Charlotte’s Web, to the best of my remembrance, was very close to the book. I read the book in third grade, and was amazed at how much I was able to remember about the book because of seeing this play. There are parts in the play, however, that did not bring back any memory from the book for me. I think this is fine, though, because the play stayed true enough to the point of the book, that the adaptation was very successful.
Aspects of the play that were very similar to the book include the characters, the setting, the way characters interacted with each other, and the basic plot line. I remember reading about all of the characters that were in the play. Their interactions with each other stayed true to the book. I remember the settings from the book. I remember the humans reacting the way they did in the play, and the animals reacting the way they did in the play. I remember when Fern protected Wilbur in the beginning, and I remember her visiting him when he was living at her uncle’s farm. I was very excited when I remembered that three of Charlotte’s children did stay behind in the barn. These things brought a consistency necessary to pass this play off as being the same as the book.
The things that didn’t work about the play or were not the same experience I had as a child, were some of the characters personalities, a few of the scenes, and how obsessed Martha was with Fern talking to boys. I remember Charlotte being more sophisticated in the book, but she was very acceptable in this play, and this is something that didn’t bother me while watching the play. I do not remember Wilbur being so whiny in the book. This is something that bothered me throughout the play. I was constantly wishing for him to be more caring and a lot less selfish. Some of the scenes that I don’t remember from the book, but could easily have been in it, were the pig chasing scene, the judge coming around to examine the pigs, and Fern actually going out to explore the fair. I was bothered by Martha’s desire for Fern to be hanging out with boys. To me, Fern is a little elementary school girl that got the opportunity to have a little pig to take care of. It seemed like she was much older in this adaptation.
Overall, seeing this play was an enjoyable experience. I think the execution of this play was done very well, and would recommend that people go see it. If you have read the book, it will bring back the memories from that experience. Children should definitely see it, because they will understand what is going on. “Is she dying?” was such a sweet line to here from one of the little girls sitting in front of me.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Dialogue
Okay, so here's another idea for a short play. A class is given the assignment to write down conversations that they hear and bring them to class. They have to have it by a deadline, which doesn't seem too bad at first. The students depart, and begin the assignment. Jason finds a table to sit at where he thinks he will be able to hear a good amount of conversations. After sitting at the table for half an hour, the best conversation he has is:
Girl 1: Are you hungry at all?
Girl 2: Are you?
Girl 1: Yeah.
Girl 2: Okay. Would you like to go to cafeteria?
Girl 1: Okay.
Jason is a little put off that he didn't get very much in the time he was at the table, but thinks it was pretty good for a first attempt. He leaves for the day. The next day, he is at the mall. First he tries the food court, where he can hear muffled conversations. Occasionally he can pick out some of the words that people say, but not all because the sound bounces off the tiled floors causing distortion. Once, he sits in a really good spot to hear a conversation, but is sorely disappointed when he can hear every word, but can't understand the language being spoken.
Next, he tries walking around in the stores, transcribing the conversations he hears onto his spiffy phone. He tries to be discrete, but constantly seems like he is stalking the people whose conversation he is trying to write down. At one point, he is following two girls, who are looking at Halloween costumes in the Halloween store. From their conversation he gets:
Girl 1: I really want to go to a masquerade ball.
Girl 2: Let's just have our own.
Girl 1: Yeah. You took the words right out of my mouth.
Girl 2: PJ.
Girl 1: What?
Girl 2: You took the words right out of my mouth, PJ. What's that from?
Girl 1: I don't know.
Girl 2: Robin Hood!
He stops for a moment to think about the joke the girls just shared between themselves.
Jason: PJ... Prince John (chuckles) She's right.
By this time, the girls have moved on, and he gives up on following them for fear of looking like a stalker. He continues following another couple, but doesn't get very much from them, because of how quietly they talk to each other. A group of teenage boys come into the store, and he tries to write down their conversation, but it doesn't make any sense to him, and he gets jumbled while trying to transcribe it. He leaves, frustrated at how hard this seems to be.
Wanting to sit down for a bit, he sees some benches by the play area. The kids are screaming while they play, and he starts writing it down. The conversation the kids have actually seems to make some kind of sense.
Kid 1: Ah ha! Woah! Ah!
Kid 2: Ah! Kak! Ah! Kak! Oooh!
Kid 1: Pizza! Pizza! Oof!
Kid 3: Pick Abby!
Kid 4: Abby woo pick a did jump here!
Kid 2: Hah ha!
Kid 1: P!
Kid 4: We can climb up here!
Kid 2: Na na! Neh!
Kid 3: Stay away!
Kid 1: Ahhh!
Finally sick of trying to transcribe conversation, Jason leaves the mall and heads home. The next day, he is determined to find a good conversation. He tries a few fast food restaurants, and eventually ends up in the library. A couple is having a good conversation, but he can hardly hear them. He tries sitting in at the table next to them, but they are still too quiet for him. Finally, fed up with how hard people make it for others to hear their conversations, he sets his chair right in front of them and starts typing out their conversation.
