Live Journal Week 3
"all the world is a stage and we are merely players"
This phrase reminds me somewhat of the movie "The Truman Show" where Truman (Jim Carrey) is sadly betrayed and made to believe he is living a normal life, where in fact his whole life has been on show to the entire world- He and those in his life are actually players in the staged world they live in!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYj2m1yVpGU
OR
Hey guys! So this week in class we discussed more of the wonderful 'Midsummer Night's
Dream' and all that surrounds this mythical yet oddly plausible play. Something that grabed my attention during the tutorial was the mention of 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' being a play within a play. Having studied Michael Gow's 'Away' during prelim I became familiar with the idea of the "Shakespearean device" of a play within a play and what it did to give the play more substance.
I think the primary purpose of a play within a play is to simply entertain the audience. Its quite entertaining in the respect that you have gone to a play to see how a play is put together and ultimately how the play turns out. As difficult as I made that to understand, it is actually a very simple concept and very effective.
The other purpose it serves is succint in the respect that it deepens our sense of what is seen onstage and what is going on in our own lives. I remember, casting my memory back a few years now, my english teacher saying that the play within a play gave Gwen the opportunity to be the person she wanted to be (Away, Michael Gow). I dont think it has the same impact on the characters in 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' as it did in 'Away'. In MND I believe our understanding of the play and the themes and ideas brought across in it, such as forced love vs free love, is essentially deepened and it allowed reflection for the way the audience lived their own lives. I also believe that this device is rather effective as links between the play and the audience's own lives is crucial for success.
Anyway, that is my reflection of Shakespeares witty ways!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Comment on a peers LJ Week 3
Hey Rob Reilly!,
I love looking through you LJ, its always so interesting and wise! Awesome work! So i was reading through your thoughts on the positive impact of Shakespeares work having little stage direction- I happen to agree with you! Not only does it give it more freedom in interpretation, it allows so many different variations of the one play to come about, which is evident through the many versions of Romeo&Juliette. Like you mention it allows the plays to be linked to contemporary life which is always important- you so we can relate.
As a drama student it also lets the actor become the character that little bit more, which is great in my opinion!
http://reilly88.livejournal.com/16136.html?view=21512#t21512