ACTOR/PLAYWRIGHT

by | Oct 24, 2019 | art

In our course textbook Chapter 3 covers the work of actors and Chapter 4 covers the work of
playwrights. Both chapters offer some excellent explanations of the processes artists in these
categories explore but we want to give you a chance at trying some of the creative explorations
related to these topics. The intent is to challenge you to think creatively within each of the
disciplines of acting and playwriting.
This assignment asks you to experience the work of the actor in the first section and the work
of the playwright in the second section. The entire assignment should be between 2 to 4 pages
in length. The entire assignment requires that you read a short play that can be found at:
Charity by Lisa Kron- http://www.lisakron.org/Lisa-Kron-theWorkOf-10MinutePlays.html
Be sure to use Charity for the assignment. You might also find it useful to take a second to
Google Lisa Kron and learn about her work and other projects.
REVIEW THE COURSE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY IN THE SYLLABUS. This will be submitted
via SafeAssign and any document in violation of the policy (having improper or lacking citations,
overt similarities to other works, copying, facilitating, improper consultation) will result in the
policy being strictly enforced.
Section #1- The Actor
Use your interpretive skills to answer the following Character Biography questions about ONE
character (of your choosing) from the play. Some advice:
A. You want to base your answers on the play (use the setting and other information to
help you come to logical answers).
B. Some information may have to be invented- not all of the questions will be directly
answered but it is an actor�s job to be specific in the details a normal person would
know about themselves. Feel free to be creative but don�t forget to use the reality and
the FACTS of the play as a basis for your creation. First facts- then creativity.
C. You will want to offer a short explanation as to why you answered what you answered.
For instance- if you answer question #1 What is your full name? as Mary Margaret
O�Connell- you might include a sentence saying something like: ONLY MARY�S FIRST
NAME IS GIVEN IN THE SCRIPT BUT SINCE THE PLAY IS SET IN IRELAND I THOUGHT IT
PRUDENT TO GIVE HER A SEEMINGLY IRISH LAST NAME.
�JW Morrissette. All Rights Reserved. 2
Character Biography Questions:
(Fill out in the first person, as though you are the character.)

  1. What is your full name, age, and date of birth?
  2. What is your ethnic/cultural heritage?
  3. What is your religion/spiritual belief system?
  4. What is your marital status?
  5. Do you have children? (If so who are they?)
  6. What is your occupation?
  7. Who are you closest to in the play? Why?
  8. Who do you not get along with in the play? Why?
  9. What is the single most important event in your life?
  10. What is your level of education?
  11. What is your overall goal in the play?
  12. Where do you want to be in five years?
    Section #2- The Playwright
    Using the assigned play and the Character Biography Questions completed in Section #1 write an additional monologue for the character you selected. Remember, a monologue is a set piece of speech spoken by only one character. The monologue can be considered an addition to the
    script either within the script or you could imagine a final monologue that is written to come at the conclusion of the play. Either way, we ask that you feel free to be creative and explore your character�s voice as a playwright. You can use the monologue to clarify your character�s point of view/experience/wishes/hopes or to defend your character�s point of view as that character- or in other creative ways that allow you to practice creating lines that a character from this play might speak.

Sample Solution

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

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