Criticism, In a Nutshell

6 Elements of Theatre to be Evaluated:

1. Audience


2. Actors


3. Directing


4. Stage Space


5. Text/Script


6. Design Elements

3 Questions to Consider When Evaluating a Play:

1. What are the artists trying to do?


2. How did they do it? How WELL did they do it?


3. Was it worth doing?

Elements of Theatre: DESIGN

Set Design, Costume Design, Light and Sound Design

• Must consider the theme/concept of the show--realistic vs nonrealism


• Must consider the mood and style of the show


• Good design sets the time period of the show


• High quality in construction and materials


• Must consider the budget, size of the theatre, other logistics


• Color, line, shape, texture, movement, rhythm


• Text considerations (what do the actors say about the design)


• Coordination with the other design elements

OBJECTIVES of Designers:

• Convey the style of the production


• Convey the central image/visual metaphor


• Indicate the local and historical period of the play


• Indicates the social status, personality, etc. of the world of the play


• Enhance the show with special effects


• Relationships amongst the characters


• Provide Visibility, revealing shapes and forms, etc.

Elements of Theatre: SCRIPT/TEXT

• Characters--do they change as the play progresses?


• Plot vs. Story


• Conflicts in the plot


• Resolutions to the conflicts


• Beginning, Middle, and End


• Dialogue


• Does the playwright allow the audience to be a part of the creation of the play through the use of imagination?

Element of Theatre: ACTING

Historically speaking . . . acting was done through:

• Big mask, elaborate make-up, fancy costumes


• Dancing


• Singing


• Pantomime

In Shakespeare's time . . . the acting style was:

• Big, declamatory voice (passionate ranting)


• Posing, posturing, grand movements (sawing the air with hands)


• Actions didn't always suit the words spoken


• only done by men . . . boys played women's roles


• interacting with the audience


• in verse (tripped up the actors often)

In the late 1800's/early 1900's, Stanislavsky developed a system of training for actors which included:

• Relaxation


• Concentration and Observation


• Importance of Specifics


• Inner Truth


• Action Onstage


• What/Why/How


• Through-line of a Role


• Ensemble playing


• Psychophysical Action


• Emotional Recall

Today, Actor Training involves:

• Body (kinesthetic awareness)


• Voice


• Intellect


• Ensemble/Group training

Elements of Theatre: DIRECTING

The director's work:

• Choose the Script


• Work with the Playwright if it's a new script


• Do Pre-production Work (text analysis, style, concept, etc.)


• Work with Designers


• Cast Actors


• Rehearse Actors


• Continue to meet with Designers


• Lead the team through Tech and Dress Rehearsals


• Respond to cast/crew at Previews


• and finally, receive praise at Opening Night (hopefully!)

Theatrical Element: STAGE SPACES

If you are analyzing the stage places for a theatrical play, here are some good questions to start with. Ask yourself:

1. 
   
   Is the space formal or informal?
   


2. 
   
   Is the stage large or small?
   


3. 
   
   What is the seating like for the audience?
   


4. 
   
   How about the stage? Is it a picture frame stage? OR, An arena stage? OR, A thrust (3-sided) stage?

Let's take a look at the various types of stages. What are the advantages of each type?

Proscenium Arch Stage (Also known as the Picture Frame Stage) Advantages:

• 
  
  Easily accommodates elaborate scenery
  


• 
  
  Provides nice aesthetic distance for the audience
  


• 
  
  Audiences love the spectacle of a proscenium arch show

(The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, A Proscenium Arch Stage in Portland)

Arena Stage (Also known as Theatre-in-the-Round) Advantages:

• Offers more intimacy between actors and audience
  


• Circle shape lends itself to an unconscious communion of sorts for all present
  


• Economical (any space will do!)

Thrust Stage (Also known as a 3/4 Stage) Advantages:

• Close audience-actor relationship



• The greatest work of theatre have been written for a thrust stage (Shakespeare!)

(Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, England)

Found Spaces (Also known as Created Spaces) Advantages:

• Allows audience to experience the story in a more authentic way



• Brings theatre to people who may not otherwise see it



• Unusual settings challenge audiences to re-think what theatre is all about

Black Box Space Advantages:

• Very flexible



• Allows directors and designers to make the space work for the play



• Small, so audience and actors are physically close together

Frost/Nixon

This was a great production, I really enjoyed it. After the play I had the opportunity to watch the movie. I found out that the movie was adapted from the play, between the movie and the theater production there was little to no difference, except one being on stage and the other a film.
As a member of the Audience I did not feel at anytime bored or that the actors lost my attention. The stage was a Proscenium Arch and the house was full. It was 1hour and 45 minutes with no intermission (you did not realize how fast time flew). The playwright did an incredible job in researching the actual events before writing his play because the interview was very close to the actual interview.
I appreciated how simple, yet interesting the sets were. The crew did a fantastic job in switching scenes, moved very quickly, which really helped in not losing track of the story. I especially enjoyed the airplane scene. Rarely do we get to see scenes, such on airplanes, on stage, it is very usual in movie productions, so when I saw it, that I loved it. The use of projector screens was very appropriate for this play. The marriage of TV and real life acting worked. I almost felt like I was watching Frost’s interview at home.
I really enjoyed this production.
Thank You
James L

Louis's at 1st and Main

Louis's at 1st and Main is the story of a homeless man, Dimitri, Living in a cardboard box in a big city. Seeing that it was behind a coffee shop, I think it would be best to say that the stage was a combination of black box and found space. As you walk in to take your seat, you can not help notice the beautiful set design, two apartment buildings stand side by side with a small alley way between them. The buildings have a brownstone look to them, (which look very realistic) and the alley way is where our main character, Dimitri, resides, in his cardboard box.
The backdrop gave us a clear idea of the location of Dimitri, who had very neat torn cloths and did look a little too clean for a street bum. I also wondered about Louis's clean feet, though in the end we find out who he really is; which kinder explained his cleanliness. The band and feathers on him in the end also gave clues to his real identity. The other thing I did not appreciate was that during the intermission, the actor, who played Louis, mingled with the audience, which in my opinion took away the believability to his character. Through the second half of the play I had a hard time seeing him as his character. Tessie's costume was very effective, she wore mismatched colors; it almost felt like she found things on the street and made them into cloths. Her character was very believable; she gave of the impression of a crazy street lady, well done.
I really enjoyed that being our first play, we started out with something small and moved to bigger things as we progressed.

Thank You
James L.

Imaginary design

When we went to see the Imaginary Invalid I was excited to write about scene design. We've had many different stages to work with, and crazy designs in all our previous plays, so I was excited to finally comment on them.
And then we walked in.
Not that I was disappointed, but it was a very generic stage space. But oddly, as the show started, I grew to like it. I cant imagine how it would worked any other way.
From the opening number I was intrigued. I loved the desgin of the clothes, how they undressed the invalid after the music number, and how the whole thing represented the whole theme of the play. It started off silly and crazy, and never let us down after that.
The clothing design was very well portrayed. I never got confused as to what each character represented. The sluttty gold digging wife dressed that way, the invalid wore a robe, the naive slightly whiney daughter dressed accordingly. It all worked very well for the cast. Everyone looked really natural and good.
I love love loved how the bathroom was right there, and how when you opened the door to the bathroom, the audience could see the toilet. That little piece really added to the show for me, who knows what he could have been doing in that room if the audience had not seen the bathroom when he went in. It really was something extra that payed off.
I also enjoyed the design of the stage space in general. The desk, with the chairs, and the window, it all worked. And as the characters walked off stage, it was as if they were just walking into another part of the house. They never changed what room they were in, becuase they really didnt have to . It worked very well.
As our last play it was a success for me. A little too slapstick humor, but I enjoyed it all the same.
Its been a great class! :) :)
Alex Ashton

Turn your head and laugh

Many things could be said about this production of Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid, most of which are simply that it is delightfully funny. This time around i was charged with critiquing the directing of the show, and seeing as I have had previous experince with this show I feel it is an appropriate note to end upon.
I feel that the director chose the actors appropriately for this production with a few exceptions. I felt that the wise cracking Toinette was really toned down in this production, but Argon was a perfect choice. He really portrayed the severe hypochondriac that is Argon's character perfectly and looked really frail which is an excellent choice. Angelique was cute and all, but she was not as the I'd come to believe the character should be from witnessing other works of Moliere. It was strange, as it worked to an extent, but I found her rather annoying at times rather than sypathetic as her and her simalar characters from Moliere's other works have portrayed her previously.
The stage was relatively unimpressive as seeing three works of Moliere and the stage set up hasn't changed once. Not one time. Each time the same set up of a flat wall and two smaller walls creating a trapezoid room. But it's a formula that works as is evident nearly every time.
All in all I feel he made some interesting choices, although quite perlexing at times more than entertaining, and I left feeling really, genuinely entertained and delighted.

