My Favorite Scene

As I mentioned in my last post, our class is reading "Romeo and Juliet." We read up to Act 2 for class, which I really liked. My favorite scene is the second scene in Act 2, because of many different reasons.
One reason that Scene 2 is the best scene from Act 2 is the valuable information about the time period. One example is when Juliet offers to give up her family so she can marry Romeo shows how strong her love for Romeo is, as without her family or a husband she could not survive during this time. Another important information given about the time is when Romeo says "See how she leans her cheek upon her hand. O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek! (24-16)" This quote shows how limited touching was involved in romantic relationships during Shakespeare's time and how much people could desire having what is now considered basic him a contact with someone they are in a romantic relationship with. This point is again shown later when Juliet herself compares Romeo's last name to parts of his body. These are only a few of the examples of historical information contained in Scene 2 Act 2, which is a reason behind my enjoyment of the play.
Another reason I like Scene 2 the best of the Act 2 scenes is because Romeo's lines are romantic, but in a melodramatic way. Most of his dialogue is exaggerated love poems about Juliet. One example of his poems is "what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief (2-5)." This shows how extremely outrageous, almost comical, Romeo's love is for Juliet, because he compares her to the beautiful center of his world. The audience knows that he really thinks this about her, because of his previous dialogue addressing love in a similar fashion, and the fact that he is talking to himself.Throughout the rest of the scene, he continues to do similar comparisons between Juliet to show her how amazing he thinks she is. He also asks her to marry him, without taking into account that he has only known him for a few hours. Romeo's melodramatic, romantic dialogue is another one of my favorite part of Scene 2 in Act 2.
I like Scene 2 from Act 2 because it is quite funny for an audience member watching ot in the current time period. One example is Juliet not being creeped out over the fact that Romeo was watching from the balcony. It is also quite funny in the world today that they were so interested in touching each other, in an almost creepy way, as Romeo desperately wants to touch her face. Juliet and Romeo also decide to get married after knowing each other for a few hours, which is a bad idea today, and hints that this may be the worst case senario for people who get married in Vagus.
These are only three of the any reasons that I enjoy Scene 2 the most from all the other five scenes in Act 2 of "Romeo and Juliet." I can not wait to re-read more of the play.
Well, that is all for now. I will write back next week. Bye-bye.  

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In-class Writing- Romeo and Juliet: Balcony Scene

Juliet from her balcony talks with  Romeo who is on the ground level in lines 36 through lines 45 in Act 2 Scene 2 . She starts by calls for Romeo and asks him where he is.  She then asks him to disown himself from his father. She also asks him not use Montague as his last name, so they can be together. She then tells Romeo that she is not accepting being part of the Capulets, so that they can be together if Romeo does the same.
 Romeo then answers Juliet by asking her if she will continue to speak, which she does. Juliet explains that it is not him that is her enemy, but in fact it is her name. She also says that his identity is not as a Montague, but as Romeo and that his last name does not matter to her.

Romeo and Juliet: Into Blog

In my Literature and Performance class, we just started reading our first play during the school year. We are reading the play by William Shakespeare, ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ We started to read it this week and are almost done with the first act. Since we just started to read it, Mrs. G asked us to write a little about what we knew about the play before we read it and our impressions from what we read so far on our blogs for a homework assignment.

I actually read ‘Romeo and Juliet’ already. I was assigned to read it in my seventh grade English class, so I remember the whole story and all the characters. We had to memorize the prologue, which I still remember, for the most part.  We, also, actually acted some parts of the play out during class. I got to play Juliet in class, which I really enjoyed doing. I also did a monologue about "Romeo and Juliet" and love last year in acting class for our monologue assignment.

I liked "Romeo and Juliet" the first time I read it and I still like it now. I liked how it featured many complex characters and there was a lot of funny parts of it. My favorite character is Juliet, because she was somewhat sarcastic and smart, especially compares to some of the other characters. My opinion is somewhat biased, as I played her and you always have to love any character you act out.

Despite the fact that I did really enjoy the play,  I did, however, think that it was highly melodramatic at some parts. I also did not like the ending, as I thought it was too sad and would have a preferred an ending where at least half the characters lived. I also found it hard to like some of the characters, such as Romeo, because of flaws that they have in their characteristics. Despite the fact that I did not like Romeo, I HATED Paris. This was because  I was always frustrated by his presence, he did not really do anything important, besides mess everything up and bother everyone, and could not notice the fact that no one really liked him.

