For the week after Thanksgiving there are two blog options. Write 15 sentences for one of the following prompts:
- Write about your impression of the play and/or the opera of Oedipus Rex. Discuss the sets, costumes, motifs, and individual performances of the singer. Do you think the opera captures the core ideas of the play?
- Write about the play "The King's Diversion." Write out a quotation from the play and describe how this is important to a theme in the play or character development.
As always be thoughtful, creative, entertaining, and brilliantly insightful.
Madison Ferris
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I am going to talk about the opera we watched of Oedipus Rex specifically. I thought the opera was very intriguing, yet kind of odd& hard to follow. We read the play in class, so I knew a little what was going on. The main reason I had a hard time understanding the play, was because Oedipus for example had so many double roles. It was hard to keep track of who was who.The sets were very detailed. The techinical aspect of the play was stellar. The costumes were very intricate& detailed. You could tell a lot went into this production. At the start of the play, the people in brown stringy, cloth like costumes, were very cool. I really enjoyed those costumes. The costume elements repeated often that I liked were the big hands, tall headpieces& the crazy exotic, but fun makeup. Some of the main motifs I noticed, were the red ribbon, which symbolized Oedipus's imbilicial cord and the relationship between he& his mom. That was a cool idea in my opinion, the ribbon had other meanings throughout the play as well. Another motif was cycladic art, many of the characters headpieces were cycladic art. The faces on the headpieces were very elongated& stretched. There were also many cycladic statues, like in the middle of the stage in the middle of the opera, as well as other places through out the opera. My favorite character was actually Jocasta, I thought she did a really nice job with her big role. She looked beautiful, her costume was very pretty. I liked her light gold makeup& her white outfit. She moved very intensely, and emotionally. Her body movements helped tell the story, in my opinion. She did a great job, Oedipus was also one of my favorite roles. He had double roles, but each time Oedipus did a good job, portraying emotion. Overall, I thought it was interesting and it was a new experience for me. I hadn't ever seen anything like it. I did not like that it wasn't in English, I couldn't see the subtitles as well from where I was sitting. Some of it was a little odd to me, because I hadn't seen an opera like it before. But overall, for the story, it was a good opera. The actors were a great cast, and you could tell they put a lot of time and effort into the production. The costuming was probably my favorite aspect of Oedipus Rex.
Meant opera not play.
DeleteArthur Gulledge
ReplyDeleteP4
I liked the opera Oedipus Rex from a cultural view. The way it blended theater from around the world must’ve been challenging. The production quality was very high, and there weren’t any mistakes to production and performance alike. I saw The Lion King on Broadway in New York for a field trip a few years ago, so I knew what to expect from the director, but I felt Rex was better. The set was huge for a performance that was so old, and the scope of the stage made the rest of the performance that much more spectacular. If there was an audience, it must’ve taken up their whole peripheral vision. I liked how it kept to the original Greek play’s setting and time period, that it didn’t change it to be in the future or anything, like other performances like to do. I also liked how they changed the Shepard to have a samurai costume, to keep in theme with the world culture motif. The headpieces were strange at first, but then became natural, and very striking when someone had it on. Oedipus’ costume was interesting, as it combined several techniques, it had the Cycladic headpiece, and the large, posed hands, but the actor also had makeup to camouflage his face to be flush with his headpiece and his robe. I found it to be an interesting choice, but it also made it hard to see the actor’s face with all the makeup. All the actors sang wonderfully, but it was strange how you think it would be in Japanese, but then you hear a word that sounds similar to English. The motif of birds was interesting, as they weren’t in the original play, but it fit in so wonderfully you don’t notice. The puppets were amazing, and I was surprised at how many different kinds they could put in one opera. I like the Oedipus’ dad in the cart puppet, because it was more creative than having an actor play it, in a larger scale. In all, I like watching the opera, and would watch it again.
Laney McFarland
ReplyDeleteperiod 4
Oedipus Rex is very strange, like nothing I have ever seen. I thought it was very interesting how the red ribbon was used for many different things, the blood dripping from his eyes when he poked them out with his mothers pins. The umbilical cord, and when its stretched between Oedipus, Jucasta. i think this is supposed to symbolize both blood and the connection he has to his mother. The costumes i found a little bit confusing, but I think its supposed to give the characters power, especially with the hand signs and the tall masks showing both the Cycladic masks face and the actors face. The simplicity made a statement. The puppet ravens really made a statement at the beginning, I could think of a better more symbolic way to represent a plague. Over all with the whole play I didn't enjoy watching it, I found the story line utterly repulsive. Who in there right mind would right about a boy marrying his mother and having kids with her? But the opera was beautiful, I now have even more respect for Julie Taymor, her eye for symbolic images, beautiful symmetry with the power of two is amazing! And its very difficult to put water on stage and make it work.
Gracie Legg
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Oedipus Rex was very different from anything i have ever seen before. It was very interesting to watch. But it was also confusing because even though it had subtitles, it was not in English. And you couldn't understand what they were saying. The costumes were quite different from anything we have seen before. And there was a lot of symbolism that was involved in it. The puppets were a very cool thing that was added to it. At the beginning when the puppets were birds it was so interesting. It was very odd that the boy married his mother and they had kids together. I think that's absolutely disgusting. You had to really pay a lot of attention to understand this because of all of the symbolism. It would probably make more sense if you watched this more than once. Its an opera that won't make sense unless you know the background information about it. And you will always discover new things about it every time you see it. The makeup was very dramatic, which was cool to see because you can really tell that there was a lot of time put into this.
