Political Theatre - Analysis of Devised Theatrical Texts
Political Theatre
POLITICAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
FIVE PARAGRAPHS / ONE-PAGE CRITIQUE
1.) Submit on Moodle (TurnItIn) no later than 11:00 pm (on due date).
2.) Email (to designated emails) on time by each deadline – No later than 11:00 pm on the date of the deadline.
3.) Hand deliver (on the day of class). Extra credit if stamped by the Writing Center.
MARGINS: Standard margins. Tab indent the first line of each new paragraph five spaces.
PAPER: White bond stock.
FONT: Times New Roman – 10-12 font (only).
SPACING: Single space inside paragraphs and double space between paragraphs. Label each paragraph as (P1) and (P2).
STYLE: Submit all drafts in your own words with your own thoughts. Do not copy another writer’s words and/or ideas without full citationality. Be creative and trust your instincts. Each paragraph must be no less than five full sentences and no more than fifteen full sentences. A perfect paragraph is eight sentences.
WRITE IN THIRD PERSON EXCEPT PARAGRAPH 4.
CONTENT:
PARAGRAPH 1-Third Person
Include all introductory information: The title of the play (italicized), the full name of the playwright (and performance artists, filmmaker, auteur, director, choreographer, designer, leading actors, etc., if desired). Be sure to include the name of the theatre and the date when the play was attended. Do not include bullets of information. Only write in an analytic narrative style. Frame the introduction with an opening statement about the play and playwright and then introduce key themes (meaningful ideas or assessments) in the second and third sentences guiding the reader as to how this politically-themed production is positioned within the terrain of the socio-political and relevant political discourse of the cultural moment. Explicate in a macro analysis how this transition has been negotiated from the traditional domestic themes of plays to the current political actors performing in real time and space in the current culture of the United States and beyond. This section is intended to mention to the reader the big ideas of the current political zeitgeist. Also follow with the foci of the following four paragraphs. Remember to think macro.
PARAGRAPH 2-Third Person
Expand sentence two from the introduction into a full paragraph in (P2) but focus on a universal. This is your decisive recognition of an Aristotelian ‘universal’ and needs to capture at least one of the best ideas in the play and/or theatrical aspects of the production. It is one of the most impactful elements(s) that propels the development of the dramatic structure(s) and encapsulates the main conflict. The conflict is always more than just between the protagonist and antagonist – it is also operating on a political, cultural, societal, economic, spiritual, and psychic level.
Another way to recognize what is worthy as a universal is to identify the inherent flaw (hubris) of the protagonist that manifests inside the character and extends into her/his relationships with significant effect. Identify if the playwright (or production’s director) has illuminated this tragic flaw through the Poetics’ analytical elements of plot, character, theme, music, diction, and staging? If it is the overarching theme, consider how it is rooted in the given circumstance. If it extends across time, place and culture, take note of how it is repeated as a normative human condition. In both (P2) and (P3) this is the frame you will consider and select in order to focus your critical analysis.
However, select only ONE of Aristotle’s categories in Poetics to analyze:
PLOT: SEQUENCE OF DRAMATIC ACTIONS THAT PROGRESSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STORY AND THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CHARACTERS INVOLVED. This can also be approached through the frame of David Ball’s terms of art: Trigger and Heap as Two Happenings = Event that gather and serve as linked dominoes – organizing the plot structure of the play within a sequence of dramatically-structured tension-filled building blocks. (Ball, 1983).
CHARACTER: PERSONALITIES OF THE INDIVIDUALS IN THE STORY (SYMBOLIC CONSTRUCTS). Analyze the main characters that are in conflict with one another. Cite character name first and then in parenthesis the actor’s name: Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart); Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman); and Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). When listing the cast in a sequence of names, remember to use the semi-colon to separate. How are the playwright’s characters revealed? Are they abstracts? Archetypes? Real to life?
THEME: THE MESSAGE, THE MEANING AND THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK. Identify how this play been updated, interpreted, deconstructed, and/or subverted through an auteur adaptation, unusual direction of the play script, unique revitalization, or original production.
MUSIC: INSTRUMENTAL, CULTURAL AND PERSONAL RHYTHMS OF THE PLAY AND/OR PEOPLE WHO POPULATE THE WORLD OF THE PLAY. This is the unscripted heartbeat of the play’s text.
DICTION: BOTH VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL MODE OF COMMUNICATION. The spoken text structures the play’s plot through expressed thoughts, wants, and needs of each character interacting with one another, while the non-verbal reveals each character’s emotions, desires, deceits, fears, and secrets. The spoken words both reveal and conceal what the character wants. The non-verbal inadvertently reveals what is not always openly shared or talked about directly.
SPECTACLE: THE VISUAL CONTENT OF THE PLAY OR FILM.
