Reviews and References

The reviews are in...

Like last year, I was hoping to end this year’s journal with a collection of reviews from children. Due to moving house, the reviews are a little late but none the less here. What was interesting was the gap of almost a week between the kids watching the production and the writing of a review. My son Hayden, for instance, was given time to reflect on the play and then asked three questions in the structure of his review. He was asked what he liked in the production, who he thought were the good and bad guys and what he thought the play was about. Each paragraph he wrote was an individual answer to each question presented. What was really lovely was the way Hayden felt it was important to differentiate Sol’s speech from any other writing by including, what he referred to as, 66 and 99. He also has included et cetera to communicate a continuation of dialogue. Although these are not theatre-based observations of the production, they demonstrate his adaptation of recently learnt school skills.

On Saturday I saw a play at Murdock University. I liked when my Dad got his treasure he didn’t let anyone touch it, I also liked Sol because at the start, when she heard her phone ring she said “my shell phone” with a funny accent. I also liked Sol because she said “this story got past on from my Mum and she learnt the story from her Mum” et cetera.

 I think Captain Quokka is a good guy because he fighted Captain Bluebeard, who is a bad guy. I think Captain Bluebeard is a bad guy because when they all grouped together Captain Bluebeard was on the opposite side as Captain Quokka.

I think the play was about sticking together, because I heard a song about sticking together 2 or 3 times.

What was most interesting from Hayden’s review was how he identified the good and bad guys. He literally stated the most defining example of Bluebeard as a bad guy was his positioning opposite of Captain Quokka. This suggests that he not only identifies characters by their positioning on stage, but also what groups they are associated within. Hayden drew only one picture, and along with his bias, it was a drawing of me as a Cat. As for Bella, she decided to draw many characters.

Bella first choose to draw Katzenellenbogen and Marilda. The most definable aspects of this drawing were her focus on the external aspects of each character, namely the hat and feather of Katzenellenbogen and the long, flowing hair of Marilda. She then chose to draw Clarissa and Nell, Jan and Captain Quokka. I believe each picture has minor differences connoting Bella’s important observations of each character including the long hair and ears of Clarissa and Nell, the big ears (and hat) of Jan and the apparent spiky hair of the Quokka. Bella then drew a picture of Captain Bluebeard and two pirates. Bella stated to me that ‘there’s the big boss, he’s all crooked!’ In this case, Bella physically connoted their ‘badness’ in their posture.

Captain Quokka and his adventures on the high seas.

 On Saturday I went to Murdoch University to see a play. I saw some pirates, cats, a quokka, a sea witch, a turtle, a sea fairy, a sea gull and a sea horse.

 I liked when the turtle holded the magic starfish to do magic so the land animals can breathe under the water. I also liked when everyone put ninja gear on.

 I think it was about sticking together and facing your fears.

 My favourite animal was the quokka.

 For Thomas, he was asked what he saw, what he liked and what he thought the play was about. Perhaps the most interesting fact was that he referred to Harlequin as a sea fairy as opposed to a fish. He suggested that her movements and magic ball connoted a mystical character. For all of Thomas’ pictures, he chose to focus on the external aspects of the costumes and also the animal represented as well. In some cases, Thomas has focused more on the aspects of the represented animal, then what the actor presented on stage. This is either an example of his imagination or the discrepancy from almost a week between viewing and commenting on the performance. Perhaps there was a difference between Thomas’ memory and what he actually observed?

Firstly, Thomas drew Katzenellenbogen and focused on his costume; including lavish coat and wig. The large feather in his hat and the whiskers on his cheeks were not present in the presentation of the character on stage. It would appear these are attributes that Thomas has included to strengthen the depiction of his drawing; perhaps creating more realistic comparison to a cat. Thomas also chose to draw Clarissa (focusing on her long eyelashes and mouse ears), Teresa the turtle (emphasising her shell and mask), and Sol the seagull (wings and black stripes). These pictures may not have been factual representations of what he saw on stage, however, may present an example of how he has attempted to understand what he viewed.

When drawing Captain Quokka, Thomas’ focus appears to be on the hat as a defining feature of his costume. Although Captain Quokka’s hat was slightly different to the one Thomas has drawn, the feather appears to be a significant aspect of the costume. What is also interesting to note is the exclusion of ears on the side of the hat in Thomas’ drawing when compared to the costume worn by Paul. In comparing Thomas’s pictures of Jan and Bluebeard, only minor differences in the drawings can be seen. They both have the same ears, eyes, arms, legs and clothes; it is only with their facial features where true differences can be found. Bluebeard has inward sloping eyebrows and a separate nose and mouth, whereas Jan has no eyebrows, a black button nose and a cat-like mouth. All of Thomas’ drawings, like all of the kids, present interpretations of what was viewed and how they ‘read’ it. I feel that Children’s Theatre is great as the audience can interpret the performance the way they see fit to interpret it. Will such a production have a lasting effect on their lives? It’s hard to say, but a year after Athena, my children can still remember what happened in the play and what I did. Such a performance not only has a lasting effect on the audience who interpret the message, but also the group who create it. It will always have some significance, it will always be remembered in some way.

Paul says: "Jimmy! Timmy!"

References:  

Penny Gay (1994) As She Likes it: Shakespeare’s Unruly Women. Routledge: London and New York.

Elaine Aston and George Savona (1996) Theatre as Sign-System: A Semiotics of Text and Performance, Routledge: London and New York.

Edward Burns (1990) Character: Acting and Being in the Pre-Modern Stage, Macmillan Press: London.

Keir Elam (2002) The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama, Routledge: London and New York, Second Edition.

R.I. Hodge and D.H. Tripp (1986) Children and Television: a semiotic approach, Policy Press: Oxford.

Henry Jenkins (ed) (1998) The Children’s Culture Reader, New York: New York University Press

D.M. McInerney and V. McInerney (2002) Educational Psychology: Constructing Learning, Australia: Prentice Hall.  

Susan Melrose (1994) A Semiotics of the Dramatic Text, The Macmillan Press: London.

Robin Pascoe Approaches to reflection, unpublished research material.

Jack Tresidder (ed) (2004) The Complete Dictionary of Symbols in Myth, Art and Literature, Duncan Baird Publishers: London.

Raelene Wilding and Farida Tilbury (eds) (2004) A Changing People: Diverse Contributions to the State of Western Australia, Department of the Premier and Cabinet Office of Multicultural Interest: Perth.

R. G. Wilkinson  (1997) Unhealthy Societies, Routledge: Great Britain.

View other 'Semiotics and Performance: The Role of the Actor' journal entries...

Week One - Week Two - Week Three          Week Four - Week Five - Week Six

Week Seven - Study Break: Week One - Study Break: Week Two

Week Eight - Week Nine - Week Ten           Week Eleven - Week Twelve

Week Thirteen          Week Fourteen          Reviews and References

...or view other journals...

Semiotics and Performance: The role of the Actor (2005)     Performing Shakespeare in the Classroom (2005)

Drama and The Curriculum (Summer, 2005)     Children's Theatre (2004)     Acting (2004)

... or view...     Photo Gallery and Lesson Plans

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This page last updated: 17th February 2006