Journal 9
October 22, 2001
King Henry V and American Pie?
On Monday, October 15, the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express performed their interpretation of King Henry V . SSE provided, in my opinion, a modernized version of this play while remaining very true to Shakespeare’s words and the way he would have produced the play.
Many Shakespearean traits were incorporated into the SSE production of King Henry V. One was the fact that they chose to leave the lights on during the play. This stemmed from the fact that, in Shakespeare’s time, plays were performed during the day in a structure that was open at the top providing natural light. This helped SSE form a quite intimate bond with their audience. One member of the SSE actually said that this allows us to see you and you to see us. Some other aspects of the production of plays of Shakespeare’s time that were mimicked by SSE included beginning the play with a modern song, having just a few actors (eleven) to play many more parts (approximately fifty), having no separation of back stage area between the cast and the audience, and having cross-gendered casting.
In relationship to our reading of the text, SSE put the play into perspective. While reading the text alone and in class, the play seemed to be stuck in Shakespeare’s time frame making the play hard to bring to life. SSE put humor, movement, and emotion into this play (which I previously thought was rather drab). This helped me to understand the concepts that Shakespeare was trying to get across because the interaction simply kept me "awake."
One friend of mine referred to the SSE production of the play as "a little like the movie American Pie." It took me a while to realize that SSE actually did direct this play at an audience (mainly college students) that was used to the ideas of humor, sexual humor to be exact. I had no idea that King Henry V actually contained any of this, but SSE emphasized this humor in a way that I believe helped them get their audience to relate the play to their connotative means of entertainment (movies like American Pie).
Journal 10
October 29, 2001
C.K. Williams and "The Dog"...
On Thursday, October 25, poet and translator C.K. Williams was warmly welcomed as a guest lecturer in Kilpatrick Auditorium. Williams was greeted as the recipient of Centenary's Corrington Award. C.K. Williams was the translator of The Bacchae of Euripides and wrote the poems in Selected Poems. These are the two of his texts that were studied by our class this year.
For his lecture, C.K. Williams read several of his poems. He stated that many of the beginning few that he read were requests from an English class that he had spoken to that morning. C.K. Williams read with emotion and fluidity. He brought his words to life in an easily understandable tone.
The poem that caught my attention was one of the first poems he read. This very ironic poem was entitled "The Dog." Williams introduced this poem as being based on his experience of seeing a dog dying at a veterinarian's office in Philadelphia. The dog, owned by a black woman, had to be put to sleep after being poisoned. I have to admit that I basically found this particular poem repulsive. I mean, a dog that is too sick to move "his bowels", yuck! But, in the second half of this poem, C.K. Williams related his experience with the dog to how you just forget about things in life, about how even the most disgusting things can be forgotten. It seems as if he is almost mourning this dog, but perhaps he is only mourning the fact that the little things you notice can so suddenly disappear. See more thoughts on C.K. Williams' "The Dog"
Journal 11
November 5, 2001
Victor and Henry=One person??
During the week of October 28-November 2, I had the chance to view two of the Frankenstein Film Festival movies. The first movie that I viewed was Frankenweenie. The second was The Bride of Frankenstein. These movies were both very different interpretations of the plot of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In this journal, I am choosing to focus more on the connection between The Bride of Frankenstein and the book by Mary Shelley.
In my opinion, one of the most shocking points of the movie, The Bride of Frankenstein, was that Frankenstein, creator of the monster, was named Henry Frankenstein. In the book Frankenstein, Mary Shelley named this character Victor Frankenstein. Shelley’s book actually names another character Henry. This character is Henry Clerval, friend of Victor and victim of the monster’s killing. So, can we see this connection as something more than just a simple mishap?
I think that this "dual naming" concept is directly related to each of these. Perhaps the creators of the movie wanted to combine characteristics of Shelley’s Henry and Victor to form a more complex character. Or, possibly, the creators of The Bride of Frankenstein are suggesting that there is some interesting connection between Henry and Victor that can be fused into one being.
It would be easy for me to find text based facts to back these points up. However, I wish for this distinction to awaken the reader to a new idea behind Frankenstein. Is Mary Shelley subconsciously allowing interpreters of her story to conceive Henry and Victor as one being? I believe that this is extremely possible.
Journal 12
November 12, 2001
Electra's Bicycle
The Marjorie Lyons production of Electra was very emotionally draining. The text version of Electra, by Sophocles, was extremely different. Electra is a very complex character. I do not believe that the text did this character justice. From reading the text I found Electra to be a whiny little brat to be honest. The play showed me that she was actually an emotional wreck who truly needed medical attention. Although the two versions of this play were extremely different, one could see an direct relationship between the two.
A prop that I found interesting was the bicycle. It is quite odd to me that a bicycle was part of the opening scene of this ancient Greek play. Because of my fascination with this, I decided that it would be beneficial to interview a cast member who knew what this prop symbolized.
Lindsey: What was the purpose of the bicycle in the opening scene of the MLP production of Electra?
Ashley Beckham: Director Patric McWilliams wanted to combine the classic Greek qualities with several modern qualities.
