Next to Normal

An excellent example of a Horby element in the music of Next to Normal is the element of progression. There are three songs entitled "Hey" throughout the play. The first one is the beginning of Henry and Natalie's uncertain relationship. The second is Henry's attempting to rekindle their relationship, and the third is comprised of more uncertainty, but this time the unsureness is in their relationship's future.

Another element is choice. Nearly every song is in a different genre and key. This may sound chaotic in theory, but the play is about mental illness after all. Each situation is different, so each song's being different is most fitting as well as most effective.

Topdog/Underdog

The theatricals mirrors in Topdog/Underdog seemed unrelated at the beginning of the play, but by the end, it appears that both of them are united by control. The card game is a trick that is all in the hands of the dealer. Lincoln is the master of this illusion, so much so that he even makes Booth think that he learned Lincoln's moves. This relates to President Lincoln in real life. He ruled the country, so he had a lot of power in his hands. His power was then taken by Booth, when he was killed, both in the play and in reality.

Water By The Spoonful

Quiara Alegria Hudes creates different worlds in Water By The Spoonful. There is the real, physical world in which the characters live and the online world, where the characters frequently interact. In certain points in the play, we see these two worlds collide with one another.

The most remarkable example of these worlds coming together in my opinion is in scene seven. In this scene, we see Odessa, AKA "Haikumom" interacting with other characters in the real world for this first time. Online, she is a saint of sorts: all the addicts look to her as a solid rock on which to rely and for hope that the addiction can be overcome. In real life though, she curses quite often, contradicting the way she censors everyone else on the forum. We also learn that she abandoned her two daughters when they were ill, resulting in the death of one of them.

I feel that this scene reflects back to Yaz's lesson on dissonance. Odessa in reality is completely off key from the way she is on the internet. This scene completely throws the audience off from what they had been led to believe about "Haikumom" so far and changes the pace of the play.

'Tis Pity She's A Whore

'Tis also a pity I'm slacking on my blog. Since I didn't read the entry prompt, my artifact project was comprised of things forbidden on this post. I know they weren't forbidden for the project, but I still feel like I did a bad job. Whoopsies...

Anyway, to the real subject of this post: The quotes I've selected and their corresponding poster designs show the pain and darkness which lie underneath the entirety of the play.

My first quote selection would have to be from Putana in Act 3 Scene 3, "'Tis too late to repent now. Heaven help us." For a poster, I see a solid black background with a pair of bloody hands in praying position, the only thing illuminated. The lettering of the title would be white and the quote would be printed in red.

Another quote I like is also from Act 3: "I'm sick, and sick to th' heart." This was said by Soranzo in Scene 2. A neat poster for this would be a dirty, aged, and distressed Red Cross flag covering the entire background, and in the foreground, the sad hunched silhouettes of Giovanni, Soranzo, and Annabella in black at the bottom of the poster. Within the black along the bottom edge would be the quote in red, and the title would be above the cross in black.

My final quote choice is "The more I strive, I love; the more I love, the less I hope," Giovanni, Act 1 Scene 2. This poster would focus solely on Giovanni, his silhouette, purple, in the bottom left corner, on knees with his head in his hands. The background is black. An ivory spotlight beams down on him from the top right corner. The bottom right of the light beam is the quote, the title across the top.

House of Trials

Assuming the norms of Spanish Golden Age comedias from reading House of Trials alone, a convention I would first note would be the lack of inner monologues and dramatic irony. As one reads through, they will notice the enormous amount of asides given by the characters. They communicate with the audience almost as much as they do the other characters, which leads to another convention: lack of the fourth wall. The characters seem to know that they are in a play. In act one scene one, Celia complains: "That's great! A monologue in the middle of the night by candelight? God forbid!" Another even more straightforward moment comes from act three scene one. Castaño, while dressing in women's clothes, says, "Please remember, ladies, that this is a play. Don't think that I hatched this scheme myself. I don't want to fool any of you, especially not Your Excellency." Both of these elements are interesting choices, and I believe they make the play more comical.

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Show & Tell Posting #2 - The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl

The Clean House, written by Sarah Ruhl, is the play I chose to read and write about on my blog. It was written in 2004 and premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre. This play can be found in the November 2004 issue of American Theatre magazine.

Lane, a doctor, hires Matilde to be her live-in maid. Matilde spends much of her time thinking of the perfect joke. Virginia, Lane’s sister, visits Lane's home while she’s not there, and she and Matilde make an agreement to let Virginia secretly clean the house, since she actually likes to. One day, while they are folding laundry, they find a pair of underwear that are not Lane's, and grow worried that Charles, Lane's husband, might be having an affair. Right then, Lane comes home and reveals that Charles is indeed having an affair with an older woman who’s his patient, Ana. At the end of the first act, Charles and Ana arrive at Lane's house. The second act begins with the surgery and the story of how they fell in love. We are then back to the end of act one. Charles and Ana apologize to Lane. Ana shortly becomes very ill, and Charles makes an excursion to Alaska to find a tree with healing properties. Upon visiting Ana, Lane knows her cancer is back. Lane takes Ana into her home to care for her. Ana knows she will die soon but wants to die before Charles gets home. Matilde whispers the perfect joke to her, and Ana dies gently, laughing. Charles returns, grieving.

One interesting dramaturgical choice made by Ruhl was to have Matilde be Brazilian and Ana be Argentinean. When they first meet, they speak each others language to one another, with slight variations and accents. I believe Ruhl did this in order to create a connection between the two and therefore more of an initial conflict between Lane and Ana. Lane feels very inferior to Ana and now she does not even have the same bond with her maid as Ana does, although later in the play she forgives Ana and cares for her. 

Another interesting choice I found was in the set design. Both of the houses were integrated into one. I think this also had to do with the unity of the separation and the togetherness of the occurrences. Even while Ana and Charles are enjoying time out on the balcony, they are still a part of Lane's life, because she doesn't stop thinking about them and she can't get Charles out of her head. Her home is still his after all.

I found this play very interesting, and it turned out a lot better than I had expected. I would really like to see a stage production to see the magic played out.