The entire time i was watching the opera i, as an actress , could not stop thinking about the technical aspects of the show that they were putting on. I was amazed by all of the make up that the make up crew on set had to do. the dried paint looked very much like something a sick person would look like. I think it mimicked the look of dried and dying skin very well. I also loved the fact of the hair that they had it clumped up and very dried looking. The lights and sound crew must have been very hard to do as well. The light transitions were very well done. Also the costumes were amazing. As an actress i have had the experience of being in many different costumes and trying to figure out how to make sure that you could keep your motions as the character in them the same or if you could not then the hassle of figuring out how to modify your movement in the costume to still fit the character. So when i saw the actors and actress' in full costume all i could think is "Wow.. They must be hot under those stage lights with all that clothing on." Because as an actress i have had to deal with being very hot under the stage lights. The stage lights when your on stage... lets just say that if your under the lights long enough then you start to get really hot. They act like heating lamps when your under them hot enough. but yeah, back to my main point. This type of show is something that i have never seen before and could not stop thinking of the technical aspect of it. However i was very impressed by the acting skills and facial expressions of the actors and actress'.. so yes. There is the theater nerd in me coming out, well that is all. have a good day.
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ReplyDeleteAndrew Park
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According to Oedipus Rex, I found both the play and the opera interesting. The play was just a regular form of a somewhat tragic one since Oedipus faces his major fate. The opera had parts that were reasonable despite its slight awkwardness. The sets in Oedipus Rex were very creative and well detailed. The costumes represented what people existed in the plagued Thebes. It also determined the characters in Oedipus Rex. The costumes of Oedipus represented his cover from being compromised from being the one for causing the plague. The motifs did an amazing job with portraying the emotions of Oedipus. As of the singing, it was kinda hard to understand at first. There were times when Jocostas and Oedipus were singing at the same time regarding the truth involving oracles. I felt like I had to decide and find out which was true and which wasn't. Sometimes the singing also made it confusing to tell what roles the characters are really playing until the narrator reveals it. Overall, I felt that the opera does capture the main ideas of the play. They use the music and singing along with the narrations to show how Oedipus had managed to cover up his inhumane act and have it blown. The opera has an identical moral to the play showing how inhumane acts have no room in any world. It's proven in the last part when Oedipus is exiled nude after the truth has been compromised.
Ashley Barnett
ReplyDeleteP.3
The opera Oedipus Rex was very interesting. It was very well done and I would have been able to follow the plot without the sub titles. However it was not what I was really expecting. Even though the makeup was very well done and the costumes were very cool I think I would have enjoyed it more if it were a little less dramatic. I think the costumes were a little overwhelming and I’m really surprised nobodies mask fell of their head. But I did like how they were able to detached Jocasta’s mask when she hung herself I thought that was interesting cause it showed how she lost her identity, and title. And I really liked the town’s people makeup it really showed the darkness of the plague they went through. But the big hands were a little overwhelming for me and I didn’t really see the point to those. Also the ending was very weird and unexpected when Oedipus was just walking around mostly naked. I did think the acting was very good and it was easy to understand with our background knowledge of the play. The narrator was also nice because she did a quick summary of what was about to happen before it did so you knew what to watch for. Also I thought the red ribbon was a very interesting motif. It was cool how the director tied in the red ribbon and it was also subtle and cool because you really had to watch for it. Overall the opera was very interesting.
The opera of Oedipus Rex was interesting. It was very hard to understand and follow along with. The costumes were cool, I liked how the hands were made out of clay and really long. But I don't get why they had to make the hands so long ? It was interesting how they had the masks above their head. The makeup was really well done it had lots of little details in it. The puppet birds symbolized the plague in the beginning. I find it disgusting that the boy married his mother and had kids with her. They also had red ribbon in this opera that was supposed to be important but I still don't know what it symbolizes? Overall the play was interesting/weird but had a lot of cool little objects to symbolize different things.
ReplyDeleteBryia Madison
ReplyDeletePeriod 3
This version of Oedipus Rex was a very whimsical. I enjoyed the clash of cultures that were involved and I liked the different languages. I only wish that I could have understood all of them. We didn't get the subtitles turned on for about 10 minutes, so I was a bit lost for a while. It seemed familiar, but their style of interpretation was hard to understand without understanding the dialogue. I really liked the use of puppets, especially the birds of the plague and the beautiful sphinx. I thought the black birds really showed the ominousness of the terrible plague. To be honest, I was really confused at what the sphinx was at first and I couldn't get information from the dialogue because at this point in the opera, we didn't have subtitles turned on. However, I loved the was they portrayed the sphinx, she was really beautiful. One of the main motifs in the opera was the string of fate that connected the mother and Oedipus Rex. It showed just how intertwined the two were and how entangled they became throughout the opera. Also, I thought that the make up was very interesting, too. I loved that Oedipus had scarlet and indigo make up because it showed that he was a hero and also a villain at the same time. He did bring about the plague, but he also saved people. Overall, the play was certainly entertaining and well thoughtout.
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ReplyDeleteEvyn Anderson
ReplyDeleteP4
Oedipus Rex was like nothing I have ever seen before. It was probably the strangest opera I have ever watched, but at the same time I found it fascinating. First of all, it did not make any sense to me other than a few motifs I picked up on, and some of the costume. This is probably because I was sitting in the back and couldn't see the subtitles, but even if I had seen them it probably would have still made little sense just because it is such an obscure opera/story. However, I did think it was interesting that it was a Japanese opera as opposed to the European operas that we usually see or read about. The main motif that I picked up on was the bird. It was featured all throughout the performance. Another thing I saw was that the makeup and how red was for the 'bad guys' and white was for 'good guys'. Finally, the use of the Cycladic sculptures was a nice addition to the performance and it added a lot of emotion. Even though Oedipus Rex was a strange performance, like nothing I've ever seen, it was a nice contrast to what we usually study.
