Character Chart

Amanda Wingfield: Mather of Tom and Laura. She had a husband but her husband left her and went on a journey. She went to D. A. R. Sometimes she called people to ask them subscribe "Companion". As a mother, she always wanted her child to be successful.

Tom Wingfield: Son of Amanda. He worked at a warehouse and earned 65 dollars a month. He was always smoking and drinking alcohol. During the nighttime he would go out to watch movies; because he did not want to stay in this home. He loves adventure and working in a warehouse is not what he wants. He was also the breadwinner.

Laura Wingfield: Tom's sister, two years older than him. She was shy and scared to talk with others. She had bunch of glass animals in their house. She used to study in Rubicam's Business College; but because at the first day she threw up in front of everybody, she did not go to the college anymore. She was crippled.

Mr. Wingfield: Amanda's husband. He abandoned Amanda and went on a journey. He always stayed at outside and did not want to come back home.

James D. O'Connor: Tom's colleague who works in warehouse as a shipping clerk. He earns 85 dollars a month. He goes to night school and studies radio engineering and public speaking. He is the one who will be the first gentlemen caller for Laura.

Reflection on our adaptation of R&J

In my opinion, My voice was loud, and I used a lot of body language during the performance. When I play the video, I found out that although my voice was loud, it did not have any emotion in it. Next time I need to work on the emotion. Also, because facing to the audience is awkward for me, sometimes I will forget my words and I cannot show my emotion to the audience. When I performed at the beginning of the year, it did not sound like I am performing; it was more like a storyteller stating a story to audience. But right now, my voice is loud enough, I have more body movement. In the group, I wrote a brief script and let them to modify their words and sentences. One thing that we disputed a lot was the plot. Because as a group, everyone has different opinions. Sometimes one person disagrees with other's. Take the end scene as an example. Our end scene is an open ending; no one actually knows what happens to Juliet. One of the partner did not like the ending, but because more people agree with the open ending, he had to agree with it. When things like this happen, we will try to compromise. Also, we love our version of "Romeo and Juliet", so it is easy for us to understand this version. And my partners are smart; they will try to find ways to make the play more humorous. My original version supposed to be a sad story, Romeo's friend died ;his love disappeared; he was desperate and suicide. But in our group version, it is like half humor and half tragedy. Even though it is not my original thoughts, I still love this version. Because certain scenes it is hilarious; like the scene when Mercutio was drunk; The phone call scene. By adding those to the adaptation, I started to realize that "Romeo and Juliet" was not full of tragedy. Like the love among friends, Mercutio's death proved that. If Mercutio is still alive, Romeo will not kill Tybalt; and Romeo and Juliet wont suicide. Also I noticed that probably Lord Capulet do love Juliet. Before, I thought that Lord Capulet saw Juliet as a tool to get reputation. But through our play, I changed my thought. Probably Lord Capulet do cared of Juliet, he just did not want her to be too sad.

"The Caucasian Chalk Circle" Review

                                                   "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" Review
   The play was presented in the black box on Cheshire Academy, I reviewed the play on November 11th, 2017. The major actors are Samantha Weed, Yuheng Deng, Amalia Gutierrez, Yuanjun Luo, David Mathisson, Jiaxin Li, Zhengxian Lin, Erin King, Zoe Genden, Huijin Zheng, and Krystal Charter. The director of this play is Mr. Aronson.

The prologue talks about two factories which both wanted to occupy the same land. One was there before but they discarded the land; another one wanted to use the land to grow fruits. Eventually the land was given to the one who grew fruits because they fit the land. It relates to the ending.The story happens around World War II. There are actually two stories, but they ended together. The protagonist, Grusha, was a maid in governor's house. Her lord had a baby who is called Michael. One day after the death of the governor, her wife, Natella, decided to flee away. But because she wanted to bring all her clothing with her, she abandoned her child. When Grusha found the baby, she decided to raise him. She used all her money and dignity to exchange milk for little Michael. On her way to her brother, she was chasing by the soldiers, because the government knew that the baby in her hands was the son of the governor. In order to save Michael, she even walked through a dangerous bridge. In order to save Michael, she even married with a drunk. Then another story started. Azdak was originally a town recorder. Once he mocked at the noble and her son which wanted to be the new judge, soldiers picked him to be the new judge. When Grusha was caught by the soldiers and sent to the court, Azdak presided over it. While Grusha was truly loved the child, governor's wife just wanted to use the child to inherit the heritage from the governor. At last, Azdak used a smart trick to find out that Grusha was the mom who really loved Michael and awarded the child to Grusha and her boyfriend, Simon. The ending was similar with the prologue, Grusha was better as a mom. The main themes of this play are love, injustice, and political turbulence. The love in the play not only appears between Grusha and Simon, but also appears on Grusha and Michael as maternal love. She did not abandon Michael and kept raising him. The injustice typically shows at the court. people used money to bribe Azdak. Author used this to ridicule the justice at that time. The political turbulence also appeared a lot in the play. The governor died, world war II started. Because of the eruption of the government, the poor were starving. In the program, director stated that they want the audience to see the corruption and injustice of the system that underlies the action, which was the same as my themes.
   In the play, costume is the most important staging. Costumes are used to distinguish different characters, by given different characters different hat. Lighting is also an important staging. In the play, lighting is used to highlight some scenes or characters; it is also used to switch the scenes. Sound/Music is also important because it helps the audience to comprehend the play and also express the emotion to the audience. Arusha was highlighted as the important one. Because when she was on the stage, all the lights gather in her spot. Also Arusha was the one who appears a lot in the scenes. In the play, Arusha and Georgi Abashwili(Governor's wife) are standing at the opposite. Because they are both mother of Michael. One is rich and one is poor. One is noble and one is peasant.
   Peter is my favorite actor. Because in the play, the character he depicted is a person who really loved money and who is extremely selfish; Peter used his facial expression and his body movement to exaggerate the characteristics of the character. For example, in the last scene, Peter's finger twist, it shows that the person that he talks with need to give some or more money to him.
   Overall, I like this play. Because it depicts peasants' life at that time, showing that how poor they are. But in order to make it attractive, it also has some humor in the play, through the sentences or actors' body movement. It also shows the love from parents to the child. By watching this play, I learn that costumes really help to distinguish different characters. Because sometimes one actor has multiple characters, using the hat for different characters make audience easier to understand the play.

