Rakugo Presentation Reflection

Having worked on my World Theater Traditions research project for two or three months at this point, it’s somewhat difficult to step back and look at the full picture. While I am satisfied with my final presentation, there are certainly areas where I could have improved it, had I made better use of my time up until that point. I’ve been fortunate enough to rarely suffer from stage fright in my many years of performing, but I think my nerves did get to me somewhat when recording my final presentation. Part of it was because I hadn’t fully memorized the script, so I ended up skipping over some of the more repetious lines of setup at the start. I also made the notecards late in the process of preparing for the presentation, so I wasn’t as comfortable using them as the could have been. The rest of my nervousness came from knowing that this will make up a significant portion of my IB grade for this class.
While the presentation could have gone a bit better, I am proud of what I accomplished with the project itself. Other than talking about my time physically practicing my convention, which I forgot to mention, I feel that I covered all of the required topics sufficiently, and in good time. If I were to do this project over from the beginning, I’d try to narrow the focus of my research more from the start, and make the notecards alongside the slides, so that I’d have more time to practice presenting and performing.

First Thoughts on Technical Theater

Having now been through four plays here at Cheshire Academy, and having seen eight plays on Broadway, I understand that technical theater includes multiple essential aspects of putting on a professional show. These include set design, props and costumes, lighting, sound, and stage management. The stage crew is there during the show to make sure that everything runs smoothly; props have to be in the right place, costumes have to be where people change in and out of them, and scene changes have to be fast without forgetting or breaking anything. 

All the other aspects of technical theater are mainly there to heighten the setting and atmosphere, immersing the audience as much as possible. If a character is meant to be holding a book, it might pull the audience out of the scene for a moment if the actor doesn’t have a book prop. If the play is meant to take place in a certain location and/or time period, then not having relevant costumes can be distracting as well. While plenty of shows can work with a simple set, having a set that’s beautiful and complex will leave a big impression on the audience. Still, the set should prioritize functionally over pure awe factor. Lights can highlight a specific character or object, or set a mood.

Stars in Their Multitudes: A Review of CA´s Production of “Les Miserables”

Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of participating in Cheshire Academy’s production of “Les Miserables” (student edition), originally written by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, translated to English by Herbert Kretzmer, and directed by Jennifer Guarino. The show opened on Friday February 23 with an evening performance that day and Saturday, as well as an afternoon showing that Sunday. Adapted from the classic novel by Victor Hugo, “Les Miserables” is a story set in early nineteenth century France that spans two decades, culminating with the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris. There are many characters with their own entangling plot lines, but the focal point is Jean Valjean, an unusually strong man who broke parol after serving nineteen years of jail time. A kind bishop opens his heart to forgiveness, and Valjean spends the rest of the play trying to be an honest and generous man while avoiding the clutches of the very dedicated and deeply religious inspector Javert.

From the corrupted innocent Fantine to her orphaned daughter Cosette to her lover Marius Pontmercy, Valjean’s simple desire to do good changes lives and saves souls. This plays into one of the major themes highlighted by this production of the play: redemption. It is the main idea that puts the protagonist and the antagonist at odds; Valjean believes in redemption and acts to earn it, where Javert does not, and when forced to face it, it overwhelms and disorients him to the point that he kills himself. Yet at the end, when the souls of the dead come onstage to welcome Valjean into heaven, both Javert and the Thénardiers (dastardly thieves/cons who lack empathy and would do anything for money) are standing on the sides of the stage, showing that there is always hope for penance and healing, no matter who you are.

Considering how large of a production Les Miserables is, a skeptic who stepped into our little Black Box theater might start questioning if it would even be possible to pull it off in such a small space. However, considering the limitations, the set ended up drastically exceeding expectations. The painted backdrop of the city at night was beautiful and set the perfect atmosphere. For when another background would be more appropriate, the triangles from last year’s production of “School of Rock” were repainted to have two plain-color sides, one a warm orange and one a cold grey, and one side that, when put together, formed a lovely garden. Then there’s the surprisingly realistic-looking bridge, looming over the action from the back at all times. These few elements, along with some tables, chairs, benches, and various other props. come together to set each scene more than sufficiently. However, the star of the set design is the three-part barricade that gets pulled out in Act II, built out of assorted furniture covered in splatters of painted blood, with multiple levels to make it feel even more real. It awed me the first time I saw it and has continued to do so ever since.

The lighting did well at setting the mood and commanding the audience’s attention, with some of the stand-out moments being the wild splashes of color that swirl around during the end of “Master of the House” and the flashing lights during the gun battles at the barricade. The costumes were equally well done. The poor wore drab colored clothes to play into the misery of their lives, while giving the prostitutes sparkly masquerade masks and colorful feather boas really made them attract the eye. The audio was well balanced, and the gunshots were realistic, though sometimes they seemed to come in either a bit late or too quiet to start.

