Literature Review of Anne Washburn’s 10 out of 12 Anne Washburn’s play 10 out of 12 enables the audience to focus on an aspect of theatre that is little explored: Metatheatre. This literature review provides evidence in many methods Washburn uses in the play to concept to skew the perception of fiction and reality. Focus on script, setting, perspective and overall concept allows Washburn to take the concepts of metatheatre and transform it to create a unique audience experience. In ‘Strange Times’ Washburn explains to the interviewer how theatre is originally about “sitting in a dark space created by voices” (Washburn, Strange Times, page 43), and it is evident that she brings this concept to life in the play 10 out of 12. Tech rehearsals are …show more content…
The dramaturgy (the study of dramatic composition of the play) is unique, in that Washburn takes an innovative approach to writing this play by attending a real-life tech rehearsal, transcribing the dialogue that occurs in the room between actors, technicians, directors, producers, etc., condenses the transcription and uses the condensed version in her piece 10 out of 12. The play intertwines dialogue between various departments of theatre (actors, directors and technicians) and various mediums of sound (use of taped dialogue, live dialogue and headset dialogue) thus creating an experience that uses all the senses. Washburn’s realistic style of script shows her focus on the view that theatre is not meant to be watched but rather heard or experiences, her play is an experience so realistic that it makes the audience question whether it is reality or fiction. She uses real-life reference in an accurate manner which led to the conception of the script for 10 out of …show more content…
The first wall is of the play. The play is vaguely described as being in a Victorian era and has surreal scenes in the jungle or the ocean with mermaids. The actors are self-aware of their characters in the play. The technicians and directors work around the stage to work on the technical aspects of the play. The next fourth wall this breaks is that of the audience. The cast of the play are unaware of the audience, however, the audience is able to listen to dialogue that occurs throughout the theater, whether it is in the headsets between technicians, on stage between the actors playing their characters in the play and between the director and actors who make adjustments when necessary. The third fourth wall was at its edge of breaking, where the audience is almost unable to tell whether what they are experiencing is real or not. As an observer of the rehearsal of this play, this wall was broken when I understood that what I was watching was a rehersal of a play, of a rehearsal of a play. It was difficult to describe or understand when the cast of 10 out of 12 were actually in or out of character. The complexity of this play lies in the use of metatheatre, which has been exploited to its fullest extent
On October 22nd, at 7:30 pm, in Tarbutton Hall, I watched the play called, “Wit,” by Oxford College Theater. This play was written by Margaret Edson. Having read the play before, I was interested to see how Oxford Theater produced the play. The cast did a very good job being in character the whole time, and communicating to the audience. I could feel the emotions each character was going through.
Theatre 115 Response One Chapter 10 highlights the importance of the interaction between the audience and the performers. If the audience on a given night is altogether apathetic in regards to the performance they have gone to see, then it will serve as a negative impact on the overall confidence of the actors once they pick up on it. Theatre is often used to provide an insightful reflection of the way in which society is functioning at a given time. One example that was not listed in the book is Hair, which goes well with the other listed works critiquing the Vietnam War. Certainly, it is a piece that is capable, even today, of stirring up certain sentiments within an audience, even if the audience was not necessarily alive during the original
As you are watching the stage production, the actors might make a really funny joke that is made toward the other actor, but they look towards the audience and make funny faces and other things and the audience laughs and the actor that is being made fun of just sits there and ponders about what is going on. Another thing that is related to this topic is the the stage production can break the fourth wall and actually talk to the audience with makes for a better. Others can say that movies can have the same effect on people and it doesn’t matter if it is a stage production or movie. They might also say that there are movies that have broken the fourth wall like the movie Deadpool. In Deadpool the main actor talks to the audience all the time.
The frequent use of stage effects in Tennessee William’s A Street Car Named Desire makes it evident that the themes are not simply expressed just through dialogue, but also music and sound. The authors intent is to use these effects to set mood of a specific scene- or the whole play; to propose an idea, or an action; to show feeling of a character, and to let the audience know what he or she is thinking. These elements are not perceptible to the eye such as a prop but hearing and analyzing the sound and music in this play can create dramatic devices and ideas. It is the sound designer’s task to read the text, analyze the authors indications, collaborate with the director, and to mix or edit sounds. Williams used metaphors in his stage directions
The play uses many naturalistic techniques. These techniques are some of the most important elements of the play. The
There, oddities are strung closer than muscles against flesh. Who 's-it’s and what 's-its color the vocabulary of stagehands. A curtain partitions them far apart from those meddlesome onlookers and pairs of eyes and their disposal. No knives, but the daggers stared are present with twice the edge.
Isn’t it creepy when you’re watching a show and the actor randomly interacts with you? Kate Chopin’s 1894 published, “The Story of an Hour,” focuses on Louise Mallard, a 19th century woman who dreams to break the chains of misogyny. "The Story of an Hour" was later turned into a 1984 film starring Frances Conroy. The Joy That Kills, a film adaptation of Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour,” uses the fourth-wall breaking dramatic convention to explain Louise’s life.
The purpose of this analysis is to examine how the production helps convey the stories via theatrical space, production design, Lighting, Props, Actors, costumes and Sound. I was immediately impressed with the theatrical ambiance of the theater space. A Ghost Tale used a realistic set which allowed the major action of the story to be the focal point of attention. The set included tables and chairs as props to enhance the look and feel of students being held in detention. The performance enlightens the audiences about the Ghost of The Breakey Theater which caused its students to disappear one by one due to their lack of commitment.
The audience was entertained the whole time as there was an Actor-Audience relationship maintained the whole time with direct and live interaction. Grotowski says that theatre “cannot exist without the actor-spectator relationship of perceptual, direct. ‘live’ communion.” And this is what the production of Boy Girl Wall has
Hands” (Washburn 51). In the scene, he starts of being poetic and modernist, but later breaks it with a comedic and parodic comment about hammish hands. By parodying the past, 10 Out of 12 goes against “the canon of modern drama” (Carlson 510; Banes and Caroll). In doing so, 10 Out of 12 opts for harmony between modernism and
Throughout the play, readers can unquestionably witness the
At times you get confused and lost at times but through the play, you could feel and get a better understanding through the thrilling horror and tragedies. The atmosphere and scenery of the castle as you sit and watch as a man in cap walk-in in slow motion with music directing his every move picking up candles and leaves while directs us to the play. As the music guide, you can feel as though it
It is not concrete, we are subjected to it but we also make our own. It could be argued that the theatre therefore, and theatre companies, should make it a responsibility to attempt a subversion of commonplace responses and make the well-known fresh and meaningful again. For the theatre company ‘d’Animate’, formed in 2011 by Michael Rivers and Will Mytum from East 15 Acting School, the latter statement encompasses their approach to work by tackling classic texts and most recently, new writing of their own. They explicitly manipulate the binary
Drama is literature written for performance--or at least written in a style that would allow for stage performance. As a text form, drama can be thought of as story told though spoken remarks and stage directions(Kurland ,2000) .When we hear the term drama we think fun, excitement , expression of one’s self . A famous quote says that “play is not in the words, it’s in you” (Steller Adler). In the world of drama it is essential that we understand the difference between Process and Product Drama.