Blog 8

   I am in the group which the story happens in the school; both Romeo and Juliet are students. In our adaptation, Romeo and Juliet met in a school party. Then, Tybalt saw it and wanted to use poison to kill Romeo. Accidentally, Mercutio drank it and died. Romeo was mad so then he killed Tybalt. The school later found out and Romeo was deported. Juliet could not leave the school so she schemed a plan. Romeo thought Juliet was dead so he suicide. I act Romeo in the play. In the party scene, I suppose to think how beautiful Juliet is. During the fight, I will be furious to Tybalt because he killed Mercutio. After Tybalt died, I will feel regret. At last, when I heard Juliet was dead, I felt desperate and then suicide. In the party scene, The most important thing is the love between Romeo and Juliet. I need to show how happy and surprised I was when I saw Juliet; because before Romeo saw Juliet, he thought it was a boring party. In the fight scene, I need to be really mad to Tybalt, because he killed my friend. I also need to portray how I was astonished by the death of Mercutio. I also need to show I am panic after I killed Tybalt. In my death scene, I need to show that I am desperate, so my eyes should be dull and also show I am decadent. I think the party scene and the death scene show are both important to my character. Because the party scene shows the start of the love between Romeo and Juliet, and the death scene shows the end of the love.

Adaptation for Romeo and Juliet

your vision for how it will be unique and appealing to audiences.
It happens in college. It will appear some students' daily life and recall audience's memory of student's life.

Romeo and Juliet are both Senior. Although Romeo was banished and in the prison , Juliet could wait for graduated and went to find Romeo. But Lord Capulet told her that she needed to get PHD so that she could come back to her own country. Juliet wanted to be with Romeo so she asked for help from Friar Lawrence who just graduated from school and worked as a teacher in the college. Friar Lawrence then told her to buy a gun and used it in the dorm. The plan was successful but because Romeo did not know it because he was in the prison. When he heard that in Juliet's dorm there was gunshot and Juliet disappeared, he was desperate and suicide. When Juliet went to the prison to find Romeo, she found the corpse of him and she suicide also.

the tone or feeling you want to create (comedic, tragic, etc.),
It is a tragic ending. In the ends, both of them died in the prison.
Scenes(IN COLLEGE): parties, fight among Tybalt, Mercutio, and Romeo, Romeo expelled from school, also was banished from the country, Juliet was banished because she bought gun and used it in the school, Romeo knew this and suicide in the prison, Juliet suicide.

Characters: Romeo(student), Juliet(student), Friar Lawrence, Lord Capulet(Juliet's dad), Mercutio(Romeo's roommate/friend), Tybalt(student), Prince(headmaster).



explain the setting of the adaptation
It happens in American's college. The parties will be in the pool, the fight among Tybalt, Mercutio, and Romeo will happen in the dorm. Romeo will be banished from the country, so shows Romeo is in another country, Juliet will get gun from Friar Lawrence with Friar Lawrence's help in the gun shop, Romeo in the prison knew this and suicide in the prison, Romeo suicide in the prison.
where you would stage it
In the black box. Because in the black box is easy to control the lighting, so that when Romeo was in the prison and speaking to the Juliet, it will not confused audience by using the light to separate them.

what costumes, props, lighting, music, or other theatrical elements you would want to include
In the school they need to wear academic dress. In the prison Romeo needs to wear prison dress. When they are fighting, Romeo needs to have a gun to kill Tybalt; Juliet needs to have a gun; In the prison Romeo needs to have a knife to suicide. The types of music that requires in the play will be romantic music, sad music, passionate music. For lighting, it only requires 3 colors, white(show daily life), purple(show the love between Romeo and Juliet), and black(show the nighttime, and show the life in prison).

