The Secret Life of Suitcases

The Secret Life of suitcases is a puppet show that was performed on BYU campus just a week ago. The puppet show was catered to a younger audience but employed elements that engaged an older audience as well. While watching, I paid special attention to the use of lighting. Through the lighting, the puppeteers were able to draw attention to the parts of the set that needed to be seen and were able to leave the other parts of the set in darkness. This enabled them to prepare the next scene without the eyes of the entire audience. This allowed them to bring special attention to certain characters and help the audience member to follow the storyline. For example, there was a scene in the story when the protagonist, Lary, a potato-headed puppet, found himself in a location outside of space and time. He was greeted by Gorgs (the universes helpers). To give this scene an otherworldly feel, the lights were dimmed in the back and brightened in the front. Then small lights were shone in a star-like pattern on the backdrop. This was disorienting at first but made the set feel as if it were no longer on earth.

A second detail to note about the play was the use of costume. In the beginning of the play, the puppeteers wore a similar outfit as Lary. Everyone was dressed in suits. This alluded to the idea that puppeteers would mirror the thoughts and emotions of Lary. By doing this, they were also able to help the audience feel more connected to the anthropomorphic puppet. As Lary's ideas and mood changed, so did the shirts of the puppeteers. As in the picture above, when Lary went out to sea, so did the shirts of the puppeteers. This was a constant pattern throughout the play.
Overall, the play was very well done. It was entertaining and enchanting. The elements of lighting and costume transported the audience into the magical world of Lary.

The Prince, the Light, and the Mirror

After having a deeper look at this production of Hamlet, I've realized some other aspects that are particularly emphasized, in particular the lighting and props. The stage lights in this particular scene cast attention on specific objects, for instance the mirror at 1:44. This prop in this particular interpretation could represent a lot of things, possibly the broken nature of Hamlet's sanity just before the fateful battle death, and the stage lights work together with the prop to emphasize this to us and provide eerie foreshadowing.

The Symbolism of the Little Black Dress

In the time frame around 12:47, the costume of a prominent character could be described as Chanel's little black dress. This is yet another bold statement amidst the traditional garb of those around her. It symbolizes her radical views, embracing sexuality, and her search for recognition. It is such contrast to the clothes of her sister in law that are prone to utility of housework. The character in the  black dress is rejecting traditional values before she speaks by what she is wearing.

Analyzing the Set: Death of a Salesman

After revisiting the play and looking for other ways to analyze the production, I noticed interesting details about the set of the play. In the opening scene of the play, we are shown the house. The house is set so that the furniture is bare and shabby. This emphasizes the theme of poverty in the play. At 8 minutes, the camera shifts so that we can see Happy and Biff in their room. The wallpaper in the room--possibly even the attic--is patched together in a way that shows the true lack of resources in the home. This tells us as viewers that the family is desperately poor and struggling to make ends meet. This is a persistent theme in this production of the play.

Looking into A Doll's House

Upon further reflection on this particular dramatization of A Doll's House, I recognized the purposeful blocking of the set and props. The stage is a thrust-out kind of stage where the audience is actually very close to the actors and on three sides of them. This influenced how they set up the stage. They set the stage so that it seems as if you are looking into their home from above, just as you would look into a doll's house when you were a child. This choice enables the audience to see more clearly that the woman is a "doll" in her "doll's house." This set up emphasizes the theme of the play in harmony with the costuming and props.

Production Analysis: Hamlet

Production Analysis: Hamlet

In this production of Hamlet, the venue is particularly interesting. It is set in a castle, as would be expected, but the castle is equipped with security cameras (as it is a modern interpretation of the play). These create a sense of reality, and add to the dramatic effect (for instance at 1:55). The rooms of the castle look like a stage and are set up like one, but because it’s filmed professionally it could be seen to be a movie, but once again the security cameras wide angle helps the audience to remember the play format. These aspects create an effect of eeriness and instability which is all to helpful when watching Hamlet.

Ironing In between

When observing the blocking of a Raisin in the Sun, it provides certain interpretive opportunities, such as the consistent ironing of the supposed domestic wife behind the argument about a women's role in society. It provides a palpable tension and an interesting contrast between the more forwardly dressed character. As an audience member, we are confronted with the results of what the man is demanding his sister to do--demonstrated by his wife's ironing, but we don't see her agree or disagree; she is enveloped in ironing. That is what she has become. We then ask ourselves, is succumbing to those ideas of a woman the right thing to do for her? 

Performance Analysis: A Doll's House

In this version of the play A Doll House they are able to emphasize the turning point of the drama through costuming. At point 21:00 in this video, Nora comes in to tell her husband that she is leaving. For the first time the whole play, she is wearing pants. Up to this point in the play she has been wearing stylish, extravagant dresses showing that she is dressing up for her husband and playing the part that she believes she must play. However at this turning point in the play she wears something different entirely, something that she has decided to wear, making a stark contrast to the costuming from earlier and emphasizing the point that Nora has decided to pursue the course of finding and getting to know herself.

Performance Analysis: Death of a Salesman

In this rendition of Death of a Salesman, the wife appears to be constantly agitated. Her voice inflects with apprehension and she speaks quickly. She appears to be in a state of constant urgency. Her tone at the beginning of the play allows us to make interpretive leaps such as assuming that there will be major familial conflicts throughout the play.

Shelfie of Haley's natural habitat

My name is Haley, I'm from California, and reading is my happy place. 

Shelfie

My name is Lindsay and I have loved reading since I was a little girl!

An Original Shae McCombs Shelfie.
I love words but I'm horrible at scrabble. Although I hope to be an intellectual, my favorite part of a book is the unexpected twist, or when they finally kiss.