Mock Director's Notebook

Live Theatre Influences

1/29/2021

Ride the Cyclone

Despite the significant difference in tone and themes, one of my favorite shows I have seen is Ride the Cyclone at the ACT Theatre in Seattle. Ride the Cyclone is a musical comedy about six choir students who die on a roller coaster and are stuck in purgatory to decide which one of them deserves to live. This show is a dream show to work on because of how well they're able to fill a stage with light, sound, little set pieces, and an incredible cast of only seven people. When each kid gets the opportunity to explain why they should come back to life, they get their songs representing each one of their personalities. With that, the rest of the cast members dress up to represent background characters for their imagination. The lights and set changes create the atmosphere of the characters' imagination. I think the best example is in the first picture on the right with the creepy doll girl who doesn't remember who she is, so to create this feeling, the lights almost cut out all the way, and there is only light on her. Simultaneously, the other cast members dress in black and hold props with lights to represent different carnival rides. The music also slows to be more dramatic in representing her wonder in who she was after the accident. The whole show is this way in creating all aspects in TEAM. To make tension, the lights dim, and a spotlight goes on individual characters. Simultaneously, the music cuts out altogether, with emotion, they change up the lighting and music to represent the emotions each character has. They use those same techniques to create atmosphere and meaning in each scene, creating a spectacular piece.

Image Citations:

Marcus, J. (n.d.). “Ride the Cyclone”: Theatre Review. Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/ride-cyclone-review-951519
Marcus, J. (n.d.). Ride the Cyclone. Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://thebroadwayblog.com/mcc-theater-ride-the-cyclone/
Krulwich, S. (n.d.). Gus Halper, foreground, at the Lucille Lortel Theater in “Ride the Cyclone,” where members of a school choir compete for one spot in the land of the living after they are killed when the title contraption malfunctions. Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/theater/ride-the-cyclone-review.html
Lauren, L. (n.d.). Tiffany Tatreau (Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg) and Karl Hamilton (The Amazing Karnak). https://chicagocritic.com/ride-the-cyclone/

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Context Behind "Lysistrata" and the Possible Time Period to Set the Play

1/21/2021

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Lysistrata Context

Lysistrata takes place in Greece during the Peloponnesian War of 431 BC - 404 BC. The war was between Athens and Sparta, where Sparta ended up winning by the end. Athens's loss was due to many causes, like the Athenian government's corruption, which was overthrown during the war, and people attempting to change their governmental system into a dictatorial one. In this endeavor, they tried to make peace with Sparta but were overthrown in that process. Lysistrata was written in 411 BC when the government was being overthrown for the first time. Aristophanes, the author of Lysistrata, disapproved of the war and wanted to write a play that would communicate his distaste and why it should end. Also, he chose to depict female characters as the leads because women didn't share the same rights as men in Athens, and he wanted to portray how women were just as powerful as men. I think the fact that Aristophanes decided to be different and show a female character as the leading force to stopping the war is pretty cool, mainly because no one else at the time would do the same.

"Lysistrata." Spark Notes, www.sparknotes.com/drama/lysistrata/context/.
Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.

The War in Southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah (1985-2000)

A war over who would own South Lebanon
Israel was a regional superpower and Hezbollah had thousands of soldiers ready to fight
Iran was giving technological and organizational aid to Hezbollah and Southern Lebanon
- The sides against Israel would get support but Israel had little to no support
Bombings (including suicide bombings), airstrikes
Although Israel was one of the first countries to pass laws that granted equal rights between men and women, people didn't really start acting on those laws until the 1990s and at the earliest, the late 1980s where there were feminist movements were being formed. (Lysistrata formed one of those movements during the war?)

Schleifer R. (2014) The War between Israel and Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon (1985–2000). In: Psychological Warfare in the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137467034_5

Raday, Frances. "Equality, Religion and Gender in Israel." Jewish Women: A
     Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 27 February 2009. Jewish Women's
     Archive. (Viewed on January 26, 2021) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/
     article/equality-religion-and-gender-in-israel>.

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