| PARISIAN WOMAN - Stagecraft? | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 04:27 pm EST 01/10/18 | |
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| Let's set aside the play. Lets set aside the acting (except Blair Brown who is wonderful as always) Let's just address basic stagecraft - Directing 101. Things that neither director, nor actors, nor producers seem to have notice or cared about. 1) A rich British seeming middle aged man is asked to return a set of keys. He produces them (he has just used them to come into the apt) from his inside left breast pocket of his suit jacket. No man would every carry keys there - among other things the keys would make odd pokes out that would look awful. Checking in with 'The Art of Manliness' confirmed that this is a no no. Keys either go in pants pockets, or in the little key pocket sometimes on the lower left corner inside the jacket, just inside where the jacket opens. 2) Several times they take glasses of bourbon that have not had more than one sip taken from them, and they refill them. This is not a plot point. Its bad stagecraft. Put less 'bourbon; in to start, and instruct your actors as to where to drink the liquid, so that you can do the refill the glass action, if that's important. 3) In Scene 2, an exterior on the terrace of a zillion dollar house or townhouse in DC, we see the French doors which go inside to a room we can't see - there is a terrace, and a railing down stage. Towards the end of the scene, Ms Thurman and Mr Lucas are directed to lean casually the railing, facing us. The only problem is that the railing is not the usual 36", but only about 26-28" tall, because of sight line problems if any higher.. So that the actors have to bend over at a right angle, with their rears in the air, in a totally unnatural and uncomfortable looking position. Why not have them 'sit' on the railing, facing the house, and turn profile. That at least would look like something a human might do. 4) A Character is sitting on a piece of furniture - they get up, and another character almost immediately sits in the just vacated space - even though there are plenty of other places to sit. This doesnt really happen often in an in crowded room - especially if the first person is returning, and one being polite enough to understand that that seat 'belongs' to the person who will be returning. 5) OK. This one has to do with the script. We know from House of Cards that Beau Willimon can write. We are in the home of a DC power couple. He is angling for a Federal Judgeship, and has been for a while. She asks him how he could accept this from Trump, and have to follow his policies. Now - this woman is extremely bright and manipulative and savvy about everything, a DC Power Wife. But somehow her husband has to stop her and explain that a Federal Judgeship is for life, and that after you are appointed you can rule any way you want - there is no need to follow a political dogma as a judge. This is the classic sin of characters saying in dialogue things which they obviously already know. Clunky. Unbelievable. Sadly, like every other word in this 'play'. |
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