Is it there? Nope, I don't think so!

The first theatrical abstraction that came to mind after reading this week's prompt comes from the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast. I had the privilege of seeing it last semester at the Union Theater and it was fantastic! Though what stuck with me most afterwards was how Chip was portrayed. Remember the beloved little tea cup with a tiny chip on the top? Well, this beloved character turned into a slightly terrifying abstraction. Instead of placing a kid actor into a tea cup costume, they chose to only use his head on top of a moving round table. I assume what was used to cover his body was some sort of reflecting prop, but it did not help with the creepy look of a head floating around. I even had seats on the third row on the right side of the stage and could catch glimpses of the backstage but still was not able to see how they were hiding this kid's body. By not showing his body (until the end when everyone turned human again), they were participating in Sofer's concept of dark matter. Having his body absent the entire show gave the convincing illusion that his floating head was the tea cup, Chip. Personally, I was distracted for a good part of the time by this high-pitched, cute floating head. Though I think it accomplished what it wanted to do and that was to be effective in showing Chip. 

As for the second question, I have a hard time in seeing events such as the Holocaust should even be represented as artwork. Understanding the intense emotions these pieces provoke does help to see why they would be important, but if someone would to create a piece about a rape, should we approach this in the same way? I guess I'm not fully decided on where I stand on this issue because I see how both ways, whether they should be represented or not, could offend or upset those actually involved, whether it is the Holocaust or rape. Additionally, I think of films about the Holocaust such as the Schindler's List, how watching this shows a more positive side, if there even is one, to this event. I would agree that making this film allowed people, whether alive then or born after, to experience a different outlook.

Disturbance with a twist.

So, I have been on a mariachi kick lately. I know it's not super popular here in Baton Rouge, but I have been studying the different styles of mariachi bands, especially all female ones. The interaction between the performers and the audience is really never known. For most mariachi bands their main stage are restaurants, where people are already sitting down and as the band walks around playing requested songs the interested folks give donations and their undivided attention. On the other hand, there are those folks that have no interest in listening to a mariachi song and simply ignore them. Culturally speaking, people will request mariachi bands for birthdays or to serenade someone. Below I have added a clip to a novela where a man brings a mariachi band and performs with them to show his affection for the woman. I'm really not sure what's going on with the second guy, the only practically squeezing her face before she goes out to meet the lover guy, but I thought this perfectly shows how one can participate in a performance while providing a disturbance. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQwwsxNvifk

After watching this clip, the first thought I had for seeing a change in theatre today is for regular people like me (or the lover guy) to be more involved in performance. The last time I performed in a play was my 10th grade year in high school and I have no plans on actively pursuing anything performance related, but I do love attending productions or being part of non-traditional ones such as protests, street performances, etc. If there was a way of spontaneously getting involved in these types than that would be great. For example, any ordinary day in the French Quarter, one can see a street performer performing and entertaining those who pass by. Something like a challenge for those watching would be a neat idea to incorporate in their performance. Maybe something like instead of just watching a group of people playing a song, come up and take part in our song and play an instrument (drums, tambourine, triangle, simple ones to not completely ruin the performance). To echo a few others, I would definitely suggest having theatre in every day places like by a cross walks, parks, malls, really any public space where there will be crowds of people. For LSU, the free speech alley is a prime place for such ideas because no matter what it's a guarantee there will be people walking through. Going beyond the four walls of a typical theatre and closing in the gap between the audience and performers is what will bring change to theatre. 

Blog Post #3: Naturalism, Truth, Reality, Oh My!

*Sorry for the lateness! I could not access my blog because I was using the wrong gmail address!

As a few others have said, I too have not had much experience in working in productions or evenattending productions. I can count on my hand the plays I have seen in the past few years. The main ones being Beauty and the Beast the Broadway Musical, The Phantom of the Opera, and Russian’s Ballet Swan Lake. All three of these would most definitely fit into the entertaining aspect of performance. Hands down I absolutely loved and enjoyed every moment of them but there was nothing that informed or convinced me of something that was true. Yes, there was an unusual love story in Beauty and the Beast but the goal was not to show how real or terrifying the beast was, or was it? As I am writing this, I could potentially see the argument of how the way the actor walked, talked, and dressed and even how the other actors/actresses behaved around him, giving us a sense that he was indeed intimidating. Or I can be totally thinking too much on this, you tell me!

