Play Synopsis: Oleanna

Carol, a female college student, privately meets with her male professor. She is concerned about failing the class. She is frustrated because she doesn’t understand the professor’s overly verbose lectures.
At first the professor (John) is callous with her, but when she explains that she feels incompetent, he expresses empathy for her. Because he “likes her,” he bends the rules and decides to give her an “A” if she agrees to meet with him to discuss the material, one on one.

During most of Act One, the teacher is abrupt, interruptive, and distracted by continual phone calls about real estate problems. When the student does get a chance to speak, it is difficult for her to express herself clearly. Their conversation becomes personal and sometimes upsetting. He touches her shoulder on several occasions, urging her to sit down or to remain in the office.

Finally, she is about to confess something deeply personal, but the phone rings yet again and she never discloses her secret. An unknown amount of time passes (probably a few days), and John meets with Carol again. However, it is not to discuss education or philosophy. The student has written a formal complaint about the professor’s behavior. She feels that the instructor was lewd and sexist. Also, she claims that his physical contact was a form of sexual harassment. Interestingly, Carol is now very well spoken. She criticizes him with great clarity and mounting hostility.

The teacher is astounded that his previous conversation was interpreted in such an offensive way. Despite John’s protests and explanations, Carol is unwilling to believe that his intentions were good. When she decides to leave, he holds her back. She becomes scared and rushes out the door, calling for help. During their final confrontation, the professor is packing up his office. He has been fired. Perhaps because he is a glutton for punishment, he invites the student back to make sense out of why she destroyed his career. Carol has now become even more powerful. She spends much of the scene pointing out her instructor’s many flaws. She declares she is not out for revenge; instead she has been prompted by “her group” to take these measures.At this point, John explodes and begins beating her mercilessly as the curtain falls.

Performance Analysis: Serra High School's Hamlet

I just got home from seeing Serra High School's production of Hamlet. This is the third Shakespearean play I have seen the Serra theatre program produce; previously I attended their performances of As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet, and I was severely disappointed by both shows. Thus, I was expecting tonight's show to be equally terrible. However, I was pleasantly surprised. While this was certainly not a great production of Hamlet, there were moments of inspiration which made the show at times rather enjoyable.

The titular role was played by Jeff Thomson, a friend of mine whose performances have always been a diamond in the rough in the otherwise dismal Serra theatre program. However, in this case I think he was in over his head. There is a reason why Hamlet is considered the ultimate role for a serious actor. The role requires an incredible level of emotional depth and subtlety, things which Thomson just doesn't have enough of. Thomson is a very strong comedic actor, and his comedic talents shined in this show; however, Hamlet is not a comedy, and Thomson often inserted humorous meaning into lines that are supposed to be played seriously. In the most tense and emotionally stirring moments of the show - Hamlet's confrontations with Gertrude and Ophelia, the ending scene - Thomson shined, suddenly finding the truth behind the character.

There were a few other standout performances. Brianna Terrel played a captivatingly disturbed Ophelia. Nate Adams was very good as Laertes, his believable brotherly affection towards Ophelia making him one of the only sympathetic characters in this performance. Bao Do, as the First Player, turned a minor part into a show-stealing performance, relishing the theatricality and boisterousness of the role to great effect.

These standouts, though, were not enough to redeem the show's overall lack of effort, professionalism, and serious approach to Shakespeare's work. King Claudius, rather than being sinister and arrogant, was played by Riku Wade as a pretty nice and reasonable guy. Queen Gertrude was butchered even worse; Elizabeth Mills discharged the role with the one-note, deadpan, pouty angst of Kristen Stewart, sapping the emotional energy and tension from every scene she was a part of. It was really impossible to care about anything that was going on, since the principal antagonists were so dull and empty. This and the general lack of diction exhibited by the entire cast made the show difficult to follow and even harder to care about.

Production Analysis: Little Women

SDSU's production of Little Women The Musical was, in all honesty, a disappointing end to the semester. I found the play to be bland and forgettable. I was originally set to stage crew the show, but due to a scheduling issue I was unable to. Maybe if I had been involved in the show I would have had a better experience with it, but as an audience member I was underwhelmed.

I have few negative things to say about the acting. Overall, I felt that the actors discharged their roles with gusto, enthusiasm, and talent. Kati, in the lead role as Jo March, was effervescent and endearing. She captured the eager, plucky attitude of the character well. Rafi Cedeño was amusing, if not fully believable, as the crotchety Mr. Lawrence. Tommy Vendafreddo was lovable as the chipper romantic Lead, Laurie, and his wonderful singing voice was a highlight of the show. Michelle Tymich's performance as the jealous and juvenile Amy was impressive, especially considering that she took on the role only two weeks before the show opened. I especially enjoyed Tim Allen as the uptight but loving Professor Bhaer. Allen, in addition to looking the part (and having a dashingly powerful surname), has a gift for playing the awkward nice guy who finishes first in the end. When he and Jo end up together, gangly dudes like me have a silent moment of vicarious triumph. The real standout performer of the show, though, was Cassie Abate as Beth. She deftly juxtaposed external fragility with inner strength, and she consistently came off as loving and hopeful. Her final scene was the most powerful moment of the show.


However, the talented actors were working with a really mediocre script. The plot is formulaic and forgettable; I understand that it is based on a novel which is very popular and considered a classic, but to me it was totally dull. Worse than the script was the music. Bland and unmemorable, the score lacked any standout numbers. The songs all served merely as tools to advance the plot, and have no self-contained value outside of the show. The hallmark of any great musical is that a person who has never seen the show could still buy the cast recording, listen to the music, and love it. This is not the case for Little Women. I understand why the show was not successful on Broadway, and though I can see its value for high school productions I think the SDSU Musical Theatre program is of too high a caliber to perform such a lame show.

Response: Freeing The Natural Voice

Kristin Linklater's Freeing The Natural Voice is basically a step-by-step manual for realizing the full potential of the human voice. It offers a series of exercises and pieces of advice designed to help actors increase their breath control, vocal range, and emotive capacity. I first picked up this book for my Voice Acting class last year, and I found it extremely helpful. At the time, I already had very well-developed breath control because of the four years I spent in marching band in high school. However, this semester I decided to revisit the book because I have found my breath control totally out of whack. Using the lessons and exercises taught in this book I have been able to begin my efforts to regain the superb breath control I once had.

Linklater's whole philosophy and approach towards expanding the voice is based on the idea that the tensions and idiosyncrasies that every person picks up throughout the course of our day-to-day lives are the worst enemy of the optimal voice. In order to develop one's voice to its full potential, once must first focus on eliminating those tensions. This can be achieved through a series of carefully targeted vocal exercises, many of which are laid out in this book.

The exercises are designed to stretch out the spine, open the throat, relax the diaphragm, and direct the voice to its optimal vocal positions. They are especially useful because they rely on imagery; they ask participants to picture the voice in a variety of ways which, though anatomically misleading, help put the voice in ways that feel correct. For example, even though breath is drawn in and out of the lungs, which are in the chest, Linklater asks readers to try to use breath to fill the abdomen and pelvic cavity; though in an anatomical sense this is impossible, picturing the voice in this way inspires the readers to take very deep and expansive breaths instead of the shallow breaths most people take during their everyday lives.

Since I am, as a general rule, a very tense, stiff, and physically idiosyncratic person, this book was tailor-made for people like me. In high school the exercises I did in marching band allowed me to cultivate a very strong and relaxed voice, with excellent diaphragmatic support; however, since graduating I have stopped doing vocal and physical exercises, and my breath control has suffered dramatically. Though I still have a strong and loud voice, it is no longer supported by a healthy breath control. My hectic schedule during this semester limited my ability to commit to the regimen suggested by this book, but when I did have a chance to perform some of the exercises I found them remarkably helpful. After doing the stretch and relaxation exercises, I found that my voice dropped significantly, to its natural pitch, and the tension I usually feel in my shoulders, neck, and back was dramatically reduced. If I can make it so that they way I feel after these exercises is the way I feel all the time, my vocal abilities can reach a level I have never experienced before.

I plan to commit fully to following Linklater's exercise regimen over the summer. By the time I return to SDSU next year, I will have developed my voice so that I can blow all of you away at generals!

Play Synopsis: Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe

Doctor Faustus, a well-respected German scholar, grows dissatisfied with the limits of traditional forms of knowledge—logic, medicine, law, and religion—and decides that he wants to learn to practice magic. His friends Valdes and Cornelius instruct him in the black arts, and he begins his new career as a magician by summoning up Mephastophilis, a devil. Despite Mephastophilis’s warnings about the horrors of hell, Faustus tells the devil to return to his master, Lucifer, with an offer of Faustus’s soul in exchange for twenty-four years of service from Mephastophilis. Meanwhile, Wagner, Faustus’s servant, has picked up some magical ability and uses it to press a clown named Robin into his service.
Mephastophilis returns to Faustus with word that Lucifer has accepted Faustus’s offer. Faustus experiences some misgivings and wonders if he should repent and save his soul; in the end, though, he agrees to the deal, signing it with his blood. As soon as he does so, the words “Homo fuge,” Latin for “O man, fly,” appear branded on his arm. Faustus again has second thoughts, but Mephastophilis bestows rich gifts on him and gives him a book of spells to learn. Later, Mephastophilis answers all of his questions about the nature of the world, refusing to answer only when Faustus asks him who made the universe. This refusal prompts yet another bout of misgivings in Faustus, but Mephastophilis and Lucifer bring in personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins to prance about in front of Faustus, and he is impressed enough to quiet his doubts.
Armed with his new powers and attended by Mephastophilis, Faustus begins to travel. He goes to the pope’s court in Rome, makes himself invisible, and plays a series of tricks. He disrupts the pope’s banquet by stealing food and boxing the pope’s ears. Following this incident, he travels through the courts of Europe, with his fame spreading as he goes. Eventually, he is invited to the court of the German emperor, Charles V (the enemy of the pope), who asks Faustus to allow him to see Alexander the Great, the famed fourth-century b.c. Macedonian king and conqueror. Faustus conjures up an image of Alexander, and Charles is suitably impressed. A knight scoffs at Faustus’s powers, and Faustus chastises him by making antlers sprout from his head. Furious, the knight vows revenge.
Meanwhile, Robin, Wagner’s clown, has picked up some magic on his own, and with his fellow stablehand, Rafe, he undergoes a number of comic misadventures. At one point, he manages to summon Mephastophilis, who threatens to turn Robin and Rafe into animals (or perhaps even does transform them; the text isn’t clear) to punish them for their foolishness.
Faustus then goes on with his travels, playing a trick on a horse-courser along the way. Faustus sells him a horse that turns into a heap of straw when ridden into a river. Eventually, Faustus is invited to the court of the Duke of Vanholt, where he performs various feats. The horse-courser shows up there, along with Robin, a man named Dick (Rafe in the A text), and various others who have fallen victim to Faustus’s trickery. But Faustus casts spells on them and sends them on their way, to the amusement of the duke and duchess.
As the twenty-four years of his deal with Lucifer come to a close, Faustus begins to dread his impending death. He has Mephastophilis call up Helen of Troy, the famous beauty from the ancient world, and uses her presence to impress a group of scholars. An old man urges Faustus to repent, but Faustus drives him away. Faustus summons Helen again and exclaims rapturously about her beauty. But time is growing short. Faustus tells the scholars about his pact, and they are horror-stricken and resolve to pray for him. On the final night before the expiration of the twenty-four years, Faustus is overcome by fear and remorse. He begs for mercy, but it is too late. At midnight, a host of devils appears and carries his soul off to hell. In the morning, the scholars find Faustus’s limbs and decide to hold a funeral fo

Scene Process Paper

Play Analysis

The play begins with Frankie and Johnny, two coworkers, having just had sex. Throughout the rest of the play, intense and straightforward Johnny attempts to convince hesitant and isolated Frankie that they are destined for something deeper and more real than just casual sex. Johnny is in love with Frankie and convinced that they are soulmates; Frankie has given up on finding love, and she is intimidated and overwhelmed by Johnny's passionate overtures. However, by the time the curtain has gone down at the end of the play, Johnny's heart-on-his-sleeve earnestness has won Frankie's heart, and the play ends the same way it began, with the two lovers in each other's arms.

