Theatre Review What were the strengths and weaknesses of the production? Did the director have a theme? Was it set in Shakespearean times or the present? Were there any standout performances? What kind of audiences is the play suitable for? (children, a date night, tourists, etc?). What scene in the play did the actors do best? Were there weak scenes, and why were they weak? What would you have done differently? What did you like?
Personal Essay What was your experience on this night? How did seeing Hamlet live change your experience of the play? What was your excursion like? How did you get there, where did you sit, who did you talk to, what was the weather like, how do the themes of Hamlet relate to things going on in your life (or the world) right now?
Journalistic Piece Report on the scene. Who else was in attendance? Is Inwood Hill Park Peninsula a good place for staging Hamlet? Where else can you see free Shakespeare in New York this summer (that is a question you can look up the answer to online). Why do you think people went to see the play? Did they seem satisfied? Why do you think live theatre survives?
It’s up to you how to balance these elements. You might, for instance, be most drawn to the idea of writing a classic theatre review, and look at the New York Times for models of that genre. Or you might be most drawn to the personal essay element, writing a poetical piece on what it feels like to go to the theatre in New York in summertime. Or you might be most drawn to the third option, in which case you might interview audience members at the play about why they’re there, or you might try to meet some of the actors after the play and ask them about their roles. Or you might try to balance all three of these types of essays. Whatever you do, try to foreground the actual details and sensory experiences of being at live theatre. Be very specific.
Photography component.
With this essay, you must submit four photographs (included in the body of the essay as though they are illustrating a newspaper article. Each image should have a caption).
1. A Photograph that Captures the Magic of the Theatre—this might be a photograph of audience members waiting for the show to begin, of the tents where the actors prepare, of the actors in performance, etc, but it should be the kind of photograph that makes the viewer’s heart skip a beat and say, “oh, I love the theatre…”
2. A Photograph that captures a character in the play—this could be a photograph of the performance (if photos are allowed, or if you can succeed in taking one secretly!) or it may be a photograph of yourself or one of your classmates posing as a character in a particular scene or moment. You should make a note of what moment and character (or characters) it is (ie. “Hamlet delivering the ‘to be or not to be” speech;” “Polonius stabbed behind the arras;” “Gertrude about to drink from the poison cup”).
3. A Photograph that Captures Your Journey to or from the Play—You might take this on the bus, if you are traveling by bus, or on your walk up to the performance space, or on the subway ride home. It can include you and/or other class members, or it can include just a scene of the travel (the view out the bus window, etc). It shouldn’t just be any old snapshot though—you should find a way to capture, by some visual means, your mood and the energy and meaning of the night.
4. A Fourth Photograph of your Choice, capturing any aspect of the outing. This one is up to you. It can be anything you like. Please don’t forget to tell me what it is.
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