A New Recipe for “Trifles”
Theatre of a Two-Headed Calf
re-imagines a classic American play:
By Mark Blankenship
-My critique: My first reaction to the review was I found it rather fascinating. It was positive, interesting, and I liked how the play seemed to engage the audience, making them feel present and involved. The review, however, left out a lot of detail when critiquing the play. It didn’t discuss character’s costumes, scenic design, sound design, did the actors play their parts well, did the production match the script, were there any confusing parts, and the writers personal opinion of the performance. Although the critique seemed well written, I felt it needed much more detail.
Sometimes, It Takes a Woman to Solve a Murder : By Ken Jaworoski
-My Critique: My first reaction to this review was I did not enjoy reading it as much as I did the other review. It was dull and uninteresting. Although of the two it is the better one. This review contained all the pieces that make up a critique. From beginning to end it had all the details a good review should have. It was positive, followed a good outline, and had a decent conclusion.
Hi Bella,
I’m so glad that you found what I wrote about “Trifles.” Is this a blog that you’re keeping for a class?
You were right that as a review, what I wrote kind of missed the mark. However, my piece was not intended as a review of “Trifles.” It was a feature story written for TDF STAGES, the theatre magazine that I edit for Theatre Development Fund (You can find it at http://stages.tdf.org).
The purpose of my feature was to explore Brooke O’Harra’s concept for her production, her reasons for producing the play, and her motivations for staging it the way she did.
I would love to hear more about this blog and how it started. As someone who writes about the theatre for a living, I am always happy to meet a fellow arts lover!
–Mark Blankenship
By: Mark Blankenship on March 11, 2010
at 11:13 pm
Hi Mark,
Yes, this is just for a class. I wasn’t intending to bash your work in any way. I was just trying to get a grade for an assignment in class and happened to stumble across your piece when I googled my assignment. I hope that I didn’t offend you. That is really neat that you write about theatre for a living! In our coarse we are covering plays and poetry right now.
This blog was started as a way for the teacher to get our thoughts and opinions on the assignments we were reading. It was also a way for the professor to grade some of our assignments.
-Bella
By: bella120108 on March 27, 2010
at 2:55 am
Hi Bella,
Not offended at all. I was actually really happy to see that you had read my story and were talking about it. The whole reason I love my work is that it helps me start discussions with interesting people.
Thanks for writing back!
Mark
By: Mark Blankenship on March 27, 2010
at 4:15 pm