Aaron Swiniuch December 11, 2012 THE 215 Modern Drama Final Assignment Theater Over this past

t semester, we have covered some hard hitting material within class that was set to push our boundaries, allowing us as students to really delve deeper into our thinking of societys beliefs and issues. We read plays that covered topics from the Nazi Regime and conflicts of race to the murder of a young gay male and the problems of a familys past. Each play was carefully chosen to point out a singular issue or belief in the world that seems to be extremely important in the present time. Not only were we asked to read plays that covered these topics, but we also had the chance to see three different plays that also introduced topics like politics, sexual orientation, and race. Scenes from The Laramie Project, Now or Later, and Race are the key examples that I will be highlighting. In class, we covered the topic of sexual orientation in two different forms: seeing live theater and reading a play covering the topic. This gave me great insight into the issues and beliefs that are either triggered or rooted from this topic. Within our world, we have many who believe that being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender is not acceptable and therefore do not want to give these people equal rights. The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman covers the aftermath that the brutal murder of a young gay man has on the small town of Laramie, Wyoming. The show is cleverly written in a documentary style, using actual quotes and passages from
Comment [MA1]: Great opening

accounts on what happened within the city. There is a moment in this play where Jedadiah Schultz, a student from the University of Wyoming, is interviewed on how he got to college and his part in the town of Laramie. Jedadiah talks of a state theater competition that he enters to receive a scholarship, in which he is given a scene from Angles in America to perform. From this, we hear Jedadiahs parents reaction to hearing that their son was performing a scene that dealt with homosexuality: they brought me into their room and told me that if I did that scene, that they would not come to see me in the competition. Because they believed that it is wrong that homosexuality is wrong they felt that strongly about it that they didnt want to come see their son do probably the most important thing hed done to that point in his life (Kaufman, Pg. 12). This moment shows the belief and/or issue of how a small group of people (whole community, parents, friends, etc.) can have negative attitudes toward those within the gay community. Alongside The Laramie Project, outside of class we saw the play Now or Later written by Christopher Shinn, which was performed by Company One at the Boston Center for the Arts. This plays plot centers around the conflict of a presidential candidates son being caught in pictures that lead to a possible foreign dispute. Though this is the main conflict throughout the show, the audience is brought closer into the family dynamic of father and son. The presidential candidate says he loves his son and wants him to be happy, but it is eluded that he supports anti-gay equal rights in marriage. This causes an addition of tension to the relationship that the two share on stage and the fight that commences soon after. This again, like the

scene involving Jedadiah, shows that not only because of political views but also because of personal views and the views of other people, how a select group or a person chooses to have a negative view on this matter. Returning back to The Laramie Project, there is also a point where we see the opposite view on the subject of homosexuality. Harry Woods, another member of the Laramie community, talks about the homecoming parade that occurs every year in the town to celebrate the universitys football team. Harry explains that the parade goes north up one street and south down another street, where both streets are on either side of his apartment. This is what he describes seeing: And then I noticed the most incredible thingas the parade came down the streetthe number of people walking for Matthew Shepard had grown five times. There were at least five hundred people marching for Matthew (Kaufman, Pg. 63). Harry was astounded to see how many people were walking in support of Matthew. Another instance where we can see an opposite view on the issue of homosexuality is the moment where Romaine Patterson describes the idea of her band of angels. Romaine describes that she was disgusted to see that Fred Phelps, a man who completely believed homosexuality was wrong, was protesting Matthews funeral and decided to take a stand against him. At this, she decides to gather numerous people and create a band of angels that will wear costumes, encircling Phelps as he continues to protest. These spectacles show that there are those people in our communities that feel that homosexuality is wrong, but also that there is a belief that no matter who or what we are, we are all the same in the end

and therefore should be treated with respect. In the end, the community of Laramie came together to give Matthew this respect. Not only does theater contain the issue of homosexuality but also the issue of race and the complexity that it brings to our thinking. Race is a play written by David Mamet, which follows the story of three racially diverse lawyers and a court case where a white man has allegedly raped a black woman. The plot revolves around the three lawyers and the conflicts that develop between the characters because of the case. During the show, the audience is introduced to the character of Susan, the young black lawyer within the firm who in the end creates the most conflict. Susan discovers that Jack, the white lawyer within the firm, had a background check done on her before she was hired because she was of a different race. This not only shows that race comes into context, even though Jack denies it, but also that discrimination is something, as humans, try to hide day in and day out. Discrimination is an issue that we feel is not really there and s o we try to escape any thought/act of it that we come in contact with. Susan also is the reason that the firm takes on the case because she, from the beginning of the show, feels as though the man is guilty and should pay the consequences for what he has done. She takes his check without asking the other lawyers, researches the mans past misdoings involving race, and finally is a driving force when the man pleas guilty. She explains that he is a white man who has done this to a black woman and being a black woman, she feels it is because of the womans race that the man will get off without much of a sentence. Race is the

invisible wall that each person in our society does not want to touch and when people, like Mamet does, we are forced to think about it. This is a kick ass essay Aaron! Theater though it is live, is part of literature because of the script. By writing down the lines, directions, setting, and scenes, the playwright has developed a piece of literature. Each play or musical tells a story and that is exactly what literature does. Literature is written for us to enjoy while reading, which is what sets theater apart from being apart of the realm. Theater is live and we do not generally read it, we watch it as it is portrayed in front of our eyes. We watch as the actors take on the characters and events that are written within the script. By also involving the issues of our world, theater pushes us to think and feel emotions that we generally do not want to feel. Theater is definitely apart of the literature realm, but is also truly in a realm of its own. Nice job- clear, direct and good details

I am not sure which choice you did- I would have said Choice A, but then you went on to discuss plays are literature. BUT the first essay is so long I can count it as two

Grade: A