Prompt 5: Hornby

The motif that I chose is from Conduct of Life and it's the occurrence of rape and torture through out the play. Between almost every seen we see Orlando going to Nena and raping her violently. This motif to me seems to reflect the pain that each character is going through since no one seems to be living the life that they want to live in the way that they hoped to be. Orlando is violent not only towards Nena but towards the prisoner that the had tortured who seemed to die of fear. The idea seems to build and build until towards the end when Leticia eventually commits her own act of violence towards Orlando by shooting him. 

A motif that that is common in television and in movies is the idea of royalty, aka the popular kids. This is even a motif that seems to occur in real life. The popular kids are seen as the royalty of school; kings/queens, prince/princesses, and so on. They hold the power over others. The idea of this motif helps actors get into character since the idea of this motif influences their character choices, such as how snobby they are towards are and just how much power they have over others. 

Prompt 4: How I Learned to Drive

I must admit. The whole idea of a Greek chorus in this play was confusing and I was unsure why it was there or what purpose it served. I had to go back and skim over the parts that included the chorus to analyze them more closely to better understand them. After going back the chorus seems to represent people in the world who have the ability to make a change or help but choose not to do so. Aunt Mary, grandmother and Li'l Bit's mother are represented by the chorus' on the stage and each time Li'l Bit seems to have a question or concern she goes to them for advice. They have the opportunity to check in with Li'l Bit since she hasn't been herself for some time but ignore the signs that seem to be there, except for Aunt Mary who senses that something is going on. 

A choice that Vogel made that I liked was having the moments of monologues. These are times that each character seems to have a chance of control, since this whole play is about control with the metaphor of driving. Everyone wants a chance to be in control in these moments, like the chorus being the mother and giving instructions on drinking and the proper etiquette to follow. The monologues that I liked best were from Li'l Bit because I could see just how she was handling events in her life, since the rest of the play characters are overlapping each other to get a word in.