Finally, please note all the reasons why you think this version would be a good choice for groups to stage in our class.
I choose the play to happen in college because I think the life in college is suitable for the people nowadays. Also, this version is easy for the class to comprehend because we studied in the school for 11+ years.

Romeo and Juliet movie Review

                                                   Romeo and Juliet Review
Title of the play: Romeo and Juliet
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Reviewed Date: Oct. 30th. 2017
Location: Field house G3, Cheshire Academy

Main characters: Romeo-Jesse Bradford, Juliet-Claire Danes, Nurse-Miriam Margolyes, Tybalt-John Leguizamo, Friar Lawrence-Pete Postlethwaite, Lord Capulet-Paul Sorvino, Prince(Police)-Vondie Curtis-Hall, Mercutio-Harold Perrineau
   The movies talks about the love occurred in feud families. By an accidental opportunity, the young man Romeo met and fell in love with Juliet, who was the daughter of Lord Capulets, the biggest enemy of Montagues. They got married secretly in front of Romeo's friend, friar Lawrence. When Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, knew this, he could not endure and wanted to kill Romeo. Tybalt did find Romeo, but instead of fighting with him, he fought with Romeo's friend, Mercutio, who was the relative of the king in Verona. He killed Mercutio which makes Romeo crazy and Romeo accidentally killed him. Because of this, Romeo was exiled by the prince and Juliet planned to escape from her parents and fled to Romeo. Although all was planned, things started to go wrong which led to the death of Romeo and Juliet. At the end, prince told two houses that both of them would be punished. In the movie, the main themes are Love, violence, and status. Love fills up with the movie. When Romeo went to find Juliet at night, they kissed and embraced each other in the pool, this shows love. Also when Romeo got the news that he would be exiled, Romeo and Juliet both cried for each others, because they would not be together once Romeo was exiled. And the last scene, when Juliet found out that Romeo died in her arms, she suicide quickly, in order to be with Romeo in heaven. All of these shows that love is the main theme in this movie. Violence also occurred in the movie a lot. When Mercutio was killed by Tybalt, Romeo took out his gun and shot Tybalt. Also when Juliet told Lord Capulet that she did not want to marry Paris, Lord Capulet was mad and slapped her. In the movie, there are a lot of fights between those two houses. Also the status, appeared in the movie. Lord Capulet demanded his daughter, Juliet, to marry with the noble Paris; when Juliet refused him, he slapped him and cursed her. When the nurse and lady Capulet tried to help Juliet, Lord Capulet cursed them also. It shows that at that time, children have to obey their parents' demand. In the interviews with the director Baz Luhrmann, it says that he was just re-reveal what Shakespeare did for the new generation. In the movie, it has evidence show that it is in a modern world. When they say to take out the sword, they actually take out the guns; the two houses were represented by two skyscrapers; Also the transportations in the movie are mostly cars. Director makes those changes so that teenagers right now would like to watch it, and it is not that boring.
   Sound/Music, color scheme, and lighting upgrade the movie to a new level. Color scheme is used to show a certain type of feelings to the audience. When Romeo and Juliet are both looking at the aquarium, the color of water is blue, it highlights the beauty of Juliet. Also before the party, Romeo is sitting in front of the sunset, the orange color makes him look so lonely. It shows that he is a person who wants to seek for his love. The music, also makes the movie better. When Romeo and Juliet are kissing each other in the pool, the background music is so romantic, which makes the audience jump into the plot. Another example will be the death of Tybalt. When Romeo found out that Mercutio was killed, he was furious and drove his car to find Tybalt. The music was wild and crazy, which makes the audience know the feeling of Romeo at that time. Lighting in the movie can highlights or deepen the certain scenes. When Romeo realized that he killed Tybalt, he fled to friar's house and waiting for the judgement from the prince. When friar brought the bad news, outside of the house was suddenly lightning and thundering; it shows to the audience that how bad the exile was for Romeo. In the play, the music, color, and sound mostly happens on Romeo and Juliet. Montagues and Capulets are standing at the opposite by showing two skyscrapers.
   In the movie, one of my favorite character is the nurse(Miriam Margolyes). Nurse's act is funny, and she also care about others a lot. When nurse got back home with the news from Romeo, Juliet was anxious and kept urging nurse. Then, nurse would pretend it was a pretty long way to find Romeo which made Juliet to comfort her; this is humorous. Also, when she knew that Tybalt died, she cried a lot, and I think it was just like a normal person in daily life.
   Overall, I think it is a pretty good movie. The music is great, and the act of characters is fantastic. But it still has something to work on, which is the scene that both Romeo and Juliet died. Juliet awoke but Romeo did not see it. The scene was not realistic and it looks fool. From this movie, I learned that the color and music could show the emotion to the audience; so finding a proper music and color scheme really improve level of the movie or play.