[bookshare-discuss] Re: drama from a blind perspective
- From: "Bob" <rwiley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:46:54 -0600
Right you are Sharon.
I have another brief story about blindness and dramatic performances.
Shortly after my divorce following twenty-five years of marriage, I invited a
blind lady to attend a performance of Romeo and Juliet put on by a local
college. Needless to say, I was rather anxious and wanted to make a good
appearance to this young lady.
When the play started things were fine. I figured out who was who and so forth.
However, in the second and subsequent acts my savoir fair began to crumble. I
found I was mixing Juliet's nurse up with her mother, and the priest and one of
his cousins sounded exactly alike. My date kept turning to me and asking "who
is that talking" and I tried to pretend I knew, but I didn't. Nine times out of
ten my guesses were wrong.
After the play was over we met the director, and when she found out our
difficulty, she started to laugh. It seems that they were short on performers,
so most of them doubled up as people with small parts.
I'm still trying to find out how my savoir fair turned out to be egg on my face
instead.
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: Sharon
To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 8:16 AM
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Re: drama from a blind perspective
That's really funny about the sword fight. I think for some of us, it gets
really real feeling, because we forget it's only a play. This was dramatically
brought home to me once when I went to see Gandhi in a theater. I know I'm
spelling that wrong, but do not have time to look up the correct spelling.
Anyway, every time the club came down, I thought I'd be next. It was done in
surround sound. For days, I kept hearing the club, and I can still hear it
today in my head if I think about it. I cannot go see movies with gun shots
because I almost cannot stop diving under my seat to try to get away from the
gun in surround sound. Someone explained to me that sighted people know it's
not real because they see the stage, or they see the screen, and at least on
the screen, everyone looks bigger than humans would normally look. Anyone with
sight can certainly clarify this if I've got it wrong. I like drama in the
movies or plays, but I like to read the play before I go and see it, because
then I'm provided with all the description, just like in audio described movies.
Sharon
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob [mailto:rwiley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 7:17 AM
To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] drama from a blind perspective
Recently bookshare has started producing dramatic pieces for their
collection, which got me thinking about drama from a blind person's perspective.
I must admit that my exposure to drama has been limited and not necessarily
productive. As a junior high and high school student I was exposed to the usual
slate of plays (i.e. Shakespeare's Macbeth and Julius Caesar, Oscar Wilde's
"the importance of being Earnest" (why any self-respecting teacher would impose
that drabble on their students is beyond me), and "she stoops to conquer" (was
that Malory?). But, I wasn't impressed.
During my senior year, however, we had to read "Othello" which I thought
was interesting. However, following our close examination of this
play(sometimes it seemed ad nausea), our instructor took us to see it performed
by the University of Texas drama department. The instructor was able to get us
front row seats because no one else wanted to crane their neck to see the
stage, but from my perspective I loved it because I could tell where each
player was on the stage. However, I had just settled down, perhaps to sleep
<smile> when two characters in the play got into a sword fight right in front
of me, and one of them died two feet away from me. I unconsciously reacted by
throwing up my arms to help the poor fellow, and, I heard the dead actor
quietly snicker at my reaction. So, I knew then, I could be moved by a dramatic
performance.
A couple of days ago I downloaded "three plays" by Thornton Wilder. The
plays in this collection are: "OUR TOWN", "THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH" and "THE
MATCHMAKER". I was particularly interested in reading "our town" ever since I
had heard a radio dramatization of it by Orson Wells a few years ago. However,
I wasn't prepared for the richness of theatrical descriptions this play
provided. While reading the play, I could place each character on the stage,
imagine the various settings in the play (main street, a house, a graveyard
etc.). In other words, this play came to life for me. For example, the play
begins,
"ACT I
No curtain.
No scenery.
The audience, arriving, sees an empty stage in half-light.
Presently the stage manager, hat on and pipe in mouth,
enters and begins placing a table and three chairs downstage
left, and a table and three chairs downstage right. He also
places a low bench at the corner of what will be the Webb
house, left.
"Left" and "right" are from the point of view of the actor
facing the audience. "Up" is toward the back wall.
As the house lights go down he has finished setting the stage
and leaning against the right proscenium pillar watches the
late arrivals in the audience.
When the auditorium is in complete darkness he speaks:". This is much
better than Mr. Shakespeare's "exeunt stage right".
So, I guess I'm saying thanks to Bookshare for providing this wonderful
experience, and I invite any of you who think they hate dramatic performances
to try once more with Mr. Wilder's "three plays".
Thanks,
Bob
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is
the only thing that ever has."--Margaret Mead
Other related posts:
