'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.

Comments!

http://wellhithereyou.blogspot.com/2013/11/eurydice.html?showComment=1383760314143#c636878529426590733

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http://paulina2130.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-childrens-hour.html?showComment=1383760842280#c6918132864975629646

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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.

Eurydice

The first quote that I would choose from Eurydice would be: "NO ONE KNOCKS AT THE DOOR OF THE DEAD!" This quote comes from the very tail end of the second movement, scene 20 loudly proclaimed by the stones. I chose it because it is an extremely loud, bold, and macabre statement that captures one's attention and peaks interest. It would be a sturdy base to a production; it creates great tension and a definite line between the overworld and the underworld. The knock that is referenced in this quote is Orpheus arriving in the underworld to find Eurydice, and the stones are clearly objecting him. I could see a pointed, strong production centered around Eurydice and Orpheus's struggling relationship and how fate seems to be doing all it can to keep them apart, focusing mainly on the latter. A possible set could contain many levels and types of barriers and generally rough surroundings.

The second quote I would select is: "It will be imprinted on my heart like wax." Said by Eurydice, it comes from movement 1 scene 1, as Orpheus is asking for her to remember a melody he wrote for her. It is basically a vow from Eurydice to Orpheus that she will never forget him and the things he does for her. This production would be focused more around the romance aspect of the play and really toy with the audiences emotions. The set would reflect how young and in love the two are: very colorful with modern aspects and soft textures, with dramatic lighting, especially of the hues of pink and purple, whenever they communicated or spoke of one another in a loving way.