Godspell The Production

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

download word file, 3 pages 0.0

Downloaded 2064 times

Acting is hard enough as is. Adding in elements for a certain act can either help or limit one's ability. I thought that the stage setup at Godspell was awful. The slanted stage could not have made it any easier for the actors to perform, not to mention all the distractions in the background. For example, the music performer and her equipment in the back made me wonder what she was doing, rather than helping me to focus on the actors and actresses. I did like the speaker setup however. The color coordination screens over the speakers made them hardly noticeable, drawing attention to the stage.

I did not really like the lighting though. It was horrible; one could easily tell when the light coordinator was off queue. During the first musical part where the light went from person to person, whoever was speaking, it missed one guy twice.

No offense, but in a professional play, mistakes like that would have never been made.

The voices of the actors defiantly made up for the constant mistakes of the rest of the crew. As soon as I heard their voices, my horizons on the play were immediately broadened. I could tell when others with weaker voices were lip singing, which I do not if it was for the better or for the worse. Matthew Curley was brilliant. His facial expressions lit up the stage. His presence told the audience immediately that he was in control and the main character.

The play was very informal, but at the same time appropriate for a college audience. Everything was very fun and exciting, with great movement and actions. The jokes and playfulness was great. If you do not laugh out loud sometime during this play, something must be wrong with you. I felt that the universe floor was a little premature, considering the kingdom of God. It really did not fit in because this play was directed toward college students, not five year olds. Other than that, it is very hard to mess up a play with so much fun, which also makes it very hard to analyze a play like this seriously. I found that the more I paid attention to the little things, the more insightful the play seemed to be.

I was very appreciative of the different colors of the shirts the actors wore. The shirts really brought out each individuals personality. The actress who wore the red shirt was incredible. Her shirt matched her personality perfectly, red for passion and desire.

I was disappointed in the whole crossover from crazy to sentimental. It really was not working for me. I was also disappointed and annoyed with Matthew Curley shoes. They keep sticking to the floor and with every step he took. As the play went on, I found more and more things annoying me. The production lights flashing, possibly because of power surges, were bothering me. It was hard for me to pay attention to the play with all these distractions going on. Transitions from good to evil were horrible, not working for me at all. The actors needed to lead into transitions and not let opposites clash.

I must admit, mistakes were hard to pick up. If I was not writing this paper and going to the production simply for recreation, I probably would not of had any complaints, because I would have never noticed all the mistakes. A great example of an awful mistake was at the end when Jesus was supposed to be nailed up against the cross. He was supposed to have a red ribbon in each hand, symbolizing his blood, instead he dropped one ribbon and messed up. The carrying of Jesus' body at the end of the play was great. The music was completely appropriate for the moment and I was very pleased. I no one was confused on the sad ending because of the grace that the play ended with was phenomenal. Over all I had a wonderful time watching such an insightful, playful production. In the end, I felt it was $8.00 well worth it.