Sisters on Stage

The stage that we saw The Three Sisters performed on was a very interesting one. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it. It consisted of an octagonal stage surrounded on the points by flower pots. The audience sat on three sides of this stage; the fourth side was trees! They weren't real trees of course, but they really did look like the trunks of a forest. There were several entrances and exits from this stage, some out past the audience, others leading into the “forest”. This made it feel like an arena stage, though it wasn't. The only problem I had with this setup was that the ends of the audience arc ended in a wall, and that wall formed a proscenium of sorts around the forest. I was on the end of the arc, and therefore couldn't see half of the trees. At one point I heard a voice and realized that a character had been there for the past... I don't know how long, and I hadn't even known. This was a bit frustrating. But other than that I liked it. The action was centralized, and the actors were able to just about act out from the trees, with the occasional turn to keep the sides happy. The flowers were a nice touch as well, adding a bit of color and, later, time reference. The props and furniture were quite sparse, and definitely only there when needed, so often the stage had a nice open feel and allowed the actors plenty of space. I think that this type of space, provided there aren't any sharp corners hiding the action, would lend itself well to a lot of shows.

Ember's Imaginary Invalid Post

On Saturday night, not realising that the parade was going to go down, I went to see The Imaginary Invalid since I had my choir final the night that the class was to go see it. I have to admit I was interested because as a class project in high school, we did Moliere's The Love Doctor. Now, I have to admit that within moments of the start of the play, I found myself disappointed that the assigned topic was simply the stage space. Please don't get me wrong, the Winningstad Theatre is a nice space, but as you guys will probably see the best parts were probably script and acting because there was so much to say about. Now, I probably have a slightly unique perspective because the address I had seen on the website was to that of the box office, which is located across the street and one block down, and didn't get into the theatre until after the overture had begun. Because of this slight lateness, they placed me in one of the upper tiers of seating for the first act and said I could go to my proper seat during the second act, which is what I did.And as for the stage space. The Winningstad is proscenium arch theatre inside the Center for the Performing Arts. From an actors perspective it would be amazing to do a production there...with the exception of I don't know how the wings and backstage is set up, and for some reason what seemed to be one of the technical crew decided to just come out behind the stage right curtain during intermission. The proscenium arch stage can be viewed from five different levels. Above the ground flooring(where you have the seats people are assigned to sit are) it is almost like having box seats, except in this case the box goes around to be three quarters, suggesting that you can take out the ground seating and make it a thrust stage. The wood these boxes are composed of give a very antique feel to the place making it have a character that kind of ignited some excitement in me. From the tier I was sitting in to something that was like a box skeleton hanging on the ceiling where some of the lights were, the wood was used for it all. Thinking about it, it seemed to have a regal feeling to it. Overall it was an interesting and wonderful space, but I stand by my opening opinion that it wasn't the best part of the experience for this particular production.

Imaginary Invalid design

The Imaginary Invalid was a very good play that had many different aspects that I could write about. But I was sentenced to design so that’s what I will do. The design aspects were not the best but not the worst. It worked in the sense of they covered the entire basis from the stage design to the way the actors looked. The crew did a really good job with the stage and making it look like a real house. They had a table with a couple of big chairs laid out in the room. They presented the stage like it was a family room with a wall torn down. They even put a bathroom in the middle of the room. This really added to the house feel.

The outfits worn by all the actors definitely fit the characters. The old man looked like an old man relaxed at home. The doctors all looked very efficient in robes or in the suites with face masks to top it off. The wife looked like a cheating hussy in the tight little outfit that really presented the character for what she really was. The maid had the best costume. The getup really matched her personality with being kind of spunky and had a little zest to it. The daughter was dressed like a sweet little innocent girl and then acted like a sweet little innocent girl. Then her future husband matched his character by acting and dressing like a sheltered preppy boy that never really did any bad in his life.

Over all I would say yes the characters fit the design as well as the set matching the script. Everything seemed to flow together really nicely from the acting to the set design. I would recommend this to friend if it was still around.

