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Tara Mary Aziz

THA 100
Brent Wrobel
February 23, 2014
Under Milk Wood

My first impression of Under Milk Wood was neutral because of how odd the title
sounded to me. I wondered if perhaps Milk Wood were a place, or a person, or a literal meaning
for some sort of tree bark! Therefore, when I first walked into Varner Hall Theater to take my
seat for the performance, I was quite curious. What first captured my eye was the initial set-up of
the play. As an audience member, I was so close to the actors space that it was almost like I
were part of the performance itself, which excited me. We audience members were situated
around the entire performance (arena stage), as opposed to just one side of a stage, which gave
the room a less formal sort of atmosphere, which I liked. The performing room itself was not too
big, which made the performance all the more intimate and easier to concentrate on for me.
Overall, Under Milk Wood was a pleasant and unique performance that with its simplicity
shone well. It was not only the relaxed atmosphere of the room that drew me
into the performance, but the strong entrance to the show the narrator gave. The narrator had
such a strong and bold voice and really took his time to create the image of the Welsh village, all
eyes completely engrossed in his every poetic line. It was quite beautiful on the ears, frankly.
From this, the play sped up at a good rhythm into the dreams of the villages Welsh townsfolk.
At times, I must admit, it was difficult to keep up with some of the scenes, but eventually I
became familiar with the characters and it was no problem.
I found it interesting how strict the characters in the play
were with portraying believable Welsh accents. The costumes, few props, and body
movements/postures were definitely perfectly suited for each character, and I commended some
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of the actors about that after the show. The actors playing Mr. Pugh, the old man dreaming of
concocting ways to kill his wife, and Mary Ann Sailors, the 85 year old dreaming of the Garden
of Eden, really got into their roles with their consistent hunched body expressions, more mature
sounding voices, and facial expressions. As far as acting goes, I think
everyone worked well with each other and individually. At times where one actor was supposed
to cut off or finish the sentence of anothers, there were hardly any pauses or signs of
unprofessionalism. I think the director purposely kept the actors in scenes so close to each other
to emphasize the overlapping relationships in the town. Something that would have cleared some
confusion about who was who in the performance would have been if actors had more obvious
costume changes when they were playing more than one character. It was hard to register an
actor as a new character when he looked so similar to another. I
thoroughly enjoyed the music in this play. The Welsh country dancing was so amusing to watch
and it was clear the director had put some time into it since every actor knew the moves
correctly. Also, the character Polly Garters singing of her lost babies and love was especially
soothing and I liked how the director chose to have her sing as the only person on stage with a
light shining down, really setting a mood of loneliness around her. The intimate dance between
two lovers in the play was especially effective with the romantic music and the slow, close body
movements; I almost lost myself in the room because of how capturing the dance was. What was
especially unique about this play was how the actors actually played real instruments on stage
too, something I have never seen before.
I think the director and overall staging did a fine job of representing the setting of this
production, detaching it from the modern designs we have here in the U.S. They also managed to
display scenes well, making full use of the different parts of the stage to get all of the different
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scenes in. The actors truly maintained a believable production energy-wise and action-wise. I
dont think anyone let the cast down, but I do think some outshone others by completely pulling
the audiences attention towards them. One actor who I feel could have performed his role
slightly better was the man acting as Captain Cat. It was quite the monotone performance.
All in all, I think Under Milk Wood was a very interesting story. Not many
plays are based on mere dreams, and I think the later comparisons with real life were great to
watch. I would not recommend this play to someone who relies mostly on visuals for
entertainment, since there were not many. I am an auditory learner and generally prefer listening
than seeing, so the language in this play is really what made it enjoyable for me. Its simple
staging and quite simple story line dreams of people of a typical town in Wales made it a
unique performance and one that would make anyone think of afterwards. A play worth
watching. A play different to all the rest.

Below is a snapshot of my purchased ticket: