daughter, disappear back down into the hole they were hiding in, Sabina keeps talking to them as they send books out of the hole when she says that Henry, Mrs. and Mr. Antrobus’s son, must not come into the home because Mr. Antrobus will kill him. Henry comes in and falls asleep on the couch.Mr. Antrobus walks in and they get into a fight. After the fight Henry leaves and Mr and Mrs. antrobus look at the books that were brought up and reminisce on old memories and the actors who were drafted walk onstage and say the last few lines.
Every character was convincing in their roles so much that I lost myself in the story and thought that their characters were real. The actors all worked well, except for Sabina who was the jolt of reality that you were watching a play by breaking the fourth wall every now and again only added to the enjoyability for the play. All of the actors movements were believable and, the tone and the inflection they used made it more believable. All of the actors didn’t over or underplay their parts and when they performed it was evident that they had practiced extensively and, could easily get into character. One outstanding performance was in the first part when Mr. Antrobus and Mrs. Antrobus were talking and Mr. Antrobus says that the best thing about animals was that they don’t speak and the dinosaur says “but it’s cold” and he responds by saying “hush”.
I enjoyed the play and it was long, If it had been longer it would be too long, even with two ten minute intermissions in the middle, the play was still two hours long. I loved how Sabina broke the fourth wall a lot because it was a huge jolt of reality that I was in a play and at the same time it was funny.
I went to the reading of A Raisin In The Sun at the hood museum. At first I thought it would be a dramatic reading or a play version of it but, it was just a reading with the characters who were reading standing up, putting their stuff on a music stand and reading their lines. When I learned that it was just a reading I was slightly disappointed because, I would have preferred to go to a play. It was also slightly different from a traditional reading as Daniel,Ms. Silver,Malcolm and I were in the overflow seating downstairs and we were watching it on a video screen. The reading was read quiet well and I enjoyed watching it. After reading the play and watching it be read I realized just how hard it was for african americans and also how white people wanted to keep themselves and the african americans separated from each other. While I read the play in about three days, the reading was done in about three hours and that felt to me like too long of a time to be watching a video screen, If I had seen the actors reading it aloud I think it would have been quite a different experience. I liked the reading but watching it on a movie screen made it seem like really long movie especially as there was no action but the actors standing up,putting their lines on a music stand and then sitting down after they read their lines. all in all I enjoyed the play and I am slightly interested in the sequel of the play that focuses on the family that moved out’s experience.
ReplyDeletePersonally I was glad it was going to be just a reading and not a full performance, because I knew I would be tired by that time of night. When Malcolm and I arrived, I was disappointed to learn we'd be seated in the overflow area, but as it turns out, I was grateful for that. As Daniel mentioned, we had seen a long play that day, so I was glad to be watching the FANTASTIC reading via streaming. That way I could recline and not clap without offending anyone. I really did think the reading was quite QUITE good, but I was tired.
DeleteI went to a reading of A Raisin in the Sun at the Hood for an African-American art exhibit Witness there. I had gone to the exhibit before, and I what stood out to me was a giant box of “New Jemima” pancake mix. When I was there for the reading, I said to Justin: “now THOSE’re my kind of pancakes,” motioning to Aunt Jemima with her machine gun and maple-grenades.
ReplyDeleteJustin and I went to the reception for the reasons of cheese, especially the cheddar, which apparently was like three years old. Justin can tell these things. There was also pretty good brie and goat cheese. We were (unexpectedly) met there by our English teacher and Malcolm. While looking at African art, a security guard (who, as Mr. Niederhauser would point out, has the job of following around teenagers to make sure they don’t touch anything. Because teenagers are touchy…) came up behind our English teacher (who was talking about important things which we were so intently listening to) and started rolling his eyes and making rude hand gestures, trying to get us to interrupt her. Because apparently, you’re not allowed to bring backpacks into the museum? Like who the heaven CARES, OH MY GOSH! Now, I don’t peg our English teacher as being an art thief. But you never know.
In walking around the party, I saw a woman I met at another Dartmouth-y party (for an oral history class; I don’t actually take the class, I was just invited to the party where I could eat pumpkin pie and talk with grad students.) I don’t think this woman remembered me, though. But there was yet another woman at the reception who I knew. She works there as like a curator or something, and was ushering people into the theater. I gave her a big hug. It was nice to see her because I had not seen her in a long time!
The performance itself was very good. It was actually a lot more dramatic than I expected. The actors were like hitting and hugging each other and yelling—we could hear them yelling from all the way upstairs even though we were in the theater downstairs. The actors played their parts pretty much exactly as I had imagined it. Lindner was gorgeously condescending, and I felt like he really was a racist guy trying to slyly, yet amiably, convince the Youngers to sell their house.
I was at first slightly weary of going to the reading, considering I had just watched three hours of a play I didn’t really like. Okay, didn’t like at all. But eating cheese with Justin and seeing an old friend definitely made it worth it. (And the reading wasn’t bad, either!) The reading didn’t really clarify anything, but it was pretty entertaining to again hear the drama of the over-the-top crazy Younger family.
