Performance #2 – Beautiful Thing – Arts Theatre, London – Digital Theatre Description of the performance: “This 20th anniversary production of Jonathan Harvey’s play about two working class teenage boys falling in love on a south east London council estate was captured by Digital Theatre live at the Arts Theatre in London’s Leicester Square. It was directed by Nikolai Foster and starred Suranne Jones as Sandra.” A review of the play: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/apr/18/beautiful-thing-review (Links to an external site.) RESPONSE PAPER GUIDELINES After seeing the play, write a 2-page response paper. Please use the performance # and name in your essay’s title. For example, Performance #2, Fool for Love. Acceptable papers are 2 FULL pages; a Word document or PDF, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins, with your name, student ID #, the date, class name, semester and year noted in the upper right hand corner. Include the name of the production and the date you saw the show. The titles of plays are italicized, i.e., Fool for Love, by Sam Shepard. plagiarism policy will be strictly enforced, so please do not use other sources. You do not need to use other source material to write your paper. If you do refer to any website, you MUST cite your sources. HOW TO WRITE YOUR PAPER Here are some questions to get you started. Use these questions to inspire you. You do not need to answer every question. Please do not write a list of bullet points / answers to these questions. Support your observations / opinions thoughtfully and give specific examples of what you have observed. I am looking for your impressions, reactions, and ideas. Please give a brief description of the performance you saw. In 1-2 sentences, what was the play about? What was the basic plot and/or what events occurred? What was the main conflict? (Please keep this brief.) What themes or ideas did you pick up on in this performance? In what ways did the play seem topical or relevant to today’s world? Interesting or not interesting to you? Were there any performances by particular actors that stood out? Which characters did they play? What, specifically, was memorable/ believable/ engaging about their performances? Were there any design elements that you found interesting/ appealing/ intriguing/ unsettling/ memorable? This could include lighting, costumes, make-up, set, music, or other elements. How well did they serve the story? What was your emotional or visceral response to the play? What did it make you think about? Was there anything surprising, confusing, frustrating, disturbing, unusual about the performance? Was the production effective? Did the production meet or exceed your expectations? How and why? Do you think it would be different to see this performance performed live? How do you think that might impact your experience? Anything else that stood out to you? Questions or ideas that the play brought up for you?