SPECIFICALLY, ALL ENVIRONMENTAL STAGING THAT INCLUDES PROPS, STAGE SETTING, LIGHTING AND COSTUMES, SCENIC DESIGN ELEMENTS, AND PHYSICAL ELEMENTS IN RELATIONSHIP TO ONE ANOTHER (MISE-EN-SCENE). This is everything that the eye can see, the senses can feel, and the psyche can recognize.
CONVENTION: THE ACCEPTABLE MORALITY, CUSTOMS OR IMPLIED STYLE AND MODE OF BEHAVIOR GIVEN TIME FRAME, MILIEU AND LOCATION OF PLAY. Robert Cohen’s additional category to utilize whenever analyzing theatre in an ever-changing world. (Personal Communication. May, 1983.)
PARAGRAPH 3-Third Person
CITE ONE PARTICULAR ELEMENTS THAT STOOD OUT TO YOU AND WHY.
SAME LIST AS PARAGRAPH TWO!!!! BUT SELECT A DIFFERENT ONE TO WRITE ON!!!!
PARAGRAPH 4-First Person
EXPRESS YOUR STUDIED OPINION AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO THE PLAY OR FILM. IDENTIFY WHETHER THIS CREATIVE WORK WAS WORTHY OF YOUR TIME. PRAISE OR CRITICIZE. ‘I’ writing is acceptable.
PARAGRAPH 5-Third Person
SUMMARIZE WHAT YOU WITNESSED, WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT IT AND COMPLETE YOUR CRITIQUE WITH A FINAL ARTISTIC OR PHILOSOPHICAL STATEMENT. Include in-text citation and end source reference – when appropriate.
FOCUS: TAKE NOTES, WRITE, REWRITE, PROOF, AND SUBMIT IN FORMAT!
HAVE ALL WORK REVIEWED AND STAMPED BY THE WRITING CENTER.
HAVE FUN! APPLY YOURSELF AND YOU WILL DO EXTREMELY WELL!
PROOF: ALL WRITING IS TO BE DEVELOPED THROUGH THE TEN STEPS, EMIALED TO THE DESIGNATED EMAILS IN THE SYLLABUS, AND SUBMITTED IN CLASS AS A HARD COPY ON CLEAN PAPER AND IN A FULLY FORMATED COPY. Use the Checklist if in question.
PARAGRAPH ORDER PROTOCOL: Third person (No use of ‘I’ or ‘We’ or ‘Us’.)
CITE: EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT YOUR IDEA OR COMMON KNOWLEDGE.
CITATION MODEL: APA (Refer Owl Purdue and Easy Bib eBook on Moodle).
TITLE PAGE - Protocol Sheet on Moodle.
FIVE PARAGRAPHS / ONE-PAGE CRITIQUE
1.) Submit on Moodle (TurnItIn) no later than 11:00 pm (on due date).
2.) Email (to designated emails) on time by each deadline – No later than 11:00 pm on the date of the deadline.
3.) Hand deliver (on the day of class). Extra credit if stamped by the Writing Center.
MARGINS: Standard margins. Tab indent the first line of each new paragraph five spaces.
PAPER: White bond stock.
FONT: Times New Roman – 10-12 font (only).
SPACING: Single space inside paragraphs and double space between paragraphs. Label each paragraph as (P1) and (P2).
STYLE: Submit all drafts in your own words with your own thoughts. Do not copy another writer’s words and/or ideas without full citationality. Be creative and trust your instincts. Each paragraph must be no less than five full sentences and no more than fifteen full sentences. A perfect paragraph is eight sentences.
WRITE IN THIRD PERSON EXCEPT PARAGRAPH 4.
CONTENT:
PARAGRAPH 1-Third Person
Include all introductory information: The title of the play (italicized), the full name of the playwright (and performance artists, filmmaker, auteur, director, choreographer, designer, leading actors, etc., if desired). Be sure to include the name of the theatre and the date when the play was attended. Do not include bullets of information. Only write in an analytic narrative style. Frame the introduction with an opening statement about the play and playwright and then introduce key themes (meaningful ideas or assessments) in the second and third sentences guiding the reader as to how this politically-themed production is positioned within the terrain of the socio-political and relevant political discourse of the cultural moment. Explicate in a macro analysis how this transition has been negotiated from the traditional domestic themes of plays to the current political actors performing in real time and space in the current culture of the United States and beyond. This section is intended to mention to the reader the big ideas of the current political zeitgeist. Also follow with the foci of the following four paragraphs. Remember to think macro.
PARAGRAPH 2-Third Person
Expand sentence two from the introduction into a full paragraph in (P2) but focus on a universal. This is your decisive recognition of an Aristotelian ‘universal’ and needs to capture at least one of the best ideas in the play and/or theatrical aspects of the production. It is one of the most impactful elements(s) that propels the development of the dramatic structure(s) and encapsulates the main conflict. The conflict is always more than just between the protagonist and antagonist – it is also operating on a political, cultural, societal, economic, spiritual, and psychic level.