Chris Root
ReplyDeleteper 4
The opera Oedipus Rex was very interesting to me. I found the play to be very confusing, and the actual watching of the play to be even more confusing. I understand the basics of the play, but the movements and actions performed were quite weird and confusing. Although the sets in Oedipus Rex were very creative and well detailed, they were awkward and puzzled me. I did have a huge appreciation for the special effects though. They were done in a way that would be hard for any other performance to accomplish. Overall, I enjoyed the play. I thought it was very interesting and detailed. I only have a complaint with the way it was produced. It made it super hard to follow and was quite weird. I give the play an overall good rating, and I really enjoyed the special effects.
Mimi Gerhardt, Period 4
ReplyDeleteI'm going to write about the opera Oedipus Rex. Typically I find it easier to follow a play or anything theatrical when performed. However, when watching Oedipus Rex, I found it so much harder to follow than reading it. I enjoyed reading the opera, but when we began to watch it, I couldn't follow on what was even happening. I wasn't expecting a Japanese-style opera, so that definitely had an effect on how much I would enjoy (or, in this case, dislike) watching Oedipus Rex, considering Japanese-style operas are very different compared to the style "The Daughter of the Regiment" used. I found it extremely hard to follow. With a completely different language with subtitles I was unable to see and an entirely different opera style, I got very confused very quickly. I believe I would have enjoyed this in a different language. The style was so out of the norm, it was hard to keep up, even knowing the plot prior to watching the opera! While reading the opera, I actually really enjoyed it a lot. However, when watching it, I thought it was way too complicated to keep everything straight. Overall, I thought the story itself was really interesting, but watching the opera made it feel as though I had no idea what was going on. If there are other variations of Oedipus Rex other than Japanese, I would love to see it and try to understand it.
Lily Kristjanson
ReplyDeletePeriod 3
The opera Oedipus Rex was like nothing I have ever seen before. Watching Oedipus Rex in class was the first time I have ever seen a Japanese style opera. It was interesting to me that both, Japanese and I believe Italian, were used in the opera. I was extremely impressed with the set. From the set design, I was under the impression that the setting was underground, in some type of underworld. It portrayed a dark, dirty and eerie feel. I was also amazed that they were able to incorporate water into the set. The pool and rain were executed in a very impressive fashion. I found the doubles of characters used in the opera, as a powerful way of showing the importance of Oedipus and other characters. I found the use of the red ribbon to be meaningful as well. One purpose was to show Oedipus’s connection to his mother. It was used as his umbilical cord when he was an infant at the start of the opera. The red ribbon was also the blood on Oedipus’s face after he stabbed his eyes. The most significant meaning of the red ribbon I believe is that it attempted to represent the crossroads Oedipus faced and that his destiny was already put into place.
Danielle Knapik
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The opera we watched of Oedipus Rex was very entertaining in the sense that it wasn't like anything that I have really seen before. It reminded me of a few circus related performances and some of the staged walking reminded me of the opening ceremony of the 2008 olympics. It was interesting to see a Japanese version of an opera, considering the only one I have seen even though was in French, had very American morals and similarities, The Daughter of the Regiment. The opera from the beginning had so many different aspects to it that I thought it was hard to follow. I got a little bit lost reading the play so watching it from a Japanese production was somewhat tricky. Though somewhat confusing, the motifs and how the play was represented was very well done. They incorporate different styles of art forms, and used makeup to show the morals of the people, different colors represented different things. Oedipus Rex was played by two people and had a 'double' to represent the two sides of morality, though he had done bad, he was still doing good. The use of color in that situation helped to sort each of the doubles from another. Overall the opera was interesting to watch yet very odd. I wouldn't on my own go to a performance as such because I found it easy to get confused within all the motifs, but it was definitely an experience to see.
The opera Oedipus Rex was completely out of this world. It was like something I’ve never seen before and I liked that. The technical aspect of the opera was very well done. For example, I know that having water on stage is very difficult to maintain and in this opera there was a pool of water and it was pouring rain near the ending. I liked how there were a lot of visual motifs throughout Oedipus Rex, which the audience had to figure out why they were in the opera almost like a puzzle. The red ribbon appeared many times throughout and I thought it portrayed a person’s fate, which is something that they are bound to. In the beginning Oedipus Rex is tied to it portraying a baby connected to an umbilical cord. The red ribbon appears again at a crossroads when Oedipus is re-telling the story of killing a stranger on the road. This demonstrates that at that point, Oedipus had many options he could have taken but chose the one that would eventually fulfill the prophecy. I also really liked the woman who narrated the opera. I personally did not find her to sound angry but more concise and articulate. It was interesting to see a mixture of Greek art with Japanese art. I did not like the masks and big hands that the main characters wore. I thought that the addition looked gaudy and unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteAbbey Folsom
ReplyDeleteperiod 3
Oedipus Rex was a very interesting opera to watch and really was something I had never seen before. I was very confused with what was going on until Oedipus' wife/mother hung herself. I felt like there was a lot going on at the same time and it was hard to fully grasp what the whole opera was about. Although, I thought it was clever to have a double to act out what was being said so you had more imagery. One motif that stuck out to me was the importance of the red ribbon. It represented a lot of things in the opera. It represented the connections between each character, the umbilical cord from Oedipus' mom and Oedipus himself. I thought the set was perfect for this performance. It was big enough to have a lot of things going on at once. There was a lot of culture things included like the Japanese's art of walking or the bird puppets representing the plague and the makeup. Oedipus had indigo and red makeup representing his struggle within for being a villain and also a hero. Also the Cycladic art was used with the headpieces and the hands. I think that the opera captured Oedipus' feelings on wanting to look like a hero but feeling like a villain because he killed his father, not knowing it was his father. I would have chosen to read the play again rather than watch the opera, but the opera brought it to life. Watching the opera made me appreciate different kinds of art styles that I had no clue even existed.
