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- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
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- Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
Wow! I really enjoyed this reading. I really loved the play The Chocolate Affairs by Stephanie. It reminded me of what I usually do with my kids trick or treating candy. But I honestly believe that is what every parent now in days does. I mean I still love Halloween and if I can I dress up and I get my own candy. Although now with three kids it’s difficult and well having three kids sure does bring a lot of candy to the house. I really liked how she made this play like her conscious was speaking to her through the candy characters. I also liked that all of this was due to her childhood and how she struggled with her weight and that could be relatable with many of the readers. I also liked how her conscious made her see that she did not need to go back to her old ways. The only thing I did not like was the ending. I though the play was based on comedy, so I would have liked like at the end she eats the candy which makes the character go away for her guilty pleasure. The interview was interesting because it is something that happen to the writer and it could happen to any of us. Right now, I am looking for a house to buy and have been going bank to bank trying to see what the best is they can offer me. But this interview made me think of so many tings that could possibly happen to me. I also liked the fact that do to her unfortunate experience she was able to write a blog which helped her get through the difficult time and make her relationship with her husband stronger. I really liked how she said that she wanted to write a book on something that has never been written and one that she wanted to read that would help anyone figure what to do when their house is for foreclosure and you don’t have to do something wrong such as burn the house. As for Hatcher I really liked how he describes the way you can set up a stage. On page 57 he talks about space and how to use the space on the stage. He also talks about time on page 61 and how time refers to the time it takes to perform a realistic action on page 64 her talks about casualties and how a casualty is an entirely a dramatic concept not a theatrical one. The only thing I did not like about Hatcher was that it gives way too many examples. But overall all the readings where pretty educational and relatable.
ReplyDelete-Valeria Garcia
Hatcher explores space, time and causality within a play. Every play lives in its own reality. That reality can be the same or different than our own. Space, time and causality are key figures that make up a play’s reality. Space is referring to the setting of the play’s action. The stage always represents the play’s reality. Hatcher mentions that the setting in a play, can be reduced to just costumes, props and dialogue. Giving a performer certain clothes and dialogue can help establish the setting just as good as actual buildings/stage décor.
ReplyDeleteThe chocolate affair follows Berverly and her struggle with candy. When I first started reading the play, I thought Beverly was doing some sort of drug. I was confused as to take the candy literal or it was leaning towards something else. I liked how the play gave Mr. Goodbar and M&M a breath of life. The reality in the play was distorted and different from our own. In the play, the candy can talk. In our reality, it could be like those moments where we debate back in forth about doing something or holding back. The play depicts our own inner struggles below the surface. In this case, the character is battling with her self-image.
-Juan Gloria
Stephanie Allison Walker's play 'The Chocolate Affair' best exemplified the use of short, and pointed dialogue to address a socially, and physically debilitating disease known as either bulimia or anorexia. It is a disorder which not only involves a person's eating habits, but also involves the psychology of it. It also involves secrecy and lies which is evident in the dialogue of the play. She accomplishes this rather delicate subject matter by interjecting some humor in the beginning by introducing characters representing 2 different types of chocolates. It is called an affair because she has stolen her daughter's Halloween candy and checked into a seedy hotel room. After reading the Walker interview involving the real estate crash of '2008 where she wrote about hope and starting over in direct conflict with the doom and gloom attitude taken by most Americans at the time I understood why she would use this similar technique to address a deadly disease. In the chapter in Hatcher I was glad to read how the audience gives the writer some leeway involving time and scene, and how causality was much appreciated. A little movement from norm in causality is tolerated, but the audience will not like to be lost in the middle of a play due to disregard of causality.
ReplyDeleteStephanie Allison Walker's play 'The Chocalate Affair' best exemplified the use of short, and poignantly directed dialogue to address a socially, and physically debilitating disease known as bulimia and anorexia or any eating disorder as far as that goes. It is a disorder which not only involves a person's eating habits, but also involves the psychology of it It also involves secrecy and lies which is linked to adultery or cheating by means of where the scene is taking place. She accomplishes addressing this rather delicate subject matter by interjecting some humor in the beginning by introducing 2 characters to the play representing 2 different types of chocolate candies. It is called an affair because she has stolen her daughter's candy and is eating it in a seedy hotel room. After reading the Walker interview involving the real estate crash where Walker wrote a story about finding hope and encouragement through calamity. This was in direct conflict with the mood of the nation at the time when a doom and gloom attitude was setting in. That is why she was so well received. In the chapter where Hatcher speaks about scene, time, and causality I was relieved to find out that the audience gives the writer some leeway in regards to scene and time, and how the use of causality moves the play along minute after minute.