Great Production

I'm not too familiar with the original, but if it was anything like this, I am very, very impressed. This was really an incredible play, I am so glad we saved this as our final production.
I don’t know about you guys, but this play was full of great comedic lines. I especially liked the Duck song, or when Angelique was telling the maid about her “intercourse” experience, “we did at the gates, and at the back door, you know through the key hole”, ahahahah, of coarse it was not really intercourse., lol.
Brilliant!!
Toinette, “mommy” was just fantastic, always going for the money, full of sarcasm. “It is so difficult when we enjoy our, delicious moments together, when I am consumed with so many fears; fear that I may lose you at any moment……but what if you didn’t die, umm a, I mean what if you can’t speak…God forbid if that ever happens, I won’t be able to give you what you neeeeed” lol
And even the doctor’s lines were great. I’m looking over my notes and can’t stop laughing, Great play, I really enjoyed this one.

Thank You
James L.

Thoughts about Antigone

Well what could I say about Antigone? It was a pretty good play but pretty darn dry. I know the play was based on dry material but I expected a little more action. The director seemed to mainly focus on getting the story across to the audience then concentrating on more movement. The director should be concentrating on a few more things then just that. They should also concentrate on how well the actions of the play are portrayed, were the movements good, was the play worth doing (does the topics interest the audience).

These would have been some good questions that the director could have asked himself in the making of this play. I think it might have been a good idea to just do another production altogether. But since this was the play being used the director might have thought about trying to spicing it up a bit. There was some very good acting which helped make the play some what successful. There was some good direction there, making sure all the actors were property in place at the proper times. That would have been a difficult task considering it was stage covered by audience members on all sides.

I think this play could have been appealing to some audience members in different part of the United States or maybe even the world. It just seemed that the play just was not weird enough for this group of people. Some different parts of the country actually really appreciate this kind of work.

All in all I thought this play was good but just a little to slow for me. I felt the actors did a good job really capturing the story. The scenery looked good and really helped set the mood. The lighting and sound was also excellent giving the story an intense feeling at times. I imagine this play would have been good for a crowd about 100 years ago. Things would have probably fit together a little better.

Three sisters and me

There were a few different aspects about the Three Sisters that I could write about. I really did not like this play at all though. The play had a few different twists and turns throughout the story that were hard for me to keep track of everything. This was more of a feminine play then anything. It focused on the woman and their troubles in life. I don’t really like to criticize a piece of work like this but wow. I thought Antigone was slow but this actually put me to sleep. I tried to get into the story as much as I could but it could not keep my interest longer then ten minutes at a time.

The story focused on a family with three sisters and the men in their lives. Basically about all the troubles that happen to people in their lives. Mainly the women though, trying to find someone to love and going threw all the troubles that come into their life’s. This was only really significant though if these events actually mirrored events in ones life. These events discussed I never had happen to me and did not really care about. I know this play was made for females so I tried not to judge it so much. If it was called three brothers I’m assuming it would have been right up my ally.

All in all I would give this play about 6 out of 10. I went into this thinking it was going to be funny, big mistake. Next time I will know better then to expect a lot of a play that has only women in the title. The acting was alright but could have been better with some. The scenery was good but maybe could have a little more to spice things up. But the story just didn’t do it for me. I could see how this play could really relate to some people and why all the girls in the class seemed to love it.

Late is better then Never

Three Sisters Directing

I really enjoyed this show. It was really a new experience. I had never been to that theatre before, and I enjoyed the varieties of different stage spaces we saw at the time. I think that the director chose a lot of well pieces for this play. First off lets go with the casting; most of the people fit their costumes and parts of the play. I really believe that the director casted: Irina, the two soldiers whose names were never mentioned, Masha’s husband, and Olga for the right parts. I don’t know how the director first imagined Masha herself to be, but when I first sat down I thought she was the mother and not the sister. I think as well that the General and Doctor were well casted on the director’s part. So I think that the acting for Three Sisters was remarkable on some of the actors that the director had chosen, and questionable of the directors point of view with a couple of people. Another thing that the director had done that I thought was really exciting and new was the stage space. It was so fascinating, because it was a mixture: between a black-box, an arena, and a thrust stage all combined into one spot. It really blew my mind, because in this instance I thought that the arena was well used this time around, and that the director chose well the movement and the setting of the arena in the play itself. I think in a grading of the elements themselves that the director would be in the top two, because of how much time you could see that they put into this piece of art to represent themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed this show.