Campbell Gunnell
ReplyDeletep4
the play Oedipus rex was very..... interesting. I thought that the play did a good job of portraying the story but it was not exactly what I was visually expecting. the singing and use of doubles and motifs were the only parts that I really liked. the rest of it just seemed really over the top and strange. the characters seemed like they were trying to incorporate to many different forms of opera and it was just to much and hard to understand. It was a good opportunity to expose us to many different forms of theater but it was just to much. I think they should have used one or two forms instead of the many that they did. the use of face paint and extras was just bazar, that is actually the only way I could describe the performance. but I did like the signing and the use of motifs I thought those were very interesting so it wasn't all bad.
Jessica Bruce
ReplyDeleteP.4
Oedipus Rex:
I thought the play was really interesting. I liked the costumes because they were so detailed and unique. My favorite were the townspeople, I thought that they did a good job at showing the curse of the plague. I also liked the masks and big hands because it made everything more dramatic and drew the viewers focus to the important individuals. I also thought the puppets were really cool. I liked the birds especially and how they were incorporated into the choreography. I was really impressed by the set design. I thought the rain at the end was really cool and I liked the symbolism of the water rinsing the townspeople clean of the curse. I didn't really appreciate the narrators harsh sounding narration but I also understand that this is because in the Japanese culture, clear enunciation is more important than a beautiful voice. I am glad that I knew this before watching the play otherwise I would have been confused why the narrator sounded to angry the entire time. Over all I thought it was a very good production.
Spencer Read
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
Oedipus Rex was trippy as hell. I got terrible vibes from it. The colors and general physical movement of the characters was very creepy. It was very disturbing in how strange and dark everything was. I had no idea what to think for half of the time. A lot of the time i couldn't interpret the mood of the scene through the music. I was plain confused for an hour. However, this was impressive. I found that the producer did and excellent job with using strange things, such as the large masks atop characters heads, and the birds. The masks, so me, symbolized characters of importance. They also all seemed to have different expressions on them, which i found significant to the characters current feelings. The birds to me represented death, as in the first part there were dead people laying everywhere, and there just happened to be birds flying around. As a whole, i didn't like it. It was very impressive, but I personally didn't see it as some cultural masterpiece, though the visuals and execution of stage cues was impressive. I just thought it was creepy and weird as a whole.
Austin Stenberg
ReplyDeleteP4
Oedipus Rex was the most interesting opera I have ever seen. I have not seen very many of these operas like this one but my first impression was that I was very confused because I was not following the subtitles. Once I started following those I barley could follow the story line but it was possible. I couldn’t pick up on many motifs but the one I did get was the raven or bird thing that many people were flying around at various times. The opera does capture some of the core ideas of the play but I only could notice a few. When the double rolls got introduced I got confused badly not knowing what was going on. Just keeping the characters straight was confusing with their makeup. The emotions of Oedipus was fantastically portrayed by the actress. The facial expressions of the actors was really well done also. The makeup of the towns people did a good job of showing the darkness of the plague they went through. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the opera because it kept my attention the whole time.
Arezu Abdollmohammadi, Period 4
ReplyDeleteOedipus Rex was very interesting. If we had not of taken the time to go over the style used in it prior to watching it, i would have been very confused. The costumes and makeup was very dramatic. I liked how the important people had the the masks on, showing their importance to the opera. I love finding motifs in books and things i watch. I loved the motif of the red ribbon. It symbolized the connection between Oedipus and his mother, who was also his wife. And in the end when Oedipus stabs his eyes, he has red blood, which looked sort of like red ribbon, coming down from his eyes. The motif in the opera made the story about Oedipus that much more powerful. Birds were also a reoccurring object, but it wasn't that powerful to me. I understand the birds were representing the death that was happening, but i feel like it could of been done better. Also, when we learned about the narrator having a strong clear voice, rather than a beautiful voice, i didn't expect the voice to be that powerful. The narrator scared me at first because i didn't know thats what they really meant. Overall, it was worth watching because I was able to see a different type of opera using a different style that i have never seen or heard of.
Ilya Bauer
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Well I would write about the King's Diversion but since we need an actual quote from the play and considering we don't have a copy of the play, I'm not about to look one up online and write about it. So Oedipus Rex. I don't understand why people were having a hard time following along since it basically followed the play we read but whatever. I really like the transformation of Oedipus's character. We can really see, through the use of doubles, how he loses his place, arrogance, and dignity. Specially at the climax when his double carves out his eyes. From there he humbly leaves the city and puts himself in exile in order to save the lives of all the people. I see that as being pretty heroic and it gives him a chance at redemption. The use of masks was pretty strange to me considering they were only used to distinguish the main characters. There are other ways of pointing out main characters than using tall, distracting masks. But the use of puppets was well appreciated by me. They were very creative and helped you understand the plot of the story. I found the sphinx to be the best one. It was very well constructed and I loved when it was disassembled after Oedipus answers the rhyme correctly.
