Rabanal 1

Anthony Rabanal
Professor Kara Cantrell
TPS 1107
7 December 2014
Course Reflection Essay
Prior to taking this class I had never actually seen a professional play, though I had been
involved in several small productions in high school. During drama class in high school we
focused mostly on our small production rather than learning the art of drama. While attending
lectures in university, however, I have learned about the process of making and enjoying theatre
as an art form. The most surprising factor of that process is the amount of work that goes into
creating theatre.
The amount of delicate work and time it takes to perfect aspects of a project would have
to be the most surprising and interesting thing I have learned in class lectures. When watching art
in different forms I never truly put much thought into the amount of work it took to produce said
art. A particular guest lecturer explained the amount of work he puts into the one aspect of
costume design. The process, he says, can take him up to months of work and requires a large
amount of communication between he and other departments working on the project.
My greatest challenge for enjoying theatre would be fully interpreting the message and
motions being portrayed by the actors and director. During a lecture a clip from a film was
shown to the class that contained a conflict between to characters. The class gave different
interpretations of what they believed was happening and I quickly realized there were few
consistencies among the students interpretations. This means that we were not able to exactly
pinpoint the message of the brief scene.

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I encountered this problem again when I went to a one-woman show as a required
performance. The play required interpretation of sporadic movements with props made by the
actor and I was struggling to find any meaning behind the movements. Once again different
interpretations of the play were shared in class with no definitive interpretation to be found.
Expanding my knowledge of theatre only served to help me make different interpretations for the
actors visions and movements, it did not help me find a conclusive interpretation. Though it has
helped me understand that, in some instances, the messages given in different works can be
deliberately indefinite.
I attended three required performances for this semester: Language Has Left the Building,
The Doctor, The Devil, And My Dad, and Into the Woods. Having never actually seen a play live
I was eager to attend my first, which would be Language, Has Left the Building. I was
disappointed by the play to say the least. Throughout the play the sole actor would use multiple
props to symbolize the events she described. These movements with her props did nothing but
distract my attention from the story she was telling. My learning of body language and motion in
class only made me focus on her movements rather than paying attention to what was being said.
I found the second required performance, The Doctor, The Devil, And My Dad, much
more entertaining. Having learned about absurdist plays and elements prior to seeing this play, I
was able to understand the reason behind the nonsensical repetition and random events taking
place. The final of the required performances, Into the Woods, was, by far, my favorite of the
three. Before the performance the class was lectured on the different types of musical numbers in
a play such as 11 OClock Spots and Ballads. We were also given background information on
Stephen Songheim, the musical lyricist of Into the Woods. With the knowledge of musical

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theatre and its elements fresh in my mind I was able to truly appreciate and understand the play
as I feel I might not have if I lacked said knowledge.
The most surprising element of the group project was the memorization of where
characters were staged which had to be learned for the scene to work. Once rehearsals for the
scene started, blocking became a crucial element of how the scene would be portrayed. Work
had to be done to understand where the characters would be standing in regards to the bar area.
We tried multiple different angles by which we could approach the blocking and were able to
find a position that properly suited the scene. I went in to the play not realizing how important
characters placement was going to be.
My groups greatest strength is our efficiency to perform. At every rehearsal the group is
prepared and ready to perform at its highest level. We work together to ensure that every
member within the group is informed on what is happening in regards to any rehearsals or
deadlines coming up. If any member were to miss a rehearsal they are told what occurred and
what is planned for the next rehearsal. Having everyone in the group so acting in such a efficient
manner makes the group project process extremely easy.
Quite a few times certain group members would ask others if they had any props or such
that they could use, as they themselves did not have those props on hand. Any group member
who had such prop would quickly answer back to inform the group s a whole that they would
bring it in next rehearsal. There were even times I forgot that a deadline was coming up, this
essay actually, and a group member actually brought the subject up to ensure that others were
aware.
I believe my greatest asset to the group project would have to be my responsibility with
line memorization. When starting rehearsals for the play I made a point to memorize all my lines

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and line cues so I would not appear confused on stage. When acting in previous plays in high
school I would constantly forget lines, so I wanted to ensure I would not repeat that trend. Once I
chose to play Christian for the scene I knew that line memorization would be the most important
element of playing his character, as he has the most lines in the play.
In contrast, I believe my biggest weakness concerning the group project would be my
lack of body language when acting. Throughout rehearsals for the play I have found that I either
end up with my hands in my pockets or flat at my sides. This mainly happened because I did not
feel fully free with the character. Now that we have progressed through weeks of practice I have
a good idea of what to do with my character. Most of this was solved by the director instructing
me on what to do.
The scene my group chose for our scene, Ruined, takes place in the Democratic Republic
of Congo during a civil war. Naturally this required some background knowledge on the culture
of the Congo to better understand the circumstances the women of the country had been placed
in. In learning of the Republic of Congo I discovered some saddening facts. Over 400,000
women are raped in the Republic of Congo each year and, in 2009, an average of 45,000 people
were dying per month due to civil war. I had assumed the Republic of Congo was troubled but
never had I expected the enormous amounts of death and rape.
If I were to have any advice to a student preparing to attend Theatre 1107 it would be to
be open to the art. Allow your studies in art to expand your horizons and become increasingly
cultured. Allow yourself to be entertained by the required performances rather than viewing them
as just another class assignment. Become involved in the group project and maybe you may find
a passion in your role within the group.