Prompt 12: On the Verge

So. Mr. Coffee. I know in class that we discussed he could be the spirit of death, and I totally agree with this. At first I thought that maybe he was fate or destiny, but there are too many references to death for him not to be either of those. He knows the Grover is dead since he took his soul away when Grover committed suicide by jumping off a grain silo. He makes the remark that Fanny's dream about Grover was him saying goodbye. I believe he knows Fanny because he came looking for her when Grover originally declared her dead. I think Mr. Coffee is here to let Fanny know that her husband didn't make it and that he re-married after declaring her dead. Although, what I can't get over is why he is there to only give her that information/have a chat with her and not take her soul? Usually death means that you're going to die, so why didn't Mr. Coffee claim her soul then? Why did he visit her only once and plan to be back for her later. I don't know. It's something that's confused me. Anyone have any suggestions?

So I realized I did this and forget to do the first part. My poster would contain the image of a clock, but no numbers. Where the number would be I would take words from the play that no everyone may know to pique their interest. The clock hands would point to any two or the same word as the hands moved combining words that would either go well together or not make any sense. The background of the clock would be a map of where the ladies travel, and the full background would be black filled with stars. The poster would represent time and space itself along with discovers that they made along the way.

Prompt 11: Fires in the Mirror

So, it has come to my attention that there's a large part of the play that our artistic director wants to cut out, but let me tell you why this isn't in the best interest of the show. Although the included interviews are not related to the events surrounding the Crown Heights incident they are more an examination of ones self and where their beliefs/morals lie. The words in the monologues also contain background information that set up for the actual incident. Without these monologues of exposition it won't make any sense as to why the riot broke out in the first place. This information is needed to set up what is about to come when the play moves into the actual events of the riot. 

What good is experiencing event without first examining ourselves and our beliefs to decide where we stand on the matter. In order to be affected by the incidents that will later be explained in the monologues it must be show where people stand on race, religion, etc and how this event affects those beliefs.

Comment Links

Here is where I have posted.

http://dvibe2130.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-glass-of-water.html?showComment=1365642356316#c8275165854424705810

http://korn2130.blogspot.com/2013/04/buried-child.html?showComment=1365642875602#c1048169425749308451

http://dorapereli2130.blogspot.com/2013/04/water-by-spoonful-response.html?showComment=1365643503459#c7693743387575253119

http://2130coryvincent.blogspot.com/2013/04/detroit-detroit.html?showComment=1365798097877#c3078654923102995747

http://dvibe2130.blogspot.com/2013/04/water-by-spoonful.html?showComment=1365798967340#c6786107650897882560

Prompt 10: Detroit

Detroit was once a city that was thriving and creating jobs for the working man. To have a job making money and a family was an American dream that many wanted to achieve in their lifetime. However within the last several years the city has been on a decline. Many of factors there that once provided thousands of jobs have now closed and remain abandoned. Even though the play doesn't take place in Detroit, this idea of having a dream, or the American Dream, is still heavy in our time. In any city it is possible to achieve this dream or at least work towards it. That's why D'Amour didn't set it in just Detroit. Detroit isn't the only place that the American Dream can be achieved or lost. Portland, Oregon is currently experiencing the same thing. Many people who have worked hard in their job, have a family and home are being laid off from work. Suddenly they are struggling to put food on the table and pay for electricity. This can happen anywhere.

I also highly recommend the HBO Documentary Film American Winter which focuses on five families in Portland who are struggling with poverty.

Prompt 9: Water By The Spoonful

So the moment that I chose is scene 8 in the play particularly the later half where Yaz and Elliot go into Odessa's house to get her computer to pawn it. So basically in this scene Yaz and Elliot show up at Odessa's home to pawn her computer for money for the funeral. When they get there Elliot logs onto Odessa's website using her username and password. He goes into the chatroom as Haikumom where he starts questioning Orangutan about cocaine. She however realizes that it's not actually Odessa and Yaz reveals that it's actually her son. Organgutan knows him from his Colgate ad and from a story that Odessa shared online about him. Elliot gets angered by the fact this story has been shared with the world and rips out the computer and keyboard. 

What is interesting about this moment is perspective of the real world taking in the online world. Like how we talked in class today about how a message can have different meanings since you can't hear the inflections in peoples voices so you don't know if they're being sincere or sarcastic. Elliot is asking seriously about how crack feels to a person since he's well aware of Odessa's problem, but Orangutan takes it as a joke. When Elliot persists about it she gets freaked out and wants him to leave. This is a moment of how words can be misjudged, as I just explained. The play centers around characters recovering from an addiction, whether it's pain medication or cocaine; Addiction and recovery are often misunderstood just how the conversations between the real world and online world can become jumbled. Hudes wants to show that relationships different between online and reality which is why she has these intersecting moments of the two realities.

Dang. It's hard to do that without going towards the audience or saying 'I think' or something like that. Hope this made sense!