Jace Brandmeier
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
I thought that the play Oedipus Rex was really weird. First off I have to say that the story was kind of disturbing. It was actually a pretty gross story. It makes me think that authors are crazy. For the play itself I thought that it was alright. The costumes were pretty strange; I have never seen anything like them before. Their makeup and face paint was also very new to me. For the singing I thought it was pretty good. When they were singing solos I thought it was also pretty good. I thought that the singing of the large groups kind of sounded like tribal music. As for the motifs I thought that they were a little bit confusing. The red ribbon I didn't understand at all when I first saw it. But after wards when we talked about it in class, I understood it much better. Over all I thought that the opera captured the core idea of the play ok. I thought that the play made more sense written, then the opera.
Alison Mowry
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The opera of Oedipus Rex was definitely one of the more interesting operas I have seen. When we started watching it the first thing I noticed were the costumes and makeup. Both were very intricate, and dramatic. The large masks and rustic looking makeup was very well done. I didn't quite understand the play when we read it in class, so watching the opera was also a little confusing, but I was able to pick up on a few things here and there throughout the opera. The puppets were also very well done. I loved the use of the birds, and the sphinx. Seeing as it was a Japanese opera rather than a European one, it was very different but still kept me entertained. I was most intrigued at the end when Oedipus's double carves out his eyes and you see the red flowing from his eyes. After having his eyes carved out he exits signifying that he is being exiled, which I thought was very courageous in that he was doing it to save the other people. Personally I wouldn't go to an opera like this on my own, but it was definitely an experience to watch during class.
Ashley Glinn
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After watching the opera of Oedipus Rex, I was completely speechless. I have never seen a performance quite as unique as this and I was left without any words to describe what I had just watched. I am so glad that we had reviewed the Japanese theater techniques and styles previous to watching the opera or I would have been even more confused than I already was, but I loved how the director incorporated the Japanese influence into the opera with the slow walking and motions, as well as clearly enunciated spoken words. I also love how the director used Clycladic art to symbolize the characters, where the actors/actresses would wear either masks or giant heads on top of their own and had giant hands as well, which created a culturally diverse opera as a whole with the Greek and Japanese influences. The use of motifs was very well thought out in this opera with the birds representing the plague that had brought the city to a crumble and the red ribbon which was used for multiple purposes such as depicting the umbilical cord of Oedipus' mother, the fate of each character, and the connection between the characters as well. The majority of the time, I was completely lost watching the opera, I couldn't tell who was who and I became more confused the doubles as I thought the had randomly appeared as some other character to the story. However, the technical aspects of the performance was absolutely spectactular and it was incredible to see how much thought and hard work had been put into this opera. What I loved most about the opera was the broad and open stage that allowed multiple visuals to be used on stage at the same time, and the ending with the pool of water underneath the stage and the pouring rain that fell on the outer edges of the stage left me breathless and in awe as the screen turned dark. Overall, I preferred reading the story much more than watching the opera, but I was happy to see another representation of the story through another person's point of view.
Mark Gibbons
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
I am going to write about Oedipus Rex in this weeks blog. First off, it as the weirdest thing I have ever seen. The first half hour of the play I had no clue what was going on. Eventually, everything started to make sense as the scenes started to come together. All the details of everything was really brought out by the makeup and costumes that the actors had to wear. The opera sets where really cool and creative. I wish the opera could have been in English so I could have actually understood what was happening. All the singing and acting was very good and entertaining. I was impressed with the actors cause it looked hard what they had to do. I thought it was interesting that it was a Japanese opera as opposed to the European operas that we usually see or read about. I think I'm more of a fan of the European operas as they are not weird as the Japanese ones. I'm not so sure how happy I would be if I had to see another opera like this one.
Oedipus Rex was one of the strangest things I think I've ever seen. I cant say there was anything i really didn't like about it, I just had never seen something that foreign. The way the actors moved and spoke was very slow and methodical, not like american media, where everything happens so fast and is just thrown at you all at once, and the makeup was also very dramatic. The actors facial expressions were also very exaggerated, every element was very clear and minimal, meaning no extra elements were there that didnt have a clear role in the story. As far as the story went, i thought it followed the original plot very well. I also liked the stage props they used even though i also found them pretty creepy. I find all the Japanese theater stuff i've seen so far to be at least a little bit creepy so far though.
ReplyDeleteGrace Nelson
ReplyDeletePer.3
Many people thought that Oedipus Rex was extremely strange, I stand by that but I think that is why I liked it so much. I thought that the sets and the overall production was amazing. I found the costumes and make-up very cool and they seemed to go along with Cycladic art. I thought that the frozen poses and huge hands were very interesting. At first I didn’t understand the motifs, I think this is because of how drawn in I was by the dramatics of what was going on stage. Mrs. Frost said that the more times she watched Oedipus Rex the more she picked up on the motifs. So hopefully if I get to see this performance again, I will pick up on more things to further my understanding. After talking about motifs in class, I learned that the red ribbon represented the umbilical cord connecting Oedipus and his mother. Also, I learned that the birds at the beginning represented the plague. I found that interesting. My favorite character of the opera was definitely the narrator, she had great stage presence. I think my favorite seen was the beginning because of the slow walking and dramatic motions. I was slightly confused by the doubles, but they added something to the performance, which intrigued me. Watching this opera taught me that there are many types of genres when it comes to opera. I really did enjoy watching Oedipus Rex and thought that it followed what we read in class very well.