Using the first act, Romeo is highly pretentious. He is highly melodramatic about everything that he says or does, especially when it comes to love. He likes to all in poems. He also exaggerates his experience with "love" and Rosiland in a way that seems excessive, was shown when he said,  "Why, such is love's transgression. Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast, which thou wilt propagate, to have it prest with more of thine: this love that thou hast shown doth add more grief to too much of mine own. Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; Being vex'd a sea nourish'd with lovers' tears" (Act 1,  Scene 1). These are only some of Romeo's pretentious ways that are present in the part we read so far.

In the part that we read so far, Juliet has not said or done very much. Still she is presented as being  tactful, smart, and slightly sarcastic. This is shown when she somewhat defies her mother when she tells her that she has to marry Paris, despite not knowing him and being about half his age. She does this by saying, "It is an honour that I dream not of," which is probably said sarcastically (Act 1 Scene 3). These are some of the few characteristics of Juliet that come through in her short time on stage.

That's all for now, but I'm very excited to re-read 'Romeo and Juliet.' I'lol write again next week. Bye-bye for now.

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Romeo and Juliet: Summary of Scene One and Scene Two

In the first scene of the first act, two pairs of servants, one working for the Montagues and the other working from the Capulets, fight, until Benvolio comes in and breaks it up. Tybalt then comes into the scene, and he fights with Benvolio making a lot of people including the heads of both families, go into the streets after hearing the noise. The Prince then comes in to tell them to stop fighting and yells at them. Then Lady Montague and Benvolio talk about Romeo. Romeo then enters the stage and complains the Benvolio about how lovesick he is after Rosaland  broke up with him to become a nun.
In the next scene, Paris and Montague talk about his plans to marry Juliet. They also talk about a party that Montague is having and Montague sends a servant to deliver the invitation. Then Romeo and Benvolio come in, find an invitation, and plan to crash it.      

The Curious Incedent of the Play In London

Over the summer, I read “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Simon Stephens and Mark Haddon. I watched a video on a production of the play done in London, which I was assigned to write about.
The directorial team made the play have elements that are unusual for plays and heavily fantasy based. The production was interesting with many special effects, stunts, and minimal sets, which was intentional by the directors to add many layers to the play.
Dance-like sequences that the directorial team added provides important insight for audiences. As Christopher has autism, he sees the world as confusing and upsetting, like the dance-like sequence, which helps give the play his voice by showing these feelings in a visual way. The dance-like sequence communicate Christopher’s dislike and being uncomfortable, making it more relatable for the audience, as they see it as random and chaotic. At the same time, the randomness separates the audience from Christopher, as the sequences are unrealistic. This benefits the play, because it is about how Christopher is an outsider. There are many reasons why the directorial team included the  dance-like sequences and the large impact it had on the play.
The directorial team included stunts in their production for many reasons. It helps show how unreal the play is. It helps the viewer understand that this is only the way that one autistic boy sees these events, as he sees the world in this manor that may seem strange to some. The stunts are somewhat helpful for the transitions between settings, as they can seem chaotic, but if it is surrounded by unrealistic events, it makes it easier to follow. There were stunts in the production that the directorial team added that served many purposes.
Having only tan blocks as a set is a choice that the directors made for several reasons.  The limited set shows how the setting is not very important compares to the characters and their actions. It strips the importance of colors from the script and novel from their production, as tan is not a color Christopher has strong feelings about. The block are important in making it easy for the crew and cast to make the set changes and perform. It can work against the audience, as all the blocks are identical and sets might look similar, confusing them. Blocks as the only set pieces picked by the directorial team serve several different purposes.
Projecting the writing from the book on the floor has an important impact on the play. The writing helps give the audience a fuller view of the play. It also can help explain complex topics in science and math that Christopher talks about in the play, making it easier for the audience to visually see it. It also shows how Christopher’s brain functions, as some of the writings were organized in a strange fashion. Showing the writing on the floor was done by the directors for many significant reasons.
I liked how the stunts and dance-like sequences added intriguing layers to the play. I liked the writing on the floor, as it included parts of the book left out by a play version, and gives the audience a better understanding of Christopher. I did not like the blocks, because I think it would be hard to differentiate between settings. I do, however, like the idea of boxes, but would have had them be multi-colored, so they are easier to tell apart.
Thats all for now. Bye-bye.

