Our Town

When reaading the play I was really interested and engaged. The idea of a stage manager talking to the audience was actually a really interesting choice and one that I wish was explored more a little bit in Theatre. It's not everyday you see a  character actually breaking the fourth wall. Not just in theatre but even in televison, and in a play its so much more personal as they are right there in front of you. I thought the play portrayed all the characteristics of life in a very general way and it was a smooth read for the most part. I just was really curious to see how The play would be performed with very minimal props and little to no set or scenery. I feel it would add to the play more if they had more physical objects there. On paper when I read it, there is no problem, but I feel it is hard to be invested in a play when I'm constantly realizing it is a play everytime I'm watching it due to the lack of props.

True West

I loved True West. It was one of my favorite play this semester. The idea of a modern day west is truly hard to dipict, but Sam Shepard definitely found a way in my opinion. The ideas of two brothers fighting is the most natural and modern dipiction of a mexican stand off in my opinion. Two brothers fighting over a toy. Who will get it? Neither will give up. It was the mentality of the old west. I loved the idea of the brothers personalities starting to switch and them turning into each other. In my mind it was still just a competition to see who the best was. You could sympathize with both characters at different points, but overall I don't think one brother would be able to exist without the other. And the mother abssolutely did not help at all. You would think she would have tried to do a better job at raising her children but she completely drops the ball which is a shame. I think both brothers had potential for great things as they could adapt to each others situation almost effortlessly. It was s hame they chose to fight most of the time.

Virginia Woolf

This play was somewhat of an anomoly to me. I personally can not understand people who would lie like that. George and Martha strike me as very educated and of course well spoken. But their craziness outweighs it all. It makes one wonder what exactly happened to make them decide to go on with such an elaborate ruse. Was it boredom in their marriage? Did they have a son that died as an infant? Was their some kind of rift and this is the only way to bring them back together? I don't know but George and Martha are seriously some head cases. Looking at the whole situation you can't help but feel sorry for the young couple there. But they do get sucked into the BS and it overcomes them. If they would have just taken a stand and left when it started to get crazy they could have a avoided all the nonsense. Then again, if that happened we wouldnt have been able to read about the experience, which, while leaving me scratching my head, made for a VERY interesting read.

M Butterfly

I thought it was a beautiful play in what it said and how it was written but I do feel it was a little flawed. I can completely understand how a man would want to get wrapped up in what he felt was his "butterfly," but I think there is no such thing as the perfect person. Male or Female. I don't think even a man could create the perfect woman, because every man is different. Even if the perfect person were to appear out of nowhere I think it would leave more questions than anything. A married man of all people should know that things don't always last, or else his marriage would be more sacred to him. I think Rene was completely blinded by his perfect woman he stopped asking very important questions. Life is not perfect no matter how much we want it to be, and to not realize that was a fatal mistake. If Rene would have just stopped to think about the situation, maybe it would have been enough to stop him and save his life.

Cyrano

Personally I loved Cyrano. He reminded me of myself when I read the play. Not so much in what he looks like but more so in what he is known for. I pride myself on being good with words, and Cyrano can speak like no other. Unfortunately I found this a bit of a difficult read at first but once I took my time to reread it a few times, I was finally able to get the play. I disagree with Cyrano's actions to not tell his love that it was him she fell in love with. Cyrano really dropped the ball there. But in grand Cyrano fashion he still managed to make the reveal as dramatic and breathetaking as possible. I'm afraid I couldn''t see the story ending any other way, for if Cyrano did tell her that he was the one who wrote her all the letters and spoke for the man she thought she loved it would take away from his character and the beauty of the whole situation.

Cyrano De Bergerac

Cyrano de Bergerac was most definitely hard to read at first. As the whole beginning of the play is showing off  the cross-section of Parisian society - most with long names and short character descriptions - all streaming into a theater, the action was confusing to follow in the text. Maybe it is a scene that would come together aesthetically well on stage, but is a pain to read and stage in my head. 
 At a point, Cyrano comes in and chases Montfleury off the stage, this is where the play begins to pick up. Cyrano initially reminded me a lot of the jester characters Shakespeare often uses like in othello with his character so melodramatic. His play seemed to be a like a Shakespearian comedy at first. 
Though I felt most of Cyrano's problems were caused by his own actions (which they were), it was hard not to feel sorry for him with his selfless acts to preserve the image of the man Roxane loved.
 Even after Christian advises Cyrano to drop the facade and tell her everything so that she may know which man she truly loves, Cyrano cannot bring himself to destroy her image of Christian once he is mortally wounded on the battlefield. 
For a whole fifteen years after, Cyrano still loves Roxane from afar. When she finally figures out that Cyrano has written all the letters, and he is still unable to confirm this even on his deathbed, I really felt bad for him.

The Cherry Orchard

The Cherry Orchard is a play By Chekov that I actually enjoy reading. It is one of my favorite Chekhov plays, as well as the last one he wrote. It makes sense that this particular story would be the last one Chekhov would tell. The characters often struggle with the memory of their past and how it effects their present and future.

 Perhaps as Chekhov was writing this play, probably knowing he would to soon, was struggling with the same thing. 

The character I have always known to love is Ranevsky. She is the character most constantly plagued with the memories good and bad, but mostly bad from her past. It is easy to run away from your problems and so for five years, that is exactly what she did. 

After the death of her husband and son she couldn’t just stay in Russia, so she fled to Paris. As the imminent sale of the orchard draws near, it seems brave as Ranevsky returns to Russia, but she will only leave once again at the end of the play. 

She is always running away from something, and the rest of the characters in the play don’t know how to handle her most of the time, but they still love her. The other characters are able to sympathize with her because of the obvious tragedy in her life, but they can’t understand the way she is going about her life. Ranevsky keeps spending money as if it is no object, even though the estate is going to be sold and the family has no money. Ranevsky is one of those characters who needs help but will never ask for it.