Sunday, November 25, 2018

View of Fall Play

        

The Importance of Being Earnest

Writer: Oscar Wilde
Director: Mr. Aronson
               Ms. Gaurino
               Ms. Riccio
Art: Peter Deng
Tech: McBreen
Cast:
Jack Worthing---
Algernon Moncrieff--- Aaron
Gwendolen Fairfax---Amalia
Lady Bracknell---Linda
Cecily Cardew--- Mao
Miss Prism--- Helen
The Reverend Canon Chasuble--- Zoe


The fall play this year is The Importance of Being Earnest, a comedy wrote by Oscar Wilde.  It is about two awkward love stories between Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff.  Jack Worthing love the relatives, Gwendolen, of Algernon, and Algernon falls in love with Cecily, ward of Worthing.  The two ladies also love them only if their names are Earnest.  Earnest represents Honest, and the two families value honesty.  However, if two gentlemen want to gain the ladies' heart, they have to lie that their names are Earnest.  Therefore, when both ladies meet and talk about their fiancees, Earnest, drama appears.  In the end, their true identities are exposed, but the two girls forgive them.

The most surprise I got from the show is the new arrangement of the stage.  The stage is used to face the fire exit way, the long pathway to the exit door.  The stage was using the long side of the rectangle black box, but now the stage is using the wide side of the black box.  Then, the stage extends to the audience seats. (the T shape stage). The triangles are changing their position on the stage to show the changing setting.  In the past, stage crew painted on the three walls of triangles to show the different scene.  However, we can know the setting place is different by seeing the position of the triangles, and stage crews do not have to paint on the walls.  It not only preserves the function of triangles but also creates a more dimensional stage.

The cast also did great jobs.  I really like Algernon not because of his personality but the feeling of the acting out his personality.  His personality is too rare to be seen in the school life.  Maybe some people do have the same personalities as Algernon has, such as playful and flamboyant, but they are not as exaggerated as Algernon.  Aaron exaggerated this character's behavior and actions to make this figure more clear.  It is excellent.  (I bet Aaron must enjoy playing Alganon. :).  This character's behavior makes me think of another character I insanely loved for a while: captain of Jack Sparrow.  I love seeing them in the movie or on the stage, and I also want to try to play this kind of roles.  Helen also did a good job playing Ms. Prism.  I like her articulation and her pronunciation.  She was always nagging on the stage, which it perfectly match her character, an old teacher who was warring on a lot of things all the time.  The only shortcoming for her is her pinky clothes.  I do not think a grandma who is much older than me can wear clothes much more fashionable and fresh than I wear. (Yes, I was a little bit jealous.  A grandma has a better taste in clothes!)

Talking about clothes, I think the customs fit every character.  There are two big comparisons: one is between Jack and Algernon, and the other is between Gwendolen and Cecily.  Compare to Algernon, Jack is a more honest person.  Therefore, he wears the cold-colored suit.  Algernon is not a serious person.  His long red tailcoat made me think he is not trustworthy, even though he is cute.  Cecily and Gwendolen wear the same colored dress, but the style shows that Cecily is more traditional and Gwendolen wears the new dress to show a spirit of independent feminism.






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