September 09, 2013

A Stage Play

Essay : [A Stage Play]

English Essay on "A Stage Play"

A Stage Play

In the last week of July, the Girls of Forms IV and V of our school staged The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. Our hall has a beautiful stage and we have a fairly large stock of curtains and other materials required for a staging a play. Thus, besides preparing for their various roles in the play, the only thing that the girls had to do was the painting of a few sceneries for the stage.
It was considered desirable that the parts of some male character, e.g., Males should play shylock, Bassasnio, and Graitano, therefore, some boys from a boys school in Karachi were invited to play these roles.
After nearly two month's rehearsals, the play was ready for public performance.
We, the form IV girls, had read the play thoroughly by the last Saturday of July, when the play was acted. The fifth formers already knew the playas it was included in their syllabus for the Oversea school Certificate Examination.(4essay.blogspot.com) Thus all of us, as well as the senior students from many other schools, who had been invited to watch it were fully prepared to attack and criticize the performance form every literary and dramatic point of view.
Costumes were colorful and reminiscent of the Venice of the Shakespeare's time. The characters came to life and received new vitality form the handpicked cast, comprising the cream of the two schools talent.
The play was superbly acted. The Portia created by Shakespeare was brought to life in all her wit and charm by Julie Wong. Richard Sammy gave a magnificent portrayal of shylock-looking and acting the part in its entire naturalness.
Less outstanding were the other characters making up the play. Antonio, Played by Dave Jones, Lacked Realism in the pleas for his life. Bassanio showed no great love for his friend, when he received the sad news of Antonio's Plight. The lovers, Jessica and Lorenzo, were restrained their love scenes lacked realism. Nerissa was too demure and did not do justice to her part of an angry wife. The two princes did not appear keen on marrying Portia, at all. They were bent on choosing the caskets only, as gamble. Kim hock gave a piteous account of the clown he was meant to be. He raised laughter, but not as much as that raised by Gratiano, who gave a fine performance in the court-room scene, by his repetition of shylock's phrase, A Daniel comes to judgment!

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