Character Arc

As the character description at the beginning of the play states, Johnny's best feature is his personality, and he works at it. From the outset of the play it is clear that he loves to talk at length about almost any topic, and that he is extremely open about his feelings. His intense personality and frankness are overwhelming to Frankie, but he is nothing if not persistent. This is likely not the first woman to whom Johnny has made these sorts of passionate overtures, and he seems to be a person who chronically tries too hard in most aspects of his life. He wears his heart on his sleeve, which is bizarre for Frankie as they have only been on one date. He tries various tactics and approaches to winning Frankie over, and it is obvious that he is attempting to be what he thinks she wants him to be. His exuberance hides a deep insecurity, which is slowly revealed throughout the course of the play. His lack of education, his unremarkable appearance, his scarred hands and his tendency to talk too much are all aspects of himself about which Johnny is ashamed. Johnny is very intelligent, and he carries around a dictionary and a Shakespeare collection in order to educate himself (or at least to project the appearance of being educated). However, Johnny is also courageous. He confesses his love to Frankie, and even though she is horrified, he is unfazed. When he calls the radio station they've been listening to to make a romantic request for Frankie, and in the process tells the DJ the touching story of the night's events, it appears that Frankie has finally given in to his advances. As they prepare to make love, Johnny reveals that he is forty-eight years old; clearly Johnny feels as though he is running out of time to find love, and he sees in Frankie a chance to solidify a real future before it's too late. Act One ends with the couple making love. However, Act Two opens with the couple taking a "momentary hiatus" after Johnny failed to rise to the occasion. They get to talking about suicide, and Johnny admits that he sometimes feels so isolated from the people around him that he contemplates killing himself. He goes on to reveal that he is a divorcee with two kids, spent two years in a New Jersey prison for forgery, and used to have a drinking problem. He begins to cry when he tells Frankie about the first time he went to visit his kids after the divorce. He and Frankie then begin to get intimate, but after he asks her to go down on him and she refuses, they erupt into an argument. Johnny is almost ready to storm out of the apartment, but instead he gives one last eloquent, romantic monologue. Frankie is so moved that they end the play in each other's arms listening to "The Clair De Lune" as the sun rises. Johnny's persistence and earnest courage have carried the day, and he has found a true connection just when he feared it was too late.

Character Objectives

In the scene Miku and I performed, Johnny wants to get Frankie to believe that they are meant to be together. His active verbs are persuade, emphasize, and grow closer to Frankie. Johnny sees that Frankie is starting to get cold feet, and he wants to find a way to get her to see that he is indeed what she is looking for. Near the end of the scene, Johnny is trying to set up the perfect moment, and muster up the courage, to express his deepest romantic feelings to Frankie.

Rehearsal Process

Our first formal rehearsal of this scene was in class. We got about half-way through the scene before one of us flubbed a line (probably me, but I don't remember) and Peter stopped us. The scene went okay for out first time doing it, but we were definitely visibly uncertain about the text and the blocking. We got the comments that I expected to get; Miku was told to work on her diction, and I was told to work on making the character of Johnny more masculine, more grown up, and less like myself. We had our work cut out for us.

Our second rehearsal was with Rafi. We focused a lot on blocking. The table Miku and I were sitting at during the rehearsal was rather long, and the distance between us made it difficult for the intimacy and closeness of the characters to come across. Rafi suggested that in order to fix this issue I should gradually find ways to inch closer to her throughout the course of the scene, so that by the end I am very close to her for my big confession. This rehearsal was really useful for us. Even though we later ended up scrapping a lot of the blocking we created that day, we kept the chemistry and the playfulness we developed during our meeting with Rafi.