Lindsey: Were there any other signs of this that were prevalent in the production?
Ashley: Yes, this was also seen in the costumes, set design, props, etc.
Another interesting prop in Electra
Journal 13
November 12, 2001
Rose Van Thyn
Thursday, November 8, I had the chance to hear Rose Van Thyn speak for the second time in my life. This petite, fairly well-spoken lady is a Holocaust survivor. As with the first time I heard her speak, Rose Van Thyn truly grasped the attention of her audience. She is not extremely loud or easy to understand. It just seems impossible not to listen to this little lady speak of such a gigantic experience.
Mrs. Van Thyn spoke to her audience in Kilpatrick Auditorium from a tall, cushioned, old-style, green chair with a small table contained a lamp and pitcher of water. The set seemed to add to the intimacy between the audience and speaker. One could imagine themselves in a home setting because of these aspects.
Although Rose Van Thyn began her convocation with view on the September, 11 attacks, she mainly spoke about her experiences as a Jew in Amsterdam, Holland. She gave us specific details of what went on during the time of the Holocaust and events leading up to it.
As to how I would feel in Rose Van Thyn’s shoes, truthfully I do not think that this is something that can be speculated. The horrors and tragedies that she endured due to the Holocaust were unimaginable. One can only hope that no one else has to ever put themselves in Mrs. Van Thyn’s shoes. I am thankful that she is such a strong lady that she is able speak to us about her past experiences.
Journal 14
November 26, 2001
Learning history through art
For Journal 14 I visited Meadows Museum of Art. During my visit there was an exhibit by artist Jacob Lawrence. The most historically relevant series of his on display, in my opinion, was the Hiroshima series. Jacob Lawrence was an African-American artist of the Harlem Renaissance. In 1940, Jacob Lawrence spoke these words: " I've always been interested in history, but they never taught Negro history in the public schools... I don't see how a history of the United States can be written honestly without including the Negro. " Lawrence believed he could educate people through his art, much like Art Spiegelman educated us through the Maus books.
I find the concept of educating people through art very interesting. In a way, Jacob Lawrence taught us about history in the Hiroshima series, Genesis series, and others. The Holocaust and Hiroshima incidents were both tragic moments in world history. These two men caught the public’s attention by portraying these tragedies in a new way. Possibly the cartoon’s relevance to the Holocaust stems from the abstractness of this horrific event in our eyes. Non-survivors will never fully understand what happened at that point in history. Therefore, learning about this event in a non-traditional (comic book) way sets it apart in our minds and allows us to see this specific event in a different light than standard text book words.
Additional information for this journal assisgnment came from this site .
Journal 15
November 26, 2001
Comforting Wit
Wit can be defined as intelligence. The MLP production of "Wit" proved that intelligence can mean many different things in and of itself. Ruth Rath portrayed the character Vivian Bearing. Vivian was a loathed professor of 17th century poetry, specializing in John Dunne. We saw flashbacks of different points in her life where she learned valuable lessons . But perhaps the most important lesson that Vivian learned before her death was that sometimes you have to just relax and be a child again. This lesson was reiterated by her meeting with and old professor named Ashford (portrayed by Dot Hall). This meeting happened just before Vivian’s death, in her hospital bed. Ashford found no other way to effectively communicate with Vivian expect to read her a story that Ashford had purchased for a small child. This book was The Runaway Bunny. It seemed that after hearing this book, Vivian was released from her tough exterior and was allowed to live as a child, comforted for these few minutes.
This play, set mostly in a room of the University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center, was eye-opening to its audience. Although it did tend to be slow at times, this play showed its audience the importance of life and kindness. I believe that the MLP cast of 23 did this play justice. It was a very unusual, yet fulfilling experience that I would recommend to anyone.
Journal 16
December 3, 2001
Reflections
Today I reflect on what my first semester in college has been like. Is it already over? I have learned so much throughout my time in this school. There was all the "exciting" schoolwork, learning the best ways to procrastinate, and learning (well in most cases watching others learn) those all important life lessons. Also, I learned how exciting it can be to get to sleep before 2:00 a.m.
In just this very short time at Centenary, I have learned that my surroundings are incredible. I have been challenged to do my best for the first time in my life and have learned the meaning of "family." Family becomes the thing you run to when no one else will listen. They are who you can count on, cry to, and just get a home-cooked meal from. My family became my best friends. No one could have prepared me for how incredible my experience has been.
Finally, I must admit that many of my challenges and best experiences were directly cause by this English 101 class. I have met people in this class who have made me open my mind to new ideas, yet also made me feel like I knew nothing. I also got a chance, through the reading of the class, to learn that not everyone is like me and that my opinions and thoughts are not always the best, if not wrong occasionally. This reading (and analyzing it) showed me what great information it contained and what great lessons I could get from these ancient and not so ancient authors.
So, I would just like to say thank you. Thank you to Mrs. Strange, my class, the curriculum, my new friends, and my family for opening my mind to a whole new world (one that I may not have realized existed). I know that these experiences will accompany me everywhere I go for the rest of my life.