Medea Observation and Reflection
This assignment will give you an opportunity to see two performative
approaches of the play Medea and the title role, and reflect upon the
experience. This exercise will engage some of the critical review tools you
learned about in Chapter 4. Review your notes from Chapter 4 on Aristotle's
six elements of drama if necessary to complete the following exercise.
Instructions:
Respond to ALL parts of the prompts below. Read directions and prompts
closely, and note the minimum word count requirements. You will watch the
two video clips of a Medea vs. Jason scene in two different productions of the
play. (These videos are linked at the bottom of this assignment.) Then you
should complete both Part A and Part B of the prompt below. Submit your
response in the text entry box provided, and label the parts of your response
so that it is clear what parts you are answering throughout (i.e., don't just write
one big paragraph for everything); this helps with the grading process.
Part A: Observation and Reporting
As you watch, you will make and report certain observations about three of
Aristotle's six elements of drama: character, spectacle, and sound. Avoid
judgement-based language ("it was good, bad, weird"); simply observe what
you are seeing and hearing and report back on that. You should make
observations in EACH category about EACH of the two scenes.
Character:
Note several things you observe about character relationships in each of
these two scenes (differentiate between the two scenes). You can understand
aspects of relationship not only by dialogue that is spoken, but also by things
such as body language, tone and inflection of voice, facial expressions,
movement of actors, and proximity of actors to each other. (50 words
minimum)
Spectacle:
Note all the aspects of spectacle that you observe in each of these two
scenes (differentiate between the two scenes). Spectacle refers to all visual
elements — anything you can see — including sets, costumes, lights, props,
and stage “pictures” created by actors on the stage using blocking
(arrangement of actors) and/or choreography. (50 words minimum)
Sound:
Note all the aspects of sound that you observe in each of these two scenes
(differentiate between the two scenes). This refers to all auditory elements –
anything you can hear — including music, singing, sound effects, sounds
made by actors, music or other auditory elements during scene changes,
AND use of silence). (50 words minimum)
Part B. Reflection (150 words minimum)
Next, provide us with a brief overall reflection of your experience viewing the
two performances in the videos referenced above: Did one or the other
production styles or performances make a stronger impact on you? If so,
why? After viewing, did either of the performances change your opinion of the
character of Medea (or the play in general) vs. when you first read the play?
Explain.
Links to Videos:
1) Scene between Medea (Zoe Caldwell) and Jason (Mitchell Ryan) from
the 1982 Broadway revival directed by Robert Whitehead
This link contains a performance of the entire play but is set to begin at 26:00
into the action. However, depending on how you view it, that setting may not
work. If it does not, just fast forward to begin viewing at the 26:00 timestamp,
and watch through 35:18 (through the end of Medea's monologue after Jason
leaves) — a little over 9 minutes. This production of Medea is a
pretty straightforward interpretation, set in period, with a very accessible
adaptation by Robinson Jeffers. Ms. Caldwell's seminal performance helps to
humanize Medea and provide insight into her
motives.www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdtDeZZ4RPk&t=1563s (链接到外部网
站。)
2) Scene between Medea (Mikijiro Hira) and Jason (Masane Tsukayama)
from the 1986 cross-cultural production directed by Yukio Ninagawa.
Remember the clips from the BBC documentary featuring a production
of Medea that incorporated Japanese Kabuki and Noh staging? Here is a clip
from that same production, which is roughly the same scene between Medea
and Jason viewed in the clip above. However, this production presents a very
different take on portraying the way in which Medea renounces her love for
Jason than the previous, more realism-based scene. Note that the dialogue is
in Japanese, so unless you the language, you will not be able to understand
the words — that is okay! Don't let it discourage you from taking in the
performance and noting whatever meaning comes to you, if any. Don't
pressure yourself to "find meaning." Bear in mind that it's basically the same
scene viewed above in terms of what is happening (and which you should
also have read while reading the play). Watch facial expressions and body
language, listen to tone of voice and music, and observe other elements of
spectacle to inform your experience. Pay attention to the red ribbon…what do
you think it means?www.youtube.com/watch?v= (链接