Saturday, April 13, 2013
SHOW & TELL: ASSASSINS
I thought this would be appropriate because we were talking about Stephen Sondheim and dissonance the other day in class. **My information for this post comes from my own copy of the play.
Assassins was written in the late 1980's. The music is by Stephen Sondheim and the book is by John Weidman. It premiered off Broadway in 1990 with the original cast featuring Victor Garber, Patrick Cassidy, Annie Golden, etc. It received a combination of good and bad reviews/responses. A revival was put together originally in 2000-2001, but the production was postponed because of the events of 9-11. In 2004, the revival began at Roundabout. The cast featured Neal Patrick Harris, Michael Cerveris, Marc Kudisch, and Alexander Gemignani. For this production, Assassins won the Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Lighting Design, Best Direction of a Musical, and Best Orchestration. In this revival a few things were added and changed from the original production; Neil Patrick Harris played both the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald. Kendra Kassebaum entered the production to play an added role, the Housewife, and a new song entitled "Something Just Broke" was added to the score. The play is staged fairly often in colleges and regional theatres. However, the intense issues and nature of the show often make it fit a featured or limited timeslot rather than a mainstage production spot.
Assassins is very much a nightmare sequence. It opens with a Proprietor enticing the assassins to follow their dreams and sells them weapons. There are nine assassins: John Wilkes Booth, Leon Czolgosz, Charles Guiteau, Giuseppe Zangara, Lee Harvey Oswald, Samuel Byck, John Hinckley, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, and Sarah Jane Moore. These are all people who lived and actually tried to assassinate presidents, however successfully. The show interchanges scenes with musical numbers. The setting is very ambiguous. Some believe that the play is set in a kind of hell that these assassins meet and function in. Throughout the show, they meet and find common ground in their feelings of inadequacy an injustice. John Wilkes Booth emerges as a clear leader and setter of precedents. In the show's climax (the climax to me anyway), the assassins sing "Another National Anthem," which sums up their feelings of injustice in America and the impossibility of achieving dreams without drastic measures.
As far as dramaturgical choices, I think the most interesting one is that the Assassins have relationships with one another. None of these people really met or shared interests. In fact, they often felt isolated and unheard. I think that it's really noteworthy that Weidman and Sondheim are suggesting that these assassins are in a kind of alternate society. This show seems to suggest that there will always be an undertow of unsatisfied and unheard people in this nation, and the thought of them banding together the way they do in Assassins is terrifying. The other choice that I find noteworthy is the decision to add the song "Something Just Broke" to the revival score. Previously, the show was about the nine assassins and their point of view. Someone seeing the original production would likely have left the theater feeling no resolution or sympathy for anyone but the nation. In the case of the revival, this new song told the stories of everyday Americans who experienced the consequences of these assassins and their actions. I think that that completely changes the way that someone would view the play and the central story of the play.
Assassins was written in the late 1980's. The music is by Stephen Sondheim and the book is by John Weidman. It premiered off Broadway in 1990 with the original cast featuring Victor Garber, Patrick Cassidy, Annie Golden, etc. It received a combination of good and bad reviews/responses. A revival was put together originally in 2000-2001, but the production was postponed because of the events of 9-11. In 2004, the revival began at Roundabout. The cast featured Neal Patrick Harris, Michael Cerveris, Marc Kudisch, and Alexander Gemignani. For this production, Assassins won the Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Lighting Design, Best Direction of a Musical, and Best Orchestration. In this revival a few things were added and changed from the original production; Neil Patrick Harris played both the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald. Kendra Kassebaum entered the production to play an added role, the Housewife, and a new song entitled "Something Just Broke" was added to the score. The play is staged fairly often in colleges and regional theatres. However, the intense issues and nature of the show often make it fit a featured or limited timeslot rather than a mainstage production spot.
Assassins is very much a nightmare sequence. It opens with a Proprietor enticing the assassins to follow their dreams and sells them weapons. There are nine assassins: John Wilkes Booth, Leon Czolgosz, Charles Guiteau, Giuseppe Zangara, Lee Harvey Oswald, Samuel Byck, John Hinckley, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, and Sarah Jane Moore. These are all people who lived and actually tried to assassinate presidents, however successfully. The show interchanges scenes with musical numbers. The setting is very ambiguous. Some believe that the play is set in a kind of hell that these assassins meet and function in. Throughout the show, they meet and find common ground in their feelings of inadequacy an injustice. John Wilkes Booth emerges as a clear leader and setter of precedents. In the show's climax (the climax to me anyway), the assassins sing "Another National Anthem," which sums up their feelings of injustice in America and the impossibility of achieving dreams without drastic measures.
As far as dramaturgical choices, I think the most interesting one is that the Assassins have relationships with one another. None of these people really met or shared interests. In fact, they often felt isolated and unheard. I think that it's really noteworthy that Weidman and Sondheim are suggesting that these assassins are in a kind of alternate society. This show seems to suggest that there will always be an undertow of unsatisfied and unheard people in this nation, and the thought of them banding together the way they do in Assassins is terrifying. The other choice that I find noteworthy is the decision to add the song "Something Just Broke" to the revival score. Previously, the show was about the nine assassins and their point of view. Someone seeing the original production would likely have left the theater feeling no resolution or sympathy for anyone but the nation. In the case of the revival, this new song told the stories of everyday Americans who experienced the consequences of these assassins and their actions. I think that that completely changes the way that someone would view the play and the central story of the play.
DETROIT
So. Detroit. I also really like this one. I like that D'Amour gives the actor and the director choices in her stage directions. I also like that she's such a casual writer.
