Let's continue our conversation from yesterday, moving from the theoretical to practical application of our dramaturgical sensibilities. We are about to launch our ensemble dramaturgy for the Studio Series production of Vinegar Tom, and will be provided resource materials for the cast in just a few weeks.
So...why do you think the Studio Series committee chose this play? How does it resonate with our school--and how does it serve the needs of our BA constituency? How does Vinegar Tom resonate with and/or reflect our culture? Where are the points of tension with our world?
11 comments:
I found Vinegar Tom to be a very interesting piece that was enjoyable to read. I have no definite conclusion as to why they choose this play but I have a few guesses. The play seems to have a nice blend to it. It is set in an early time period yet has conflicts that can be translated to current problems. When I read this I see very personal, psychological conflicts like Alice constantly wavering from missing her former lover to hating him.
Then we see grander sociological problems such as how the town’s people act when they feel as though their lives are being terrorized. Even today people become panicked when terrorism threatens them and often will ignore reason if it means being able to feel secure once more. The people in this town socially attack those that are different from them and refuse to listen to any kind of argument that doesn’t support the conclusions that they have jumped to. People today will still sometimes act this way towards others. Our country has been in multiple wars over the last few years and as a nation our trust in those other countries people has shaken. This play reminds me that we should build theories off of facts and not twist facts to suit theories. That people should objectively hear both sides of an argument before making their own assumptions.
I think this is a great play for the BA’s to immerse them in. It is not a modern time period so they get a new lens to look through yet I feel as though they can understand and at some level relate to the work. It has very little comedy in it but it has some very serious and dramatic scenes that can really push them. It also resonates with our school because I feel we are very good at producing work that can be hard hitting and forces the audience to think. This piece plays very well into that context. In any case, for some reason I have always loved stories of witch trials and am very exited to work on this.
The Studio Series is able to take risks on plays that the main stage cannot. For example, in the past the studio series have even produced their own original content. There are many different reasons to produce Vinegar Tom for the studio series. The cast size is a very good size to give acting opportunities to the BAs as well as challenging material that will help them grow for example, the unequal treatment of women. I am very excited for Vinegar Tom and I think the best explanation for why now is simply: why not now?
While I found Vinegar Tom a bit hard to read through, I definitely see why the Studio Series selection committee chose this play for this spring.
First, I see the relation to the BA theatre student population, who are generally the students acting in these shows. I really saw a relation between the characters accused of witchcraft and the BA students because both are not being listened to, and their thoughts and feelings often get overlooked, despite how good/truthful they may be. As Carrie said in class on Thursday, they are "talking, but not being heard." I also think that the play will be good for the students to participate in since it is not something we normally do (i.e. a contemporary, not very challenging, piece).
In the larger realm of things, I found SO many connections between this play and what is going on in our world right now. The play has obvious relations to women's rights, which I think could be thought of in a slightly different context in terms of the current gay rights movements in our country. They have similar motives, and the same treatment (talking, but not being heard; generalized thoughts about the way "they" as a group act; etc.)
I also found a huge connection between the Occupy protests and this play. There are so many similarities, but the main ones I thought were really important were: cruelty towards your neighbor, certain people having more than others and being treated in higher regard; believing what you want to believe, and not listening to or acknowledging what facts and opinions come your way; making excuses (and calling them fact) to be able to get what you want; and government/religious oppression (in this play they sort of walk hand in hand).
The play has so many connections to current events and problems and I am really glad we are able to do it in the Studio Series season.
I think that this play was chosen by the Studio Series primarily for its connections to our modern day world. While I do agree with the other commenters that it resonated with the BA population not being heard, I think it has a greater significance when put in context with our society at large.
There seems to be a central theme in this piece that revolves around the idea of being stuck in your own ways and ideas--not listening to what others have to say. "Witches" in the play would often claim that they were not witches--ignored. If a person was accused of witchcraft, anything would be attempted at any cost and to any extent to prove that. For example, a witch won't bleed if pricked in a specific spot, but that spot is never specific. So, you simply have to repeatedly prick a woman until she doesn't bleed, and that confirms it. For me, this unending attempt to prove that you are right or correct in your own thoughts resonates with our society.
We can look at the plight of a number of minority groups throughout the years. It doesn't matter what the truth actually is, all the does matter is that someone thinks otherwise, and the people that do think otherwise will stop at nothing to prove that they are correct.
H. Smith
Vinegar Tom was a fun read for me because each scene made a clear point about the times' social prejudice and fear of the uncertain. Reading about witchcraft is a downer only because these true stories never end well. It seems like many patriarchal cultures deal with the same fear that women will destroy or threaten any proper social environment that the men have built. The men threaten with violence and pain, whereas the women feel the need to question the rules they live by, historically speaking.
Equality and worth are some qualities that the play compromises with. These women know that they are not witches but one tiny mistake could lead them to the hanging post. However, any thought toward equality and debate from a woman's perspective would indicate a sign from the devil and this religious scare overrides all sense of logic. During these times, men were significantly scared of losing control, so execution was a form of discipline.
'This play now' could relate to the simple idea that there will always be a population that lives in a closed-minded mentality, no matter how advanced we think we are. We can all attest to know people who think their way is the only way, the moral way and/or the best way to live. This is especially true within the government, homosexuality, and all human interactions. We forget to stop ourselves and ask "why do I think this?" or "why do I believe so deeply about this?" Even if our answers stay the same, there is a factor that many forget to bring up and that's respect. We are getting better (I hope) at focusing out attention toward a solution as opposed to keeping a one-sided lens on the world.
I couldn't help but sort of relate this play to Islamophobia, having the Christians play the aggressor and Islam as the accused evil witchcraft. Both religions debate about women's rights, sexual "freedom" and the path to righteousness. There is also the fact that the Christian and Muslim religions have been in an ongoing battle over whose the truer faith, or closer to God. The answer is not which is worthier but instead, which will apologize and forgive the other first? Because realistically, that is the real step toward enlightenment and peace between any group of people.
I love that the BA's are doing this play mainly because of it's raw material and dialect.I have no doubt that it'll be done well. Additionally, I love reading a play and thinking about all the design aspects as an improvement to the show. I am super excited to see the end product.
Vinegar Tom is a peculiar kind of play, in the fact that it is described as a play about witchcraft...but there are actually no witches or socrcery in the play itself. It is rather what the characters believe to be witchcraft, or considering this Puritanical context, these characters can only articulate their rage, jealousy, irrational emotion as the work of the devil. I recently finsihed reading an article by Louise Jackson, and she theorizes that the women of these witch hunts had, "no other language available to describe or explain their feelings, belief in the devil became the only answer."
In an age where we have women killing their children all over the media, and anorexia spreading throughout the high schools like wildfire, women are finding different ways to punish themselves for their own insecurities. Women choose to afflict pain inwards, but witchery grants power to exert that pain onto others. Joan is a character who I think wishes she was a witch, but realizes she is not capable of doing so, her confession of putting hexes on her enemies may be interpreted as a voluntary suicide, a way to escape her distaste for humanity.
In regards to why this play now, and why for UA? Vinegar Tom presents itself as a piece that conforms to whatever the superior being wants to see it as. In the concluding song it addresses, "Evil women, is that what you want? It seems the BA students are continuously jumping through hoops in order to elevate themselves into the elitest kingdom of the BFA students, but the school needs to have the BA students, like how these characters need to believe there is evil in the world trying to diminish their happiness, the BA's are granted a power that is not in their control nor in their favor.
I believe the Studio Series committee picked this piece because it is unlike all of the shows we have done for the last 3 years. Any that I have seen have been contemporary, addressing situations that are very common within their target audience. This choice was bold in that it addresses witchcraft, an uncommon theme within the Studio Series. It will serve the BA community well – there are many characters (thus a good amount of roles), and it presents a message they are very familiar with. They want to be heard, and they often feel they are pushed aside due to the attention paid to the BFA program. It reflects our culture because we are in a constant state of “witch-hunt-ery,” from the original situation in Salem, to modern day. We have many points of tension in our current society, but the first that comes to mind is America’s hunt for “terrorists” and taking down all the leaders of given groups that might hold any ill opinion of America.
I think this is a controversial play, and that is a big appeal for the Studio Series. Since they are a smaller group they are able to push the boundaries more then an A.R.T. main stage could.
I think it was considered for the BA population to do exactly that, push boundaries. Have them do a play that doesn't need a big substantial set or production elements, but just something that shows their acting chops and the real meaning of the play.
I think this resonates with our culture with how easily people can be manipulated into doing things. In scene 10, when Jack and Margery were told by Ellen just to look in the mirror until they saw something, and then eventually "saw Mother Noakes" proving her to defiantly be a witch. This was obviously just imagination influenced by what they wanted to see. And I think that is a big thing in our world, we only see what we want to see.
I think that Vinegar Tom provides a lot of excellent challenges that the Studio Series productions rarely get the pleasure to face. From my experience, many of the Studio Series performances have been very light hearted and fun. One would almost always go to the Studio Series productions expecting levity, not a darker themed “dose of reality.” The 17th century accents written into this script will be another welcome change for the Studio Series actors, pushing them to explore deeper character analysis than previous productions have required.
Why this play now? I think that the strong theme of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” found in Vinegar Tom resonates with the feelings of much of our BA students prior to this production. I certainly make a connection between Churchill’s approach to “witches” being ignored, and the many past BA’s feelings of being pushed aside.
As per our discussion in class, I really like this concept that Vinegar Tom helps to address the idea of the BA population not being heard as an equal demographic of the UA theatre program. This idea is strongly reinforced by the themes present in the play of characters constantly talking over themselves without ever really hearing or listening to anyone else, which at times, seems fairly representational of life at large in a program encompassing so many departments with individual and unique needs.
However, in a less heady and more pragmatic lens, this play could very likely be a result of the fact that the studio series committee has a lot more freedom than ART at large to explore lesser known works with much darker themes. I like to think it is a response in some ways to the darkening times around us, especially centered in a political context, and a lot of the more totalitarian trends we are slowly starting to see.
Vinegar Tom is a good way to look at the witch hunts in 16th century England. It brings to light the tortures the “witches” went through and how these women weren’t heard. The people thought some women were witches and even if the women say something witch-like sarcastically everyone will take it seriously. So when the women know they aren’t witches the tortures they go through cause them to think they are witches.
Since the studio series is able to touch on subjects that may seem too risky for a main stage, Vinegar Tom is acceptable. As well it allows the BA students to act a period style role that is not often available to them.
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