MLML Post 4.19
Select a passage from a novel you have chosen to study which deals with despair and euphoria. How might staging, design and acting combine to register one of these experiences for an audience?
In the end of the novel, Desiree has experienced a despair intrigued by indifference from Daniel, Madame Metheli. This experience of despair is created by numerous of contributions, and this climax of desperation results into the death of Desiree.
The start of the despair is when Desiree was neglected by Daniel because he changes his favor to Andrea. Since Desiree was put into a small room apart from Daniel, her emotion grows more intense by days. Her emotional instability also reflects on her appearance and her statues: Her nobility and elegance worsen as she became more and more desperate. At a point she became no difference as a peasant, going back to her original status. She was then thrown out of the Beauxhomme hotel. And no one recognizes her as the black lady of the hotel. In this phrase of desperation, Desiree's despair is shown visually in her physical appearance. In the novel, she stops eating and changing clothes. Her dress becomes dirty and so as her hair loses shine and smoothness. On stage, this change in physical appearance can be exaggerated. For example, she can rip her dress during her pacing in the small room, and she can scratch her hair to make it tangled and messy when she was thinking about the Daniel's avoidance of her. Since there are time limit on stage, the changes on her physical appearance should be fast and noticeable. Thus when she returns to the group of the poor, denials of her identity will appear more cruelly. With the actress's shrinking body and her acting of anxiety, the audience can relate themselves by pondering hypothetical situations of being deprived to the square one.
The elongation and suspension of Desiree's despair is relatively short in this novel. It is when Desiree sees Daniel comes out from the hotel for wedding. On stage, I think I will cut short the waiting of Daniel's wedding to fasten the plot and to make the experience more dramatic. When Desiree sees Daniel's wedding trop, she should be alone on stage. Being the first one who sees the group, Desiree is hopeful with a smile. The acting of strong belief of a hope and lighthearted music will create dramatic suspension, making the audience to ponder the resolution of the Desiree's fate. However, as this is a suspension of despair, the crowd soon emerges her, the audience will not be able to see Desiree as she blends in the crowd.
The resolution of the despair is a even more visual one. After Desiree is emerged in the crowd, Daniel and his troop will pass through the up-stage. When it is half way through, Desiree will squeezes out and come down-stage. She will indicate that Daniel and Madame Methilde did not see her. Her acting and words will give the audience an uncomfortable feeling: we are the cold hearted rich who also cannot see Desiree. This helps the audience to realize Desiree is no different with the peasants. After delivering her thoughts, she will squeeze back again to see Daniel closer. When the wedding is over, the poor are rushed through either by the police or a group of butterflies by video projection. Desiree's body will then lay on the ground. The audience might see her death as the symbol of an ultimate despair, some might think that Desiree is using her death to defend her pride: she is still unique among the peasants.
In the end of the novel, Desiree has experienced a despair intrigued by indifference from Daniel, Madame Metheli. This experience of despair is created by numerous of contributions, and this climax of desperation results into the death of Desiree.
The start of the despair is when Desiree was neglected by Daniel because he changes his favor to Andrea. Since Desiree was put into a small room apart from Daniel, her emotion grows more intense by days. Her emotional instability also reflects on her appearance and her statues: Her nobility and elegance worsen as she became more and more desperate. At a point she became no difference as a peasant, going back to her original status. She was then thrown out of the Beauxhomme hotel. And no one recognizes her as the black lady of the hotel. In this phrase of desperation, Desiree's despair is shown visually in her physical appearance. In the novel, she stops eating and changing clothes. Her dress becomes dirty and so as her hair loses shine and smoothness. On stage, this change in physical appearance can be exaggerated. For example, she can rip her dress during her pacing in the small room, and she can scratch her hair to make it tangled and messy when she was thinking about the Daniel's avoidance of her. Since there are time limit on stage, the changes on her physical appearance should be fast and noticeable. Thus when she returns to the group of the poor, denials of her identity will appear more cruelly. With the actress's shrinking body and her acting of anxiety, the audience can relate themselves by pondering hypothetical situations of being deprived to the square one.
The elongation and suspension of Desiree's despair is relatively short in this novel. It is when Desiree sees Daniel comes out from the hotel for wedding. On stage, I think I will cut short the waiting of Daniel's wedding to fasten the plot and to make the experience more dramatic. When Desiree sees Daniel's wedding trop, she should be alone on stage. Being the first one who sees the group, Desiree is hopeful with a smile. The acting of strong belief of a hope and lighthearted music will create dramatic suspension, making the audience to ponder the resolution of the Desiree's fate. However, as this is a suspension of despair, the crowd soon emerges her, the audience will not be able to see Desiree as she blends in the crowd.
The resolution of the despair is a even more visual one. After Desiree is emerged in the crowd, Daniel and his troop will pass through the up-stage. When it is half way through, Desiree will squeezes out and come down-stage. She will indicate that Daniel and Madame Methilde did not see her. Her acting and words will give the audience an uncomfortable feeling: we are the cold hearted rich who also cannot see Desiree. This helps the audience to realize Desiree is no different with the peasants. After delivering her thoughts, she will squeeze back again to see Daniel closer. When the wedding is over, the poor are rushed through either by the police or a group of butterflies by video projection. Desiree's body will then lay on the ground. The audience might see her death as the symbol of an ultimate despair, some might think that Desiree is using her death to defend her pride: she is still unique among the peasants.
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