Mack Ohnemus
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Oedipus Rex was very...different. Honestly, I was not a huge fan of this play and opera. I was confused throughout the show, both while reading it and watching it. It did not help my understanding in having the opera being performed in Japanese. I know there were subtitles, but from my seat in the back, I was not able to read them. I thought the tech in the opera was superb. The one part of this that I thought was especially cool was the water on the stage. Being in tech theatre here at Woodinville, I have always thought it would be really amazing to incorporate into one of our shows, and could even use different colors of light to make the water look like different liquids, like red for blood. Anyways, the masks the main characters wore were used wonderfully. I really liked when one of the characters (I forget who) stabbed the eyes of his double who was wearing a mask, and when he turned around, he had "blood" coming from his eyes. One thing that I didn't get were the giant hands. I could not think of a reason to have them, besides just looking interesting. But that could be because I didn't fully understand the show.
Claire Kennedy
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I would have talked about The King's Diversion, however we do not have a copy of the play and I cannot find it on the internet. I really did not like The King's Diversion and just felt uncomfortable after reading it. I'm wondering why the author chose to write about it. Also the inspiration behind it, I'm sure that would be an interesting answer. But anyways, I do not have a quote from it so I guess I will talk about Oedipus Rex. I thought this play was just kind of strange. It was hard to follow, especially since we did not have subtitles for the first part. I feel like I had no prior knowledge of anything about Oedipus Rex. I was really just confused for most of the play. I thought all of the art and costumes were very interesting. I thought the play was over all very overwhelming. I can appreciate the culture and diversity, having been to many Korean performances both in Washington and in Korea. I really did enjoy these shows, but I had also seen them many times. There were some similarities between the two but nothing as different as Oedipus Rex. I am sure this play was very well done according to traditional Japanese standards. My overall impression of Oedipus Rex was that it was just kind of confusing and hard to follow.
Maiah Swigert
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I am going to talk about the opera Oedipus Rex. My impression of the performance was that I thought it was quite interesting, not exactly sure how I felt about it. The performance was a little odd, most-likely because I'm not used to that kind of expression of the story. I thought that costumes were pretty cool, very detailed and in some parts were a little strange. I thought that the way they used the stage lights to portray a certain scene into a different mood was really good. The lady who sang did come across as angry as other people have said before but I understood that the clarity of her voice was very important to the performance..and so people could understand what was going on in the story.
At the last high school that I attended, the drama department put on a blackbox version of the show. So it was really up-close and you felt like you were in the story. I just would like to compare the two to each other. Of course the school's version was a lot less ..chaotic... in a sense. Also, it was a play version as well, so there was no singing involved. The way it was portrayed was very 'American' compared to the performance we watched on Monday during class. The school performance was a lot easier to follow, as I remember, and not nearly as overwhelming as the opera. I was honestly quite confused with the opera.
Sophea Thach
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I found the opera of Oedipus Rex very odd. The costumes were awesome though. I loved how they made everyone look so different but in realistic ways. And in their parts they had on face paint which was exotic and interesting. Some actors had elongated masks on top of their heads which I didn't really get. The sets were cool also, the stage looked humongous. It was amazing how all those people could fit on it. I like how they had that bridge and the water on stage. I liked that a majority of the people on the stage sang except the old lady who talked and didn't sing. At parts there were times when people were holding up birds and I didn't know if that was supposed to resemble something or if they were just puppets. The whole opera was really confusing to me. I didn't understand what was happening. Especially when there were like "doubles" and there was the actor/actress and they had a double of their own. And when there was the red ribbon. Despite it being odd and confusing, I think the production and all was great.
Kathryn Matthews P3
ReplyDeleteA quote that stuck out to me from The King's Diversion was from Marot: "The fool were wiser, had he kept his mouth shut." I thought of A Servant of Two Masters and the main character whose name I can't remember. Though, this seems like it'll be more of a tragedy than a comedy. The characters in this play aren't really stock characters. Although, they are sort of clichéd. I'm not fond of the king; he's kind of a d-bag, if you'll pardon my language. Like Mr Schindler said, this translation is kind of icky. I'm not about the Shakespearean lingo. I really don't know what to say about this. Sorry. It's been a long day.
Chris Reed
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Oedipus Rex was probably one of the oddest things i've ever experienced. Although I didn't really understand the sets, the singing and character clothing actually made it pretty easy to follow. When Oedipus and Jocaste were singing, I could tell which part of the play it was based on tone and the general time it came on. I thought some of the motifs were cool as well. An example of this is the red ribbon, although subtle it represented blood and life, as well as death. I thought that the opera did accurately represent almost all of the events in the play, and told the story pretty well. The lowly citizens of the play were shown differently in the opera. They were almost zombie like, dressed in toilet paper type robes. This showed that there was a plague in the city, but it was not so drastic in the play. My overall thoughts of the opera were that it was interesting, yet a bit confusing.
Alex Rees
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Oedipus Rex was a great play. It had many different forms of art within it. It had dancing, art with the masks and the music. Also the puppets were a big part of the play. With all this art there are things that are represented within this art. There are motifs and symbolism within the art that is shown. This is mostly shown in the masks of the singers of this play. There were big masks that they wore as hats that were made into different expressions or faces. This represented maybe the personality of the character. Also their hands were oversized really expressing the hands. These also were individualistic to each character. They also represented the characteristics of the singer. When they weren't singing though they would use the hands to make a pose or cover their face. This was interesting because I thought that they might use this because it showed their true form or something of that sort, I wasn't very sure of that. But Oedipus Rex again was a great play and was a new culture experienced for me.
