See No Evil.

   The first moment that came to mind when thinking bout moments that shouldn't be represented is the elephants death in The Elephant's Grave Yard . In this production an elephant was hung as punishment for accidentally killing her new trainer.  The actors stood in a cirlce and pretended to watch this horrific event. The hanging is discribed in such detail that there was no need for a visual. This act should never be portrayed, not even in film, due to the horrific nature.  Just by seeing the reactions of the cast members  and hearing the event occur is just as powerful.
   Now when approaching abstraction as it relates to the Holocaust is a very delecat subject. As we said in our discussion when working with true stories you must find a balance between both entertainment and documentary. You must stay true to the story without picking a side.  For example what if someone made a movie about a Nazi solider who was against everything he was forced to do. Some might be offended that a member of the Nazi party is being portrayed as a victim instead of the people he is killing.  Thete is always a risk when working with true historical events.

Welcome to the new age.

When I think about public disturbance in theater the first thing that comes to mind is a flash mob. In recent years more and more people have begun to express themselves through dance. By organizing a flash mob you appeal to people’s curiosity and make it easier to spread your message to different crowds, even though most flash mobs are just for enjoyment. I consider this to be a form of public disturbance because it disrupts the normal flow of events. For example, if you are walking through a mall or busy street and then everyone around you begins to dance or freeze you will become confused stop to figure out what has just happened. Flash mobs have become so effective just for the fact the appeal to a modern audience. This is the era of kids who grew up watching movies like Step Up or High School musical so seen events like this reach out to them. Now a way that we could change theater to appeal to this type of audience is a difficult question. If people would like to see dancing all over stage they could easily just go see a musical. One way to accomplish this goal could be to have the cast sit in the audience. Imagining if you went to go see a show and when the curtain opened no one was there. You sit confused but notice groups of people in the audience stand up in anger and begin to leave the theater. You get up thinking you should leave as well when all of a sudden all those people stop moving.  All of the actors began walking a backwards or dancing until they get up on the stage for the show to begin. This would grab the audience attention by appealing to their sense of curiosity and just being outside the norm.  

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True or False?

The first two plays that popped into my head were The Color Purple and All the Kings Men. While in New York during a middle school trip I was able to watch The Color Purple on Broadway. It was an amazing experience. This play made me laugh and cry just a little. Even though the story was made up you really began to connect with the characters, the second play I named,   All the Kings Men, was a play that I worked on while at LSU, This play was about the story of Huey P. Long, one of Louisiana’s most iconic governors.  This story connected to me on a much deeper level, mainly because we have been taught his history since middle school. Even though names were changed you still had a since of what was going on and of course knowing that it was based on a true story caused you to feel more deeply than   if it were made up.

Both plays, as most plays do, cause you to feel several types of emotions, whether you feel happy or sad truly depends on your point of few.  It could be argued that even though The Color Purple was made up it has historical values, but that could also be said about any productions.  The think that separates the two plays is even though the both may be historically accurate All the Kings Men is based off of actual events that occurred during his life time. However even though they may have different motives  they were each created for the same reasons, to teach and to entertain.  We learn about historic encounters from both plays as well as have a few good laughs. The purpose of any production whether naturalistic or documentary is to appeal to an audience, I truly enjoyed both productions. 

GIFSoup

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Now everybody dance!!!

The topic for this blog was to find a performative act that can be recognized nationally. What better way to show this than through dance. Everyone knows how to do the Macarena and Head, Shoulders Knees, and Toes. We all remember doing these dances back in elementary school and if you heard the songs toady you know exactly what to do. However as times change so do fads and dance moves. This is the age of 7 second videos and learning a new dance move every week. This being said it did not surprise me at all when these two vine celebrities decided to add a modern twist to a 90s kid classic.  Since we all grew up with these dances what better way to keep them alive than add modern dance movies. To me this also shows how a performative act may begin one way but as time and culture changes it can be revamped to appeal to a younger audience. An example of this is most of the Disney movies we have grown up with. Most of the Disney stories are based off of actual stories which don’t all have such very happy endings. However each story was altered to appeal to younger audiences in order to  continue share each story.  That is one of the interesting things about a performative act they are always changing. Actual by remixing a performative act you also get people to research the original. It could be said that by remixing an act your shown appreciation for the original, even if it is just for fun. Now if you don't know these dances well .....

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