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Literature vs Performance and Plays vs novels

In class this week, we have talked a lot about literature and performance. Literature can be defined as writing that links ideas that are intended to interest people (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/literature?s=t). Literature has some similarities and differences to performance, which can be defined as some form of entertainment, which is often includes dramatics and/or music, that is performed for an audience (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/performance?s=t).
Literature and performance have many similarities. They both have the intention of telling stories to the viewer/reader. This storytelling is also heavily reliant on the characters that it portrays and make their audience experience emotion. Performance and literature have  large amounts of variety and genres. This variety in both is impacted by who each pieces' intended audience is. These are only some of the common traits between literature and performance.
Despite the many similarities between literature and performance, they both have many differences between them. The performers are in front of the audience and people view it together, making performances more connected with both their audience and the viewers with other people. This is unlike literature, because there are only words that connect to the reader, instead of other people, and literature is usually viewed alone. There is less room for imagination in performances, as the sets and characters are displayed to the audience, while viewers of literature have to picture the setting and characters in their heads. These are some of the many differences between
Two examples of literature are novels and plays. They have many differences and similarities. A play is defined as a written work that is dramatic and intended to be performed in front of others (Google.com). The definition of a novel is a long, complex written work with a sequential events and is fictitious (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/novel?s=t).
Both plays and novels have more similarities than being literature. In bot the reader only sees written words. They both are very centered on the characters in their works, as they are the center of the story and they often center around them changing during the course of the story. They both have similar orders of events, as both plays and novels follow sequential action, and occasionally have flashback. These are only some of the more important similarities novels share with plays.
Plays and novels have big differences. The format for plays and novels are  from each other, as novels are told through paragraphs that include description, dialogue, and often let the reader see into characters thoughts. This is almost completely different from plays, which usually have only dialogue and a somewhat brief description of the set. This enables there to be more freedom for interpreting in the setting in plays than novels, because usually novels' descriptions are more specific than in plays. The reader of a play also has to intemperate and compensate from only getting dialogue instead of descriptions and often getting to see the character's thoughts. Novels and plays have several key differences that are very important distinctions that separate the two genres from each other, as they also have many characteristics that they both have.
That's all for now. Write to you soon. Bye-bye for now.

V.s.

Ronald Hayman Quote

The quote by Ronald Hayman means that a play is between a script and a production in size. This is because a play is the scripted version of the production done exactly as the playwright intended and only the stage directions in the script are acted out.  This is very different from a script, which is the written down dialogue and stage directions that the playwright intended, as a play is somewhat bigger than a script. A play is also smaller than a production, which is the acted out interpretation of the play that slightly differs from the original.
This quote makes me think about the differences between several different ideas in theater.  The differences in size and definitions of a script, production, and play come to my mind when examining this quote.  The differences between each time a play is done, both by different and the same people, also come to mind. The productions' differences are also varied, as some changes are intentional and pre-planed while others happen unintentionally and spontaneously.

The Story of My Life

My name is Maddy L. I am a sixteen year old Junior at CA. I have been going to CA for five years. I take a bus to school, as I live far away. I am also a full IB student this year, so I have seven classes and have tons of work to do.  My favorite subjects in school are English, Theater, and History, which is why I am so excited for this class, as it combines English and Theater, two of my favorite subjects.
I live with my little sister, my dad, my mom, my grandma,  my younger brother, and my little naked mole rat/ dog, Tazzy, We call her a naked mole rat, because her curly hair got so matted that my mom had to have the groomer shave it all off, leaving us with a short haired dog that looks entirely different. She still is very cute, but after having her for a year, she still does not like me and only sees me as a giant chew toy.
I love spending time with my family, especially my cousins. I have seven  cousins, one set of eighteen year old quadruplets and three little cousins. I spent three days with my little cousins over the summer in their South Hampton house and had so much fun. I watched "Star Wars" with them for the first time, go on lots of trampolines, and go to a concert in the park.
I love spending time with my friend. My best friend, Elise and I love having sleepovers and watching movies. My friend from Greece, Jordan, and I also text a lot as she lives in South Carolina. I also love hanging out with my theater friends, which often results in us singing songs.
  Another one of my many loves in life is traveling. I have been to five countries in Europe. I love getting to go to new places to learn about history and different cultures, especially from museums. I love going to museums so much that I have been to the Natural History Museum in New York City, the British Museum, and the Smithsonian, (all the museums in the "Night at the Museum" movies). My love for museums is not shared by my siblings, though. This summer, when I also got to go to the National Museum in Athens,Greece, they were kicking and screaming the whole way through it, but I do have to admit it was mostly just pots and pans.
Acting is another one of my passions, which I was drawn to at a young age as it invokes no athletic ability whatsoever, which I have never had. I do it after school and am taking this class to do more of it. I have been in many different plays, such as "Galileo," "The Madwoman of Chaiot," "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," "Kiss Me, Kate,"  "Christmas Carol," and "Bone Chiller." "Bone Chiller" was my favorite because I got to have the most fun with my character Pippi. It got to play a comic role, which is my favorite kind of acting. I also love improvising, because I love getting to be creative and in charge of the scene.
That is all for my first blog post. I'll write back soon. Bye-bye for now.