This is a graded discussion: 25 points possible due Jul 29 Week 3: Theater This

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This is a graded discussion: 25 points possible due Jul 29 Week 3: Theater This week, we took a brief look at Shakespeare's The Tempest (see the Assignments section). This five-act play opens with a storm at sea (a tempest) and throughout, Shakespeare has planted allusions to apparitions and magic, such as the character Ariel who, at times, appears to be invisible to the other characters. It is a given that the special effects, such as those often used in films, to actually give the stage the appearance of a deadly tempest or actually make Ariel an invisible presence are not achievable on the stage. To fill in this gap, audiences suspend disbelief. In this thread, let's discuss the power and limitations of theatrical imagination. Please feel free to draw from productions you have seen. (The old high school productions count, too!) Why are we willing to suspend disbelief when we see a play, yet we demand so much more from a film production? Do you think that the limitation on special effects and alternative demand on the audience member to suspend disbelief is a weakness or a strength of the theatrical experience? Would you rather see The Tempest on stage or in film? Why? Grading This activity will be graded using the Discussion Grading Rubric. Please review the following link: Top Link (webpage): Discussion Guidelines

Explanation / Answer

The Tempest opens with a storm at sea (a tempest) and throughout, Shakespeare has planted allusions to apparitions and magic, such as characters like Ariel who, at times, appears to be invisible to the other characters. It is a given that the special effects, such as those often used in films, to actually give the stage the appearance of a deadly tempest or actuallymake Ariel an invisible presence are not achievable on the stage. Thus, audiences suspend disbelief. What are some other plays you have seen that have contained special effects that required your suspension of disbelief?

I remember when I was in school. roughly elementary towards middle school. it was a while ago, anyways, our school had went to see Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde. It was very fascinating to watch one character have both a good, and an evil side on stage. The play, it itself, was simple beautiful, I cannot remember much, but, what I do remember is still fascinating to this very day. I used to not get into things like this, but, I have come to find as the older I get, the more things like on stage drama and plays intrigue me. For me, I would prefer to see Tempest on stage, I would prefer to see anything on a stage if it were readily available that way instead of film. With an on stage production, it is in its purest from, the actors are average everyday people and for me, even though I love Hollywood and large production movies, something like this would prefer to see in "raw" form.

Sounds about right, I can vaguely remember the lighting and some smoke in different colors Mr. Hyde turned into Dr. Jackal, mainly the colors purple and red with some extreme dramatized piano music now that I try to remember it, like I said, it was so long ago. One thing that I would also to bring into discussion here is the fact that every time we went on one of these downtown play excursions we had to dress up, similar to a black tie affair, if you will, I wonder why that is...

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