There were a ton of strong performances in this show, but the ones that stood out the most were Mousier and Madame Thénardier, portrayed by Sam Weed and Gianna respectively. These two characters are the main source of comedy and levity in the show while also being the most truly evil out of the whole cast. These two manage to sell that perfectly. Both are entirely comfortable in their own skin, full of confidence as they move across the stage, always in character. You cringe in fear at the harshness Gianna shows to young Cosette, but then she gets perhaps the biggest laughs of the whole show in her crass solo during “Master of the House”. Sam is lovably sleazy all the way through, stealing every scene she’s in. Not only that, but the two of them have amazing chemistry, best portrayed in their hilarious interactions during “The Bargain” as they haggle for Collette-Cosette-Corvette and “The Wedding”, where they end it by cheerfully exclaiming to the audience “won’t we see you all in hell!” 

What impressed me the most about Cheshire Academy’s production of Les Miserables was the effort that was put into it. The heart of this show shines in the gorgeous visuals, in the booming music, and the breathtaking performances.  Every time I heard one of the actors seemingly on the brink of tears, which was more often than I had initially expected, I felt a pang in my heart and had a proud smile on my face. I knew from the start that this show was going to be special, but the final product still blew me away. This is an experience I will not forget. 

Rakugo Slides (First Draft)

Link

Rakugo Sources

Websites
https://www.nippon.com/en/features/jg00045

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Rakugo

http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/news/japanese_standup.htm

http://www.english-rakugo.com/english_version/english_what.html

https://kamigatarakugo.wordpress.com/about-kamigata-rakugo-上方落語について/glossary-語彙集/

Videos
https://youtu.be/VuNtJGCzoGI

http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=57&clip_id=4508

https://youtu.be/KDswpTwmZ44

https://youtu.be/ybUa1JoGTUQ

Book
“Rakugo: Performing Comedy and Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Tokeo” by Lorie Brau

World Theater Tradition: Sample Presentations

After watching multiple student presentations for the IB world theater traditions project, I feel like I have a good grasp on what the IB is looking for in terms of a high-quality presentation.  In the first section, you have to explain what your chosen tradition is and give general information about it using a variety of sources. However, it’s important not to spend too long on general facts about the tradition; just say as much as is necessary and then hone in on the specific convention of that tradition you will be showing off. It’s also important to explain the context of the tradition in history and the cultural significance to show that the tradition you chose is worth learning about. 

In the second section, you have to explain the work you have done in preparing to preforming your tradition and convention for the class, and how you applied it to create a single moment of theater. This ties directly into section three, which is preforming the convention while explaining the nuances to the audience. As before, specifics are key here. When doing the performance, I think it would be helpful to take a cue from the girl who did her project on Talchum dance, who explained her moment of theater step by step before putting it all together. This way, the viewers can fully understand and appreciate the full performance, rather than having it explained to them after the fact.

The last section is the one where people seem to lose points the most often. In this section, you have to explain how researching and preparing for this presentation has made you a better performer. Where most people lose points here is not drawing connections to any particular theater experience they have had or are currently working on, so I will have to remember not to make that mistake. You also have briefly to compare the convention to another theater tradition in this section, so as I do my research, I will take note of what aspects of Rakugo remind me of other theater traditions I have looked into.

My Choice of World Theater Tradition

After doing further research, I have decided that the world theater tradition I want to study for my IB Task 3 Project is Rakugo. I want to study this Japanese form of theater because it is very different from the theater I am used to performing. Playing multiple characters on my own and making them clearly distinct from each other, using just my voice, expressions, and mannerisms, sounds like a trying but exciting challenge that would push my acting range. I am generally a pretty expressive person when it comes to my body language, so I hopefully will be able to work around the limit of having to remain seated for the whole performance without much difficulty. The minimalist nature of Rakugo performances also means that I would not have to worry too much about preparing stuff for my performance; only two props are allowed, and you can’t change costume mid-show.

There is also an unexpected appeal to be found in just how long Rakugo has lasted. It has been around since Japan’s Edo period that started in 1603 and is still somewhat popular there to this day. The core tradition having changed very little in the centuries it’s been around, serving as further proof of its value to both Japanese culture and the world of theater. In addition, unlike some of the other world theater traditions we could choose from, Rakugo plays aren’t all from just one genre. While Rakugo performances tend to be on the more lighthearted side, they can be comedies or family dramas. There are also different variations of Rakugo, such as ongyokubanashi (musicals), kaidanbanashi (stories with ghosts), and ninjōbanashi (more sentimental stories), though these usually lack the punchline (ochi) that serves as the climax of traditional Rakugo plays. This will give me slightly more leeway when it comes to putting on an example performance myself for this project. With all of this in mind, I am very excited to begin my world theatre traditions project and look more into Rakugo theater.

Here are two sources I found about Rakugo:

First website

Second website

Sample IB Task 3 Rakugo Presentation (the grade the student received, as well as some of the teacher’s comments, can be found in the comments section)