Prefatory remarks:
Ellen--We will be going to the Lilly Library for class on Oct. 11th. Before then, however, we will be put into groups (3-4 people) and will visit the library ahead of time in order to set aside materials that we would like to look at during our class visit.
Amy--Chicago Trip; send emails regarding availability and interest for Oct. 12-13th.
Mockingbird Discussion:
Kelly--Issue of the child actors; the most compelling scenes were those only with children; relates this point to Davis's discussion of avoiding realism.
Whitney--theatre, archive, and memory; how does the performance deal with memory and the performance of this memory; take the mob scene as an example--this scene implicates the audience, at least for those seemed in the lower sections; this implication of the audience wasn't as palpable for those sitting in the balcony; Adult Scout as temporally separate from the action on stage--indicative of multiple layers of narrative temporality.
Jennifer--Adult Scout and her physical distance from the other actors/characters; she never touches anyone on stage; shares Whitney's sentiment regarding the mob scene--different experience for those seated in the balcony.
Sara--implications of actors coming from the audience; in this case, it was a good performative decision for reasons of affect; questions Adult Scout's absence or lack of stage presence during the trail scene.
Amy--How could Adult Scout been made more visible during this scene and how would this effect the meaning or audience reception?
Sara--Adult Scout could've been a spectator at the trail--this would have made more scene given her position in this historical setting.
Justin--Adult Scout was in the balcony.
Sara--This reinforces the idea that we're seeing a memory play.
Whitney--noticed fluctuation of Adult Scout's role as framer of the stage's narrative; often the stage narrative is an issue of personal memory, but the trail scene becomes an issue of collective memory.
Ellen--trail scene is a moment when theatre (this play, in particular) isn't constrained by the traditional frames of memory narrative.
Courtney--Adult Scout's narration controls or influences the audiences affective response to certain scenes; this is often problematic since, otherwise, we might be inclined to feel a different way about what is transpiring on stage.
Dorothy--the play only worked for me from the angle of the single perspective; it is easier to surrender to the on-stage events knowing that they are being shaped by Adult Scout's memory.
Whitney--issue of multiple authorial voices in any theatre performance; is this idea of the single perspective present a barrier to Davis's understanding of theatricality?
Amy--what does it suggest about this play that we are led to share Scout's perspective? Adult Scout isn't entirely necessary--what does her presence add to our understanding of young Scout's perspective?
Jennifer--issue of contextualization; guides our understanding of this time period
Whitney--Scout's perspective puts us in a similar position of childlike innocence; perhaps it is easier for use to be in Scout's position.
Iris--Original title was "Atticus"; advantage of explain racism and social injustice through the eyes of a child.
Kelly--Adult Scout's didn't explain of the historical aspects of the racism; her narration just seemed unnecessary.
Jenna--Adult Scout wasn't offering a different perspective from young Scout; older Scout would often mimic young Scout; impression of re-experiencing rather than of learning.
Derek--Adult Scout's narration and overwhelming nostalgia for childhood and father; older Scout's narration during times when young Scout wasn't on stage doesn't contradict this issue of nostalgia and reminiscence.
Amy--Space of the event: where was it and why was it there? Phenomenology of this space, of the event and its production--how do these effect or influence the play's meaning or our reception of meaning?
Dorothy--the "event-ness" of the play--the "fancy" atmosphere; young girls got dressed up in their finest to see a play about violent racism and rape; the young girls in the audience laughed at the word "rape" when Scout asked her father what the word meant; the young girl's simply responded to the usage of a word that is taboo whereas the adults in the audience responded to the humor behind Scout's ingenuousness.
Amy--let's go back to the event space; where else could this play be performed? And how would different space influence the meaning?
Sara--the theatre's "theatre-ness"; proscenium frame and cushioned seats. This frame allows for an implicit recognition of temporal distance, allowing for this event to be a family outing in spite of its serious themes and events.
Jenna--could've been performed with a thrust space, instead.
Whitney--the refreshment stand; for mollifying the children; makes the space somehow child-friendly.
Dorothy--racial implications of the refreshment stand; finds the idea of a black child eating candy and popcorn during the same event a bit grotesque.
Sara--Dorothy's comment is a valid issue; wonders if a black child would identify more with Tom or with Scout.
Dorothy--personal experience has led her to believe a black child would probably identify with Tom.
Derek--we're treading of the issue of what we, as adults, do and do not want children to see. But is this really reflective of children's affective capacities or of our own discomforts with the topics at hand?
Dorothy--this brings up the issue of what is a "good" representation of race; is this play even a good representation of black subjects? Who would benefit more for this play, white children or black children? This play seems to be doing more a service for a white audience than a black audience.
Whitney--the theatre space allowed for or promoted the assumed innocence of the child spectators; this might not have been the most engaging space in this sense.
Amy--the play was written to be consumed by a white, liberal audience and to assuage white, liberal guilt. There isn't any evidence to show that this play was meant to be anything other than a consumable object for white liberals.
Derek--it would be ideal to contrast this play with a work written from a black perspective, but it is still a good prospect to teach this novel or see this play.
Amy--wants us to integrate evidence of the live, theatrical experience into our critiques; what counts as evidence? And how can we integrate this evidence into our critical, intellectual, and political analyses?
Whitney--program insert advertised a local child actor playing the role of Scout--is this girl a local celebrity? Will people actually come back to see her single performance for the reason that she's played a few other roles in the past?
Sara--people in the audience were certainly discussing the child actors in terms of their pervious performances.
Jess--idea of casting children for the adult roles; this wouldn't work; their needs to be the age difference between the child and adult roles manifested by the body difference of the relative actors.
Kelly--comparison with How I Learned to Drive.
Ming--we need the juxtaposition of the adult and child bodies on stage
Jess--Hair color of the actor playing Scout; why a blond actress? What is the symbolic significance of blond hair?
Jennifer--liked the casting of Boo Radley.
Dorothy--agrees with Jennifer; trope of the gentle giant; his performance was nuanced and presented an interesting association with the child roles.
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