[bookshare-discuss] Re: drama from a blind perspective
- From: Cindy Rosenthal <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 11:56:18 -0800 (PST)
chuckle.
But Bob, don't leave us in suspense. What happened
with the young lady (How young, btw?). Did that end
the relationship or did she have a sense of humor and
appreciation for your efforts and are you now married
to her?
Cindy, who's into reading romance novels these days
(though I'm about to start Havana Nocturne, which my
husband says is well-written and very interesting.)
--- Bob <rwiley@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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
>
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