Michael's Final Blog on The Elephant

What can I say?

It's been a great semester for this play. I think your sessions were so focussed on things that were germane to making progress and cracking open tensions and relationships.

Seeing it with actors and costumes and staging (albeit limited) and the drum during New Works was a privilege. It was great to watch a play I'd been involved with electrify an audience. Since I knew it, at times I paid attention to the audience and like Jason T. said, there were collective gasps and periods of tears and periods of laughter. You had them at hello.

And I think a lot of that came from y'all's work this semester. Trying out various forms of various scenes in class seems to have benefited the play.

I love the subtle punch of this play.

Questions:

Are you going to get to have some age-specific actors for the main-stage production? I hope so.

Opinions:

I like the presence of the train in the play. It provides a sense of industry and effeciency. And it is neither town nor circus. But it might take up too much time. I know it's the "solution" for the hanging, but I'm not sure I need as much of it as is in the play. (Also it's sort of expository feeling because it is neither town or circus. I'm not vested in learning that much about it.) Again, I think you need it. But consider the amount.

The chants of "kill it" worked, but I'd like more build. Maybe one occasional "kill it" then slowly more, then picking up steam like the train. I know this is also a directorial issue, but I included it because it was the subject of one of our sessions in class. (maybe off-stage voices by the stagehands?)

I love the strong man. I think you should play him up, turn up his flamboyance, his arrogance, his strength. Then he has further to fall as he admits his helplessness and loss. (I think he should be big and strong--not a parody of a strong man.)

Of course I still love the trainer.

I like that the Sheriff has stakes--a reason to want to kill Mary. This worked well--without over-working it. (It would've been real easy to do that. Congrats on hitting a great balance there.)

I think the Preacher's purpose and role is much more clear, but it might have room to be worked with. Whether that's a directorial thing or text, I don't know. I like that we see at least some of the negative effect of the hanging in him.

I love seeing the "I can dig that for you" scene at the end--instead of his monologue. I'd suggest possibly showing us a few more important scenes. BUT this is a play of monologues, of over-lapping remembrances and stories. Of over-lapping points of view. I'd caution against trying to change that too dramatically. The response of the audience at New Works shows that it's working. But in a bigger production, I think it would be great to explore (as I think it was Daniel who said a while back) more things happening at once--like a circus. Thus monologues may over-lap even more, work as scenes in a sense--like many do now. I think this is a potentially rich area to explore.

George and Erica, you did a very good job this semester. Congrats!