Robert Jones explains that the human mind creates drama from the unconscious mind. What he has mentioned in this chapter is that there is a whole other world in our minds that creates dreams and thoughts that we as humans beings want to show through theatre. Which I feel is very accurate. Plays are not only made to tell a story, but to connect to every human being’s mind, whether it’s an audience member or even the actor. We all want to create a similar “image” that Jones mentions and that image need to transfer from the playwright to the director to the designers and to the actors and finally to the audience.
The main focus of a play is to decipher a similar image that is created from one mind and is re-created in another’s mind. Art in the Theatre In this chapter Jones is trying to define what real art in the theatre is. Now, here I agree with some of his ideas but at the same time I don’t agree with some of the things he says. For example he mentions that he as an audience member wants to see an “eyeful” in a set, or that he doesn’t want to see clever contraption where a piece of a set or prop transforms from one thing to another and is the same piece of set but with a new purpose.
Now that’s his opinion and every artist has their idea what art is. It’s like Graffiti, some people think it’s just scribble and vandalism but others think it’s artistic. But, I feel a designer who can create a set that has many purposes and can convince the audience that one piece of scenery was actually many different things is very artistic and extremely creative. Jones also mentions that having almost no set is not very entertaining to see. I will agree it may be boring to look at but then I can truly focus on the actors and how they use their skill to create the environment for us.
Like for example I saw a production of Our Town where the only piece of set was a ladder and a few chairs and the actors pantomime every prop, and yes I will admit it should’ve had a set but the point the director was trying to make there was that simple things can go a long way. The Theatre – Then and Now So in this chapter Jones is explaining the history of theatre. At the end he says “All past theater had a dream, an excitement, a high, a rare mood, a conception of greatness.
We should try to bring back the excitement in theatre” I agree that the past theatre had more excitement. But that was the past. We need to create our own excitement in theater. We can use the past to guide us but the reason why the past was so great because it create its uniqueness at its time. Now we should create our own uniqueness. To a Young Stage Designer Jones mentions the many things that a set designer must consider and what qualifications he/she must have when designing a set. Most of this I agree with.
He says that a designer must have different techniques, and I feel that is true that a designer need to know almost every trick in the trade to be really successful in this business. He also mentions that a designer must practically immersed themselves into their set and almost be a part of the time era it is in. Which is really vital because if the designer can’t truly imagine he is in the setting of the play how is the audience going to imagine that they are in the time era of the play? Jones contradicts himself a lot in this chapter.
In the Chapter The Art of Theatre he said he wants to see a lot of things in the set but in this chapter he says that don’t use a lot of techniques use it when necessary and sometimes simple sets is good. I agree what he says in this chapter. I think that if you use too many techniques in a design then it will be a complete mess and it will be too complicated. I feel like a designer should use a technique only when it is necessary. Some Thoughts on Stage Costumes So honestly, when reading this chapter I had no idea what Jones was talking about.
I only picked up on a few key points. Like that the costume should be suited to the character and the occasion. Which I agree but I feel that sometimes the costume can relate to the theme of a play or help the audience realize something about the character. Like for example if the character wears purple and gold the audience triggers an idea that the character is royal or high in the upper class. Jones goes into detail about how costumes should trigger memories or the human senses because then it helps the audience truly understand the character even more.
Light and Shadow in the Theatre Jones mentions many things in which I agree upon. For example he mentions that light has more than one use then to light the stage so the audience can see the actors. We use light as an art form. Light is vital to a play just how light is vital for an art piece. In basic art I learned that a good art piece combines light and shadow and whether if there is more than the other can set the atmosphere of the piece. Like how if there is more light then the mood is happy and bright And if there is more darks then the mood is gloomy.
It also interesting in a piece where there is a various combination of both. Jones also mentions that the location and timing of when the light goes on to when it changes or goes off is also key to a good lighting design. The lights can help the audience understand thing about a play that the actors cannot portray. Like for example if a character were to kill another character, instead of using fake blood to portray that one character is dead, you can use red lights to symbolize death. I like the idea of lights working with the story and probably adding more to the theme of the story.
