Reasons To Be Pretty

        The Audience Experience

This is the third play I have been to. Before I even start with my audience interpretations, let me say I LOVED IT! I made the decision to go on the opening night. I thought it would be unique to choose that performance in relation to the other nights of its presentation, for two reasons. The first reason, which I could be wrong, but I thought about it, would be that this is their first night performing this particular play in front of the real deal; the audience. I figured watching the first performance would be different than say, watching the last performance, because of things that they might realize, like an outfit didn’t work out as well as they had thought it would, or a prop, maybe the setup of the seats was a foot too close to the stage, things of that nature. Learning from the trail of the first performance what can be worked on for the following ones. The second reason I chose opening night to see this play, was because of the audience size. As Professor Kershner had stated earlier this week, it may be harder to get a ticket toward the end of the weekend. I assumed from that, a smaller crowd would be attending on opening night. It might just be me, but when I choose to “people watch,” it’s easier for me to analyze individuals when the herd is thinned out.

As I had with Locomotion, I brought my younger brother with me so I could see how he felt about the show in comparison with the God awful Locomotion. Walking into the performance area I realized it had an arena stage setup with a bedroom like setting. I just stood there for a moment looking at the four seating sectionals. Deciding not only on which side of the bed I wanted to sit on to view the show, but also the elevation of the seating I felt comfortable with. I decided to go for a view with a lateral profile. My brother and I took a seat on the side of the bedroom that had women’s clothing on the floor. I sat ground level to be, in a sense, part of the actors world. The closer I am to the performance, the more I enjoy it. It’s a bit of a rush to have a flesh and blood story within arm’s reach. The audience was a lot larger than it was for Locomotion, my brother pointed out. I also had my first theatrical encounter with other audience members. An elderly couple sat down to my left and cracked some jokes with me as we waited for the show to start. They asked me if I was affiliated with the production of the play and I told them I was just a student that was present for homework purposes. I asked them if they were attending the play because they knew someone that was part of it. They informed me that they did not know anyone in Daytona State College, let alone anyone in the performance. They had seen an advertisement in a paper and have always enjoyed live theatre. They weren’t even from Florida; they were just here visiting family for the holidays. I guess I had a presumption that all these old people show up for plays at the News-Journal Center because they had grandchildren and whatnot in the play or behind the scenes. Now I realize, or at least I give thought to, the fact of older folks coming to these shows perhaps reflects a generation and geography in a sense. These older individuals, with us being in the retiree state, not only grew up with live performance as a more dominating form of entertainment, in comparison to what our kids entertain themselves with nowadays, but they also may have come from the states up north. Broadway in New York is 200 miles from Boston, MA and only 100 miles away from Philadelphia!

So to wrap up the audience experience, I found the play to be great. It hit me on a personal level, not only with the panic attack (no joke) I had at the beginning when two of the characters decided to rip one another apart with a barrage of harsh language, but also with the behavior of the characters in retrospect to my own life and experiences with people that behave such as they had in the play. The old people next to me left the play, never to return and very upset, during intermission. They didn’t know such “special” words were going to be thrown into their ears on that night. That made me like the play even more, I’m a bit dark, and so I find it amusing when people can’t handle particular adult situations and language. On a final note, I noticed that the character named Carly had a flashlight on her costume. It accidentally detached several times throughout the show and it was cool to watch how the actor reacted to it. She calmly incorporated these unscripted moments into her routine. After the show my brother told me he wanted to attend every show that DSC puts together during his whole time in college. I agree with him. Good or bad, I very much enjoy the act of analyzing these live performances. They are each unique and bring with them a new world, a 3D fairytale, into my life.

The Differences - Live Play versus Film

                Some Things Similar

Living theatre is different than a film. But they also have many similarities. The keyword is “live.” As I had said in the aforementioned article, “It’s a bit of a rush to have a flesh and blood story within arm’s reach.”  When going to see a play or a film, we can expect a lot of the same things to take place within the audience. First off, they both have a living audience. Let’s at least hope that the audience is living…. Next, for both live theatre and a film, we are expected to turn off our cell phones and behave accordingly. We know by the plays ad and the films rating, if we are bringing our children or if we are bringing a box of Kleenex. When watching a live performance, the laughter of the audience influences the smile I already have into a laugh as well. The same can be said of a comedy at the movie theater. Some plays have the audience in a sense, participate or be active in some way. Maybe the show asks everyone to dress in a specific outfit. Films have the same thing happen at times. New Star Wars movies bring a whole legion of storm troopers and Jedi to the ticket lines; the Rocky Horror Picture Show brings….some pretty interesting characters as well…

                Some Things Are Different

                Now comparing Reasons to Be Pretty with a film that is out at the movie theater shows a great deal of contrast. For one, the arena seating in Reasons to Be Pretty is very dissimilar to the proscenium style that movie theaters have. I can choose to sit within a 360 degree range of Reasons to Be Pretty, while a film is a flat surface that requires you to focus your attention in one specific direction. Film has been shot, edited, edited again, and so on until it has become a thing of permanence. You can turn a film on anywhere, at any time, in any decade, and it will be the exact same performance as it was at any other time or place. A live performance is never the same. Actors can be changed as well as, colors, costumes, lights, sounds, eras, and places. A play can be the same story and name but put together and performed in another country, with a different language and a different approach to fit the community that is viewing it.

                Lastly, on a personal note, I realized a live performance makes it much more awkward to get up and go to the bathroom, or in my case, calm down a racing heart and panic attack. The arena seating for Reasons to Be Pretty kept me trapped in a full circle view, within inches of the action. To stand up and walk out with so much focus from all angles just shouts “LOOK AT THAT GUY!” So I just did breathing exercises as inconspicuously as possible. And I thought about trying to sneak to the exit when the lights went down between scenes, but that was just asking for more trouble. I didn’t want to chance bumping into one of the actors or crew members, possibly trip over there props. It’s much easier to escape a movie theater than a live performance.

LOCOMOTION

On Wednesday night I decided to attend the play Locomotion. Having seen Almost, Maine recently, I was eager and excited to see this next performance. Was it going to be the same atmosphere as last time? Will the audience be generally the same group? I changed clothes to be a little more suited for the News-Journal Center. I learned my lesson last time when I was apparently one of the few ragged out individuals while everyone else was in formal wear. Having heard all about Almost, Maine my younger brother asked if he could come see Locomotion. He had never been to a play before, so I thought it would be even more interesting to be able to examine him as part of the audience.

                We arrived twenty minutes early, giving us time to finish our coffees. As we took a seat on the concrete slab out front of the main entrance, I looked around expecting to see swarms of older men and women heading toward the doors. But in fact, it was absolutely quiet. There was nobody heading into the building at all. My instructor was right; apparently word did not successfully get out concerning the performance.

                We made our way indoors, passing a female usher on our way to the escalator. My brother nudged me and whispered, “Cy, did you see her name? Her name’s Usher.” I laughed about how naïve my brother can be as he is only one month away from his eighteenth birthday. I told him that she is an usher and that it’s not her name. On the second floor I stopped my brother before heading into the theater. I had to show him the awesome bathroom that had impressed me the last time I had been there. Walking into the restroom he was just as impressed and happy with it as I had been when I first saw it. Yes, we are a strange pair.

                We sat front and center to the stage. Aside from the two of us, there was one family and a lone man in the audience. The music that was playing was much different than the music that had been playing while I had waited for Almost, Maine to start. This music was 80’s Hip Hop. I couldn’t help but smile, the atmosphere was so different than it had been last time.

                The show began and that is when my day ended. I’m sorry to be such a critic, but the whole experience was not worth my time. I was very lost at the start of the performance. The actors playing multiple characters made it even harder to try and make sense of what I was seeing. A man around my age was attempting to portray a young boy, varying around the ages of 9-13. I hope I never have to see or hear someone speak like that again. I give credit to the Latino actor though. He did a fantastic job with the different characters he could quickly turn into. Another thing I realized about the performance that made me not as pleased as I was with the last one, was the fact that sitting front and center is not comfortable to me. I realized I very much enjoy sitting on the side of the stage. I’m unsure as to the exact way to explain why that is, but it’s just something about feeling a little more behind the scenes, and the ability to study the actors on the sideline as they perform to those that are straight ahead of them.

                As we left, my brother said he didn’t like it for the same reasons, but he was very happy about the experience itself. When I got home I thought that maybe I should sleep on it before writing this blog post. Maybe I would reflect a little differently after it had been in my head for a day. When I woke up the next day I was surprised! I did feel differently about Locomotion! I had gone from not liking it, to really, REALLY not liking it. I have decided that there will be no train under our Christmas tree this year as to not be, in any way, reminded of Locomotion.