The Pirates of Penanze
Opera at finest, with a unique and rarely-used theme of pirates, has been one of the successes of The Pirates of Penanze. It is a timeless Gilbert and Sullivan masterpiece, directed by *Director’s name* and performed at the *Theatre Name* on *Date of Performance*. The cast consisted of competent actors and actresses who, in their own rights, connected with the audiences. For the purposes of this paper, the actors who played Frederic and Major General Stanley shall be the main focus of this paper’s analysis.
First shall be the character of Frederic. It is submitted that the actor was able to properly reflect the character of Frederic within the style of the production. His expressions went well with each emotional dimension expected of the scene. It was not too forced, so as to evoke that “cringe” reflex, nor was it too timid to make the play boring and just a mere sing-along. The acting was very fluid and natural, thus fitting well with the entire experience. Not only that, a clear connection was established by him vis-à-vis each character on the set. With his use of verbal and non-verbal cues, e.g., gesturing with an astonishingly proper timing, a genuine response is always conveyed. The result of this is a more authentic theater experience – simplicity converting to beauty.
The vocal quality was superb. The notes he made were spot on and the harmony it made with the music made it seem as if it had a symbiotic relation to the music. But it also bears stressing that with this singing prowess also came clear dictions, which allowed me (and presumably the entire audience) to understand his part.
Overall, my specific interpretation to *Name of actor* as Frederic is that it is an interesting creation. True, there are a plethora of characters in the theatre world today that are contemplated to have a similar persona as Frederic. But what sets this actor apart is the balance he was able to strike in the role – which in my opinion should be possessed by all actors carrying the protagonist role. As previously intimated, he was neither too forced nor timid. It was just right and he definitely rose to the occasion. This simplicity, coupled with the role called upon by the character, made this rendition of The Pirates of Penanze of extra quality.
Now I shall discuss the character of Major General Stanley, which is played by *Name of actor*. Within the style of the production, the character was fairly believable. Considering the fact that the role is accompanied by various degrees of emotion, e.g. fear, uncertainty and sorrow, a higher degree of dramatic acting is expected from the actor. In my opinion, *Name* did just fine in this aspect.
Regarding the connection he had with the other characters, it is submitted that it is lacking. What I observed from the play is his tendency to quickly remove eye contact from the other characters. It can be argued that this may be an aspect of his role, but I believe that the way he manages his eye contact is not an act, for it seemed too natural. I can attribute this to the possibility of being awkward or avoiding an inside-matter within the crew, e.g. avoiding laughing since a scene may remind them of something during rehearsals.
The vocal quality and movement of this actor was above average. He was able to hit the notes of his part and employ proper gesture with the same. It is noticed that he is good at connecting with the audience with his gestures.
Like the character of Frederic, the Major General is also a unique character. It is very interesting since the way it handled itself (as shown by the acting) reflected the possible conflict that many of us encounter, albeit internally on his part. The seemingly mundane source of Major General’s anxiety may prove too insignificant to most, so the way he felt was very telling of the degree of his character’s importance to the play, at least in the dimension of emotional factor.
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