Joshua Scheck
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The play Oedipus was very interesting and unique. I wouldn’t say that I loved the play but the play did have a lot of unique features that made it interesting. One such feature is the symbolism which was shown with the masks, the red ribbon, face paint and the hands. The mask and hands were different with every person who had one. It was clearly symbolic for their stature and identity. In one case, one of the characters who hangs herself, had her mask taken away which showed that her identity and stature/reputation had been destroyed. Another symbolic instance was when there were doubles of Oedipus and one started to take off his armor. Then he stabbed the other person in the eyes with part of his wife’s mask and he started to bleed from his own eyes. This symbolized how his wife’s identity and stature being destroyed made him fight with himself resulting him and stabbing his own eyes to teach himself a lesson and forever encode in his memory what had transpired. A red ribbon also showed up quite frequently and it represented death and bloodshed. I feel like the opera is quite successful in explaining the whole play with imagery. I thought the play itself was quite dry and boring but the opera made it quite a bit more interesting while making it easy to understand. The symbols were also simple were quite meaningful which made it that much more intricate. If I had to choose one over the other, I would definitely pick the opera. I enjoyed the features of the opera but since it wasn’t something I normally would enjoy, I didn’t love it.
Julia McMichael
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I thought the performance of Oedipus Rex was very unique. It was unlike anything that I have seen before. It was interesting to see how they interpreted the writing, and then performed it on stage. I liked how it was performed in a different language but we could look at subtitles for reference. Just like the Daughter of the Regiment. I think that when it is in a different language it forces you to focus more on the actual acting and scenery around the opera inside of always just the words. Also it makes the audience focus more on how they interpreted the story into the performance instead of just focusing on the words of the story. In the performance I thought the stage makeup was very well done. It really made the characters that were slaves look almost dead. I also thought that the masks worn above certain characters heads were very artistic and interesting. The dance movements of the characters were also very interesting. I like how they were all in unison together, it was very well done. The uses of motif in this opera were also very unique. I thought that the red ribbon was used very well as a motif. Especially when it took off her mask in the end and carried it up. It was like the ribbon was a symbol for all the bad things going on in her life, and it overtook her when she killed herself. Overall, I thought it was a very intriguing, unique, and wonderful opera.
Joey Keating
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Oedipus Rex was in fact one of the most interesting things I have seen. I did not in anyway enjoy it, although I did watch it. The whole plot and story was weird and it made me uncomfortable when watching. I didn't like how the kid was supposed to be killing his dad so he could be only with his mother. This is not what we have been taught is right because this isn't right! You have a mother and a father as you grow up. Your mother teaches you one thing and your father teaches you something else. You do not kill your mother and or father. Watching this play and writing this blog isn't something I like to do. I do not want to imagine or think of this in an aspect outside of an opera. That is why I think so many other people including myself didn't enjoy watching or speaking of this. It isn't something that people want to see or hear about. So why did we watch this? We didn't learn a lesson on it, or see something that was cool or interesting. No, the whole this was stupid and very disturbing.
Byron Murray
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I thought that the opera of Oedipus Rex was a bit strange. During the play many things came off as more than just a little weird. Particularly I thought that the costumes that were worn by the main characters in the play were really strange. Another thing that I thought was weird was how the characters who were dressed up in the elaborate costumes had hands that stayed in one position the whole time. Although there were some really cool parts of the play that I really enjoyed as well. I thought that the motif of the birds and the plague in the play was really imaginative and creative. Besides the costumes worn by the main characters the costumes that were worn by the normal people who chanted and sang during the opera were really detailed and emphasized the condition the townspeople were in because of the plague. The singing in the opera was pretty cool to listen to but it was a shame that I couldn’t understand anything that anyone was saying just by listening to their voice. I found the chanting and by the townspeople to be very powerful and captivating as well. I think that the play covered all of the important parts of the play pretty well. Although as I previously said it was hard to follow along because you couldn’t understand anything that was being said by the performers so it made it harder to want to focus on the play and what was going on. I find that reading the plays are always better than watching them because that way you can really understand and comprehend everything that is going on in the performance. Overall I would rate the opera a 6 out of 10.
Katie Daniels
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After watching the opera of Oedipus Rex, I really didnt know what to think. I have never seen a performance quite as unique as this and I was left without any words to describe it. I really liked how the director used Clycladic art to symbolize the characters in the opera, where the actors and actresses would wear masks or giant heads on top of their own and had giant hands with long fingers as well, which created a diverse opera in my opinion. The use of motifs was very well thought out in this opera with the birds representing the plague that had brought the city to a crumble and the red ribbon which was used for multiple purposes such as the umbilical cord of Oedipus mother.For quite some time, I was completely lost watching the opera, I would get confused about who was who and I became more confused as double characters were being used. Even though the plot was confusing to me, i saw the effort put into the performance, and how much detail was incorporated into it. The makeup to me was very exotic, and i was interested in the fact of how much it expressed the characters, and had a way of explaining emotions. Overall, I preferred reading the story much more than watching the opera, but I found it interesting to watch the story from a different point of view.
Oedipus Rex was a great play. It had many different forms of art within it. It had dancing, art with the masks and the music. Also the puppets were a big part of the play. With all this art there are things that are represented within this art. There are motifs and symbolism within the art that is shown. This is mostly shown in the masks of the singers of this play. There were big masks that they wore as hats that were made into different expressions or faces. This represented maybe the personality of the character. Also their hands were oversized really expressing the hands. These also were individualistic to each character. They also represented the characteristics of the singer. When they weren't singing though they would use the hands to make a pose or cover their face. This was interesting because I thought that they might use this because it showed their true form or something of that sort, I wasn't very sure of that. But Oedipus Rex again was a great play and was a new culture experienced for me.
