PART A

A. You have to show or create a shipwreck on stage. How might you do that?

  • I would build parts of a ship with holes and broken parts to make it easily broken, and on stage, I would sway it to express the collapse.

B. One character in your play is a spirit. How might you have a character as a spirit onstage?

  • I would wear a costume that has the same color as the background and would fly around the stage.

C. Another character is imprisoned in a rock. How would you show a character imprisoned in a stone?

  • I would make a stone mask (with clay?) for the character to wear to represent they are stuck in a rock.

D. You have to portray ‘magic demon dogs’ that are unleashed onstage. How might you portray magic demon dogs (without using real dogs)?

  • I would use puppetry to portray ‘magic demon dogs’ that are unleashed; I would make a large costume using fabric, with people inside controlling it, which is like the lion dance.

E. What elements would you bring in to create a deserted island? What would you create? Describe how the audience would know that it is a deserted island.

  • I would make a deserted island with sand, and put some pieces of ships and branches (stuck in the sand).

F. What challenges would you face when trying to create all of these elements in person, on stage, live, in front of an audience.

  • It would be challenging to organize these elements and fit them in one stage with a smooth transition (entering right on time, changing props/costumes) live.

PART B

A. “Inspiration” comes from many sources. Describe one source of inspiration for Julie Taymor when she was setting the scene for the play.

  • When creating the Calaban, Julie Taymor was inspired by the Mud Men of New Guinea, who wore clay masks over their head- because, in one of Caliban’s lines, he says that he is imprisoned in a rock, so to show the character, Taymor was inspired by the masks and decided to use this element to represent the character (make a stone mask).

B. Describe one moment where you went “a-ha!” or “that is brilliant!” or “I never would have thought of that!” and describe how or why that moment stood out to you.

  • One thing that surprised me was how the directors thought about ways to visualize and interpret the scenes of a play. And the results were incredible and always unexpected. For example, when the director thought about how to express a shipwreck on stage, I expected they would actually destroy it by hand during the play. However, it was shown by burning with fire on stage (behind a cloth?). I noticed that it would be really challenging to think of methods and ways to actually plan out the steps and how to deliver it on a live show.

C. ‘Symbolism’ plays an important part in most theatre. This is different than ‘Literal’. Pick one moment or element that was represented “symbolically” as opposed to literally and describe it.

  • Caliban represents the island, and he is the king of the island, so when he enters the stage, he enters from the ground and through the Earth; however, opposite from Caliban, Ariel comes from the air.

D. What would you change about the production (from what you saw) if you were filming it for movies or television?

  • If I was filming it for movies or television, I would use more technologies to show some of the backgrounds and characters that are hard to demonstrate in the play.