3 Emily of Emerald Hill Introduction

7/31/2019 3 Emily of Emerald Hill Introduction

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An Introduction to the play


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The Peranakans


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Handicraft


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weddings


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food


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8/22architecture


9/22The pla


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Style: one-man monologue

What is a monologue?

In theatre, a monologue is a

speech presented by a single

character, most often to express

their thoughts aloud, thoughsometimes also to directly

address another character or

the audience.


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1. Personal: everything will revolve

around the character. Because it is sopersonal and reflective, the audiencewill be able to empathise more with thecharacter

2. Reflective: for both the audience regardingthe character as well as the character, who

will reflect a lot either his past, present, future

events, thoughts or emotions

3. Greater insights into the characters thoughts,

feelings, motives, background


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1. Biased: one-sided opinion/view

from the character

2. Difficult to sustain audience interest. Thecharacter must have gone through a lot, ora very round character with positive sides as

well as flaws to sustain interest.

3. The actor playing must be able

to relay emotions and conflicts

well. Inflection of voice, tone when

speaking to audience or another

unseen character can be

challenging.


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FOR WHAT PURPOSE?


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In a play, the stage directions

(instructions to the actors) are printed

out. What do you think is the purpose of

showing the stage directions for thereader of a play?

Besides instructions on where to stand,what other instructions do you notice in

the play.


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Stage directions may also instruct on the people

controlling lighting. E.g. on page 28 Lights up on

auxilliary acting area and on page 44 The stage grows

completely dark: the spotlight on Emily narrows.

The purpose of showing stage directions is so that the

reader can better visualise the position of the actor.

Besides what the actor says, remember that how the

actor behaves also gives an indication of how the

character is feeling or of his personality.


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Why is it important to mention that Emily is smiling?

Answer: Smiling is important to show to the

audience that Emily is feeling happy. And then

suddenly immediately after that, we hear of

Richards death and Emily will surely be no longer

smiling, feeling crushed. This further highlights and

emphasises to the audience Emilys feeling of loss.


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Why is it important to mention the manner (slow) in

which Emily moves here?

Answer: To show that time has elapsed, her

movements are slower, the lights go down slightly

effect of lighting, to show the softer side of Emily

because of her old age now.


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What is the purpose?


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Consider if an entire play is done with only

one type of lighting, will it not serve its

purpose too?

Remember that during Shakespeares timeand during the Greeks and Roman time

period, acting didnt require such technical

know how. But why would modern theatre use

lights?


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Create the time of the day e.g. blue to

show nighttime, red/orange to showsunset or sunrise or evening time

Block out other actors/props and focus only on theactor/actors

Used to create a specific atmosphere.

e.g. total darkness with very soft lightingto create suspense or an eerie feeling

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3 Emily of Emerald Hill Introduction