Another way to recognize what is worthy as a universal is to identify the inherent flaw (hubris) of the protagonist that manifests inside the character and extends into her/his relationships with significant effect. Identify if the playwright (or production’s director) has illuminated this tragic flaw through the Poetics’ analytical elements of plot, character, theme, music, diction, and staging? If it is the overarching theme, consider how it is rooted in the given circumstance. If it extends across time, place and culture, take note of how it is repeated as a normative human condition. In both (P2) and (P3) this is the frame you will consider and select in order to focus your critical analysis.
However, select only ONE of Aristotle’s categories in Poetics to analyze:
PLOT: SEQUENCE OF DRAMATIC ACTIONS THAT PROGRESSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STORY AND THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CHARACTERS INVOLVED. This can also be approached through the frame of David Ball’s terms of art: Trigger and Heap as Two Happenings = Event that gather and serve as linked dominoes – organizing the plot structure of the play within a sequence of dramatically-structured tension-filled building blocks. (Ball, 1983).
CHARACTER: PERSONALITIES OF THE INDIVIDUALS IN THE STORY (SYMBOLIC CONSTRUCTS). Analyze the main characters that are in conflict with one another. Cite character name first and then in parenthesis the actor’s name: Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart); Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman); and Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). When listing the cast in a sequence of names, remember to use the semi-colon to separate. How are the playwright’s characters revealed? Are they abstracts? Archetypes? Real to life?
THEME: THE MESSAGE, THE MEANING AND THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK. Identify how this play been updated, interpreted, deconstructed, and/or subverted through an auteur adaptation, unusual direction of the play script, unique revitalization, or original production.
MUSIC: INSTRUMENTAL, CULTURAL AND PERSONAL RHYTHMS OF THE PLAY AND/OR PEOPLE WHO POPULATE THE WORLD OF THE PLAY. This is the unscripted heartbeat of the play’s text.
DICTION: BOTH VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL MODE OF COMMUNICATION. The spoken text structures the play’s plot through expressed thoughts, wants, and needs of each character interacting with one another, while the non-verbal reveals each character’s emotions, desires, deceits, fears, and secrets. The spoken words both reveal and conceal what the character wants. The non-verbal inadvertently reveals what is not always openly shared or talked about directly.
SPECTACLE: THE VISUAL CONTENT OF THE PLAY OR FILM.
SPECIFICALLY, ALL ENVIRONMENTAL STAGING THAT INCLUDES PROPS, STAGE SETTING, LIGHTING AND COSTUMES, SCENIC DESIGN ELEMENTS, AND PHYSICAL ELEMENTS IN RELATIONSHIP TO ONE ANOTHER (MISE-EN-SCENE). This is everything that the eye can see, the senses can feel, and the psyche can recognize.
CONVENTION: THE ACCEPTABLE MORALITY, CUSTOMS OR IMPLIED STYLE AND MODE OF BEHAVIOR GIVEN TIME FRAME, MILIEU AND LOCATION OF PLAY. Robert Cohen’s additional category to utilize whenever analyzing theatre in an ever-changing world. (Personal Communication. May, 1983.)
PARAGRAPH 3-Third Person
CITE ONE PARTICULAR ELEMENTS THAT STOOD OUT TO YOU AND WHY.
SAME LIST AS PARAGRAPH TWO!!!! BUT SELECT A DIFFERENT ONE TO WRITE ON!!!!
PARAGRAPH 4-First Person
EXPRESS YOUR STUDIED OPINION AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO THE PLAY OR FILM. IDENTIFY WHETHER THIS CREATIVE WORK WAS WORTHY OF YOUR TIME. PRAISE OR CRITICIZE. ‘I’ writing is acceptable.
PARAGRAPH 5-Third Person
SUMMARIZE WHAT YOU WITNESSED, WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT IT AND COMPLETE YOUR CRITIQUE WITH A FINAL ARTISTIC OR PHILOSOPHICAL STATEMENT. Include in-text citation and end source reference – when appropriate.
FOCUS: TAKE NOTES, WRITE, REWRITE, PROOF, AND SUBMIT IN FORMAT!
HAVE ALL WORK REVIEWED AND STAMPED BY THE WRITING CENTER.
HAVE FUN! APPLY YOURSELF AND YOU WILL DO EXTREMELY WELL!
PROOF: ALL WRITING IS TO BE DEVELOPED THROUGH THE TEN STEPS, EMIALED TO THE DESIGNATED EMAILS IN THE SYLLABUS, AND SUBMITTED IN CLASS AS A HARD COPY ON CLEAN PAPER AND IN A FULLY FORMATED COPY. Use the Checklist if in question.
PARAGRAPH ORDER PROTOCOL: Third person (No use of ‘I’ or ‘We’ or ‘Us’.)
CITE: EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT YOUR IDEA OR COMMON KNOWLEDGE.
CITATION MODEL: APA (Refer Owl Purdue and Easy Bib eBook on Moodle).
TITLE PAGE - Protocol Sheet on Moodle.