Our third rehearsal was with Peter, and this was probably the one where we developed most of the ideas we ended up using in our final performance. Before this rehearsal we had been sitting at a large table, but the spacial restrictions of Peter's office forced us to use his couch instead. This ended up being fantastic for us, because it forced us to be very close to each other for the entire scene. The chemistry which had been so sorely lacking up to this point was suddenly created out of necessity. By this time, Miku and I had been doing a lot of independent practice, so we had memorized all of our lines and made a lot of progress on our characterizations. This allowed us, with Peter's help, to fine-tune a lot of physical choices we were making.

Final Performance

Our final performance went pretty well, I think. While doing the scene, I definitely felt a little bit disconnected from Miku when we were performing the scene; however, by the end I think the scene came together nicely. There were a few unexpected curveballs thrown my way during the scene: the sandwich that Miku bought me had mayonnaise and olives in it - both of which I detest - so I ended up having to mime taking bites of it. Also, Miku ended up handing me an imaginary salt shaker in the scene, which I was not anticipating. Having never worked with the space object before in our rehearsals, I had no idea what to do with it. When the scene was over, a couple students pointed out that I had forgotten about the salt shaker during the scene and "dropped it", which was a totally fair criticism. My fellow students also criticized my gestures (dammit!) and my voice, which was apparently too high-pitched. They really seemed to love Miku, though, and everyone complimented us on our chemistry. This was odd since I actually felt visibly detached from her through most of the scene, but I was glad to hear that it didn't come off that way to the audience. Peter told me that physically I still had not created a defined character, and urged me to work tirelessly next semester on my ability to create characters physically. I'm really going to need to step it up next semester. The last thing in the world I want is for people to think that I'm not working hard at what I do. I am very frustrated that as of yet I have not been able to drop my little quirks that make me me. Next semester, though... next semester!!!

Final Scene Performance Critiques

Allie and Kalei:
-Your chemistry was good as friends, but I didn't feel romantic tension
-Card game seemed unmotivated
+Seemed really conversational, which was a good thing

Anna and Adam:
+Adam, I really saw the stiffness this time, which was great
+Anna, you seemed really confrontational and aggressive
-Blocking seemed formulaic and uncreative
-Characters could have been more theatrical (This is comedy, guys!)

Sammie and Morgan:
-Characters were only half-realized: I needed more of a contrast
+The funny moments were played well
-Seemed scripted

Miku and Shane:
-Shane, your handsomeness was distracting
-Miku, you should have bought Shane a sandwich without mayonnaise, since mayonnaise is grody
+Performance was stellar, sure to win a Tony

In all honesty, I thought our performance was really good considering where we started. If I could do the scene over, I would certainly focus on lowering the pitch of my voice and being more conscious of my gestures - my usual areas of struggle - but I have no regrets about the scene we presented to the class.

Hayley and Sean:
-Blocking was really bad; Sean was upstaged for the entire scene
-Scene seemed disjointed, like you were doing two different scenes

Ari and Nadia:
+Energy level was good
+Relationship was clearly established
-Vocally repetitive

Danny and Ariele:
-I wanted to see more physical comedy, higher energy
-Ariele, your hat made it difficult to see your face sometimes
+A lot of funny moments

Jeremy and Jessica:
+Blocking was great
-Jeremy, your voice was monotonous and seemed forced
+Jessica, your energy carried the scene

Gabriel and Rossana:
+Gabriel, good frantic energy
-You two were using the same drug, but it seemed to speed Gabriel up and slow Rossana down
-Rossana, look for more vocal choices
-You two were too separated for most of the scene

Bronte and Vi:
-Vi, your character should be more sympathetic; she really cares about Katherine, but you seemed cold
-Blocking was corny
-Everything seemed really repetitive