So why is the play called Detroit? I think that she's trying to emphasize the increasing anonymity between people living in communities. Detroit is a place that's kind of known for having a huge economic center and a bunch of surrounding suburbs because of the car industry. Recently, this city has undergone quite a transformation because of the economic recession and the state of industry in general. This really fits with Ben's character who's been laid off from his job. With this recession, people in the United States are increasingly concerned with their own lives and not with connecting with others. Community isn't something that exists anymore. So, I don't think that D'Amour cares if the play is set in Detroit, but I think she named it that to emphasize that she wanted the suburb to crumbling money wise and community wise.
So why is the play called Detroit? I think that she's trying to emphasize the increasing anonymity between people living in communities. Detroit is a place that's kind of known for having a huge economic center and a bunch of surrounding suburbs because of the car industry. Recently, this city has undergone quite a transformation because of the economic recession and the state of industry in general. This really fits with Ben's character who's been laid off from his job. With this recession, people in the United States are increasingly concerned with their own lives and not with connecting with others. Community isn't something that exists anymore. So, I don't think that D'Amour cares if the play is set in Detroit, but I think she named it that to emphasize that she wanted the suburb to crumbling money wise and community wise.
WATER BY THE SPOONFUL
First of all, I just want to say that I LOVED reading this play. I think it's phenomenal, and I would really like to see it performed.
There are quite a few sections in which the two stories begin to overlap or interact. I think the biggest example is when Yaz takes over the website. Yaz and Elliot pretty much always stay outside of the world of the chatroom. When Odessa is unable to contribute to the website after her relapse, Yaz takes over as administrator. I think that for the unifying principle and Hudes' story, this scene is important because it demonstrates what Yaz and Elliot have learned from their experiences. They have to think about how they affect others with their own actions. The events in Water by the Spoonful lead both of them to broaden their horizons and broaden their social interactions for the greater good. I think the central motif of the play is providing for others, so the scene with Yaz in the chatroom is really crucial to showing that.
There are quite a few sections in which the two stories begin to overlap or interact. I think the biggest example is when Yaz takes over the website. Yaz and Elliot pretty much always stay outside of the world of the chatroom. When Odessa is unable to contribute to the website after her relapse, Yaz takes over as administrator. I think that for the unifying principle and Hudes' story, this scene is important because it demonstrates what Yaz and Elliot have learned from their experiences. They have to think about how they affect others with their own actions. The events in Water by the Spoonful lead both of them to broaden their horizons and broaden their social interactions for the greater good. I think the central motif of the play is providing for others, so the scene with Yaz in the chatroom is really crucial to showing that.
BURIED CHILD
I think that ambiguity is the biggest thing that makes Buried Child stick out from other illusionistic plays. Throughout the play, there are numerous examples of ambiguity. To name a few:
1. The source of all of these vegetables that Tilden has gotten a hold of. Did he plant them? Is he stealing them from a neighbor? Are they miraculously growing in the yard?
2. What's up with Ansel? He's barely mentioned, and that plot never really gets resolved. We never get to know if Ansel really passed the way that Halie said he passed.
3. Why doesn't anyone acknowledge who Vince is? They couldn't have just forgotten who he was after a few years. What kind of games is this family playing?
4. What happened to Tilden in New Mexico? Did he commit a crime or get into trouble? Or, is he completely insane and just thinks that he is in trouble?
In general, the family doesn't have the kind of structure or the kinds of norms that other illusionistic plays have. It's more than just a power struggle. This family is playing a game, and only they know the rules to the game. To sum it all up, the family is living in a world of real circumstances, but their relationships with one another are not illusionistic.
1. The source of all of these vegetables that Tilden has gotten a hold of. Did he plant them? Is he stealing them from a neighbor? Are they miraculously growing in the yard?
2. What's up with Ansel? He's barely mentioned, and that plot never really gets resolved. We never get to know if Ansel really passed the way that Halie said he passed.
3. Why doesn't anyone acknowledge who Vince is? They couldn't have just forgotten who he was after a few years. What kind of games is this family playing?
4. What happened to Tilden in New Mexico? Did he commit a crime or get into trouble? Or, is he completely insane and just thinks that he is in trouble?
In general, the family doesn't have the kind of structure or the kinds of norms that other illusionistic plays have. It's more than just a power struggle. This family is playing a game, and only they know the rules to the game. To sum it all up, the family is living in a world of real circumstances, but their relationships with one another are not illusionistic.
NOISES OFF
An obvious but not-so-explored motif in Noises Off is doors. Doors are constantly opening and closing in the scenes, and these entrances and exits dictate a lot of the play's plot. The doors seem to separate the outside "world" of the play in which the actors are having relationship problems and the world of the play in which the characters are interacting. The doors also separate different complications for the play. A lot of times, the entrances and exits of the characters determine the next problem that the actors will be going through. The opening and shutting of doors also gives the characters a chance to put aside different relationships or moments in the play to start a new one.
As far as a tag line, I'm sure there have been hundreds for this play. I would probably choose, "Oh, the sardines." I think the misplacement of the sardines is really hilarious throughout the play, and, to me, a tagline reminds you of the thing that you remember after the play is finished. I cannot even begin to come up with a unifying principle for this play, so I have "got nothing" as far as how this tagline would relate to a unifying principle.
As far as a tag line, I'm sure there have been hundreds for this play. I would probably choose, "Oh, the sardines." I think the misplacement of the sardines is really hilarious throughout the play, and, to me, a tagline reminds you of the thing that you remember after the play is finished. I cannot even begin to come up with a unifying principle for this play, so I have "got nothing" as far as how this tagline would relate to a unifying principle.
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