~Nici Benois~

If it ducks...

I thoroughly enjoyed this, our fifth and final play of the term. And what I thought really made the show the hilarious, brilliant production that it was was the acting. The director did a great job of choosing a cast that fit the parts that were called for, and I know for a fact that I laughed at each of the characters several times. Their energy, camaraderie and timing were spot on. For example, when I saw the picture of Kevin Crowe, who played Argan, out in the lobby, I could not believe that I was looking at the same guy. The man that was on the stage was so *old*! And so sick. Crowe really made me believe that he was both. He really showed his illness, making the audience believe it. And Sasha Brooks, playing his wife Beline, was great at being two-faced. Whenever she mentioned her husband's possible death, she would do so with great glee. But she would catch herself halfway through and add a “God forbid” or something close into the mix. Her timing in this matter worked really well. But one of my favorite moments in the show came from the notary Monsieur de Bonnefoi, played by Zach Johnson. Argan mentioned his fortune, which he later puts at four million dollars. At this figure, de Bonnefoi (who is Beline's lover) nearly faints. His legs nearly buckle and he does a little swaying dance before recovering a bit of his composure. This physical stunt was perfectly executed and made a big impression on me. I could go through the rest of the cast, but I don't want to ramble. Suffice it to say that they were all very good at what they did. And the show was great because of it.

what is the Classical interpretation?

Script for Imaginary Invalid

What to say, I think I would have enjoyed the script in moliers version much better, then the adaptation we saw last Thursday. When Alisha told us that Molier had passed away in this show for his last performance ever, I was confused as to why the reasoning of his death was so comedic. I had no Idea what this show was supposed to be about, but I went in with an open mind thinking sweet a comedy. Michael tried his best to let me in on what the play was about, but in all reality I was confused until I knew what an invalid was. I thought that the play had a lot of comedic dialogue mixed in with singing and hip hop dancing was a new approach. I don’t know what Molier would have thought if he saw this interpretation. Now correct me if I am wrong, this whole play was about a father who kept saying he was ill but never was and was trying to marry his daughter off to a doctor for his fake illnesses? I want to know what Molier’s true intentions were for this comedy. I must say, that there were a few parts in the play that were very humorous because of the sexual innuendos and all the bathroom humor and back-stories with the step mom and the will guy. This show is in-between for me, I want to now see this production the classical way.

~Nici Benois~

great script

I'm not very familiar with the original version of this play, but if it was anything like this I'm very impressed. The opening sequence when the cast came out and started singing and dancing felt like a warm up, after they were done I felt like I was ready to watch the film. I felt relaxed and interested (for a change) right away for the duration of the play. The relationship between the master and the servant was apparent from the start. He was this hypercondriac and she was his care taker. Beyond just doing what he asked her to do, but it was obvious by the way she talked to him that she cared for him and his daughter. I loved the way he described his flatulent to the audience, it was toilet humor that you seem to only get from "South Park" It was nice to see it on stage.
His wife had quirky things to say but it wasn't well disguised. If they had played a little more with the words she used to try to trick him out of his money I think it would have sold me a little better on the scheme. He may had been a invalid in his mind but I don't believe he was stupid, so they could have made the scam her and the notary were trying to pull a little more sophisticated.
I'm not sure but, what did he do for a living?
His daughter was fun to listen to, especially when she was talking about all the sex her and her boyfriend was or wasn't having. I'm not sure if the writer was having her say what she was saying without understanding what she was talking about. I got a feeling that they weren't really having sex, but they were doing something else but she was describing what they were doing by using sexual context.
The ending seemed to come together too fast in my opinion. We got to see the idiot she was going to marry along with his hilarious uncle. I felt that we didn't get to see enough of the enema man, and the part where he wanted to be a doctor was a little cheesy for me. But overall it was a great play.
p.s.- I bet you can tell that I lost my notes, I won't have a beverage during work hours again.

Patrick Ford

Risky business... Owned it!

Being my usual cynical self, I was not expecting to enjoy my evening. I feel like we have had that attitude about all the shows... anyone else think so? But as always, the response to the show was tremendous. As the curtains went up and actors decked out in lab coats, doctor paraphernalia and masks with fake noses and mustaches came out, a wave of shock came over the audience. What had we gotten ourselves into?

