The Ah'Peelin Feelings Playback Theatre Company used dramatic, improvisation, and oral / storytelling techniques to help us address some of the gender issues raised in "Red Hot Peppers" and "When Women Love Men".
Did you see the relevance of their performance to our study of the Caribbean short story? Were they able to assist you in further tapping into your responses to the two stories? Are you able to separate your emotional from your critical response to these stories, or does each response influence / impact the other?
I really think this was a key moment for me while doing this course. When reading these short stories, my imagination always comes to life and I see all sorts of pictures and ways in which the situation presented in the stories could play out (I'm sure many students have these same imaginings as well). My mind's eye comes alive when reading, and so it's always a joy and an exciting thing to see the stories come to life in a more literal sense. The performance of the APF Playback Theater team was really significant in bringing my own thoughts and imaginings of some of the issues raised in these short stories to a place of confluence within my mind. The music especially added a heavily emotional component to what took place: the seriousness, the heartbreak, the laughter; it was all coherently expressed. Thus, there is no way I can entirely separate my emotional appraisal of the story from my critical response because the former informs the latter and the latter helps to clarify the former: the two are inseparable in my own mind.
ReplyDeleteAgain, their's was an excellent performance.
Michael
Thanks for that feedback, Michael!
ReplyDeleteThe class reminded me of why I love my faculty - together, the subjects make a beautiful product. I believe that the use of Play Back theatre served to solidify the themes in the stories and also relaxed the class thereby encouraging more participation in the discussion. Also, the performance of certain scenarios paid homage the the oral roots of story telling. Now to be honest, I do not think I can truly separate my emotional responses from my critique of the stories. However, I think that is a good quality because the success of a story depends on it being believable and the writer's ability to, through literary techniques, stir emotion in the reader.
ReplyDeleteThese two stories, particularly "When Women Love Men" offered a narrative style that forces one to look in and pay very close attention, or else it will have you having to go a few lines up to figure out what exactly just took place. I appreciated see a live performance in relation to these texts, especially the manner in which the Ah'Peelin Feelings Playback Theatre Company brought it across. By this I mean, having the audience describe how they felt and then having that enacted for the rest of the class.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, the fact that the stories were from the Francophone Caribbean and Hispanic Caribbean (Martinique and Puerto Rico, respectively), seeing them performed by our local group brought it closer to home, in terms of the language being used.
I think a large part of one's critical response to a text should be based on the emotional impact that text has. Primarily because, evoking emotion essentially a technique that can be employed by writer, and it is through this emotional influence can what the writer is trying to express be brought to light.
The performances were brilliant improvisations, especially for these texts.
Many times it is difficult for me not to allow my emotions to dictate my choices, this is particularly seen with respect to these two stories. The issue of male- female relationships are not uncommon. However, as women we tend to be so consumed with anger towards the men and sympathy for our sisters, that we can't seem to look at other perspectives.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the authors' intentions are always to highlight certain themes, by manipulating the readers emotions. In light of what Kellon said, a large part of a reader's critical response is in fact based on emotions.
This sense of manipulation can be seen in relations to Zozor's upbringing. Owing to the fact that we were so consumed with anger, we initially did not look at his past as a definig factor with respect to his treatment of women and people in general.
However, with respect to the performance of the Playback Theatre brought life to these issues. I really appreciate the opportunity to view any theatrical performances. I honestly believe they were remakable, in presenting the issues of the stories in the way that they did.
It was truly a Caribbean experience. The orality was potent and I especially enjoyed the improvisation done. They are truly talented, and even though we were laughing, as tru Tinis- the issues were of a serious nature.
They were able to highlight the different perspectives withing those male-female relationships. The victim is not always a victim, likewise the villian can be seen as a victim as well.
The Ah'Peelin feelings playback theatre reminded me why i fell in love with literature. Apart from reading and writing, orality is a great way of expressing points to people. They have indeed helped me to understand the stories and rationalise between an emotional and critical response. I always believed that teaching is not just the pen to paper/face to book method but students must be able to enjoy the class while learning what is being thought. The Ah'Peelin Feelings Theatre did that for me.
ReplyDeleteAt the first reading, the issues presented in the novels steered me down path that despise men. As an individual who believes in the empowerment of women, i quickly gravitated to the "power to women" side where i condemned the men without taking into consideration anything other factors. However, taking a closer look at the authors' intentions, i began to see the literary aspects of the short stories.
In light of this, i do believe that one's understanding and interpretation of any piece of literature should be mixed in terms of their emotions and critical thinking.
The Ah'Peelin feelings playback theatre did bring the stories closer to home, as Kellon said. It placed the stories in a context that i understand. Seeing essential parts of the stories dramatised on stage helped me to make a critical analysis of the stories as opposed to a personal one. It helped separate the emotions i had towards the characters i sympathised with and focus on the elements of the short stories.
ReplyDeleteI think that the playback theatre allowed us to better relate to the stories and undertsand them as we got a visual, oral element to the story, coming out with the playback theatre. It was easier for me to understand the stories using the playback theatre as I dont pick up all the details when I'm reading a story. This was my favorite class and the playback theatre was very effective in bringing out the main themes in the stories.
ReplyDeleteThe playback theater was used very interestingly to help us tap into yet another dimension of the the Caribbean Short Story. That is the impact that it has on an individual. Usually, when we analyze a story we are very objective in our responses. It has nothing to do with our emotions. However, by using the playback theater we now became committed to relating to the varying characters' joys or plights as the case may be. This made the experience unique to all the other sessions that we have had so far.
ReplyDeleteIn the end I am still able to separate my emotional response from my critical because I am still able to pull myself out of my philosophies and develop an open unbiased analysis of each character. However, it felt really good to be able to internalize for a change and ask the question, "What if it were me?"
The playback theatre was really amazing. The feelings in the short stories were given a hint of reality when it was actually played out on the stage. I was able to relate to the actual emotions of the character once it was given life. Those guys really did a wonderful job by improvising with the little they had to work with and their overall performance.
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