Resist Simplicity: My Thoughts

I don't think simple thinking has ever been a problem for me. In actual fact, I don't know who taught me, but I've always been the type to consider both sides of an argument before coming to a conclusion. Often times, I discovered that there was no clean-cut answer.

And I will continue this later on I need time to do my outline.

((I forgot to press publish, apparently "OTL))

The Pajama Games

((I DIDN'T UPLOAD THIS???))

In all honesty, I was enamored with this musical from the moment I saw that teaser. I still vividly remember the cheers from the people around me and my own initial surprise when the curtains swept open to reveal the beautiful set of the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory.

The vibrant colors and the organized arrangement was striking, immediately catching and maintaining my interest. The set worked very well for the choreography of the performance, both enhancing the other to their full potential, and it was exciting to see.

Since I'm relatively short on time, I'll cut to the chase: I loved the singing and the choreography of every song, and the fact that the cast had managed to keep my attention through a show with a plot that wasn't quite to my tastes was a feat in itself. Sid and Babe in particular had strong vocals throughout the performance, particularly excelling in striking a balance in the duets - one wasn't louder than the other and etc.

There were at some moments and numbers, such as Babe's "Not In Love" where I felt that the factory girls could have shown more energy to compliment the nature of the play, but given circumstances, that might simply be me being overly critical.

My favorite character has to be Hines, however - Justin's portrayal of the him brought out the character's full comedic potential for sure! XD

((Right. Right, I didn't upload this because it was so cursory "OTL))

The Love of Three Oranges

I cannot express my love for this play in words - holy crow, I adored so much about it. It's rare to find a play that just... well, it was so refreshing to see a play not based on seriousness at all! At the same time, this version is obviously a 'modernized' version of this play, with many outdated allusions being appropriately omitted or altered to help the new generation of audiences understand.

I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much in its original form, because one of my particular obsessions in this play was the role and personality of the omnipotent 'narrator' of the entire play, who himself, was quite the modern character. His role of stopping and starting the show - his role as a whole is far from traditional Commedia, but I loved him anyway.

Reference Videos
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnaNTfTzuM
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jpW3O4rv7s

The Good Soul of Szechuan: Making Progress?

Well, I admit I was slightly intimidated at first when I volunteered myself for lighting, but I have no regrets - it is such a fun and exciting experience! Above all, there is just so much to learn and it is just so fulfilling. I've learned that in the past that the difference between thoughtful lighting and... lighting that's less so, can make or break a production. The lighting can add so much mood, atmosphere (intensity, symbolism, meaning, etc.) to a performance and now, I can only wonder if my teammates and I will be able to pull it off to meet everyone's (including our own rather high) expectations.

((This was saved in drafts??? I don't know why - May 14th, 2013))

Theatre Presentation Notes

• Isolation
• How do we perceive ourselves as humans?
• "Tree of Life"
• Corruption
• Vision
• Emma's Idea
• very similar to my first one
• arena stage
• Blind
• touch the paintings and portraits
• tape

Neeevermind - get too distracted listening to actually type

Greek Masks: Visibility and Projection

Origins

• ritualistic or religious
• Dionysus; god of wine, fertility, and revelry
• eventually transitioned into a more secular era
• origin of theatre was recommended by Aristotle
• "Human beings are instinctively imitative"
• first of the greatest theatre in the western world was from Greece
• Dionysus; dithrambs
• Aristotle belives that from these festivals was where theatre had first emerged
• 534B.C.
• the city of Dionysia started a contest of theatre around the region
• Key Greek Playwrights
• Aeschylus
• Plays of Mythology
• Oresteia
• Sophocles
• Antigony
• Euripides
• Wrote 92 but only 23 survived
• Medeles??
• Trojan Women
• Cyclops
• Reduced the role of the chorus
• skeptic of Greek ideals
• skeptical of the gods
• Aristophanes
• Mendeles
• Only 45 plays survived: 32 tragedies, 12 comedies, and 1 satyr play

Elements of Greek Theatre

• Everyone dies offstage

tbc

A Mask for Me?

"Give a hypocrite a mask to wear, and he will be rendered incapable of further lying"

It's ironic because one of the roleplays that I've worked very hard to create and maintain involves the creation of masks for the characters we play, yet I never considered what sort of mask I would wear. I'm sorry if this isn't what you expected, but because of the amount of effort placed in this roleplay, when I hear someone ask me what 'my mask' is, I can't help but think of the ideas used within the story.

I consider my 'true mask' to be, rather than a facet of my existing personality, the personality that I want to become. It's also the mask that I try to wear while presenting myself to other people, but in essence, if I wear that mask without trying to change, it's merely a crutch. It's something I use to hide my true character because I'd rather be like something else. Eventually I won't need the mask because I would either have accepted myself or learned to grow into the person I want to be.

For me, that mask would probably be a full-face mask. It would wear a smile with a plain base color, probably something pastel or mint green, but around the eyes, down the right side, there would be multi-colored sparks - creativity, ingenuity, all of it there, present on my face. It would be a mask that seems refreshing at a glance, and feels pleasant the longer you look at it. However, when I try to don the mask, it doesn't fit - the mold isn't right. If I give it to some other people though, it would meld into their face, look completely natural.

When I wear it, it just looks awkward and I feel the same way.

I've written several poems about masks due to my interest in this story/roleplay and my obsession with my characters, one of which (is a short and silly one and) reads like this:

I have a mask
And whatever you do
You can't see me
But I can see you

Because when someone wears a full-face mask, they can see out the eyes, but the other person cannot see through the mask. This poem could be silly, but you could also wonder, when would such a scenario be alright? Is there benefit to the other person being unable to see your true face? Or, in actuality, is the person speaking not happy with the situation?

Do they want their true self to be seen?

And I think I got off topic, but I'll try to get this back on track when I'm not too tired and incoherent @_@

Anyway, here, have a character: Twisted Emperor
There's no real reason to share this guy because he's from a while back and not my best creation or my best piece of writing and I'll probably regret this later... but he's the one that started off my obsession with masks and personalities and whatnot, so I thought it'd be appropriate to share. Context is that these 'wanted personality masks' result in a full transformation, and depending on how much the character depends on the mask, the personality might be tame or completely extreme.