The director made some great choices! This was not an "old-school" show in the least! The actors had been well trained to speak the older language without any effort and it came across very natural and modern. I was very surprised by this. Generally, whenever old language is used in a show, no matter how well acquainted the actors are with the script, it is quite clear that they are not speaking as they normally feel comfortable. Nothing speech wise was awkward of foreign, and that was a nice surprise.

The use of costumes was awesome. The maid of the house was in an almost dominatrix Gothic outfit and the daughter was dressed as an eight year old in the 80's. Nothing was plane or boring and the director had a great vision to work with! I also appreciated that the set never changed. It would have been just as plausible to have movable set pieces to be different rooms in the house, but by choosing to keep everything in one center room of the house, those pesky set changes were done away with completely, always a big point winner with me!

The blocking in this show really made it out to be the comedy it is! There was so much physical comedy and added so much energy and humor to the show. The actors fully committed to looming like an idiot at times, clearly shown by the dance numbers! Those decisions made by the director to have a rap song in a classic play are the decisions that ultimately either make or break a show. In many cases that would have come across as awkward, painful and one of those performances that make the audience very uncomfortable. But the director pulled it off, with the help of the outstanding cast. Props to all involved!

~Emily McEnany

"Much Ado About Nothing" Extra Credit

I saw the play “Much Ado About Nothing” over the weekend for extra credit. The Re-Theatre company put it on in one of the theatre spaces at PCPA. The Re-Theatre performs the classical version and a modernized version that they wrote themselves. Their rehearsals are improvised and the director re-writes the show based on what he sees in the rehearsals. That’s why they are called Re-Theatre.
I didn’t see the classical version, just the modernized one, and it was amazing. The actors were great and the show was hilarious.
The show was about a wedding. There were the wedding planners, designers, best men, friends, and siblings. There were two love stories that went on throughout the show between Hero and Claudio, and Beatrice and Benedick. The other characters were a lot of the story too, but the main story revolved around the wedding and the love stories. Now the wedding was actually for two characters that were never actually seen in the play, they were just talked about.
The girl that played Hero was perfect for her character; small, cute, somewhat shy, and also a workaholic. Her love interest, Claudio was my favorite. He actually went to SOU with me and was in the children’s show there, and he was great there too. He has the perfect body movement and facial expressions for comedy. The girl who played Beatrice “B” was very good too. She portrayed the wit and stubbornness of her character very well, along with her love interest Benedick “Ben,” who was cast perfectly for his part, but could have downplayed his expressions a little at times.
The guy who played Donnie, was so fun to watch. He was essentially the “cupid” of the story. He was also called, the “love guru.” There was a famous website of his that they would play for us throughout the show where he and his partner would show everyone what and what not to do in order to get a girl.
The character that was very surprising to me was the maid who wasn’t in much of the show the first act, but came in a lot of the second and she was so funny. She played her character so well, and her voice was awesome. She was crazy and portrayed that perfectly.
The show was so much fun, too bad it’s over now because I would tell you all to go.

Heather Harlan

Song and Dance

The Imaginary Invalid was a pleasant surprise to me. I didn’t know what to expect or what it was about, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I was really surprised that PSU was able to use the PCPA building to hold their show. All the college shows I have been to have been performed at their school, and PSU isn’t even known for its theatre. So that was really great for them.
The stage space for The Imaginary Invalid was sort of a thrust and it worked really well. The seating was very modern yet old fashioned looking at the same time, with the box like seating feel to it.
There weren’t really any set changes because the play happened all in the one room the whole time. The only time it changed was when the whole cast would come on stage and do there little song and dance, which was very funny. The size of the cast and the size of the stage worked very well together. It didn’t seem too crowded; the cast size fit the stage and set perfectly.
I think comedies are better in intimate spaces because you can catch everyone’s facial expression and side improvisations. Facial expressions are really important in comedies and when they are overly done and exaggerated on stage, they suddenly become cheesy and not as funny. And yes, a lot of the show was cheesy, but it was on purpose and everyone did it so well that it worked and was really funny. But being close and intimate really made the fun experience.
The show was a lot of fun, the set was great, and the theatre area was amazing to be in.

If the Medical World was This Funny, I'd Have Changed Careers!