THE END
Girl 1: Are you hungry at all?
Girl 2: Are you?
Girl 1: Yeah.
Girl 2: Okay. Would you like to go to cafeteria?
Girl 1: Okay.
Jason is a little put off that he didn't get very much in the time he was at the table, but thinks it was pretty good for a first attempt. He leaves for the day. The next day, he is at the mall. First he tries the food court, where he can hear muffled conversations. Occasionally he can pick out some of the words that people say, but not all because the sound bounces off the tiled floors causing distortion. Once, he sits in a really good spot to hear a conversation, but is sorely disappointed when he can hear every word, but can't understand the language being spoken.
Next, he tries walking around in the stores, transcribing the conversations he hears onto his spiffy phone. He tries to be discrete, but constantly seems like he is stalking the people whose conversation he is trying to write down. At one point, he is following two girls, who are looking at Halloween costumes in the Halloween store. From their conversation he gets:
Girl 1: I really want to go to a masquerade ball.
Girl 2: Let's just have our own.
Girl 1: Yeah. You took the words right out of my mouth.
Girl 2: PJ.
Girl 1: What?
Girl 2: You took the words right out of my mouth, PJ. What's that from?
Girl 1: I don't know.
Girl 2: Robin Hood!
He stops for a moment to think about the joke the girls just shared between themselves.
Jason: PJ... Prince John (chuckles) She's right.
By this time, the girls have moved on, and he gives up on following them for fear of looking like a stalker. He continues following another couple, but doesn't get very much from them, because of how quietly they talk to each other. A group of teenage boys come into the store, and he tries to write down their conversation, but it doesn't make any sense to him, and he gets jumbled while trying to transcribe it. He leaves, frustrated at how hard this seems to be.
Wanting to sit down for a bit, he sees some benches by the play area. The kids are screaming while they play, and he starts writing it down. The conversation the kids have actually seems to make some kind of sense.
Kid 1: Ah ha! Woah! Ah!
Kid 2: Ah! Kak! Ah! Kak! Oooh!
Kid 1: Pizza! Pizza! Oof!
Kid 3: Pick Abby!
Kid 4: Abby woo pick a did jump here!
Kid 2: Hah ha!
Kid 1: P!
Kid 4: We can climb up here!
Kid 2: Na na! Neh!
Kid 3: Stay away!
Kid 1: Ahhh!
Finally sick of trying to transcribe conversation, Jason leaves the mall and heads home. The next day, he is determined to find a good conversation. He tries a few fast food restaurants, and eventually ends up in the library. A couple is having a good conversation, but he can hardly hear them. He tries sitting in at the table next to them, but they are still too quiet for him. Finally, fed up with how hard people make it for others to hear their conversations, he sets his chair right in front of them and starts typing out their conversation.
THE END
Sunday, September 13, 2009
10 Minute Drama
I have an idea for a 10 minute drama.
Protagonist: Demography Teacher (woman)
Problem: Birthrates have fallen drastically for the past century. Teachers are being sent to encourage students to have families and start having more children.
Moral Lack: The teacher is afraid of rejection.
Desire: Wants the students she is teaching to understand the seriousness of the problem.
Inciting Incident: The teacher walks into the classroom and starts the review.
Rising Action: She starts with a review of the world population throughout history and how humans have affected it. Then she begins explaining how families are useful to world economy. The students are a little confused by some of her terminology.
Climax: The students begin arguing with the teacher and disagree with her facts.
Self-revelation: Her efforts are fruitless and the world is going to continue to fail.
Denouement: The teacher wraps things up and leaves disappointed.
Who: a demography teacher and students
What: a lecture about the importance of having families and more children
Where: a classroom
When: about 100 years in the future
Why: the government has realized the importance of having families and is trying to encourage people to have families
How: teachers are sent to classes to teach the students what has been discovered
I don’t know if I can put everything I want to in ten minutes, but I’m going to try, because I think this can have a very powerful message. Maybe someday I’ll write it as long as I want. I can see it lasting about half an hour when I finally get it the way I want it. There will be a lot of research that I will have to do. I need to know what the world population has been like since the beginning of time. I’ll have to find out what the stats are on it now. Most of the information that I gather will be from Demographic Winter.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
You know, I've always sucked at making up names... any suggestions?
Here is an idea I have for a script. It'd probably make a better movie than a play, but I could try making it into both. I picked this idea, because I would like to write things that are uplifting, focus on family values, and allow for people to become the best person he or she can be. I'm getting sick of all the immoral things that are in the media today, so I'm going to do something about it by writing the things I think are good. This is still open for changes, but this is what I have right now.
This is just a basic outline:
Protagonist: A dad (name to come later)
Problem: He is trying to provide for his family (something tells me this isn't the real problem and that I need to rethink what the problem actually is)
Moral Lack: He is will to take any well-paying job no matter the kind of effect that is will have on his family
Desire: He wants his family to love and appreciate him
Inciting Incident: He gets a new job at a really well-known law firm
Rising Action: All of his time is taken up by his job such that his family never gets to see him. He spends his days off golfing or at luncheons with coworkers or potential clients. The communication between him and his family declines the longer he works at the law firm.