ReplyDeleteKristina Lebakken
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Myself and most of the people I was sitting next to would definitely agree that the preformance of Oedipus Rex was strange. Definitely nothing I have seen before. The acting was very different with their facial expressions and movement. They're movement was very slow and exaggerated. As well as their facial expressions. They would hold each facial expression. Even though this was strange it did make it easier to follow. The subtitles on the film also made it easier to follow. I also thought that the masks were intersting as well. On some characters they were more of headpieces. We discussed in class that they did this to show that they were of higher importance. Also the use of cycladic art was interesting. In my art history projects I was assigned "Ancient Greek." Cylcladic art was from this period. Overall this was very intersting. Even though it was really strange to me I actually enjoyed it because it was so different.
Brandon Penoyer
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Both the play for it's story and the opera for it's style can be described as much other than interesting. I personally didn't enjoy reading the play. The characters denied the truth directly in front of them, (though some purposefully did so because they feared the truth) and the original concept disturbed me somewhat. However, I still found the Opera interesting, though I'm certain that without having the styles of Japanese theatre explained to us, I wouldn't have appreciated it as I did. The make up on the citizens of the town were my favorite aspect of it. They were made to look as if they were decaying due to the plague brought on them by Apollo, and their movements matched, looking zombie-like. In the end, when Oedipus is banished from the city and the rain begins pouring, they decay is washed away as well as the curse was lifted. I thought the symbolism was beautiful, as many of the Opera's design choices were.
Taylor Ingrum
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Oedipus Rezx:
I was not prepared for the odd yet unique depiction of this play. While overall I thought the performance was done very well both from an acting and design aspect, I could not get past the oddness of the characters and the way the story was told. I found my self focusing on how weird I thought the play was instead of focusing on the story. I really liked the costumes and set designs though. They were so detailed and really stood out against the set. My favorite part of the play was at the end when the rain was coming down from the ceiling and washing the plaque away. I thought it was very cool how they incorporated water on stage and how well the actors depicted the story. The narrators over dramatic and intense narration of the story was a little too much for me. Although she had a very strong voice, it was kind of scary and made me more uncomfortable than appreciative. But, Mr. Shindler explaining this in class helped me understand the significance of it. I also liked how he talked about the importance of the puppets like the birds. I thought it was so cool how symbolic they were and how well they were included with the characters and the telling of the story. That was one of my favorite parts. Now that I have written out my thoughts about the play, I appreciate it more than I did before, but I still find it very strange. It was a good cultural experience overall and I would be interested to learn more about it.
Sean Rankin
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This week we continued to look at Oedipus Rex specifically the opera on video. It was done in a very unique style, however i found it very interesting. The stage was beautiful and the costumes were really really different. I enjoyed the singing the most because the singers did a good job of conveying emotion just by the different tones they used. I think they did a very good job of telling the play in the opera i mean its honestly a really weird story. I think this is my favorite opera so far even though we didnt go see it live
Desirae Lopes
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The opera of Oedipus Rex was thrilling. I loved seeing all of the unique costumes and ideas. The story was brought to life by people and it was magical. Seeing the symbolism of the doubles and red ribbon was refreshing. Some parts took a minute to get the hang of the idea but it turned out wonderful. By seeing the opera on a video, the camera angles added something that was not usually available. We were able to see into the thoughts of the character. The actor could show smaller emotion that was captured easer. My favorite part was the masks. They held such secrets and security. They represented power and purpose. When they were taken off, the person felt naked. They felt this way because their royal status was stripped away. This person, Oedipus, became the most child-like, natural version of himself.
Mallori Lindberg
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The play Oedipus Rex was very intriguing and interesting, caught me off guard at first! The whole set was so well put together and detailed it didn't look like a stage, it looked like an actual location outside. The water on stage made the play even more realistic, especially at the end when Oedipus entered the water. I am glad we were introduced with Japanese drama and styles so that the play made a bit more sense. The make up was very exotic and gave the characters a dark and cynical look, in addition to the dark setting and lighting. It was a little confusing, especially when only seeing the play once because of how there were always two Oedipus Rex's on stage at the same time. I noticed the motif of the red ribbon and it appeared several times throughout the play. At the end it appeared on Oedipus's face hanging from his eyes and looked kind of scary and gory. The whole play overall game me a sense of terror because there seemed to be so many sad/strong/horror emotions. I loved seeing the Cycladic art being used in the play. Since I studied the Ancient Greek Art for my group earlier this year I was familiar with the Cycladic Era. The masks and hats were well done and I saw several simmilarities with the Cycladic Era. Such as the crossed arms across chest and block carvings of people. Also the singing was very well done and impressive, their facial expressions and posture added to the strong effect and projection. I am glad I got to see the opera but to understand all of the symbolism and meaning I would have to see it a few more times at least.
Payton Tirrell
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The opera Oedipus Rex was very interesting to me. I thought the play was very confusing, and when I was watching it I found it even more confusing. I understand the basics of the play, but the actions performed by the actors were really weird and confusing. Although the sets in Oedipus Rex were very creative and well detailed, they were awkward. For me the reading of the play was so much better than the watching of the play. The play was reallt hard to understand what was going on because it was in a different laguauge. For me when watching it was kinda boring and made me really tired. I think it was the music. But I also enjoyed the performing part of it, it was very interesting. I enjoyed the makeup. I thought it was cool how each pattern of makeup meant a different thing. I really wish the play had been a differnt laguauge though when we watched it. That would of made it easier to understand.Other than that it was cool to watch.