DeleteSpiro Zagouris
The interview shows an in-depth look into the life of Stephanie Walker. It's that same life and zeal that is witnessed in her play "The Chocolate Affair." The characters are animated and have attitudes and real stories are told about youth, coping mechanisms, and adult life/stereotypes/mentalities. According to Hatcher, time is an important quality to find in a play. It makes up the reality that audiences allow and can have disastrous effects if not paid attention to and accommodated correctly. "On stage, thirty second of nothing is an eternity," he writes. In the play, never is there a pause in dialogue. It's as if every line is steamrolling on by and building higher and higher : character revelations, personality traits and vices, and background. The play is done on a time=time format, which as Hatcher described, has been found to be a point of interest to audiences, though not necessary. But going back to the steamrolling, which according to Hatcher would most likely be referring to causality, Walker does a remarkable job of tracking her actions and playing domino effect so that they lead to the eventual conclusion of the play. She also uses a few workable props that function really well in production (video); only the most necessary scenic elements are implemented.
ReplyDelete- Sandra Martinez
This was a pretty inspiring story. It's crazy how she turned her life around from such a disastrous situation. I felt really motivated to write something after reading the interview. The story was pretty good as well. I didn't see much of a connection to the Hatcher reading, but I still enjoy cute and optimistic plays with nothing else added. It's also super funny. You have the characters expressing various levels of complexity even the fricking chocolate candies. M&M starts as a do-gooder and then turns into kind of a douchebag. Goodbar is like a weird pedo that wants to be eaten. I thought the Hatcher reading was good for different reasons. It was interesting to see the breakdown of "reality" of a place. It's kind of like Physics but for a play. It was talking about how and why audiences will accept things even if they aren't necessarily the most realistic format. I like the examples as well. I haven't seen any, but they seem good like the one about a girl that has sex with her servant to kill a dude and then falls in love with a murderer. That one... yeah that one got me thinking about ideas for a new play. Other than that, it was a lot of what should be common sense, but I wasn't thinking about until Hatcher said it to me and explained it.
ReplyDelete-Ricardo Martinez Jr
"The Chocolate Affair" was a very enjoyable reading as it’s a play we haven't really seen so far during the semester. Having chocolate candy as characters is something I will take note of. But this play is also very relatable to many people as the theme of it potentially deals with weight loss and mental willpower. I actually relate to it somewhat as well. Being able to relate to any work of fiction is always a positive. In the play we also see some of what Hatcher mentions when it comes to giving exposition through dialogue. We learn that Beverly is married with a child named sally which we would’ve known since they weren’t apart the play. I actually used this technique in my latest script. Glad I’m doing something right. One thing that Hatcher said that has made me face a dilemma is on page 63 where he said “The audience wants the playwright to cut out the dull bits” Personally this is a hill I have to climb over due to me not knowing what parts to cut out, and if I’m suggested to take out something, ill review it and ultimately decide that it is necessary and will cut out something else. But this does help me view whatever I’m working on in in different way.
ReplyDelete-Abel Arredondo
In Hatcher’s writing one thing I really liked what he said about space and how it depicts a play’s reality. He asks the question of how you would display a realistic setting in a play through the setting and dialogue and what exactly the characters are doing, their movements/actions, etc… With Walker, I really loved the energy of her interview and how she remained positive in life although falling upon rough times. It felt really inspiring to me- to live like her and have a positive mindset when things fall flat. I like how she describes her writing plays as an outlet to vent or for some form of therapy. I realized this is how I am with what I am writing. I like to use my writing as an outlet for myself to let out all my problems or feelings I am currently dealing with or like to revisit because I want it to be put out there for others to connect with. Knowing she felt that way too when she writes made me feel less alone in writing about what I feel. I really loved the ‘The Chocolate Affair’ and how it explored dealing with bulimia in such a unique way. The candy feels like voices in her head she constantly has to deal with while going through all of this. It kind of plays with her state of mind and see just how much this affects her every day of her life even as an adult and a mother.
ReplyDelete-Faith Ortiz
On Hatchers chapter, something I didn't understand is on page 58 when he talks about the audience allowing different things, “The audience allows that there is no fourth wall. The audience allows that events… The audience allows that the visual elements…” On page 62 I thought it was interesting when Hatcher said, “The trick is to make an event seem as if it could take place in less time than it really does.” That seems sort of difficult because the audience will obviously know a situation would probably take longer. I did have some trouble understanding the “time” section and on page 64, Hatcher doesn't help by saying, “Know the audiences love the completeness of a Time=Time play. Know that they also love a nonrealistic, fluid, theatricalized stage time.”
ReplyDeleteWhile reading “The Chocolate Affair” I got a very creepy vibe. I enjoyed how Beverly couldn't forget her childhood and throughout the play you can see how she's never recovered from it. I got the sense that she is very insecure and is maybe even a little crazy.
