Homework Question on Performance Treatment
- You are required to write one (1) performance treatment paper. This paper is to be based on the viewing of the Department of Theatre’s production of 1984.
- Any supporting outside research should be cited properly using the appropriate MLA style guide. For such a style guide you might visit the library, an internet resource, or the Writing Center.
- It should be about 5-6 pages in length.
- Would you describe the production you saw as Presentational or Representational? (See text pgs. 15-16 for definitions.) Give specific examples to support your conclusions.
- Describe the central conflict of the production you saw. (See text pg. 34 for definitions.) Give specific examples to support your conclusions.
- Examining the actor’s work- would you describe the acting in the production you saw as “OUTSIDE” (or external/presentational) or “INSIDE” (or internal/representational)? (See text beginning on pg. 40 for definitions.) Give specific examples to support your conclusions. It is possible there existed a mix of the two- be sure to support your claims with specific examples.
- Examining the director’s work- what specific elements of staging within the production stick out in your mind and what made them memorable? (See text pg. 174 for staging examples.) Be sure to include specific supporting examples from the production.
- Describe, in specific detail, the final moments of the play in terms of actual events as well as how those events related to the central conflict. Ch. 4 The Playwright may be a useful resource. Was the central conflict resolved? If so- how? If not- why do you think it was not resolved? Give specific examples to support your conclusions. 6.Please offer your thoughts as to why the theatre producers or organization would choose to produce the production you saw. Support your conclusions with specific examples.
- What do you feel the production you saw communicated to the audience? Support your conclusions with specific examples.
- What appealed to you about the production and why?
Homework Answer on Performance Treatment
1.Would you describe the production you saw as Presentational or Representational?
The production is representational. This is to mean that it is more dramatic because the performers are targeting the attention of the audience without necessarily directly addressing them. The performances are in such a way as a script being presented before an audience and following a logical manner, more so following an outline of a story or drama. The performers also seemed more involved with one another as opposed to their immediate audience.
2.Describe the central conflict of the production you saw
The central conflict in the production that I saw was a battle for the freedom of a people by a commoner named Winston Smith. Winston is a member of the outer party and secretly hates the manipulative, authoritarian, and dictatorial leader called Big Brother who heads the Party. Winston is the protagonist in the story and works in the ministry of truth concerned with propaganda and historical revisionism.
In mini true, the task granted to Winston is that of manipulation of whatever is true to fit the dynamics of the party. Scrapping off any details that might expose the Party for what it actually stands for. The rules of the party are aimed at making the community retrogress with Big Brothers pictures dominating the streets bearing the large names “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING.” The production hit its peak when Winston smith got arrested with the Thought police together with his lover Julia. The torture gets so severe that both betray each other. At the end of this striking, attention seeking masterpiece, Winston’s detest for Big Brother transforms into love and acceptance for his leadership.