Thursday night ended on a very humorous note; the actors who put on “The Imaginary Invalid” gave spot on performances in delivering a delightful, over-the-top slapstick comedy, providing a great ending to the set of 5 plays that were seen in TA101.

Physical comedy is a powerful tool in the actors’ hands; it can be completely overused/incorrectly handled in inexperienced hands. However, the actors of PSU effectively managed to use the physical comedy of the show to its fullest extent to attain the greatest effect on their audience. The character of Argan is a prime example of this show’s physical comedy; much of his performance riddled with delightfully awkward positions and of course, the ever-welcome toilet humor in his constant flatulence. This thing with physical comedy is that it is very easy to overdo it in the efforts to get more laughter out of the audience. But the actor who played Argan simply let the comedy do the work and didn’t have to push the envelope in order to get us to laugh; this is the most effective way to do physical comedy.
One of the most important things when it comes to comedies is diction and volume. When actors don’t have very clear diction or audibility, the punchlines aren’t heard well and the comedic effect is unfortunately muffled. Though, this performance is definitely not the case. All the actors were heard very clearly, each consonant was finished crisply and cleanly. The beginning scene between Argan and Toinette is a great example on how the actors used their diction to the fullest extent; I didn’t have to struggle to listen, when one struggles to focus on one thing, they tend to block out everything else, occasionally missing the important punchlines. Although, I was sitting close to the front, so of course, it wouldn’t have been difficult to hear the spoken comedy. So, after the first act, I relocated myself close to the back to see if there was any discrepancy between the two spaces in regards to making out the comedic content. However, I found that even though I moved to a further seat, I heard the actors just as well as when I sat in the close-to-the-front seat.

Although toilet humor is fine and welcome in many physical comedies, its reactions onstage are just as important as the actual content itself. Argan’s flatulence brought laughter every single time, but something drew me away from it a while into the play. As the play wore on, especially during the second act, I noticed that the characters’ reactions to Argan’s flatulence seemed to be played a bit too candidly. I asked myself, “What would honestly be more humorous: Someone freaking out from a fart, or their faces subtly contorting from it?” I would have liked to see the reactions downplayed a little bit more to see facial reactions, rather than bodies facing the other way with hands pinched over the mouth and nose. Comedy shouldn’t have to be over-the-top all the time, after all, too much of one thing, one way tends to desensitize, and the same effect won’t always be achieved. Which is why comedy is best when approached from all different angles.

Overall though, I have thoroughly enjoyed this show and the genuine belly laughs it gave me. I do hope that I will be able to see high-quality shows like this in the future. I had a great time seeing all of the plays this term and getting to write about them. Perhaps I just may write more reviews for other plays I see in the near future, but until then, Happy Summer to everyone!

~Chris McVey

Design Elements: The Imaginary Invalid

As I walked into the theatre, I was really quite excited!! It was quite Shakespeare-ish and great to just look at. However, I really disliked the play. I don't like that type of dark humor like that. It's just my opinion. I was not impressed, really. However, I liked the design elements, which I was critiquing this time. So, although I hated the acting and the director's choices with actors, I liked the design elements.

I liked the stage. It was quite colorful, really. And It was pleasant to look at. I also loved the thunder and lightening effects as the step-mother would enter the room. That was a great effect. The costumes were also quite good. I liked those. They fit each character very well. Especially the step-mother and Toinette. "Mommie" was quite the gold digger and really looked the part of the beautiful, high-fashioned young woman. She actually reminded me of Anna Nicole Smith! haha.

Angelique's costume was quite fitted to her character too. She was just this little bubbly, somewhat annoying little daughter. She was dressed it with tights and a dress that matched. It was appropiate for her character, most definitely.

Both doctors were fabulous. Especially Dr. Purgeon. He was my favorite character. He was dressed as a real doctor, as was his nephew. That helped create the authoritative doctor figure he was.

Argon, I believe his name was (the sick, old man), was greatly dressed. I thought he would somewhat of a Scrooge-like character because of his costume. He was really, in my opinion, the best dressed for his character. He was the sickly, never-get-out-of-my-pjs type of old man. Greatly put together by the costumer. Kuddos to them!

The sounds for the thunder and the music was just the right volume, too. I liked the thunder and lightening. That was my favorite effect. It was put together and timed just right. It was obvious that lots of work had been put into it.

Even though I didn't like the acting or dark humor the director created, I liked the design elements. It saved the show for me.