IBTA Year Two 2014 Reflection

VISION

The vision for the IBTA Year Two play was very clear. After watching the play, my head constantly filled with the different images that was made to life. The play didn't try to cover many different topics and issues, but dug inside and revealed the hearts of the characters involved, making me toss the images and messages around my head for hours. The vision I received from watching this play was about how in order for there to be a change or revival, it requires someone, anyone, to stand up. And when that one person stands up, there are hundreds of people who are affected and they are forced to chose between two difficult reactions: to either stand out or fade into the normalcy. "Chimerica" has that one character (Christian Choi) who makes that stand. The play then revolves around other characters who are left to decide how they would react. I was amazed at the variety of people who are affected: News reporters, politicians, photographers, journalists, florists. They were all left with a choice. Some chose to stand out as well, and some did their best to conceal and hide. The question that screamed out in my head was: How would I react?

LIGHTING

The lighting of the play was very well done, in my opinion. I am not a light designer, so I have no technical terms that I can pull out besides the basic fresnel and ellipsoidal. I felt that the lighting fit the scenes very well, especially for the transitions between past and present. I also loved that the lights faded and entered. I felt that the lights suddenly snapped shut and had a sudden black out at times, which would shock me. All the scenes ended with such an impacting image, and at times, it was shocking to have the lights suddenly shut off while I was still trying to take in each image.

SET DESIGN

There were so many different set designs. They truly outshined us in our number of sets and its crazy how they were able to control themselves so well in each of the sets. The different sets were amazing though. Even moving the chairs for the plane scene was so convincing. It had the perfect sound along with the image projections. Um... I'm pretty sure we are the ones to start that though... so.. Anyways you guys definitely perfected it. The scenes went perfectly with the images and helped to create the mood. I loved the rooms and offices. Christian's room was amazing and the idea of recording the torture scene, brilliance. A powerful message was portrayed by the different scenes and I loved the way that each scene ended with a chilling image. I never knew one area could create so many different scenes. It went from being the plane, then the red carpet, the bar, and the prostitute house.

COSTUMES

The costume of the play was very natural. There were no costumes that stood especially out. I loved the way that Christian constantly had similar clothing and didn't reveal his identity as the "Tank Man" until the end of the play. I had chills when he acted out as the video of the "Tank Man". I also loved Sam's costume as the officer. The costumes were very convincing and natural. I completely forget about the huge complication in looking for the "perfect" costume, and the actors all seemed to be comfortable and well prepared in their costumes. The different characters were well distinguishable as well. They told some of their characters through their clothes.

ACTING/CHARACTERIZATION

The acting and characterization of the play was impeccable. Although there were only about 3 main characters, I was amazed to see how even the florist, journalist, and neighbor were all so in character. Everyone was truly engaged in their roles and their intensity easily passed on to the audience. The face expressions, movement, blocking, and reactions were amazing. Especially Christian and George's characters. I felt a sense of seriousness throughout the play and whenever the comedic lines were cleverly placed in between the dialects, it pulled the audience out of the seriousness and gave us a light laugh. All the jokes and banter between the characters, in my opinion, were perfect. There wasn't an awkward line left out. Although, there were times when I could tell that the actor wasn't that familiar with the line, but it was very hard to tell. The acting was just overall natural and I almost forgot that Andy isn't actually Chinese, although Reca's British accent was... interesting. Georgia's American accent was very well done, and I felt that everyone just was so brilliant with their characterizations.

DIRECTING/BLOCKING/OVERALL SENSE OF THE PLAY

The director did an amazing job on this play. The direction of each actor was so well-prepared. Everyone was so intensely focused and all had a similar direction they were headed towards. I loved that although not everyone had a huge role, I could sense the focus of all the actors. Their knowledge of every aspect of the play. The blocking was very well done. I felt that each interaction was different, dramatic, and yet, natural. The way the actors spoke to one another and reacted was very informal throughout and yet, it somehow kept me interested in everything they had to say. There was never a time when I drifted off during a talking scene. We watched in the documentary, "In the Company of Actors", that the listener is almost more important than the one actually talking. This play helped me to realize that as I felt drawn in towards the words of the play because of the interest of the listeners in the play. Literally, when Christian came out with his bags revealing himself as the "Tank Man" I had shivers and goosebumps down my spine.