So NOT the Dandelion Troupe's dancing princess.
H'okay. So.
Our major project in Gay Drama this past semester was the Play-in-Production project, which involved selecting a play from the syllabus, collecting materials related to it in a variety of categories, and then putting it together in a project which charted the history of that play's productions, running themes in productions, etc. The meat of the project involved an introductory essay summarizing one's findings and a final essay describing how one might use these findings to stage that play oneself.
Many of us were in the Hermann lobby from the night before it was due until six or seven or eight (or in one person's case, nearly nine o'clock, when the class began) the next morning. I went home at six-thirty. It's the only actual all-nighter I've ever done, but I finished the project.
It was pretty wretched.*
Fortunately, my grade wasn't really riding on it, so I only cared because I'm always embarassed to turn in bad work.
But anyway, my point. Just now I was rereading some papers and things from the past semester, and I decided to try to wade through my Play-in-Prod introductory essay.
... And... you know what? I gave up after one page. I started laughing. It is so, so bad. It makes no sense. It is pure B.S. Not that I didn't have actual ideas - I did - it's just that I was writing them in a mad-dash last-minute effort at four in the morning when I hadn't had any caffeine to support me. Here's an excerpt:
What can we gather, then, from this information? Both the production history and critical responses to the text itself follow a theme of eschewing realism. While the specifics of theme and symbolism vary from one directorial interpretation to another, many seem to focus on the basic concept of control and manipulation. Salomé is manipulated and made into an object, little more than a piece of sexual desire, by Herod and others around her; she, in turn, manipulates this effect on others to subvert the power structure and obtain her own desire - the head of Jokanaan. Critics and reviewers also agree that the play involves examining how one individual can be seen in multiple perspectives by other people. Salomé, particularly when she is compared to the moon, becomes a very different creature to different people (Marcovitch 2-3). These themes and concepts can certainly be integrated into a realistic production; but when coupled with the strange poetry and dark, convoluted tone of the play, these concepts have been, throughout production history, often represented in nontraditional styles.
Cohesion? What now? HAR. I laugh at this. I laugh at how it pretends to cover ideas while never explaining them. IT'S LIKE A SAMPLING AT THE BUFFET. Just one taste of everything! No no no, you cannot have a slice of the pie, only a taste of the stuff scooped off the top. You will miss basically all the content, but if the spoonful you get tastes okay you might be satisfied with it. Except not really. HAR DEE HAR HAR.
Like I should talk about being coherent. Look at me. I need to shower and go to bed, as I am too tired to make sense.
Our major project in Gay Drama this past semester was the Play-in-Production project, which involved selecting a play from the syllabus, collecting materials related to it in a variety of categories, and then putting it together in a project which charted the history of that play's productions, running themes in productions, etc. The meat of the project involved an introductory essay summarizing one's findings and a final essay describing how one might use these findings to stage that play oneself.
Many of us were in the Hermann lobby from the night before it was due until six or seven or eight (or in one person's case, nearly nine o'clock, when the class began) the next morning. I went home at six-thirty. It's the only actual all-nighter I've ever done, but I finished the project.
It was pretty wretched.*
Fortunately, my grade wasn't really riding on it, so I only cared because I'm always embarassed to turn in bad work.
But anyway, my point. Just now I was rereading some papers and things from the past semester, and I decided to try to wade through my Play-in-Prod introductory essay.
... And... you know what? I gave up after one page. I started laughing. It is so, so bad. It makes no sense. It is pure B.S. Not that I didn't have actual ideas - I did - it's just that I was writing them in a mad-dash last-minute effort at four in the morning when I hadn't had any caffeine to support me. Here's an excerpt:
What can we gather, then, from this information? Both the production history and critical responses to the text itself follow a theme of eschewing realism. While the specifics of theme and symbolism vary from one directorial interpretation to another, many seem to focus on the basic concept of control and manipulation. Salomé is manipulated and made into an object, little more than a piece of sexual desire, by Herod and others around her; she, in turn, manipulates this effect on others to subvert the power structure and obtain her own desire - the head of Jokanaan. Critics and reviewers also agree that the play involves examining how one individual can be seen in multiple perspectives by other people. Salomé, particularly when she is compared to the moon, becomes a very different creature to different people (Marcovitch 2-3). These themes and concepts can certainly be integrated into a realistic production; but when coupled with the strange poetry and dark, convoluted tone of the play, these concepts have been, throughout production history, often represented in nontraditional styles.
Cohesion? What now? HAR. I laugh at this. I laugh at how it pretends to cover ideas while never explaining them. IT'S LIKE A SAMPLING AT THE BUFFET. Just one taste of everything! No no no, you cannot have a slice of the pie, only a taste of the stuff scooped off the top. You will miss basically all the content, but if the spoonful you get tastes okay you might be satisfied with it. Except not really. HAR DEE HAR HAR.
Like I should talk about being coherent. Look at me. I need to shower and go to bed, as I am too tired to make sense.