How I Learned To Drive Response

The Greek Chorus used by Vogel seemed really effective to me. The focus of the play was on the relationship between Uncle Peck and Lil Bit, and if Vogel would have created separate actors for each one of the extraneous characters, there would have been a chance that the audience would have been slightly distracted. I know that, when I'm seeing a play, I try to notice every character on the stage. However, by use of the Greek Chorus (or modern, twisted version of it), we only have three voices and bodies to get used to, which gives the audience a chance to focus more on the interaction between Uncle Peck and Lil Bit. Where extraneous characters could have been added, by seeing a familiar face on screen, we can notice the little details between their interactions, such as the smiles and intense looks, which I often find myself looking for if I'm not needing to look at other characters to see how their reacting.

Vogel chooses not to show us the interaction with Bobby and Uncle Peck on stage, which could have shown insight into whether this was a common thing for Peck, or if it had just been with Lil Bit. We also don't see a character on stage with Peck, we only hear him speaking to Bobby as if he's right there. But what it does show us is how he would act when around someone else, despite that other person not being on stage. We also see the way Peck's emotions work, and how he doesn't want anyone else to know about the things he does with the younger family members. He says it's okay to cry when no one else is around, which he may be justifying for himself.

The Conduct of Life Response

As people, when we interact with others, we only get part of the story. We're not always blessed enough to understand another person to the fullest extent, and Fornes makes that very apparent with her writing style.

By giving us only the bare minimum, she forces us to think fast about what we're seeing. With the rawness and painfulness of this play, it's like having to make a snap decision in a crisis situation like a mugging or rape (which is a huge part of this play). Victims of violence and rape don't have a lot of time to think about their situation, and Fornes seems to want to put us in that same state of hurriedness and panic.

I think also that, if Fornes were to give us back stories on all the characters, it would change the entire meaning of the play. We do get a bit of back story for Nena, but if we were to get one on Orlando, our entire view of him would possibly shift, and maybe we would feel more concerned after Leticia shoots him. Fornes is painting a specific picture about her characters with these small snapshots into their lives. If it were to be altered, this play would take on a different meaning that may not be as impactful and difficult to watch.

The scenes that she does choose to show us are for a reason as well. We could have seen Orlando killing the man from headquarters, but instead we get to hear him describe it and get more detail than if we were to just see it. We also hear about the investigation going on about him, more information than we would have gotten if we'd just seen the killing. She gives us very specific information to keep with her painting of the characters. Fornes truly tries to make us feel a certain way about the characters that she paints for us with her abrupt and specific scenes.

Trifles Prompt Response

I've sat here for a while trying to contemplate what a production of Trifles would look like with a minimalistic set, costume, and prop design,  and I've come to the conclusion that it would lose a lot of the detail that's given to us in the play.

I realize that the dialogue is extremely detailed in describing things such as the frozen bread on the counter, the jars of jam, and the broken bird cage, but I just don't think description is enough for the audience. If I were to attend a production of this play with the minimalistic set up, I don't think I would be satisfied. I can honestly say that I'd be too busy trying to create the world in my head then paying attention to it.

In this story, the women are snooping around and finding all these little details about the house that the men didn't notice. Granted, the play is told from the perspective of the women, but I almost feel like we should treat the audience as one of the men, assuming that they won't notice or understand the details described to them. Seeing things like the quilting basket with the small box coffin and the destroyed bird cage would give the audience a chance to look more at the bigger picture of the play, as well attempt to find other details in the room that could pertain to Minnie Wright's arrest.

To me, an audience can be more engaged when they can see the items on stage already and try to piece them together for the story instead of having to imagine what the world of the play would look like and then try piecing the clues together. For lack of better words, it makes it more interesting and enjoyable.

In conclusion, no, I don't think the minimalistic set would work. Losing the physicality of a naturalistic set in a play this intrinsically detailed takes away a lot of meat of the play, even with the detailed dialogue.

Overtones Response

To be honest, this play confused me a bit to where I had to go back and read certain parts of it multiple times to try and understand what was going on. It seems as though Hetty and Maggie are the personifications of Harriet and Margaret's inner thoughts, which gives is an interesting perspective on their characters.

Without the aid of Hetty and Maggie, it would seem like these two women we're friendly to each other while competitive at the same time.

It seems as though the rules for this play world are as strange as the personifications of the characters inner thoughts. Margaret and Harriet cannot see Maggie and Hetty, but at certain points, Maggie and Hetty can see each other and interact. For most of their contact, it seems that Maggie and Hetty don't address each other directly because they're behind their respective people acting as this inner voice. But once they rip their veils off, they approach each other and directly address each other. I think the writer used the veils over Maggie and Hetty's faces to keep them disconnected from each other, as well as symbolizing the deceit between Margaret and Harriet.

I think it is pretty obvious to the audience the points in which Maggie and Hetty actually interact, other than once or twice during the course of the conversation between Margaret and Harriet when they make some snide remark to each other.

For the most part, it seems that they absolutely stick to the rule that Maggie and Hetty aren't seen by Margaret and Harriet, and that Maggie and Hetty only interact after their veils have been removed (for the most part). When they do interact with the veils on, it gives us more of a sense of how much Margaret and Harriet actually hate each other.