Thank you for the entertainment, Daniel!
ReplyDeleteReally? You didn't like Long Day's Journey at all? Did you like it better in print, or did you not care for that? I have some other questions, but I'll ask you in person.
I had the same experience as you did, in that the Raisin reading didn't clarify anything for me, but I thought it was impressively powerful and emotionally convincing. The actors portrayed their characters just as I had envisioned them when I was reading.
Like Justin, I am interested in the sequel, but I feel like I would head to the theatre with my hands partly over my eyes: scared of what I might see, for there's no way the Younger family's experience in Clybourne Park was without mucho racism.
Question: were there parts of Raisin that were cut from the Dartmouth reading? Didn't Beneatha's two boyfriends get more sexist with her than I witnessed in the reading? Didn't they ask her to give up her dream of heading to med school? It has been years since I read the play.
The Dinosaurs Are Extinct
ReplyDeleteA review by Justin Duguay
The Skin of our Teeth
A Comedy by Thornton Wilder
Thetford Academy’s fall play class through november 22
running time 2.5 hours
The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder was one the best plays I have seen during the time I have been at Thetford Academy. The play had funny moments galore and throughout the entire play you could hear at least one person chuckling. The first thing you notice when you walked inside the theater is that the set looks like a house it has two chairs, a window, bookshelves, a door that looks like it’s a mural but later it opens, and a fireplace with those light up fake fires in it currently off. Sabina, played by Emma Glazer, walks onstage and continues with her lines. She pauses several times and restarts her entire appearance twice until Mrs. Antrobus, Isabel Kotlowitz, walks through the door and starts chastising her about the fire going out. The first funny moment that occurs is when as Mrs. Antrobus is chastising Sabina a dinosaur walks behind the window trying to warm itself up. The entire play is filled with sudden acts of weirdness like the dinosaur. Even though the play is filled with randomness at times it makes the play even funnier.
The play was partitioned into three parts the ice age, the city, and the house after the war. During the ice age the house was in its prime. Everything looked like it was new and had no damage every time someone opened the door wind sounds were made and everytime the door was shut the wind sounds stopped. Inside the house the lighting was a white. When a telegraph boy appears at the door and comes in he lights the fire and the lighting changes to a more fire-like color. During the second part the set was a boardwalk with a fortune tellers stall,a bingo parlor, and a bench facing the audience during the entire second part of the play the boardwalk was full of things moving like a real boardwalk, there were chairs being pushed around and people playing bingo. The third part of the play was rather interesting because the house from the beginning was there but it had clearly been in a warzone the window was crooked the door no longer fit in the doorway and the chairs were strewn across the floor of the house.
The three parts of the play had three separate stories told. In the first part Mr. and Mrs Antrobus’s house became a haven for refugees trying to endure the ice age as a wall of ice came from the north. The families pet dinosaur and mammoth, who talked, were cast out of the house so the house had more room for the refugees. The refugees included,a doctor,a singing group,homer and moses. In the second part Mr. Antrobus had been elected to give a speech to all living things and each species has sent two of its representatives to it, this play has many biblical references in it, When Mr. Antrobus starts to give his speech it starts to flood. At the end of the second part Mr. Antrobus’s family got on a boat. In the third part a war has gone through the town, Sabina walks into the house looking for Mrs. antrobus and her daughter to inform them that the war has ended, when Mrs. Fitzgerald the “director of the play” stops the play and breaks the fourth wall because several of the actors have become sick and can't do their part so they quickly draft several people who played earlier parts say the lines. Then the scene restarts and Sabina walks in and repeats her lines but this time the play continues. After Mrs. antrobus and her daughter come out from hiding Sabina informs them that Mr. antrobus is coming home and wants his books Mrs. antrobus and Gladys, her daughter, disappear back down into the hole they were hiding in, Sabina keeps talking to them as they send books out of the hole when she says that Henry, Mrs. and Mr. Antrobus’s son, must not come into the home because Mr. Antrobus will kill him. Henry comes in and falls asleep on the couch.Mr. Antrobus walks in and they get into a fight. After the fight Henry leaves and Mr and Mrs. antrobus look at the books that were brought up and reminisce on old memories and the actors who were drafted walk onstage and say the last few lines.
DeleteEvery character was convincing in their roles so much that I lost myself in the story and thought that their characters were real. The actors all worked well, except for Sabina who was the jolt of reality that you were watching a play by breaking the fourth wall every now and again only added to the enjoyability for the play. All of the actors movements were believable and, the tone and the inflection they used made it more believable. All of the actors didn’t over or underplay their parts and when they performed it was evident that they had practiced extensively and, could easily get into character. One outstanding performance was in the first part when Mr. Antrobus and Mrs. Antrobus were talking and Mr. Antrobus says that the best thing about animals was that they don’t speak and the dinosaur says “but it’s cold” and he responds by saying “hush”.
I enjoyed the play and it was long, If it had been longer it would be too long, even with two ten minute intermissions in the middle, the play was still two hours long. I loved how Sabina broke the fourth wall a lot because it was a huge jolt of reality that I was in a play and at the same time it was funny.