Stephanie Allison Walker mentions, I suppose the writing of the play began as an attempt at therapy. And maybe that's how writing always is for me.” I really liked these sentences because it's something I can relate too. I enjoyed reading Stephanie's interview. I felt it was very inspirational and shows just how much work and thought goes into writing blogs and plays and books and publishing and everything else needed to be successful.
-Rebecca Muniz
In the play "The chocolate Affair" one of the things that caught my attention was how the stage directions were written. My reason for liking them is because I have been having issues in writing my stage directions. My biggest issue has been on high do I find the median between too much detail and too little detail for my stage directions. For example I was unsure if I could refer to a character as "he" or "she" so in my stage direction I always wrote the name of the character the stage direction was intended for but when I read "[He sits on the bed with legs outstretched and leans against the headboard.]" I saw that referring to as the character as he or she isn't incorrect and isn't confusing. I also was confused on how to show a charecter silence or refusal to answer a question. I would normally just write "(pause)" but in this play I read "[BEV ignores the question and eats another piece of candy.]" which showed me that I can write in stage directions for one character to ignore or not respond to the other. In the chapter I really liked the breakdown of space (setting of plays landscape), Time (the amount of time it takes to depict a realistic action), and causality (why events occur).
ReplyDelete- Eduardo Guerra
I think this play "The Chocolate Affair" had to be one of the best plays I have seen in this class. The way the candy came to life made me really interested with this play. I think this play gives the readers a different idea how the play can work i never thought about having the an inanimate object come to life. But you are able to get a sense of the character and her background throughout the dialogue since you never actually see them. I do like the way the M&M gradually become a jerk to the main character and starts to make Beverly feel guilty about her weight growing up and the Good bar just wants to comfort her. To me it felt like the devil on side and an angel on the other (weird I know).
ReplyDeleteThe interview was great to read i was able to get a inside feel of who Stephanie was and she was inspiring it made me actually want to write something the way she overcame her struggle was really cool and she interviews just nicely.
I really enjoyed watching the play “The Chocolate Affairs”. It’s pretty funny when inanimate objects are given a voice, and Beverly starts conversing with them. It’s even funnier when she straight out lies to them, even though they’re only a figment of her subconsciousness. Her character was given further complexity when she began lying, or at least that’s how I saw it, because of her childhood obesity. Anorexia and bulimia are touch topics, but I think it came across well in the play. Stephanie Allison Walker did an amazing job bringing this about with her character speaking to candy. The comical aspect is there in tidbits, making light of the mood once in a while, but the story sticks to the message. I also liked that Mr. Goodbar and the M&M, rather than wanting her to eat the chocolate (as we see Mr. Goodbar wants in the beginning because he enjoys being favored by Beverly) decide to encourage her to live healthy. That the things she’s ashamed of can be forgotten (like her stealing her own daughter’s candy) and that no matter what, they’d be there. I don’t think it meant that chocolate and candies would always be there, but rather since they are part of her subconscious, they’d always be there with her to help her when she strays away from her path. All in all, an awesome read.
ReplyDelete-Kimberly Villanueva
The readings for this week were really interesting, especially “The Chocolate Affair”. This week readings for Hatcher indulged in how playwrights can make a play feel real, without having to go overboard with details. He talks about how during the nineteenth century many plays were performed on stage with huge expenses wasted on making the set match how the setting of the play should look. An iceberg, really? He goes on to show how even a complicated setting, such as the North Pole, could be easily pictured by the audience with just dialogue. I really enjoyed how he also talks about how playwrights play around with time. For my play I’m taking a situation that had happened over three years and compressing it into the ten minutes allotted to us. I found what he said about causality also tying in with time for my play. Since the events took a long time to unfold in reality, I should focus on the major points that happened during that situation and make sure that the story is also believable. The chocolate affair really surprised me with its characters, because I never suspected candies as characters. I enjoyed how the playwright was able to present a play in a comedic way but also talk about a touchy subject.
ReplyDelete- Ruben Quintero
I really enjoyed reading "The Chocolate Affair" I thought it was very amusing how the candy came to life and how we get to see the complexity of the character grow. The character Beverly is interesting not just due to the fact that she's hallucinating out of guilt and talking to candy, but because the story mentions enough back story so that we can relate or feel empathy for her. When she lies about her daughter we later realize that she was talking about herself and that even though she lost weight she still feels like M&M said 'fat on the inside'. Her relationship with her family is precarious and tiresome to her sometimes going over the same routine practically daily and always watching her weight and fearing her family won't love her because of how she was treated as a child. Stephanie Alice Walker's play is definitely one I wouldn't mind seeing. As for Hatcher what I took from the chapter was that a variety of props and stage settings aren't really necessary and that the setting will come across by the characters, costumes, interactions, and dialogue. A worry that most playwrights have is that they fear the audience wont be capable of understanding the setting of a scene unless they can see it in its entirety that is not the case and the audience should be given more credit.
ReplyDelete-Naidelyn Ramos