Climax: He finally takes a day off to spend with his family. He brings home a bunch of presents for them, because he can afford them now. None of them are around or want to spend any time with him. His youngest son just wants a hug from his dad.
Self-revelation: He realizes that he has abandoned his family, and that they no longer need him to be a part of their lives.
Denouement: He quits working at the well-known law firm, and begins working at a lesser-known law firm so that he can spend more time with his family. He gets to see his kids grow up.
So in story form:
A father is trying his hardest to take care of his family. He gets a new job at a very important and well-known law firm, thinking that this will be the best way for him to take care of his family. In an effort to impress his new boss, he spends a lot of time at his office. The time that he gets to spend with his family quickly diminishes. In a conversation with his boss, despite misgivings about it, he decides to go golfing on his day off with a group of coworkers and a few long time clients. When his wife finds out about this decision, she is frustrated, because their family usually does an activity on Saturdays. He and his wife get into an argument, which makes him more inclined to go on more and more golfing outings. His family begins to learn how to live without him. They learn to never expect their father home. Dinners with the family start to become awkward, because his kids don't know how to talk to him, but they put forth their best effort during these times, so while he notices a difference, he thinks it is because they are just growing up.
His wife confronts him one night, about how he is missing his children grow up, and how they don't know who their father is and he doesn't know who they are. In an attempt to challenge what she says, he decides to come home one Saturday instead of going golfing. He brings expensive gifts for his kids that he thinks they would like. When he arrives home, he oldest is out playing with friends, he second oldest is playing on the computer and doesn't want to be bothered, and his youngest is playing in his room. The dad gives his son the present he got for him. The boy takes it, and then looks up at his dad, and says that all he wants is a hug from him. This nearly breaks the dad's heart, and they hug. They go out and play a game of catch. That evening, he talks to his wife and admits that she was right. They discuss what they will do to make the situation right.
The next time he goes into work, he puts in a two weeks notice, and starts looking for a different, less time consuming job. He finds a job at a different law firm that allows him to have more time with his family. They start doing things together on Saturday's again, and dinners become more interesting, because his children want to tell him everything they did that day.
This is just a basic outline:
Protagonist: A dad (name to come later)
Problem: He is trying to provide for his family (something tells me this isn't the real problem and that I need to rethink what the problem actually is)
Moral Lack: He is will to take any well-paying job no matter the kind of effect that is will have on his family
Desire: He wants his family to love and appreciate him
Inciting Incident: He gets a new job at a really well-known law firm
Rising Action: All of his time is taken up by his job such that his family never gets to see him. He spends his days off golfing or at luncheons with coworkers or potential clients. The communication between him and his family declines the longer he works at the law firm.
Climax: He finally takes a day off to spend with his family. He brings home a bunch of presents for them, because he can afford them now. None of them are around or want to spend any time with him. His youngest son just wants a hug from his dad.
Self-revelation: He realizes that he has abandoned his family, and that they no longer need him to be a part of their lives.
Denouement: He quits working at the well-known law firm, and begins working at a lesser-known law firm so that he can spend more time with his family. He gets to see his kids grow up.
So in story form:
A father is trying his hardest to take care of his family. He gets a new job at a very important and well-known law firm, thinking that this will be the best way for him to take care of his family. In an effort to impress his new boss, he spends a lot of time at his office. The time that he gets to spend with his family quickly diminishes. In a conversation with his boss, despite misgivings about it, he decides to go golfing on his day off with a group of coworkers and a few long time clients. When his wife finds out about this decision, she is frustrated, because their family usually does an activity on Saturdays. He and his wife get into an argument, which makes him more inclined to go on more and more golfing outings. His family begins to learn how to live without him. They learn to never expect their father home. Dinners with the family start to become awkward, because his kids don't know how to talk to him, but they put forth their best effort during these times, so while he notices a difference, he thinks it is because they are just growing up.
His wife confronts him one night, about how he is missing his children grow up, and how they don't know who their father is and he doesn't know who they are. In an attempt to challenge what she says, he decides to come home one Saturday instead of going golfing. He brings expensive gifts for his kids that he thinks they would like. When he arrives home, he oldest is out playing with friends, he second oldest is playing on the computer and doesn't want to be bothered, and his youngest is playing in his room. The dad gives his son the present he got for him. The boy takes it, and then looks up at his dad, and says that all he wants is a hug from him. This nearly breaks the dad's heart, and they hug. They go out and play a game of catch. That evening, he talks to his wife and admits that she was right. They discuss what they will do to make the situation right.
The next time he goes into work, he puts in a two weeks notice, and starts looking for a different, less time consuming job. He finds a job at a different law firm that allows him to have more time with his family. They start doing things together on Saturday's again, and dinners become more interesting, because his children want to tell him everything they did that day.
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