Terrance McNallys Its Only a Play Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Terrance McNallys Its Only a Play - Essay Example Terrance McNally’s It’s Only a Play There was a moment when a line in the first act was given by Noah Mittman, playing Gus, that seemed to break the realism within the work. Much of his performance, while good, seemed to be a bit stalled in places. The character played by J. Nick Dickart, by the name of James, picked up the pace when it seemed to have fallen slightly short. The interactions between these two characters seemed to have some pacing difficulties which created a problem for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the character of the producer, Julia, played by Ilasiea Gray. While imperfect the part seemed to reflect the imperfections of the character so that those moments that might not have been as believable pass for character flaws. The interpretation of the role made it seem natural to the theater, even in its naivetà ©, a position in which she ‘interprets’ theatrical phrases to members of the play as if they would not understand them. In some ways, it was easier to relate to her as she was somewhat on the outside of the theater looking in when she related to the other characters, which placed her in a similar position as the audience.As some of the humor was above the education of the audience, so too was the situation above her experience, thus making her more easily relatable. She was a space between the audience and the action of the other characters which eased the tension that can exist between ’theater people’ and those who only atte nd or help from the outside. While she was a producer, she was still not fully immersed or as experienced. 4. Acting is more than just a collection of individual performances. The entire company needs to work together as a unit (this is sometimes called ensemble): each actor must not only perform his or her own role but also support the other performers. Discuss how the performers re ­lated or failed to relate to one another. Did they listen to each other and respond? Did any actor seem to be "showing off' and ignoring the others? Answer Question 4 The one aspect of the play that seemed very successful was that the characters seemed to be in concert with one another and they were working together to make all of the scenes work. The actors were engaged with one another, each scene seeming to flow naturally with very few of those moments when an audience member will think about that fact that they were attending a play. The humor was designed with the concept of exaggeration and exp loitation of the