McKenna Elliott Assignment 6

My performance group for The Importance of Being Earnest consisted of Eliza Jane, Emily, Weiran, and myself. The scene that we chose to perform was the muffin scene and the confrontation following it.

Overall, I feel that my group did a good job of developing our characters. During the muffin scene between Jack and Algernon, Eliza Jane delivered the comedy accurately when portraying Algernon, as did Weiran. Their encounter was very genuine and they were able to stay in character without giggling throughout it (as I probably would have done). Emily and I also delivered our lines well, making the newfound friendship of our characters seem honest and true. I feel as though I kept up Gwendolen's uppity-ness and snobbiness by delivering my lines matter-of-factly, but I could have done a better job of being the airhead that Gwendolen is. Each of us projected loud enough for the audience to hear at all times, although I would say that there were times when each of us could have used more expression. Before performing, we all knew our lines proficiently enough to not even take a script with us onstage, which I didn't see with all the groups, so I would say we were more prepared than other groups. I knew all my lines but I did accidentally freeze up for a few seconds towards the end, but carried on without help from someone with a script. Starting our scene, Jack and Algernon (Weiran and Eliza Jane) were in the center discussing the muffins while Gwendolen and Cecily (Emily and I) were watching from the side, making use of the stage and not making the performance symmetrical until we all met up in the front middle of the stage for our confrontation. Our props positively enhanced our performance. We actually had muffins and then used cookies as a teacake substitute, and each of us wore costumes that differentiated us from the other characters. For example, Emily and I wore our prom dresses to show that we were Gwendolen and Cecily, and Eliza Jane and Weiran wore clothes to make it obvious that they were Jack and Algernon.

Performing this allowed the humor come to life, and I was able to enjoy the play more than I was when I just read it on paper. I was able to see that despite the fact that this play is not modern, the comedic lines were still funny today. Also, seeing the performances cleared up the sort of confusing ending for me, and I enjoyed the plot a lot more. After this experience, I've realized that acting isn't as easy as it looks, and there are a lot of factors that go into a "good" performance.