TA 10 #8 To Kill A Mocking Bird best and worst moments

     The moment in the play "To Kill a Mocking bird" that really caught my attention was the court scene. I have seen this play twice, and have read the book twice, and This scene is still my favorite. The SJSU production did this scene justice. The way Mayella Ewell acted was very well done. Although she only had one big scene, she did it very well. In the moments that she was not speaking, she still acted the part. She hunched over in her chair, and slightly leaned away from her father, Bob Ewell. She made me notice that she was uncomfortable with her father. Obviously he is the one that attacked her. The court scene was also my favorite because the stage looked very dark and cryptic. The stage was lit with bronze lighting, making the stage look as if it was happening back in time. watching it, I could tell that the Tech really thought about the lighting, making it look like they were in the depression. When thinking about the depression, it makes me think of dirt, ratty clothes, and depressing colors. The stage was lit perfectly, and really made me feel the character's pain and agony. The costume design of Bob and Mayella also was impressive. Although Bob Ewell's Makeup may have been over-done, it still got the point across that he is a poor drunk. Mayella's torn up dress and greasy, stringy hair really made it apparent that she was not taken care of.

Mayella and Bob Ewell- court scene

     The factor that was not very pleasing to me was Gem. I felt like he was too old for the part. I understand that he is supposed to be an older brother to scout, but in the book he is described as being a couple years older than Scout. Gem's accent was also all over the place. He sometimes appeared to have a slight Brittish accent. I know that he was not really southern, but he could have improved his accent and acting a little bit more. He was too old to be a slightly older mentor to scout and Dill. Otherwise, I have no other complaints about the production.

Scout, Gem, and Dill 

TA 10 blog #7 Creative project

     My group project is a power point on  William Shakespeare. I am contributing the facts of his background, and his reasoning for writing the plays. The reasoning for our power point is to give the students a better understanding of Shakespeare. Growing up, we all have heard many things about him. We have read and analyzed his plays many times. With our project, we are going to clarify who Shakespeare is, and we will introduce the reasons why he wrote the tragedies.
     While looking for information on Shakespeare, I discovered a variety of information about his past. He had three children, and he had a wife, Anne Hathaway.  I also found where he supposedly went to school, and everything known about his past. I was always told that he had very little education, but reading articles on the internet has made me see otherwise. I struggled in my search for his childhood. There is not much to say about Shakespeare, and when it is said, it is not always a certain fact. It was a struggle finding good, solid facts about his past.
     With my contribution to the project, it will give the students in the classroom a chance to comprehend who Shakespeare really is. He is not just some guy who wrote many plays that we all know and love, he is an artist with a story. All of us have heard the same things about Shakespeare; however, we are hoping to reach out to the students  and have them understand Shakespeare's plays and who he is.
     Doing this project, I have discovered a lot more about William Shakespeare. I have always heard facts about him, but doing a project on him really made me pay attention to his life and work. I have also concluded that next project I will be doing something a lot more "hands-on". I want to act! :)

Lindsay Sommers, Jose Torres, and Erick Salazar working in the Martin Luther King Library

LINKS:http://www.william-shakespeare.org.uk/children-william-shakespeare.htm
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-children-and-grandchildren.htm
http://www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/life.html

TA 10 #6 Midsummer Night’s Dream

     Midsummer Night's dream's forest scene was different than what I had expected. Watching Nijinska Theilade Korngold Rheinhardt 1935's production of "Midsummer Night's Dream" clarified some details. When reading the play, I focused on what was happening; not really on the relationships the Couples had. I didn't realize how  much Hermia and Lysander liked each other. when I read that Lysander fell in love with Helena, I never really thought anything of it. After seeing the video, it made me see that they (Hermia and Lysander) actually loved each other, and Oberon completely ruined their relationship. Seeing this version of the play also made me realize how evil Oberon actually is. He totally ruins people's lives, and does not even care.
     This production also clarified what kind of person Puck is. I imagined Puck as this as a young man in his mid twenties. I didn't expect Puck to be so little and crazy. It really made it clear that Puck was Oberon's evil minion. Reading the play, you miss these small details that make it much more deep and real.

Puck and Hermia

Bottom and Titania

     After watching this movie, i have a clearer understanding of the characters. Now I know that the things Oberon did were very deceitful. Titania was so sweet and loving, and he just made her love an ass. These characters were innocent, and Oberon had evil plans. Showing the character's reactions made me understand them a lot more, and made me understand why the characters were so frustrated.

TA 10 English vs. French and Italian Theater

Many things come in to consideration when comparing English theater with French and Italian theater. English theater did not consist of opera. Opera was a very big deal in Italy and France. Italian opera was made to show the emotion of the play without much music in the background. France also had operas; however, the operas always consisted of Ballets. Even in the 2004 movie, The Phantom of the Opera, the scene with the "Poor Fool" song had a ballet in the middle. It shows that France fancied ballets in operas.
      In the 16-17th centuries, France was still producing mystery and miracle plays. England was producing comedies and very new boisterous forms of theater. Italy was also producing a form of comedy. they would go out in the town and set up stages to entertain the people passing by. The more people, the better.  English theater was often criticized because of the profanity and the mention of politics. This would never be mentioned in France and Italy.

France opera house

Italian Opera- Carmen

     In France, people who typically saw the operas/ plays were nobles or people of power. In Elizabethan theater, the audience consisted of people from every class. English theater had about 3,000 people attending the plays, and the audience typically got diseases because the theater was always stuffed.

Globe Theater

     Italian theater was a mixture between singing, dancing, acting, and participation of the audience. opera was a great way to combine all of those elements to create a powerful performance. The stage was often filled with extravagant decorations, while the English stage had the bare minimum. The English theater was also often round, so the whole audience could experience everything that was going on. In a way, the English theater was more focused on the actors, while the Italian plays were focused more on the whole performance.