Wednesday, November 20, 2002
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Wednesday, November 20, 2002 |
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Weighing in on the drama behind the drama By MICHAEL
BOYLAN Another front-page column. Wow. I'm getting a big head. Actually, all it means is Sallie's column has moved to the editorial page and I get to come off the back pages and on to the front of the Weekend section. I feel like I should tackle a big topic or say something profound. And serious, not just a humor column about penguins being destroyed by icebergs (though that really is a serious topic). There was recently a lot of hoopla and controversy in the county about the region one-act competition, which was filled with protests, accusations and the like. I am not going to take sides, as I have seen and enjoyed both the shows in question, McIntosh's "Godspell" and Fayette County High School's "Pippin," and I am friendly with both directors at both schools. I will however state that musicals that are originally two acts should not be put into a one-act competition. None of this year's state champions in any of the five classes were musicals, though several did place including Pebblebrook's production of "Pippin" (try saying that five times fast), "Ragtime," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Guys and Dolls," and "Guys and Dolls Jr," which must be like the Muppet Babies cartoon, absolutely ridiculous and annoying. I have nothing against musicals but when you are thinking about entering the one-act competition, you shouldn't have to worry about what to cut to fit the parameters. This goes for drama too. Imagine trying to trim "Hamlet" to one act. "We'll skip the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern stuff, trim a little off this Ophelia nonsense, speed up the play within a play,...Do we really need Polonius?" A one-act play is a shorter story with a tighter focus. It typically has a smaller cast and therefore each performance is key. With a musical, if you have strong voices in the leads, you will go far. You also don't have to be as strong an actor. I recently saw "Aida" at the Fox and Paulette Ivory (Aida) had a phenomenal voice but she was a less-than-phenomenal actress. The show is still enjoyable and a success, but this illustrates that musicals can be more forgiving. It is also important for the technical aspects of a one-act to be perfect and subtle, while musicals can be more about spectacle. When you have a large chorus singing and dancing, you are not paying as much attention to the lighting or set design. After hearing about the disappointment and anger over the region one-act competition, I began to wonder if there should even be a competition at all. Among all the Georgia High School Association events that award region and state champions, the one-act competition is the most subjective of them all. In athletics, you score the most points or finish in the fastest time to win. Even with gymnastics, judges examine the technique and subtract points for minute mistakes. Is this how one-act is judged or does it all fall on matter of opinion? Think of the three judges on the old game show "The Gong Show" and how they all might have it in for the acts on stage. Granted, the acts were usually terrible and deserved what they got, but what about other awards, like the Oscars? Every year I disagree with several of the winners. It is based on other's opinions. Therefore, schools shouldn't put as much credence in what the judges say about the production, good or bad. After all, it was just somebody's opinion. I realize that winning the competition is what the students shoot for and that nobody will abandon the one act festival anytime soon, nor should they. However, in addition to competing, the local schools should come together and have a county drama festival, where citizens can come out and enjoy the productions and support the schools. As they head out into the parking lot after the shows, the people will have their opinions about what they liked and didn't like and nobody's feelings will get hurt. Plus, split four ways, each school's drama department would get a nice cut to add to their budget and they get to put on the production, which they've worked their tails off on for several months, one more time. |