As for movie productions, that I am well acquainted with. The one I chose to highlight is the 2010 dark comedy, Four Lions. First off, if you have never seen it, go to your Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, or local library as I did, to get it! This provocative film follows five British Muslims become suicide bombers. Though it doesn't focuses on religious ties but attempts to shed light on terrorists, shockingly in a humorous way. Personally, I had trouble understanding the actors because of their heavy accents and even when I put subtitles on the only option I had was Spanish. After the many attempts of understanding what exactly was said, the ending became the reason for choosing this production for this post. The whole movie is headed to their final plan of terrorizing the London Marathon with ridiculous costumes on. Throughout the film, we see how these five men come together, work together on making the bombs, and strategizing their next step. Seeing this became truth for the viewers, mainly because we don’t have much to compare. Other productions about terrorists rarely give them screen time, let alone a complete focus on their lives before.

For both examples, there was no verbatim method happening. Especially for Four Lions we are never introduced to “real life” terrorists. Unlike Aftermath, this was not based on a true story, yet was based on what we see terrorists as. I see a difference in showing how a specific person’s life alters their choices and paths to showing how generally people’s lives will always have choices and various paths.

Performativity featuring Tyra Banks!

For this week's post, I chose a short clip from the fabulous Tyra Banks show as an example of someone accomplishing something greater than saying certain choice words. There are a few possible performative acts and utterances to examine so I will start with the obvious. As a whole, Tyra IS performing on her own show and with that comes certain styles of performing herself for the audience and viewers. She starts off the clip with a seemingly unflattering picture of herself in a bathing suit. This I saw as the second performative act, exposing something that would otherwise be tucked in a tabloid somewhere. She openly talks about her own body image, posing the great statement, "The bottom line is that most people are used to seeing me looking like this and like this and all that (poses unaturally). And everyone seems to be pretty okay with that. But for some reason people have a serious problem when I look like that..(poses naturally)". By showing her picture on her own TV show, she had the power to turn the ridicule on all the people that were "shocked" at her "unflattering picture". Even more so, her choice of wearing the same bathing suit from the picture stated that she wasn't shameful or even embarrassed. At this point in the clip, I saw her going beyond her TV show "performance" and we catch a glimpse of the "real" Tyra. Her infamous statement, "Kiss my fat a#@!" can be seen as a performative utterance by saying to all the haters to back off her and other women like her. Of course, she isn't literally meaning for them to kiss her rear end but using a statement like this shows that she's not playing around. It was also a way of empowering other women with similar issues to rise above any criticisms, comments, and situations they find themselves.

check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mOQh3evqsI

What is Performance? No, really what is it?!

Reflecting from Marvin Carlson's Critical Introduction of Performance gave us an "analysis and commentary may at first seem more of an obstacle than an aid." (1) This quickly became true for me as I was going through the chapter. I found myself finally grasping one idea only to turn the page and be introduced to a whole new idea. After the first two, I sat back and digested what I had just read only to be given an even bigger chunk of Carlson's definition of what performance looks like.

What caught my attention at first was Strine, Long, and Hopkins take on performance developing into a "sophisticated disagreement". Defining performance became no longer about who was right or who had the most articulated definition but rather gaining the best version of all positions for a fuller understanding of "conceptual richness of performance".

As we further study Carlson's introduction we are introduced to Richard Schechner's label "restored behavior" as the quality of performing with a constant distance of "self" and behavior of the character being performed. The first example that came to mind were people who participate in cosplay. Yet, after reading this introduction I began to ask is cosplay even a performance? Yes, there is dedication and long hours that go into creating the various costumes and accessories but are the cosplayers looking to perform for others or merely mimic their favorite Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars character? Even as I'm writing this post there is a continuing wrestle between whether or not cosplay can be found under the concept of restored behavior.

After a little research, I found what is termed Masquerade cosplay. Basic cosplay only involves to look like a certain character whereas when cosplayers are masquerading, they attempt to act as their characters would. Whether they have memorized lines their character would say or remember scenes these cosplayers are certainly considered as performers, at least in my book. It brings us back to the notion that performance is not only a display of skills but of behavior and attitude.

Below is a link in which the cosplayers costumes and accessories are considered better than the originals. I tried finding a video of Masquerade cosplay but most of the characters I am not familiar with and really wouldn't know how well they were to the original. So feel free to look for yourself and share!

http://www.bitrebels.com/geek/10-epic-cosplay-costumes-that-are-better-than-the-originals/