Splendora- A Splendid Performance

Splendora was a wonderful show. It represented many things that have happened recently on campus. At the beginning I felt sad for what Timothy was going through but the ending made me feel happy. I also felt the power of love, and the musical showed how love can cross all the boundaries. I think the color of the set went with the overall feel of the play. The soft colors of the set and the costumes made it look sad and gloomy, just how the overall feel of the play was. But as the play progressed and things got better, the colors were not as gloomy.

The musical that happened at Randolph College showed the acceptance of same-sex couples. Recently there has been vandalism to the same-sex couples on campus and it was great to have a performance with such a theme. It showed that it is love that really matters, and not gender for people to be together. The musical happens in a town in Texas and the town’s community, represented by some people who love gossiping, can be compared to our school’s community. There is a lot of gossip going around on campus and most of them might not be true. It is important to realize such things when we are part of a community and I am glad the musical touched on it.

We could see a change and acceptance happening during the musical, and it was a good change. A.P., who is fat and is not allowed to speak by others in the beginning, finally accepts how she is and shows the world who she really is. This is something that a lot of the girls- who look at celebrities and wish to be as thin, pretty or famous like them – should learn from. They should be proud of what they are, and try to do their best, instead of trying to be like famous celebrities. Leggett also accepts Timothy even though he’s a male. Hence there is a positive change and acceptance happening in the play and it is shown by subtle change in the colors of the lights and the costumes of the characters.

The set crew was wearing a dress that looked comfortable. They did a good job moving set pieces around, some of which looked really heavy. The fact that we could see the set crew made us focus on the performance even when there was nothing happening, except changing the set. It was better than not seeing the set crew move around objects which would make us lose the focus from the play.
All in all, it was a great performance with a simple set and nothing extravagant. As an audience I was focused on the actors because there weren’t many things to distract my attention. The actors did a great job and I could feel the emotions of the characters. The set was slightly angled, different from what we usually see. Even though I helped in creating the set, the point for making the set angled was not clear to me even after I saw the musical.

Space for The Caucasian Chalk Circle

A good theatrical space should be such that it helps the audience to follow the play better and makes the concept of the play clearer. It is something that adds to the effectiveness of a performance. We chose the space surrounded by three buildings near the sundial as an appropriate space for The Caucasian Chalk Circle because it was outdoor and the scenes we chose all happened outdoors. Also, most of the scenes in the play happen outdoors or can be done outside the buildings or on the porch.

First of all, the ground surrounded by three buildings: Smith Memorial, Wright Hall and West Hall, was decided to be the place where the audience would sit on the floor on blankets. That same space, where the audience will be sitting would represent the valley over which there is a dispute among two groups of peasants. So, during prologue, the actors will be addressing towards the audience and make it clear that the space is the valley that the actors talk about in the play. This and the fact that the space is intimate will probably make the audience feel more involved in the play.

The next scene we talked about is when Grusha talks to Simon across a river. The brick pathway can be manipulated by putting a blue cloth to make it look like a river.

The next scene is when Grusha hides the child from the Prince. We chose West Hall as the place where Grusha leaves the child because it looks very homely, and there are chairs where she could hide the child. Smith Hall, which looks official could serve as a church in the play.

Then Grusha flees. We thought it would be a good idea to make Grusha go a full round from the Smith Hall back to the West Hall to show that she’s going somewhere far, out of the scene.
Lastly, we chose the star (labeled with white circle in the pictures) in the middle of the walkway as the place where the Caucasian Chalk Circle would take place. This would be very close to where the audience is sitting and the audience’s attention would be on the play. The area, being in the middle of everything, would represent a community space in the play and would act like a centre where people would gather from other places like the church, house and from the side of the river.

As it is an outdoor space, we don’t need additional lights if the play is done during the day. However, factors like rain and the direction of the sun should be considered when choosing an appropriate time to do the play.