Friday, May 3, 2013

Show and Tell Post 3

Elephant's Graveyard


Basic Information about the play: Elephant’s Graveyard was Written in 2008  by George Brant. Apparently it has been produced over one hundred times just in the past few years. I know that it has been produced at many colleges. Including LSU, Utah Valley University and Auburn. To read the whole thing/get a copy visit this website: http://www.samuelfrench.com/p/1939/elephants-graveyard-full-length-version

Basic Plot Summary: The play is about a horrific event that occurred on September 12, 1916 in Kingsport, Tennessee. To begin with, there was a traveling circus. This particular circus had the largest elephant in any circus at the time, five tons. Her name was Mary. Back then, people really did run off to join the circus. A man named Red Eldridge did just that. He was hired as an assistant elephant trainer. He really wanted to ride Mary in circus’ parade. The circus decided to let him, despite the protest from the trainer. It ended up that the day after he joined the circus, once they got to the next town over, Red was killed. While he was riding Mary, she saw a piece of watermelon off the course of the parade route. Red tried to stop her from going towards it, but he hadn’t been properly trained. He repeatedly struck her, which aggravated her. She ended up removing him with her trunk and accidently stepping on him. He was killed. The towns people were infuriated. They demanded that she be punished for the murder of an innocent towns person.
When the incident occurred, the town sheriff tried to shoot Mary. Her skin was too tough. With this in mind, and anger in their hearts, they thought of a cruel way to execute her. They said that she was like any other murder and should be treated as such. It was decided that Mary would be hung. They used the railroad’s crane and a thick chain to take the life away from a scared animal.
The play follows that storyline. It shows the perspective of various towns people and the circus members. The characters never speak to one another, but through their lines and monologues the entire story unfolds. This show is directed at the audience, is extremely effective and powerful and is performed in the Brechtian style of theatre.

The Critical Take: I know that according to what we’ve learned in script analysis we aren’t supposed to focus on the characters and “who they are”. But I think that who the characters are plays a huge role in the progression and creation of the show. When writing the script, George Brant didn’t really have a list of characters in mind. We actually got to talk with him after we performed the show and he said it took him a long time to decide what characters to include. This definitely falls under Choice. The characters range from a steam shovel operator to the Ring Master; Someone who didn’t really have an effect on the situation and lived in the town, to someone who had direct control over the fate of Mary and was in charge of the circus. I think that Brant really wanted to capture a variety of possible perspectives. I also think he did an outstanding job. Another dramaturgical choice, was the decision to play it out towards the audience. None of the characters ever speak to one another. They each are simply telling their story. This makes the experience more personal in that the characters are giving a personal account. It seems as if they are people you know, just telling it like it is. It’s an extremely interesting narrative. Usually it is difficult to make a narrative active, especially when the playwright insists that if the dialogue describes it, it shouldn’t be acted out. But, Elephant’s Graveyard is very interesting, engaging, provocative, and touching. 

3 comments:

  1. While I like and agree your comment about the character's and the amount of control they had over the situation, I don't think it's truly a dramaturgical choice as much as the playwright's choice. I also wonder if having the character's speak to the audience instead of each is a playwright's choice, rather than a dramaturgical one. Instead I would talk about the decision to perform the show in the round, which I think touches on all the points you made about the character's speaking to the audience, but then is taking about a dramaturgical choice.

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  2. I absolutely love that you got to get the playwright's own insights on creating the play and the different dramaturgical choices that he made. In many ways, "Elephant's Graveyard" reminds me of "Fires in the Mirror" in that a series of events are presented from various perspectives that often conflict with one another, leaving the audience to decide which side to take (if any side is to be taken at all) and what information to believe and what to disregard entirely.

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  3. I think you are pretty accurate with your critical outlook on this play.. Having read the script myself i agree to how effective the Brechian breaking of the fourth wall is for a play of this magnitude, where each character is just telling their point of view on a controversial topic.

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