Experience At The Theatre Essay Examples

The theater experience is primarily a collaboration of fine arts that include the contribution of live performances and typical actors in a bid to present an experience of an event that is either real or from an artistic point of view. The performance is usually given to a live audience in a particular place, mostly a stage. The main aim is to make a particular scenario look real and evoke various emotions and attention from the audience. The performance makes this experience possible through a combination of music, dances, gestures and speech. They also include different elements of art like stagecraft such as lighting and painted scenery. Also, the plot should flow through the play without unnecessary interruptions. Most importantly, the intended message or the central idea of the play, or any other form of live performance, should be carefully conveyed to the audience in a clear manner.
In my experience at the theater, I had a lot of expectations. It was thrilling for me to experience a show live. I could see the actors, unlike going to the movies where the actors were not physically present. Firstly, I expected authenticity from the show. Expected the costumes and the stagecraft to be unique and creative at the same time; therefore, I expected the lighting and the props to be well done. I also expected the actors to perform with so much passion and enable convey their performance audibly. Most importantly, I expected the actors to do their best to evoke the intended emotion from the audience through proper dramatization. On the same note, I expected the performers to exhibit language experience and contextual richness in order to convey their message fully. I expected the producers to have conducted audience research and have a vast knowledge of the aspects about the performance that would interest the audience. More importantly, I expected the performers to drive the expected message home, in that, as part of the audience, I expected to understand the message in the play clearly.
In my experience at the theater, most of my expectations were met while some of them were not. All in all, every masterpiece is bound to have its ups and downs. The play indeed met my expectations since the characters exhibited knowledge in the main ideas of the play and they were able to display contextual prowess. The performers were lively and audible, and their dramatization showed the good experience they had gained in the field. Another expectation that was fully met was the interesting and unique way that the actors performed. The actors began the act from within the audience; it came as a surprise to most of the members of the audience since the actors came from the crowd; this was indeed the most interesting part of the play. Despite the expectations that were satisfied, there was also an aspect that was not fully satisfied. In my opinion, the message was a bit difficult to understand in the first instance, though with time, it got revealed. It takes a keen degree of concentration to understand the profound message and not just the general idea of the play.
The play I watched was Death of a Black Man (A Walk By) by William Electric Black. He is the playwright and the producer of the play at Theater for the New City 155 First Ave at E. 10th Street. The play takes about 75 minutes and is composed of a cast of about 14. It was also produced at an opportune time, during the Gun Awareness Month. The main idea of the play is gun violence that is highly experienced, especially among the teenagers today. It clearly shows how well kids can just find themselves in bad situations in these tough streets. It is a true depiction of the numerous shootings that are experienced in the society today; it also shows the ubiquity of firearms in the country. The theater spaces were carefully designed to show the different scenes of the shooting. The scenes start with the gun violence episode and a memorial service later. Police investigations also follow and then there are protests and actual shootings. It clearly depicts inner city violence that is woven into a poetic experience, through hip-hop verses, poetry and chanted songs.
William Electric Black, whose real name is Ian Ellis James is the playwright. The playwright is a former writer at Sesame Street, and he has an admirable spirit in addressing issues that affect the young adults in the society, he is also a seven-time Emmy award winning writer. The set designers of the play were: Lytza Colon and Mark Marcante. The costumes were made by Susan Hemley. The play lighting was done by Alexander Bartenieff. The stage manager was Megan Horan, and the graphic designer was Erikka James; this entire team was responsible for making the show a success since they all worked as a team with a commitment to ensure that everything was achieved as intended.
The audience of the play was somehow uncomfortable with the confrontational nature of the play, especially with the great indulgence in the guns subject. The message that carries the day in the play is “You can't understand a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes.” It is evident that many of them had not tasted the dread, paranoia, and loss from gun violence, which is surprising because gun violence is common to urban families, high schoolers and the urban community as a whole. The tale in the play is a familiar one but sad as the teens tragically become the victims of gun violence. The play begins as the actors pour into the stage chanting ‘Book. Backpack. Gun’. This chanting was strategically used for today, many pupils go to school with pistols in the backpacks, hence instead of focusing on their grades in school they focus on surviving in school. The plays percussionist (Chriz Zaborowski), sets the tone throughout the show as he marks each word with a loud drumbeat. There are a series of parts including the high school and the surrounding neighborhood.
The story is told through flashback as the unthinkable happens between Boo Charles (Carleton King), who is a talented poet and soft spoken too, and Sweets Walker (Damon Trammell), who is tough in nature. Boo has a sister called Teela, and he is seen as very protective of her. At school, Teela and her friends have an encounter with Sweets who is tough and is secretly armed. Teela and her friends ‘diss’ Sweets and he is not very happy about it. As it is expected from Sweet’s nature, he was enraged, and he decided to seek out the girls at noon. Sweets ends up shooting Nina instead of Teela whom he had intended to shoot. After the incident, the school gets canceled, and everybody goes home. Boo knew that Sweets was targeting his sister, so he takes a gun and pursues him. Teela on the other hand, out of fear, gets a gun to protect herself. Later, a shootout ensues in the playground where Sweets, Teela, Boo alongside two other girls fall. This incident attracts intense police investigation and a funeral service. Also, there are reactions from members of the society, including parents, and there are deliberations from the school administration.
The theater space is professionally and uniquely done as the police cars, and inner city building is brought out quite well in presenting an urban setting. The playground is also well set with fences in wheels, the scene of the fallen six was well done to bring out the expected outcome. There are also the Church pews on wheels used to illustrate the funeral setting. The play carefully weaves by the combination of rap music and an array of sound effects, strobe lights, moving projections and live drums. The play is called a ‘walk by,' because the audience is deeply immersed in the play as they walk through the aftermath of gun violence.
The aspect I liked most about the play is that the audience is engaged in the play in that they shuffle around within the setting as though they are part of the actors hence the name, ‘walk by’. On the same note, the actors were very committed, hence they exhibited so much passion and knowledge in the content they were performing. The aspect I did not like most about the play was a specific moment in the play that I felt littered the plot of the play. At that moment, it seemed to me at a dead end as a female ensemble member reads out a poem that was about a police tower.
I would most definitely recommend this play to others firstly from the fact that it is an immersion experience where one gets to feel and experience exactly what teenagers feel about gun violence through rap and poetry. It is also informative as it shows the adverse effects of gun violence. It passes a message for everyone, especially in the urban area to take a step in reducing gun violence. Despite the positive aspect drawn to the play, there is a confusing issue, in that the play is called the ‘The Death of a Black Man’, yet more than half of the deaths that occur are of teenage girls.
In conclusion, there has not been a better time for the performance of this play since the aspect of gun violence has rendered the society helpless, as currently many people die per year out of this menace. The play has clearly brought to picture the aspect of multiracial and multiethnic issues that affect the society. It is, however, vital for all the other artists, especially playwright to continue producing such informative pays that will communicate various issues that affect the community. In general, the play was an interesting one, and the whole team worked well in making the show a success. I would recommend that the production team should consider less disturbance of the audience even if the play is a walk by. The play has so much content and has indeed captured the attention of many. As mentioned earlier, nothing is perfect, hence despite the ups and downs of the play it is generally a wonderful one.