Daily Archives: November 2, 2014

Anything Could Happen for the Six Characters

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Six Characters in Search of an Author really has to be viewed with an open, imaginative mind.

The impression I got from the play with this sense of confusion and tragedy, atop this desire to change the dynamics of stage production.The idea of six characters who present themselves independently yet still wish to be claimed by an author is really ironic and really creative. In the confusion between reality and fantasy, I felt like the characters themselves even had trouble agreeing on what really occurred or at least the reasons for why they occurred. It doesn’t seem like they’re in search for one author in particular; almost as if anyone will do. From that I got the feeling that there was a message that these characters simply just wanted to be seen and perform as they were, with no pretenses. The author in this play sort of represented all authors collectively. When the characters approach this director in the play, they insist on telling the story as it is while the director wants to change it and make it more light-hearted. I also felt like the “nude reveal” scene was sort of another way of just being direct and upfront about what occur, basically a way of ensuring that all that is true to them is laid out in front of everyone. I think they’re trying to make the author question the reality of the work normally produced. The author doesn’t really seem to question if their story is real, up until the end.

There was one scene in particular that I can’t remember now but what the characters said gave me the idea of an author writing this story and along the way becoming somewhat embarrassed or ashamed of it to ever produce it, and ending up throwing it away in the trash. Somehow, they’ve found a way to bring life to their story. Usually, the author is the one that shapes these characters, but in this play it felt much more like the characters had the upper-hand. The characters were able to draw in the actors and the directors and basically make nothing seem more important at that moment than the tragedy of their lives, that way the actors and director becomes tied into the tragedy.

What I was mostly left wondering was if the characters have appeared to several authors before, sort of like an apparition, to disrupt the flow of things. Who is to say they didn’t make up the story as they went along? Overall, I think it was a really interesting production.

Also, I read this review from the New York Times that I think can add to the discussion.

BAM Experience

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First off, the outer appearance of the Brooklyn Academy of Music was astonishing. The lighting and the crowd outside was fabulous and as I was walking nearer and nearer, BAM really gave me the “BAM” effect.

However,the seats were very uncomfortable compared to the other places that we have been to and I felt really awkward the whole play. The subtitles were really annoying me because I had to look up and look down every time. When I look up to see the subtitles, I miss the action that is happening and when I look down, I am already confused.

The play in general was definitely different from the ones that I have seen before. It was more dramatic and there were a lot of characters in the scene for a very long time. The story itself was confusing and I found myself lost several times. There were many surprises in the play, which made me really focus on trying to figure out what is happening. At the end, the experience was really nice since I was able to see a different play compared to my previous ones that I have seen.

Tragedy or comedy?

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Ah, now that I see some signs of life on the blog, let’s try a couple of questions:

1. You know, of course, of two main kinds of drama: tragedy, where there is blood flowing and things end badly (Oedipus the King, Mackbeth, Romeo & Juliet…) and comedy, where we laugh & rejoice at happy ending of troubles (Le nozze di Figaro, Shakuntala, Midsummer NIght’s Dream…)

So, did we watch on Thursday a tragedy or comedy?

 

Robert Frank Photos

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I am glad that Professor Grazyna Drabik posted five of Robert Frank’s photos on the blog. The photos show how different parts of the country look. New Mexico looks like if it is largely made up of deserts. In Chicago, musicians line up for a political rally. It looks like an elevator’s glass doors closed right in front R. Frank, but the people inside are indifferent and do not express any concern for him. A person looks ready to go to a rodeo, but it is hard for me to imagine having a rodeo in New York City. Lastly, a photo shows that the woman looking at Frank looks like she is trying to ignore him while everyone else is paying attention to a Hollywood premier and looks interested in it. This shows that many individuals do not enjoy one another’s presence and that they rather watch a show for entertainment. However, It is important that people get along well with one another.

Carnegie and Me

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I don’t know if it is just me, but I am really looking forward to the upcoming performance at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall is known for its prestigious nature in the classical music and performance world. I’ve never actually been there before, but as a pianist, I know that it is a place where all musicians strive to be and play one day.

Carnegie Hall was named after Andrew Carnegie, the steel guy who’s worth billions in the turn of the 20th century. He was a philanthropist who in turned gave money to build buildings like Carnegie Hall, raise money for universities like Carnegie Mellon University, and much more.

Fingers cross for this Thursday! Looking forward to it!

 

~Christopher Chong

BAM BAM Six Characters in Chaos

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Professor Drabik asked us if we hated her.

The play itself was, in all honesty, very confusing, but thanks to a brief explanation by the awesome Nabila on the 4 train afterwards, everything seemed to fit itself perfectly.

I didn’t pick up the story until the actors started to mimic the characters. The French itself was probably the biggest barrier for most of us in understanding the story, but I liked it in French. I was able to understand the basics and even predict what they were going to say. Haha, Angelika and I were speaking french before we entered the theatre.

On the performance itself: The performance was on the idea of reality vs fiction. When the boy killed himself and the little girl drowned herself, was that all real? All the “characters” disappeared at the end, was this whole thing all just fictional? The show ended kind of abruptly, and I really wasn’t expecting that. I guess the cliff-hanger was the best part of the show- it is left to the viewers discretion to decide whether it was real or not, just like how the director doesn’t know, and had to call of the rehearsal.

To answer Professor Drabik’s question, we definitely don’t hate you. The performance may have gather some negative critiques from the class, but we are not entitled to like everything. If anything, we still appreciate you taking us to these performances that we probably had never heard of, and chances are, might not get the chance to go again! 🙂

 

~Christopher Chong

 

P.S. I wished the subtitles were like the ones at the Lincoln Center Met Opera House, because it was kind of hard to follow both the performance and the subtitles.

Six Characters in Search of an Author: The Play and the Place

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First off, the play: As I told Professor Drabik after the event, I survived. The play was not one of my favorite performances, despite, no doubt, being thoroughly enjoyable. What the play was, however, was absolutely mind-blowing. “Six Characters” played with the boundaries of fiction and reality. Were the characters actual people within in the context of the play or were they actual characters come to life, to finish their unwritten stories? Were the Boy and the Little Girl dead? Had they already died ? Was it their function to die? These are the questions that plagued my mind after the show and I still find it hard to completely answer them. If I were to pick a single scene that represented all of my confusion, it would have be the penultimate scene, where the Boy shoots himself. Both the Actors and the Characters crowd around him and conflicting shouts of “Reality?!” and “Fiction” can be heard from behind the curtain. The play made me question everything that was happening on the stage. In particular, the Father’s dialogue about real life being the illusion while “characters” had an actual, set reality struck a chord with me.

Now, the place: Brooklyn Academy of Music Harvey Theater. I was not a particular fan of this venue. The seating was the first thing that I noticed. The seats felt rather small and I had the distinct sense that, should I lean forward a little, I would tumble all the way down to the stage. More so than anything else, the supertitle set-up bothered me. Constantly flicking my eyes from the supertitles to the many elements on the stage made me feel as if I was missing a majority of the performance and distracted from the play itself. The stage set-up, however, was a plus. Being flat, rather than elevated, the stage seemed perfect for the kind of play that “Six Characters in Search of an Author” was.